Between the Seams

"Between the Seams"

13.5x17.5 inches
watercolors


The Green Faerie lurks;
she hides in a dream -
her voice slips between
in and out of life's seams.
She hovers in edges
of shadows and light;
she beckons from doorways
and revels in night.

The Green Faerie asks,
"What do you desire
with deepest heart's longing
and soul-burning fire?"
She smiles as she offers
a spidery thin hand
and a cup: brim-filled
brew from her distant Green land.

The Green Faerie tempts,
"Just one sip. Just one taste!"
Knowing full well
with what dusts its been laced:
honey sweet brew
that hides in a dream
to slips down between
in and out of life's seams.

* * *

Some "in progress" shots of this painting as I went:

It started with Amy Brown asking if I'd like to join her and Jessica Galbreth for their monthly "Enchanted Visions" project, where they would pick a title and then go off and see what they'd each come up with. I'd expressed interest in joining them, since it sounded like fun. So June was "The Green Faery".

The little poem came to me one night before falling asleep, even before the image. What other things did that title conjure up in my head? Thoughts of absinthe (a tincture of wormwood), which is sometimes called "la fée verte" and was a popular spirit for writers and artists to partake of in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They claimed a dark inspiriation when in its grips, tied to a strange clarity of vision.

Dug up a sketch that I had done nearly 3 years ago. I always liked her, but just couldn't figure out who she was. Decided to try and play with it and see what I could do. She needed some revisions though...she looked too gentle, most definitely not a lurker, or a creature of shadows. And I knew I wanted eye contact. Deep green eyes to entice. And the orb, not quite fitting either. So with those revisions in mind, the second sketch. But that just seemed to completely lose all of which I liked about the initial drawing. Erased. Stared at it in frustration. Tossed it. Grabbed it back and scribbled more, erased more. Finally put that one aside as a lost cause, and tried again. I liked the result this time.

Next comes thumbnails for the composition. This came fairly quickly after the difficulties of the initial figure's sketch, which was a relief.

As did the rest of the painting.

Seeing as this is a personal piece, it's a change of pace from commissioned paintings because I can be more unplanned about aspects of it (composition and color) and can just let myself be guided by whatever impulse takes me. The explosion of her skirt into a flock of birds was particularly fun, as I was able to just let the irregularities of the paint texture dictate how my imagination would form the flock.
Also, since this is not a Dreamscapes piece, I'm free to use my less standard pigments , i.e. my new paints from Kremer!

Told you I was stuck on greens though....

Conversations in the Woods (and at Night)

"Conversations in the Woods"
8.5x11.5 inches
watercolors

The Dragon Beign and O meeting in the woods for the first time. Cover piece for a poem-story by Mary L Riggs. Looks like I'm stuck on greens these days. Must be residual Hawaii.

Coming home from there to California though, I notice something about my own very green surroundings. There is a very different quality to it. While Hawaii is vibrant, shiny, yellowish-bright-sap-greens, California is more muted -- beautifully soothing viridian-blue-green. Damp tropical scents are replaced by the spicy aromas of redwood forests.

There's one path in Muir Woods (where Dana proposed to me) that I call "the Cinnamon flavored trail" because as you hike up the hill the crimson-barked manzinita, the towering old redwoods, and twisted oak trees combine just so to make a cinnamon smell.

* * *

Twice while in Hawaii I leapt up from a IMAX 3-D view nightmare of spiders. The first time, I jumped out of bed, the albino white spider as large as my hand staring evilly at me.

me: There's a giant white spider on the pillow!!!! (Standing next to the bed at this point, with the lamp on)
dana: (Who's used to these nocturnal outbursts from me, usually in reference to mosquitoes that he is then charged to kill. He looks up groggily) Hm? Where?
me: On the pillow!!! (Pointing)
dana: Honey, there's no spider.
::pauses::
Also, if there was a spider, how could you tell it was white in the dark?
me: (Damn logic...) Oh. Yeah. Right. Must have been a dream. (Climbing back into bed. A bit reluctant. Because damn it, no matter what he says, and what my logical awake-brain is telling me, I KNOW there was a giant white spider dripping venom there a moment ago!)



We didn't see any spiders there. Here back at home in Oakland though we actually do have some monstrous sized arachnids! Ironically I never have spider nightmares here.

Maui Travel Sketches

Back at the Foxhole now. As fun as the trip was, it's always nice to step through the doorway and take a breath of Home!

Returned a little bit darker, a little bit more relaxed. Plenty of travel sketches while I was away. The ink was not idle. Had to send Dana off with the camera to entertain himself at times while I fixated on a quick scribble.

Kept the little book on me pretty much the whole time, except for those outings when there was nothing but "oceanswimming" on the schedule. There's nothing like floating in the cerulean embrace of the sea. So light and effortless!

Rickety old bridge. Eek!

So many lovely old banyans. This one's my favorite.

Then on to Hana. Solitude, and waterfalls, waterfalls, waterfalls!

I've been in a bamboo forest before in Japan, but I suppose the wind must have been still, because what I did not remember was the eerie music like hundreds of bamboo wind chimes each time the wind trailed her fingers across the top of the grove. Paired with the deep blue-green shadows of what little light filtered down through the leaves, it was an otherworldly trek.

Fox Kit

Okay, I lied, that wasn't the last post. But I couldn't resist for this one. Sitting here at my desk working on some layouts, and after a while I noticed that there had been a strange sound going in the background for quite a while. Sounded almost like a bird, but not quite like any of the species I'd usually hear (this includes the random roosters crowing at all hours. Roosters!?! Who's keeping chickens in Oakland??)

I looked up and this little guy was staring back at me. He raced off around the corner whenI rose to get my camera, but a minute later I heard, "yipyipyip!" and looked up to see him standing there again. This time he didn't move while I grabbed my camera and took a picture. I think it's a gray fox kit. I've seen their shadows slinking under fences into the Sausal Creek park area at night occasionally, melting into the moonlit underbrush, but this is the first time I've seen one during the day, and up close.

I think he lost mom (she's probably yawning and asleep in some nice dark den somewhere), but after about 5 minutes of circling round and round the house, he either found her or took his search elsewhere because I didn't see him any longer.

Dragon Sketch and Vacation

Sketch for the next painting. It's a commissioned piece, and I'm looking forward to painting it. But unfortunately it probably won't be for a while. This might well be my last post for a couple of weeks, as I'll be off on vacation in Maui, leaving this Wednesday. Beaches and warm waters! Bringing along plenty of sketchbooks so perhaps I'll have some scribbles to show for the time as well.

I always feel like I'm traveling so lightly when on vacation (as opposed to flying to a convention) since I don't have to bring along two 50-lb suitcases and a huge carryon as well!

Beneath the Eildon Tree

"Beneath the Eildon Tree"
Size: 8.5 x 11 inches
Medium: Watercolor

Thomas the Rhymer and Queen of Elfland beneath the Eildon Tree.

The Eildon Tree was a sacred hawthorne in the hills of Ercildoun, where Thomas was said to hail from. And the hawthorn is also sometimes known as the fairy bush, for the fey folk are said to inhabit its branches and are its guardians. Sprigs of hawthorn and its flowers were gathered to serve as protection from evil.

A hundred years I slept beneath a thorn,
Until the tree was root and branches of my thought,
Until white petals blossomed in my crown.
--- Kathleen Raine "The Traveler"

* * *

On a completely different topic, a whimsical little book I did some fun illustrations for earlier this year will be coming out in July The Hotel Under the Sand by Kage Baker.

* From the publisher's blog, Tachyon Books, with some previews of the ink drawings I did for the interior.

The Artists' Eternal Questions

* Why do art directors always pick the thumbnail you least want to use?
* The corollary to that: Why do customers invariably favor the print you most want to remove from your site?
* Why does the coffee/tea cup always feel like the instinctive place to rinse off a brush, no matter where you position it in relation to the real rinsing bowl, even at the far other end of the desk?
* How the hell does the glass scanner bed, while closed, manage to accumulate so much dust and crap after just being cleaned a few days ago?!?