Color! I love it!!

Good Friday morning, everyone! Or afternoon or evening, depending on where you are. We are having a rainy day, which is perfect for blogging and painting. I have been busy this last week. I am trying to get one painting done a day or at least paint everyday, which I have been able to do to date.

These are all small paintings and my goal is to stay loose. To do "my" intuitive backgrounds and then to see what I see and paint that without overworking it. I am having FUN with this! So, the moose above came from the background below. I saw it immediately in the shapes. Can you as well?

The sea turtle came from the shapes below. The colors reminded me of the ocean and I wanted to preserve that very dark edge on the bottom. The color is so gorgeous! When I got finished with this one, I had to laugh at the expression on the face. He does not look pleased!

The backgrounds above were on small Gessobords (5 x 5 inches) and when I turned them and looked at them, I saw the following animals in them.

The beautiful pattern the colors made while drying in the painting above, reminded me of feathers.

The gorgeous reds in this one wanted to be preserved for sure! Out came this sweet orangutan baby. I just want to hug it!

This one was so obvious to me when I saw the two dark circles in the shapes of the background. It makes me smile.

And then this beauty! I loved some of the shapes and wanted to preserve them. I did have to gesso over some of the background because it was so dark, but tried to preserve most of it. He is a thoughtful fellow and maybe a little sad, but so sweet!

Now for something different. I'm taking the year-long Lifebook class with the inspiring Tamara Laporte and about 25 other first-class teachers, and this was the first lesson. We had to paint ourselves with the spirit animals that will accompany us on this journey. Anyone who knows our critters is probably not surprised to see a cat and a wolf. It was fun using my high-flow acrylics on paper - a totally different experience and look. I'm sure I'll try it again!

So, this last week, I got some of my hair dyed blue. It seems to be just a superficial fun thing, but for me it was so much more. My whole life I have practiced "fitting in", "being normal", and "not being seen."

Becoming an artist has shown me how futile (and damaging) this has been, and I needed to get rid of that thinking in a big way. In a way I couldn't hide (or wash out). In a way that everyone will notice. In a way that not everyone will like (particularly in a way that not everyone likes). In a way that pushes way beyond my own comfort zone. I needed to make a commitment to being me. In a small, but for me quite significant way. So, here I am!

And here is where I play, which I hope to do a lot of this coming week.

I am once again linking to the fabulous inspiration over at Paint Party Friday and at Creative Every Day. Hop on over to see some amazing art!

Of my little paintings, one has sold already and one more has been bid on in the auction. If you want to check them out, click here to see my gallery at Daily Paintworks. All of them are very affordable!

With gratitude and blue in my hair,

❧ Silke

Animal Spirit

Lately I have heard the animal spirits call my name. Not just in painting, but they also made me remember our collection of fetishes from the Zuni Indian Reservation. So I got them out for us to admire for a while.

Long before we moved to New Mexico and got to regularly visit the Zuni reservation, I owned a deck of Jamie Sam's Medicine Cards, all animal cards. Every day, I'd draw a card or two and learn about the symbology and lessons of that particular animal. My favorites back then were always the hawk, the wolf and the hummingbird.

Then we moved to New Mexico and Daniel would be invited to go to the Zuni reservation from time to time to do art workshops with the kids for a day or two. He'd always come home with a few new fetishes.

Each one is unique and beautiful, most still have the little tag with the name of the person who carved them. They feel sacred to me.

My all-time favorites of all of them are the snake fetishes. Especially the white one in the first photo. I love that one!

The Zuni reservation is also where I saw my first and only real rattlesnake! A baby, rattling desperately so I wouldn't step on it. I didn't, but got to admire it for a few minutes while  my heartbeat slowed down again...

As I am suddenly drawn to paint animals, I find that I focus on the spirit of the animal I am painting at the moment. Right now, it's a deer (I'll have it to show you soon) and every time I paint on it and those beautiful eyes look at me with such a gentle spirit, it reminds me to always be kind toward others and myself.  

The coyotes I painted reminded me to have fun and not take my life so seriously.  

The horses from my recent paintings unleashed some great feelings of freedom and personal power. I was born in the year of the horse and this is the year of the horse right now. The horse spirit is definitely playing with me at the moment.

Do you have animals you feel drawn to? Aside from "normal" pets? Do you sometimes see them as messengers?

Wishing you a peaceful beginning to your week. May the gentle deer spirit accompany all of us...

❧ Silke

What a morning!

This morning at 6:30, Winslow started barking his "there's a dog in the yard" bark. Daniel went outside and there was a beautiful and sweet and huge Great Dane sitting by our front steps. He was super skinny and quite feeble. He was a total sweetheart and loved to be petted. 

We got him settled in our garage under a couple of blankets because he was cold and shivering. He ate a little bit, drank lots of water and then slept, all tucked in, while I telephoned our vet, animal control and the southern Great Dane rescue.

Finally, a gentle giant from animal control picked him up. Literally. He picked him up and gently put him in the truck. This guy was wonderful (I was worried about this part). They'll have a vet check him out and I'm glad that he at least has shelter now as it is quite cold in Savannah at the moment and will stay so (at least at night) for a few days.

The amazing people from the rescue (for whom I took this photo) already got the ball rolling to get in touch with animal control and see if they can help this sweet dog. I wish we could have kept him. And I wish we could have done more for him.

Now that he is gone, I am feeling quite discombobulated. I'm going to make some tea, finally have some breakfast and settle in for a little bit of nerve-soothing knitting.

I hope your morning was calmer and less eventful than ours has been!

P.S. All of this really made me think of our very first dog, Moe, a big Great Dane/Dalmation mix, who was just the most wonderful dog. I'll have to go through our photos and scan some in to show you!

HAPPY UPDATE: We just talked with the owners of the great dane who live somewhere in the vicinity. "Charles," as the dog is called decided to take a walk on his own early this morning and apparently got lost and found us. They were looking for him and calling around and finally found him again at Animal Control. He is quite old and getting feeble, but his owners love him and are happy he was taken care of and is safely back home (he even had a bath at animal control). And I'm happy there was a good ending to all of this!!

❧ Silke

Wordless Wednesday - A Day at the National Zoo

All photo credits go to Daniel! It was a wonderful day!!

(I guess this is almost Wordless Wednesday...)