Thoughtful Wednesday: Old Heart Acceptance

Saturday night I found out my Old Heart I piece was accepted to the annual El Corazón exhibition at the Bath House Cultural Center. I've tried a few times before, but this is the first time I've been accepted and the first art show I'll be a part of in years. This piece is my proudest work from last year and brought me to happy, joyful tears. I've made a goal within the next two years to be more active and submit my work to places. The acceptance has only fueled by passion. That said, I'll share how this piece came into being and the music that inspired it. 

"Heart pumps death into our heredity" - 

Last year, my now husband and I went on our first real vacation, the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise. One of the bands we were excited to see was Katatonia, who we had seen years before on the Epic, Kings, and Idols tour. The show was my husband's idea. I remember enjoying their show and knowing it was good, but I also remember my ears ringing a bit due to the prior band (looking at you Devin Townscend). Sadly, I didn't keep up with the band much. This was before I could afford to buy a shirt or a CD from stands, but at least pay for the ticket. Fast forward years to the cruise, I saw Katatonia perform twice, no ears ringing, and fell into their music. After the trip, I really dived into their discography to find they were also in process of a new album. When the lyric video for the song "Old Heart Falls" was realized, I had to grab my sketchbook. I wrote down lyrics. I sketched. I listened to the song at least once everyday for weeks. At the beginning of 2016, I was in an artistic drought, and this song watered the fields. 

Inspiration comes when you don't expect it, but when it does, you have to hang on. The album "The Fall of Hearts" became my favorite album of 2016, and I'm still pulling ideas for paintings. When I see the band live this March, it will have more meaning to me that just jamming out. It will be pure pumping of the heart, raining down an atmosphere of inspiration. 

Katatonia have revealed the first full track, entitled 'Old Heart Falls' from their highly anticipated new album - The Fall of Hearts. Buy the album: http://www.peaceville.com/store On the release of the first new song Jonas Renkse comments "A song with lush textures, distinct dynamics and a memorable chorus are the trademarks to some of the most beloved Katatonia songs.

Currently Listening - Katatonia's 'The Fall of Hearts'
Currently Reading - Just finished Salem's Lot by Stephen King
Currently Drinking - Coffee. 

Thoughtful Thursday: A Prodigal Return

I feel I have wasted time. A lot of time. A lot of paint time. The loss of drive is hard. I'll post how I have felt about this year later, but for now, I have finally updated by 2015-2016 gallery. These pieces are some of the proudest and bravest I feel I have done. At some point, they will get a post about why I painted them, what inspired them, how I feel about them. I think that is part of why I waited so long to post photos of these works. Out of fear. The fear of exposure. Yet, I still have others to share. And art should be shared shouldn't it? 

If you feel the need, visit the 2015-2016 gallery under Paintings. Maybe you'll enjoy, maybe you won't. Either way, it's okay. 

If it's one thing I have truly learned this year, I never chose to be an artist. 

Art chose me. 

Currently Listening to "The Heart of a Cold White Land" by Swallow the Sun off the album Songs from the North I, II & III.

Currently Reading Neil Gaiman's "The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction"

Thought Tuesday - St. Sebastian (and I'm Terrible)

Scold me please. It's been about a month since my last blog. I'm going to make it up. I'm promising myself to do two a week for the next couple of weeks. This is supposed to help me stay motivated, and of course, when I did not blog, it was hard to make things...then life changes occurred. 

My work schedule changed which means no more Studio Mondays, it's back to Studio Sundays (but I'll still blog on Mondays because urg Mondays). Back to the old Monday - Friday. On a cuter side of things, my dude and I got a puppy. That in itself is a brand new experience, tiring, cute, lots of biting, lots of accidents on the floor, but so much cuteness and cuddles and fluffiness. Now that's it's been a week or so with the new lil guy, it's time to get back into this week's Thoughtful Tuesday for the painting I did last year, St. Sebastian. 

Looking back on this painting, I see a lot of good things and bad things. I could probably attempt this better based on what I've done lately. But I love her. 

I remember getting this idea based off a different painting I did years ago. It was about a nightmare I had. The idea came back to me, but this time I wanted to imitate the imagery of St. Sebastian's death, which you can research. I didn't want blood on this one, I wanted the flowers' petals to represent any "blood" since the flowers do represent arrows. There's really no pain. I think subconsciously, that came from a feeling that it sometimes feels no one understands pain of another, the abuse. They'd rather look at the pretty flowers. 

Thoughtful Tuesday - The Maid

I skipped a week. On the plus side, I finished a painting I'm really excited about. However, I'm not ready to post it. I am ready to talk about the next piece in my 2015-2016 gallery: The Maid. Sometime in early 2015 I was really inspired by a song by the band Leaves' Eyes titled "Maid of Lorraine" - aka, Joan of Arc. 

At first, I wanted to do a traditional burning at the stake, but chose not to. Instead, I decided Joan should would be 'burned' by grass instead of flames. Further, the small sparks and ash would be flowers and petals floating away. I also wanted to keep her image ghostly and undefined. This is not my favorite of my pieces last year, however, looking back on it a year later, I do see joy in it. 

I could have taken a very dark route with this piece, but I decided, Joan is not dead - she's living. She didn't die at the stake, she became immortal. This is how I magically took this historical and religious figure, and connected her to my usual imagery of plants, life, and death. Fine. That's not very magical. 

The Maid

What's also not magical is me neglecting to blog last week, and I had to force myself to type this post. Sigh. There. I did it. I didn't proofread. I will promise to upload two or three new, finished pieces next week, and see a lil bit of what I'm working on next.