The Magic of the Inner World
About magic, about the mysteries of life..... and death, about balance - visual and physical and ecological - night/day, dark/light.
About our inner world -(so are horses, but horses are an emotional intimacy.)
The owls are about pause, observation, silence, a gatekeeper to the entrance of the magical inner kingdom.
These paintings are not meant to be realistic representations of owls. (Do not use them as a feild guide.) Its fine if some of them turn out quite realistically, but if it happens too many times I am failing in my efforts to bring art and creativity to the work. Brushmarks, the way one color meets the next, the visual layers, and most importantly the textures, are what I am going for.
I dont give a damn about realism. I'm not in the competition for who can copy to the upteenth detail with technical skill. YAWN. My god, thats where we all start when we are learning to draw. In my opnion, an "artist'' has got to then move to creativity and coming up with something the viewer hasnt seen before, or has, but in a different way, in their very own personal way, whatever that turns out to be. Otherwise we should just stick with great photography.
I am trying to build a feeling for the viewer to sense. A texture. Something to take personally.
The owl is the representitive. The harbinger, the sign, the direction, omen, the talisman, the memory, as the viewer feels, sees, thinks.
So thats my fantasy about the owl.
Also, I ADORE the way the paint comes off the brush onto linen. I love the refined color and texture of linen. I love the longevity and the natural feel of the linen canvas. The owl belongs on linen. Linen belongs to owls. Nature au Nature.
Yes, I paint all kinds of owls. There is no reason I paint so many barn owls except they have such a beautiful heart shaped face, and are blue and gold and white and have little dots that stand out like beads - like natures finest textile - and I want one as a pet,(Who doesnt? )not in a cage or anything...... just one that would swoop down out of the trees for a little neck scratching once in a while.
There was a family of Great Horned Owls that stayed here for a while in the fall each year - the size of a small child, perching on my roof - hoo-hoo,hoohoo, hooo-hoooing in the night. SUCH MAGIC! I was afraid to let my little dog out after dark though as I worked as a fire-watch-woman, in a fire tower up north here in Alberta for a few years and heard my fair share of owls catching rabbits... :( spine chilling when woken up in the middle of the night, it was.
The Great Horned on my house were killed by eating the mice my neighbour was poisoning.... sad story.
So thats where I am with owls right now.