Passion and possibilities.
This painting is part of a series of larger figurative pieces of images of women who are connected to their inner truth. They are powerful reminders of how important it is to step into our own potential and allow life to flow naturally. These paintings start with a broad idea but seem to have a life of their own as they morph into form as my intuition guides them into being.
In this painting, she is in the zone as she plays the violin and is connection as she becomes one with the music and the violin she cradles. Passion rises through her and she flows on the vibrancy of each note. I titled the piece ‘passion’ as she embodies the music and is completely absorbed in this flow of creativity. Even within this passionate moment, there is almost a fragility as she allows this powerful force to flow through her.
In this piece I loved the idea of exploring the connection of a woman absorbed in her creativity. In this case it is her music and the violin that seems to be part of her.
As I painted this piece I realised that for this piece to really work I had to drastically change the background. I has a greenish background but it was not popping. I mean that something that inspires the inner sigh of ‘yes’ that’s what I was reaching for. The vibrancy of the turquoise and the small bubbles and grinding created a background that added to the magic of the music flowing through her. It also gives a sense of the hair becoming part of the background. I like this almost overlaying of foreground, background that I am starting to play with. Life has lots of different edges and they often feel as though they blur into each other. I felt as if I needed to be brave to do this as there is always a voice that says that you will ruin what you have created. I am learning to get better at trusting my intuition and as I was shown myself adding the turquoise in the background of a this painting, it was a bit hard to ignore. Most of the time when I do take these leaps of faith in my own inner guidance, magic happens and I am getting better at paying attention and acting on what I am shown.
The dress was another challenge as I have wanted to create a red dress. This was a technical challenge in many ways as you can’t just add white to lighten the tone as you then create pink. I wanted that intense red. I used textured wallpaper for the embossed dress panels. I created many layers of color including varieties of red, Quinacridone nickel azo gold and orange. The layers of colors were the only way that I could create the richness and depth of color I was aiming for. The addition of golden highlights worked and seemed to keep to the integrity of my desired red dress.