Art Show Part Two

Okay, and now let the show go on!

Power

oil paint, 2004

I had sketched a picture where two hands were cupped open and the fingers were petals. I called the drawing "flower fingers". (Original, yes I know...) I thought it might make a neat painting. So then, why would I name this "Power" instead of "Flower Fingers"? Well, that's due to the timing. I started painting this picture right after I kicked out my bf of 6 years (Yeah, the "moon penis" guy... And I just realized if you haven't seen my Art Show Part One post, that will sound very bad. Oh well... serves you right for not reading my posts in order. ;) 

Anyhow, my life as I knew it was undergoing a massive transformation of self empowerment at this time. I was happy. I felt good about myself, and positive about the future. If  I could choose a colour to describe myself, it would've been bright pink. And so I bought a great big canvas and started painting my bright pink flower fingers. 

But as the painting went on, I felt that the flower fingers should be holding something, rather than cupping an empty void. This is where the flames came from. The fire burning within me.

I've often thought that if I had the time or patience, I would buy 8 more canvases to surround this one, to make a series of 9, and would then expand the blue and purple swirls to make them into butterfly wings, and extend the flower stems to represent the butterfly's body. However, I doubt this is something I'll ever do, unless I recreate this painting on a smaller scale.

Some of you might be wondering why I didn't call this "Flower Power", which might sound more appropriate than simply "Power". Well, that's because a silly name like flower power would completely cheapen the emotion/passion/purpose behind the painting, now wouldn't it? 

Kelowna

acrylic, 2004/2005

Kelowna was my biggest painting yet... so where's the painting? I hate it and so I'm not going to show it to you. It sits in my spare bedroom closet, still waiting to be gessoed over. 

When my folks came out to visit Kelowna for the first time, my dad asked me to paint a scenery picture for him someday. I spent months capturing the mountains, the lake, the sky. It was so awesome! Then, instead of painting a ponderosa pine in the foreground as I had originally intended, on a whim I felt inspired to go with a weeping willow. What a stupid move. The weeping willow now completely dominates the painting. You can't even see one of the mountains I spent so long on. Again, I really friggin' hate it.

The only reason I'm including a write up about it, is because I just wanted to illustrate how I wasted a year painting something that no one will ever see.

Orchid

oil paint, 2005/2006

After the Kelowna fiasco, I took most of 2005 off from painting. I have these silly little rules in my head where I have to complete a painting before I can start a new one, and there was just no way I was going to go back and finish Kelowna. So it took a while before I convinced myself that it's okay to start fresh with something else.

I really love orchids, so that's obviously what inspired this painting, even though they really don't look like any orchids I've ever seen. Again, it's just my go with the flow (or perhaps go with the flower) style. 

I was working on this piece when I was invited to display some of my art at the White House Night Gallery. The WHNG was a little ramshackle house behind the mall, turned into an underground gallery run by university students. They had afternoon showings on the weekends for "adults" or parents, and then on Saturday nights they had bands from all over BC, as well as cheap beer and of course, art. (It was also where we discovered "Counting Heartbeats", and awesome little band from Victoria. Love them.) It was kinda cool, but hardly a legit showing.

Anyhow, I finished Orchid at the last minute and submitted it while still wet. I forgot to include a price, so while there was apparently interest, it was marked not for sale. Just as well... Jim seems to really like this one and didn't think I should sell it.

Okay, I have a handful more paintings to share... but I better get some work done before our conference call. Again, I'll continue this post a little later.