I Love Surrealism...So Why Don't I Pursue It?

You see a painting...it interests you and maybe you even buy it, but do you know what went into it? I don't mean the usual questions buyers sometimes ask sellers like "how long did it take you to paint that?" I know, its almost as funny as "I can't even draw a straight line" or "is that that paint by numbers stuff?" No, serious painting is something I seldom get to do and then chances are it will sit in storage for many years before the right collector comes along. This painting...done in the mid-2000's just found the right buyer:

Pretty simple...paint a horse, an ocean, etc. What's the big deal? The big deal is it takes thought...believe it or not and also time.  Sometimes a LOT of time! An Artist will sometimes walk around for weeks or months with a thought in his/her head and it will grow and grow, then some sketching or doodling...finally transmitting it to canvas.

This painting "Toward the Light" took over a year from first thought to completion, then sat in storage for years until I finally decided to make a serious move toward promoting and selling it. I wanted to represent life...from birth to death and that is what this painting represents. The black and white tiles representing the ups and downs, good and bad of a person's life. The moth (which I prefer to paint more like a butterfly) is called a Painted Lady and represents myself in the scene.

An artist can sit down and paint something from the heart....or a vase full of roses.  Mostly, we paint the roses...they look good and sell well.  Neither is right or wrong, but It takes a special person to appreciate the heart that goes into the work of a painting like "Toward the Light".

Just Something a Bit Different

I don't make many of these. They are wooden nesting dolls and fit one inside the other. This set is six pieces that I call "A Walk Through the Secret Garden". On sale on my own website or Etsy or Zibbet.

Decidedly Different Nesting Dolls

Each doll is hand painted by me and each is OOAK. When I get the blank wooden dolls I sand them until they fit together with little effort.  Then, I make up the painting on each one as I go along and sometimes this takes weeks because I have to think up the next step, the next nesting doll until they're done. Then I paint them with about 5 coats of lacquer, sand and wax. A lot of work indeed....which is why I don't make many of them :-)