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"She seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if she had surprised a butterfly in the Winter woods"
(edith wharton)


Sunday 20 September 2009

I think I have done it! unveiling my new piece of art....

meditation is helping me alot the past few days.. either that or I am really listening to my in-tuition...
the other night I was just sitting in front of my altar, trying not to expect any ground moving moments.. just trying to focus on my breathing and stilling my mind.. when I heard 'paint your own story' and I saw, once again, the Goddess shape that I wanted so desperately to paint.. and it was all in ochre and Aboriginal style.. and I knew then, that I had been trying to paint Ruth's story..not mine. Her art was to inspire me, not for me to copy...

so I got up and sketched what I knew I had to paint, what I felt that I had to paint

and left it at that.

talking to dutch husband about his mother's art, I asked if she had ever had difficulty with water colours.. and he said he remembered her once saying it was the most difficult medium and she tried to stay away from it.. preferring to work with oils.. so that made me feel a little less incompetent.

I had been using a small set of tube watercolours and they just did not work for me.. and I remembered that somewhere,

I had a stash of dry pallette watercolours that Soph had used in high school

so I seeked them out, sat down, brush in hand and I started..

the paints flowed quite smoothly..
the stress levels were still a little high, so I centred myself, put Shamanic Dream on and went with the flow of that trance music...

of course, I didn't know when to stop with the background and I am not sure if I am 100% happy with it..

and not sure if I like the pen outline that I did nor the colourful background, but it does make my soul smile when I look at it.. so I guess that is pretty good for a first attempt.

29 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Lovely! But don't stop at just one painting!

Tori said...

For all it's worth, I think it's beautiful! The drawing itself is lovely, but the color adds something else to it that seems... right. I love watercolors. They blend so effortlessly and add depth to the painting because of the different shades you end up with.

Ravenoak said...

I can't use water colours either and I was just thinking recently that I should try the dry palette variety.

I think that image is beautiful Robyn.
C
XX

Janet said...

Don't second-guess yourself! She's beautiful!!! I hope you feel more comfortable with painting because I'm sure there are lots more pictures hidden inside of you.

Tracy said...

It looks fabulous, Robyn!

Grammy said...

That is a wonderful painting.

Rose said...

She is beautiful and your painting is full of soul! XXX

Jane Le Galloudec said...

and you said you couldn't paint! It's fab! Full of innocence and joy and delight... I love it!

laoi gaul~williams said...

oh robyn its wonderful!
i have always used water color while my dad is an oil painter (funnily i thought of you and DH today...go look at my blog!)

mel said...

What a beautiful painting - the colours make the whole thing come alive!! I love it!!

Who said they couldn't paint?

My only experience with watercolours is using watercolour pencils..which is probably similar to your dry palette variety...good for a beginner such as myself. I really LOVE watercolour..it's so dreamy and ethereal.....

you rock!

~love~

A bird in the hand said...

If you could just still that inner critic, your smile would turn into a huge "yes!!!" expression. xoxo

Laurie said...

Robyn!
Your Goddess is beautiful! YOu should be so proud!I should try the dry pallette I have the kind in the tubes and its sooo messy.
Whenever I try to paint a Goddess, she always ends up looking like a mermaid:)

Marisa said...

It's wonderful and the fact that you didn't try to copy someone else's style make it even better.

Manchester Lass, Now and Then said...

Just beautiful Robyn, you should feel very proud of this soulful piece of artwork. Linda xoxo

Anonymous said...

Wonderful Robyn! Keep going!

Suzi Smith said...

No one would know it was a 'first' if you hadn't said... she's beautiful!

Genie Sea said...

Robyn! I adore this! It's perfect just the way it is. It oozes magic :)

Meredith said...

Gorgeous Goddess! I am so proud of you, Robyn :)

I absolutely adore the spiral on her belly... you know, spirals are personal symbols for me, and I see they speak to your artist, too. Her colors are so lovely...

For what it's worth, I took a watercolor class once, and decided I didn't like the medium so much. I like the look of it very much, especially the transparent colors -- but I didn't like to do it, didn't want to invest the time to learn the techniques well. And my prof did say watercolors are hardest to learn.

(My sis, who just had her first gallery show last year, is 100% untrained and uses acrylics, swears they're easiest of all and don't require patience like oils, you can just go with the flow. Plus, they're not so expensive as oils...)

Tinker said...

She's beautiful, Robyn! Keep on listening to your heart~xox

Wendy said...

I love, love, love it!!! The colours are soft, yet vibrant. The image round and feminine, and I too like the magic spiral in her center. Beautiful work, Robyn.

Wendy said...

I forgot to say I love the heart up on top of her head too!
Hugs

Serena Lewis said...

BRAVO!! You did it and your Goddess painting turned out beautiful, Robyn! I hope we will be seeing more from you ~ :)

Serena Lewis said...

Btw, I've heard that watercolours are a very unforgiving medium to work with though I've never tried them myself. I love my acrylics!

Anonymous said...

Its WONDERFUL! You did an amazing job, and watercolors are hard to work with.

gma said...

Beautiful! I love all the details you've added. Many of us have seen and painted the Goddess. Each painting is unique even though the shape is similar.
xx

Anonymous said...

That's gorgeous. You should sell these! Amazing!

Ruth said...

I think she's lovely Robyn - and no, you haven't copied me. I can see how the images are related yes, but this is your own interpretation. And maybe we are tapping into the same energy - the spirals are very important in my work too. They seem to represent some kind of awakening earth energy for me - that is flowing from us and through us.

Anonymous said...

This definitely makes me smile. So much that I had to comment again. Beautiful!

Kim Campbell said...

I adore it Robyn! I like the outline especially aroung her cape. I also like how you represented the heart above her head and the spiral in her womb.