Hidding Behind the Poppies from Well Cared For Steers Series

When in doubt I review older work and sometimes parts of the painting cry for change. My eyes, changed by the dark months of winter and the muted colors, sent a message to my brain. Too much green my winter eyes said.

Some more ideas from Diane Hoff's methods of intuitive process

Warm ups are always good for getting into a state of mind ready to accept playing off of what is happening rather than rigidly controlling. The door way watercolor in blue and red was done while wearing violet colored sunglasses revealing new ways of seeing. The white doors grouped themselves with a cool zone. When I wasn't looking at the paper the pencil working on the paper's resistance caused the forms to be shaped in the calligraphic strokes of some Hebrew alphabets pointed out Diane Hoff. The resistance, I believe, of the quill nub on velum has much to do with the calligraphic strokes in the Hebrew alphabet. All written alphabets take on their shape from the medium taking character from the brush or stone cut letters for examples. When you are not looking at the paper you do not fight the medium and the drawing flows like calligraphy.

Two Intuitive Paintings - Cherry Blossom Iris, Ship of State

Further journeys of "The White Blushing Iris" started yesterday at Jim Beecroft's iris test garden, mixed media and collage, 23" x 22", $150.

When I start I do not try to copy nature but work towards the feeling I get and let the intuitive take over.. I didn't know that the flower would keep getting larger and that I would want to add more paper to the top. So today I pasted watercolor paper to the top and added some torn pieces of watercolor paper. When working intuitively I need to let this rest before deciding if this is the energy I want to have in this painting. I think I lost some of the fragile paper thin petal quality. The second painting of the flower did not hold my interest.

When working intuitively some paintings happen and I don't know how they do. One example of a train of thought that is to me beyond my usual consciousness is this painting of a naval cargo ship hull.

March 23, 2003, "Ship of State, Our Burden - Liberating Iraq", mixed water media, 22" x 30" , NFS.

My husband and I went fishing and crabbing in Yaquina Bay by Newport, Oregon January through March 2003. We use to jig for herring bate by the old derelict World War II Navial Cargo ships used as a wharf. The ferro-cement hull was eerie and became a springboard to abstracted images. On this one I intuitively saw the old military supply ship as a means of communicating about war at an emotional level that all faiths including Islam could look at and see.

The ships I wanted to use as a symbol is falling apart. In recent months there is a plan to use government stimulus money to mitigate the danger of stored oil leakage and at best the entire ferro-cement hull will be removed. At the time of painting these ships I saw the rust as the blood of our best men leaking the strength of our country. I started writing my thoughts as they randomly entered my mind. The hope I had for the Iraq war was this: That we would be responsible while not becoming the imperialist. I hoped that we would learn that we were not better than other countries. I wrote "I do not think about whether we were right or wrong to invade Iraq. We are committed to succeed beyond winning or loosing or somewhere between. Win or not our crystal image will transform - evolution of our self awareness as citizens of the world will have to be mankind's goal. Imagine a world where no one feels the need to terrorize. Yes, we can. Yes, we will. We will demonstrate all kinds of people with strongly held opposing ideas can live together in respect!!!

We are not going to wake up one morning in the next year or so and find we have entered a world without fear. But when we compare March 23, 2003 with today, our president is reaching out to all countries and to all our citizens although we are completely different.