Mythical Woods Oil on Canvas 12x12

Mythical Wood
Oil on Canvas
12x12"
gallery edged canvas.

I am trying to break down my own feelings about painting forests and allowing a little of the abstract out in order to convey the idea of being lost in a wood. I always felt that forests are magical places, full of spirits, and fey and shadows and memories of things lost. I love the idea of people seeing faces in my art and want to encourage that experience. The question I want to ask, is what is obvious verses what is hidden?

Yemaja

I'm really very happy about this painting. Lately, I've taken some time off at work to be able to focus on my art. I love doing art so it almost feels like I'm slacking off when I'm not. This is my latest work, I feel that this summer I'll be very busy.

Yemaja is an Orisha of the ocean depths, she gives birth to all the fishes in the sea. I really feel attracted to this Orisha and I know she brings good things to my life.

The Moon Tarot Card.

Mercury is in retrograde right now in Pisces, and astrologically, this means that all sorts of things can occur. Old issues can be revealed, as in the case of one of my best friends, who's mate just told her her he fell in love with another woman.
Also technological problems can occur as in the case that my touch pad can't be disabled which means I have to shell out the money to get a keyboard. Good thing I work in a technology store. But it is annoying  right now because my cursor skips every time my wrist falls closer down to it.

Anyways, around this time there is a lot of foggy thinking, dreaming, illusions, but it's a great time to paint, so, considering my tendency to get caught up in the energy of each painting that I paint, I did realize that this period was an excellent time to paint the Moon.

I swear my cat is my crazy maker. While I was painting this painting he was digging through my plastic bags, clinging on my office chair, and mewing a heck of a lot. It was hard to pet him mostly because my hands were covered with paint.
My keyboard has paint finger prints on it. I guess that's bound to happen when you use your laptop as a display for the landscape that you're trying to paint.

I did quite a few studies on dragonfly wings, and also dancers, trying to get into the idea of what a fairy would look like. I started with something more illustrative in my smaller piece but then moved on to something more abstract.

I like to think I'm communicating with artist spirits as I paint. When I don't know what to do I ask them for the next step, and the answer comes to me. I know that's a little weird, but it works for me.