First sketch, Lady of the Forest

This is the first rough sketch of my "Lady of the Forest" for this month's Enchanted Visions Project. I have about 2 weeks to finish her and I am still trying to finish up a commissioned piece, so I am attempting to work on 2 things at once. Usually I like to start one thing and work on it until it is done, so we will see how this goes.
I might give her some wings when I get to painting on her, not sure yet. I feel like the composition needs something else, but I may change my mind once I start adding the paint. I might add some other animal in front of her on her left, maybe a deer peeking behind a tree. I also can't decide right now if her hair shall be black, red, or white. Any opinions?

Enchanted Visions Project

I am going to start participating in the Enchanted Visions project. If you have never heard of it, it was started by two famous faerie artists Jessica Galbreth and Amy Brown. Each month they decide on a theme and all particpating artists create a piece of fantasy art around that theme. You can checkout past themes and work here http://www.coriander-shea.com/enchanted-visions-project.html.

I think one of the hardest parts of being an emerging artist is defining your work. I am a Libra and am plagued with indecisiveness. One minute I want to do all Pop Surrealism, the next be a Fantasy Artist. I think my strong point lies somewhere in between these two. Anyway, I think the EV project will force me to do some more fantasy work which I have been wanting to do more of. Though I love them, I just don't know if I could do nothing but faeries....we will see.

Thinking of Red-winged Blackbirds

I often look at the world as one big tarot deck, meaning everything that happens is a symbol for something more. I especially feel this way when something happens that is on the news and effects more people than just me. I have been thinking a lot about these blackbirds that fell from the sky on New Year's Eve over Arkansas. What is the deeper meaning of this?

I am connected to Arkansas as it was the place of my birth. I was born in a small town called Mountainburg in the Ozark mountains of Northern Arkansas. Arkansas is a state that gets overlooked a lot. If it wasn't for Bill and Hillary being from there, many people would have never have even heard of it. It is a beautiful place with one of the most beautiful rivers in the world running through it, The Buffalo river. It also has some magical properties right in the heart of it. It has these incredible healing hot springs and produces a large amount of diamonds and quartz crystals all in the same area. I always felt magic when I walked outside of Hot Springs, Arkansas and would find hundreds of quartz crystals and amethyst lying naturally all over the ground. Let's just say that there is quite a lot of faerie energy there.

Then there is the fact that these blackbirds were red-winged blackbirds. I think these birds are very magical. When I was working on my painting 'The Seer" a couple of years ago I remember reading a lot about red-winged blackbirds. Here is a quote from Ted Andrew's "Animal Speak" about red-winged blackbirds:

"This bird has a red path on its wings, with a dash of yellow as well. These colors connect this bird to the level known as Binah in the Qabalistic Tree of Life. This is the level associated with the Dark Mother and the primal feminine energies. This bird has ties to all of the creative forces of nature." pg. 119 "Animal Speak" by Ted Andrews.

I have mentioned before, as I am fascinated by these three colors, that red, black, and white (yellow in the Native American tradition) are always associated with the Dark Mother, and the Faerie realm in Celtic lore. Red-winged balckbirds are indeed a very special bird and messenger from the Otherworld.

So what is the message we should be getting from thousands of them falling lifeless from the sky? Well it certainly does seem ominous at first. Certainly blackbirds have been thought to be a bearer of bad omens for centuries.

I personally think it is a message about urgency and our power to create change. The womb of the Dark mother is where all of life springs from. The creative energy emerges from the darkness into the light. It is she who holds the power of creation. When we work with her we discover our own creative force. We have to accept our darkness before we can transmute it into the light. It is time, now more than ever, for us to get this. We can create great change in the world.

I also think there is a message about understanding our deep connection to nature. Nature speaks volumes to us if we will just listen to her. She is speaking loudly to us now, are you listening?

New pendants

I can paint and draw, but it seems everything else that is considered crafty I am dismally lacking in any talent. I tried making art pendants with prints of my work, the kind where you glue your print to a glass cabochon and a cameo. I had so much trouble with those. I tried multiple kinds of glues and they all soaked through to the print, no matter what I did to prevent it. I had a couple turn out okay, but gave up on them eventually.

So just the other day I got the idea to start actually painting on little wooden circles and making handpainted pendants. I have made two so far. Although I am enjoying this, my neck is so sore from bending over these and working with tiny brushes. I will have to see how popular they are before I make too many of them. Here is a sneak peak at the two I have done so far.

These are of the Welsh goddesses Arianrhod and Rhiannon. I plan to do goddesses mainly and some more pop surrealistic big eyed girls. They are 1 1/2 inch pendants with layers of glaze to protect the work and a bail glued on the back. Now I have to figure out how much to charge for these. They are pretty detailed and each one takes me awhile to do. I think it is pretty cool to be able to wear an original piece of art.