Dead Flowers

Thinking about the Rolling Stones' song, "Dead Flowers."

I mean, I drew this, and about 7/8's of the way through, as I added the sparse flowers, I thought, "Dead Flowers."

This is one of those times that the drawing came first and at the last moment merged with an idea.  I started this out last night by smearing coffee all over the page.  I don't know what anyone thinks about it, but it's one of my very favorites.  I like the sparseness of line drawings.

Is the woman old?  Is she young, but her facade is breaking?  Is she dying?  Is she a heroine addict?  Maybe she's on the flip side--breaking though her shell and coming through.  There's some sort of breakage going on--I feel that.

oil, charcoal, conté, coffee, paper

Day 19 Early Morning Flowers

Early Morning Flowers

Don't you think real moms look like this?  They're tired, exhausted even.  They have aged, but still feel feminine.  Especially when they're woken up early on Mother's Day and given a bouquet of flowers.  I imagine they think that it's all worth it.

Town and Country - Day 2

Town and Country

Happy Cold, Hopeful March

It had been feeling a lot like spring at the end of February, and then today, March 1st, the month roared in like a lion.  Cold and some freezing rain, but still, a promise of life from the cold ground.

Look!

I'm a little in love with this sweetie pie. (-:

5" x 7"

Behind the Flower Vase

I couldn't decide what to call this painting.  I thought about, "Beauty in Light and Dark."  I suppose it's a little creepy, but I wasn't intending anything scary.  I just brought forth the face I saw lurking behind the foreground   I could have stopped at the flowers, but it just seemed so boring...pretty, but boring. Besides, there's usually something lying behind pretty, no?  (Hmm.  I think I suddenly understand Miley Cyrus better.)  It's that murkiness that I find worth diving into. Anyway, don't be afraid, sweet ones.  I worked with water-mixable oil and oil pastel and scraped away layers then added more.  Took quite some time...

P.S. (June 2nd)  A friend of mine thought this looked scary and that she didn't understand art.  

Here were my thoughts back to her, which I suppose is how I look at art, in general:  "No worries. Either a piece speaks to you or it doesn't. (-:  With art, you may think, does it intrigue me?  Does it make you think of a possible story behind it?  It could be a young girl flirting with her boyfriend behind those flowers--see the little red lips?  In a way they look like they could be coyly smiling.  Maybe SHE is the one who is scared.  Or, maybe it could be a reminder that in all things, there is a light and a dark side (hmmm, sounds like Star Wars), life and death.  The juxtapostion sharpening the sweetness of those things that are good.  On the other hand, it could just be scary to you, in which case, you might like the next thing.  

Spring - Real or Bottled?

Spring - Real or Bottled?

Day 195. Wild Flowers and Hypnotized by Bob Dylan (SOLD)

Last year over the 4th of July, it was so hot with long days touching their fingertips on 100 degrees.  I didn't go anywhere and watched Alice in Chain's phenomenal "Unplugged" special on MTV in a cold, darkened room.

This year we gratefully didn't have that extreme heat, but I was still inside.  The last two weeks I could feel myself coming down with something which culminated with me Saturday night at Walmart's Fast Care for a sinus and ear infection.  There was one benefit to staying close to home and trying to get some rest--I could take my time playing with my paints.

Here's something I did over a 3-day period.  I just left it on my desk, and each day I would add a little something to it after I was done painting on something else.  The time it took to add all the little detail with acrylic and India ink was helped by my being hypnotized by Bob Dylan.

Bob.  I'll have to write more about him another time.  Suffice it to say, I think he's a genius.  The words, people.  Listen to the words.  I've seen him in concert more times than I can count, and it's true that at this point in his career his voice is shredded.  However, on his albums, his voice is still able to clearly deliver his message.

Below are three favorites I listened to that kept me in a suspended state of dotting my finger and leftover paint to watercolor paper and drawing very sloooooooowly.  At this point, the links are no longer working, but still, it's so worth it if you hunt them out for yourselves.  Listen to those repeating melodies meandering slowly behind the story, mandolin and fiddle luring you into mystery worlds.

From "Tempest"  "Scarlet Town"

From "Modern Times" "Ain't Talkin'"

From "Time Out of Mind" "Highlands"
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xmhoa5_bob-dylan-highlands_music#.UdrTKb4o6ic


Alice in Chains- "Unplugged" from MTV

Day 5."The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom" SOLD

A few days ago, I watched an incredible documentary. It was Lucy Walker's, "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom" about the 9.0 tsunami that hit Japan on 3/11/11.  Walker was preparing to make a film about Japan's ephemeral cherry blossom season, but ended up making something completely different after the devasting natural disaster killed thousands of people.

One month after the waves hit, the appearance of the beloved blossoms, beautiful and enduring amidst a land ragged with ruin and destruction, gave the Japanese hope to survive.  Here are some of the film's touching quotes:

"It's beautiful, because the life of the flowers is short.  Even when the flowers fall, we love it.  That's the heart of a Japanese person."

"Flowers dying is not a sad thing."

"If you give up, it's all over."

"The plants are hanging in there, so we humans had better do it, too."

I remember one man saying you can see your feelings reflected in the cherry blossoms.  If you are melancholy, they will appear melancholy; if you are happy, they will appear happy.  The cherry blossoms are like the way we view life then, no? The documentary was only about 45 minutes long, but it was heart-wrenchingly filled with beauty, emotion, and inspirational Japanese culture.

As I watched the film, I remembered looking at hundreds of pictures on the internet when the tsunami had occurred, and at one frame in particular.  It was of two women searching through heaps of debris where their houses had once stood.  Finally, one found a yellow teacup that was still intact and held it up high above her head with a huge smile on her face.  You would have thought she had found a chunk of gold.  To her, this small memory of normal life, whole and unharmed, gave her this immense joy.  How precious are small things to the heart--how important are the cherry blossoms to the stricken soul.