Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Escape From the Garden


I think this cicada is stealing this apple. Can't decide if it is the apple from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or from the tree of life. I mean, we never hear about the fruit of the tree of life, do we? Probably because the insects stole off with it before the serpent even got there. All that the serpent could offer Eve was the one last apple from the tree of good and evil. Oh well, and here we are, the fallen, while the insects have immortal life.

Red Rising


My serpent painting evolves. I was so delighted and surprised by the red snake. For me, the process of creating images is very similar to dreaming. I often don't know what is going to come next and I can be totally taken aback by what arrives on the canvas. Although I have been visualizing this painting for a while and shifting color options in my mind's eye, I had never seen a bright red snake. But now, I love it. It is fueling my desire and energy to work further upon this piece to see what else is going to appear.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Serpent Dreams


Here is the beginning of the process. I sketched the initial idea for this painting while I was at a slow festival in Humboldt County. The back of my booth opened up to the banks of the Eel River. It was a beautiful sunny day and a stunning venue for a festival. In the heart of the Redwoods and the heart of a fiercely independent community of renegades who still harbor the spirit of those who lived amongst the trees centuries ago. I made a quick sketch of this idea of the primordial snake who's tongue extends through spirals of DNA strands to split into the equal sided cross at the top. Did something in the spirit of the Eel lick my consciousness there and ask to be rendered?