July 21, 2015

"Who Whooo?" little owl painting

Who Whooo?
6x6x.5 oil on cradled board

Who Whooo? 
Who cooks for you??
 While this is not this owl's call, that phrase keeps coming to mind. 

This fun little guy is an oil sketch of a burrowing owl in sitting position. He looks a bit serious or annoyed. I am playing with color combinations and there will be a larger version of this guy with a different background coming up.

July 15, 2015

Night Owls, Haiku and Imperfection as Truth.

Night Owls 18 x 18 Oil  $950 unframed    ©2015 deb kirkeeide
The vast bowl of sky
Embraces indigo dreams
Guardians stand watch


Where has all my focus gone?
....long time passing. 
Sounds a bit like a Peter, Paul and Mary song doesn't it?

This is another painting that I seem to have been working on bit by bit over a long period of time.
Flitting back and forth between multiple projects.  More exploration in textures and approaches, composition and acceptance.

Imperfection as Truth
I mentioned in an earlier post that I was having a hard time finishing things. Part of that was due to this self imposed notion of perfection.

I certainly won't argue that there is never room for improvement. As we continually evolve in our experience and practice, our skills improve. But it seems to be essential to be accepting of where we are in that particular moment of our expression. Let's face it, some days are better than others and many factors come into play that effect the outcome.

And then there is this ideal of our perceived definition of what is perfection.

There are often times when a sketch inspires me to fully realize it as a painting. I love the sketch but occasionally something gets lost in translation. Many times I find I like WIP’s (my own and others) more appealing than the finished piece. After thinking about this I determined that the “imperfect” sketch was the moment of truth. It was honest, spontaneous and pure in its energy. It is the soul of the painting.

To me, that is perfection.

I think as humans, we have this innate need to strive for perfection in hopes that others will see and accept us. (okay, maybe it's just me) We want to fit in. But is perfection really necessary? Isn’t this 
so-called imperfection what makes us so unique?

Of course this is only my own opinion, but I am finding it to be a useful tool in removing some unnecessary stress lately.  By allowing myself to let go of the outcome, I find more freedom to explore and experiment and change my mind.
 

July 6, 2015

Thought and Desire - the painting and the myth

Thought and Desire
9 x 12 x 1.5 Oil
©2015 Deb Kirkeeide



A Little Allegory

As you may have noticed, ravens are a favorite subject. To me they represent transformation and creation. They will forever be symbolic of when I fully realized my desire to be an artist. The thought was always there, but you need the desire to fully realize it.

An astute friend saw this painting on my easel in a recent studio picture and asked if it was a painting of me and my raven. At the time I hadn’t set out with that in mind, but now I think he’s right. Seems to be a personal representation of my self and the raven as my spirit animal. I love when that happens!


A Little Mythology

In Norse mythology there is the story of the two ravens, Hugin and Munin who are the shamanic helping spirits of the god Odin. The poem describes them from the perspective of Odin:

Hugin and Munin
Fly every day
Over all the world;
I worry for Hugin
That he might not return,
But I worry more for Munin
.

Hugin and Munin are simultaneous projections or extensions of Odin’s own being.Their names are derived from hugr which is “thought”, and munr “desire”, both of which are distinct parts of the self in their own right.

If you’d like to read a little more than my excerpt of this story, here’s a link to the site
http://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/others/hugin-and-munin/
The author Dan McCoy does a much better job of telling the tale.