Painting Journal

Born to be Wild

December 31, 2016 by alaskanraven

They want a grizzly. A bear for the expanse of wall in the new section of the hospital. Color and joy for contemplation and encouragement of their patients.

I choose a 40” x 30” canvas and brush on pigment. Browns and reds and oranges for the bruin. Teals and yellows and greens for his forest. His home. He ambles toward you. Curious.

He is “Born to Be Wild”.

Does the title make you laugh and encourage you at the same time?

He lives in my living room on his ‘wall den’. I like him there. He encourages me. We both wait.

I received word yesterday. They want him and sent a check. I’m thrilled. It is an honor.

But art making is an emotional process. It has to be. I’m going to miss this bear. I prepare him for packing but we are both a little sad. Happy-sad.

I promise to go down to Soldotna, Alaska to visit him in his new home. If you are in that neck of the woods, stop by and say hello.

Lesson of the Lost Bear

December 31, 2016 by alaskanraven

A bear comes alive on my canvas.
I like him.

I should stop painting.
Instead I add brushstrokes.
Bad idea. I lose him.
He disappears into a mess of goo.

Fortunately, I took a photo before he slammed the door.
I repeat the same brushstrokes. I repeat the same colors.
I repeat the same everything.

The harder I try. The worse it looks.
Frustrating.

Have you been there?
The harder you try to make something work, the worse it becomes?

Lesson learned.
I have to let my bears emerge on their own.
Watch the change every brushstroke makes.
Forget the bears of pigment past.
Be open to new discoveries.

I play with layers and layers of paint.
A new bear appears.
This one is different. Better. Stronger.

Wild.

Do Polar Bears Snore?

December 2, 2016 by alaskanraven

There is a rhythmic rumble in the fields of ice.
Dark stands up to sky.

Curtains of electrons explode into fantastic light.
Shimmers of luminescence chase away darkness.

The rumbling stops.
A slumbering bear glows gold.
She twitches from a tickle and feels peculiar.

And the Aurora began to dance in her fur.

48″ x 24″

Polar Power

February 17, 2016 by alaskanraven

Polar Power
36″ x 36″
painting on canvas by Raven
sold

I am struggling with a painting.
Some passages work like a dream. Color vibrates. Other parts look dead, lifeless. I change colors. Use different kinds of brushstrokes. New layers of paint. I thought it was finished many times. But later it was clear the bear wasn’t breathing. He looked wrong. Embarrassingly wrong.

I work on other canvases but keep coming back to this one. I give it a name to capture the power and majesty of a polar bear. He is awesome in my imagination. If I could just get him to come through these layers of paint.

The title taunts me. Polar Power. This painting might be a failure that I won’t be able to stir out of the ashes. Oh well. Work on another painting.

This morning I walk into the studio and give myself permission to NOT work on the painting. I immediately feel relief. Pressure is off. Other studio work needs to be done. No painting today. Keep away from brushes and frustration for a day. Time for a cup of tea. Do some low stress, no pressure tasks.

I look at the bear taunting me while I sip tea.
Ok. I see what I want to do. Those passages that I thought were working… time to cover them up and try a different approach. I argue with myself. Leave it alone.
No, it is time to go for it. It is time to save it or burn it.

The tea is cold but the paint is hot
I grab the orange paint, my favorite cobalt teal, and cover up my troubled areas plus many of my favorite areas. Time to be bold. The brush goes back and forth with warm and cool colors.

Orange is the heat of the bear, his body heat, his breath, his aliveness. The cold blues are the arctic bone chilling cold. The deep dark purple is the mystery of the polar night. The golden colors are the sunlight. Sunlit parts of the bear become the center of attention. We are drawn to the light.

Finally, the bear starts to emerge
Benzi orange pigment saves me. Suddenly I see my bear emerge and breathe. One of us growls. Yes. The painting has power and color surprises. I celebrate a victory. This was tough.

I share it with you.

Going backwards to go forward

April 20, 2015 by alaskanraven

Climbing up the riverbank reveals the remnants of cabins. Each one whispers a different story. Carefully placed logs sink into tundra.

Where should I paint?

A winding path takes me to each home and deepens my understanding. Empty homes. Cherished memories were dust on the windowsills. A mischievous wind carried hints of laughter and joy. But inside the cabins are only cobwebs and dust. It must have been hard to leave this beautiful place when airplanes replaced riverboats in the 1940’s.

We only traveled seven miles down the Koyukuk River but our boat took us back a hundred years. Gordon Bettles chose this site in 1896 to establish his trading post during the gold rush. It was as far as the old riverboats could navigate.

One of the buildings catch my attention. My friend reminisced, “We used to come here on snow machines in the winter and danced all night”. The General Store appeared to bow in acknowledgment. The dance floor had been removed but the old weathered walls held onto memories of festive days.

Her story made my choice of subject matter easy. I firmly plant my easel in front of the General Store and spill all the contents of my bag onto the ground. Paint tubes, palette, brushes, water, clips, mosquito repellant, sunblock. I went right to work. Old bottles peek at me from the windows. I study the weathered sheet metal and signage. Fireweed dance in the breeze along with the golden birch leaves. A perfect day to soak up local color and paint wildly on a sunny September day in Old Bettles.

Spending the day here made me feel close to the people who had lived in Old Bettles. I don’t know them by name but I feel a kinship from spending time behind an easel in the shadow of their homes on the Koyukuk River. I share that connection with you.