New Painting! THE POND QUEEN!

Paintings are seldom ever finished until they leave the studio to live on someone's loving wall forever. I have a feeling if this piece stays with me long, I will keep tinkering at it, but for all intents and purposes, it's ready to be seen by the rest of the world.

Here she is, the pond queen. Inspired by a drive-by look at one of Ontario's natural, untouched marshlands. I can't do them justice. Monet wouldn't have been able to do them justice. They're so serene, and yet teeming with life. You pretty much have to go from photography, though, because the deer flies will drive you to murder. Plein air artists are made of some real tough stuff that I can't begin to explain my awe for. How people like Monet lived without bugspray, or didn't lose his fingers in the winter is crazy. And who was it, Renoir who got Malaria? No, probably not. I'm having trouble finding out who. Still, it's surprising how many artists from the impressionist era who worked outdoors did not suffer too many mosquito related diseases. Just having one buzz around my ear increases my urge to kill.

Enough of that. Nature is so beautiful through glass. I was protected by a car door window, so I saved what I saw to file, and recreated my own vision. The vision of beautiful solitude. Peace with ones surroundings. Her dress is the life in the pond, stretched out like a splayed fan, or unraveling like one of Weezer's Sweaters.

The way they move away from each other is a little bit inspired by the way the milky way looks in a perfectly dark zone. It's like a sword of stars, with pieces sparkling away in every direction. You can see where the light is densest with your naked eye, and it appears like a cradle of light, all those other distant stars seeming like they're just off-shooters. Of course, we know many of those stars we see are whole distant galaxies of their own right, but thinking about that would spoil my mental image for this piece.

I do want to add more deadwood down the road, if someone doesn't decide they love the piece as-is first. And more frogs. And maybe even some dragonflies. This is why I have to call it done now, or it's all I'll ever work on and I'll never be finished. Lol.

I know I've posted along the way, all the progress reports and the detail shots, but here they are all together, so you can enjoy the process in one singular post.

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