Friday, October 10, 2008

Flying Girl Goes In, or Wonderland

Flying Girl Goes In, or Wonderland 10/9/08 (hey! 10,9,8! countdown.)
Golden Fluid Acrylic, Prismacolor Watercolor Pencil, White gel pen

So last post, I didn't know where FG would go, and last night when I sat down to paint, I still didn't know. I had a few ideas culled from my extensive blog reading, but none to hold a painting down. If you recognize your own influence, you're probably right. Honestly, I sat for an hour or so without putting pencil to paper. (enjoying using those watercolor pencils for undersketching) before I finally committed. I looked back at previous paintings to let her guide me. Where to next, after the deep sea? And I thought it was time to leave the sea. And what came up was inside. Indoors. Yes the first indoor FG. At first there was just a simple room with a plain window and steps leading up. But I didn't like it. Actually, the appearance of the door and stairs going down was the first sign to me that this painting was indeed going to work. FG herself started out more abstract, then more realistic, then back a step into partly conceptual.

But it just seemed so plain and bare and seemed to be missing something, so the wall detail went in, and then the sheer curtains. Then the sea outside the window. Then some flower details in the dress, the ribbon, definition in the hair, the waves on the ocean, the boat out at sea, and lastly... the little mushrooms in the corner. The last was the detail that made it come together for me.

This is about earth. Flying Girl has entered her earth adventure. I suppose it's not a coincidence that the stairs went from going up to going down, deeper. Symbolically speaking, the earth could be about fertility, because that is what enables plants to grow. It could also mean the past... those things that are buried. Another reading is the practical. Earth is the most practical and solid of the elements.

This painting definitely feels like a transition to me. Leaving the sea, entering through the window, and then that doorway to the new land. She's ready, I suppose to handle things she has never done before, up there in the sky.

Somehow, I think something led her to abandon her boat and fly in through the window. Perhaps the sight of a white rodent, hopping away. Is she trying to find the elusive creature, the intrigue, the way?

Funny. These interpretations I'm doing almost feel like I'm reading tarot cards. My own tarot cards, born out of my psyche. Maybe that's what's with all the recent paintings and drawings and 3D houses. I've always thought of houses as being representations of our minds, anyway.
House, The Big Draw #9
Pen, Prismacolor Watercolor Pencil

Maybe that's why I went with this drawing for The Big Draw. Also it is reminiscent of the houses I used to draw when I was 8 or so. My little cross sections. Also, maybe it's a bit of a way to visualize where I want to be. A little house, some outside space, a studio, a garden. Simple.

Maybe also the past was on my mind, as I saw around blogland various delvings into the past. Infact, inspired by Dragonfly Reflections, I decided to post an old photo.
circa 1971

That little one is me. The other one is my mom. It's funny to think how young she was, no more than 26 or so.

A little delving into the basement, perhaps.

Oh yeah. Remember that old saying? The way in is the way out.

Hm.

9 comments:

Sugar Jones said...

This is the flying girl I most feel in touch with. I think it's the blue that is reaching out to me. Or the sailboat out in the distance. The wistfulness of the sheer curtains... wanting to leave even though all seems quite nice inside? Hmmm...

What, I wonder, does the key in FG's right hand mean? Or the little mushroom family in the corner?

Anonymous said...

The flying girl inside is like the sailboat outside. They are one in the same. Kinetic, spirited, soaring. I love this.

The picture of your mother is beautiful. How lovely she is! And how sweet you are! She is the sailboat, you are FG...?

Lynn Cohen said...

It's interesting reading all that you have written here. Yes, the flying girl/woman seems to be some part of your unconscious mind, and the house, another representation of your mind and all it's sections/parts. Or body and parts including mind.
Love the mom/daughter photo too, and the huge mushroom/tree in a post lower down.

Mim said...

I agree with lynn, and love to watch FG's adventures. Most of our drawings come from way inside don't they? And the house images, certainly are important in our lives in so many ways.

sukipoet said...

Love the house and the idea of cross sectioning it. I may try that as I long so for a house. You were sure a sweetie and your mom too who does look sooooo young, eh? /flying girl has so many wonderful adventures.

Unknown said...

Yep. The only way out is through. Exactly. I love this old photo. Your mother is simply elegant and beautiful. Thanks for sharing it!

I see a lot of your children in you. I'd love to see what Husband looks like as well.

The past is beautiful and the future is coming and the present is just that..now.

soulbrush said...

aren't old photos so appealing? it was taken so seriously in those days, as there were no retakes or digital cameras, so they made abig thing of these occassions, and you can see this in your mom's eyes. really like it a lot.

Anonymous said...

It is nice to see a picture of you and your mother. Says a lot.

jena strong said...

And there's no way past but through.

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