Daily Art Practice part 4

Continuing with the equinox ~ equinox project, most of early June was devoted to painting the series “The Long Path Home” on 12 x 12″ panels. The journal was a place to loosen up, where I explored more palettes and shapes. Homes, archways and garden energy made recurrent appearances.

Regarding the photo (detail) above I wrote, “Yesterday was my birthday, the 80th anniversary of D-Day. I felt emotional watching the ceremony in the morning. I wanted to paint a Royal Lily that always blooms on my birthday. Then my daughter sent me a fragrant bouquet, so I added that. It was a day of being present with solemnity and gratitude.”

 

 

 

 

In the page spread below, the first layer was zinc white over Caran d’Ache watercolor crayons, then some opaque acrylics. I love the soft waxy appearance the zinc gives, and the way it blurs the crayons.

 

A few days previously, gazing at the series panels, when I realized the correct sequence of them, the title and meaning became clear. It is “The Long Journey Home”; panel one is “Starting”, then “Journey”, “Sanctuary” and “Begin Again”. This was a fulfilling moment, that confirmed my long standing theme of “The Long Path to Peace”, that began in the mid 1980’s. My use of symbols (pathway, archway, circles, triangles that represent roof and direction) placed in realms of imagination (wonder!) serve as my language of art.

Below are the photos that show the progress from start to finish of the series – one month of focus. One the first pass, I had no idea what I was painting, and was shocked at the colors I chose. I kept going each day by asking what I liked, didn’t like, or what I noticed. The one area that remained close to the underpainting without much change is the Sphinx head in the second panel, which for most of the project was panel one. When I changed the sequence, it all made sense to me as a story.

 

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