yesterday afternoon i went up to the creek and made 2 plein air gouaches. it was about 10° cooler than last time i went, which made it harder to focus; i had to stop & leave when i got too cold sitting on my little stool.
this second one is interesting in that the watercolor paper it was painted on was prepared with a light brown ink wash years earlier. both mikela and i love the taped area surrounding the image, with the ink splatters, so we’ll keep this one in our collection just as is.
the larger of the two: 10/31/22 plein air #1, is too busy; i was too cold & not totally in my groove.
so i think i’ll bring it over to the studio later this morning and do some collaging onto it, preserving the areas that work and covering the areas that don’t. stay tuned & let’s see what happens!
11:44 AM: over the past week or so, i’ve been perusing old works on paper, which badly in need of organizing. this morning i discovered a painting of KALI on 3 separate and connected sheets of paper. the entire image measures 182x48 cm. i tacked it up on the east wall of my studio & it’s quite imposing! here’s what is generally said about kali:
Kali, (Sanskrit: “She Who Is Black” or “She Who Is Death”) in Hinduism, goddess of time, doomsday, and death, or the black goddess (the feminine form of Sanskrit kala, “time-doomsday-death” or “black”)
Alongside being the Goddess of darkness, destruction, and death, Kali is also a symbol of Mother Nature because she is believed to be timeless and formless, representing the creation of life and the universe as well.
She is often associated with sexuality and violence but is also considered a strong mother figure and symbol of motherly love. Kali embodies shakti – feminine energy, creativity and fertility – and is an incarnation of Parvati, wife of the great Hindu god Shiva.
so what possesed me to make this painting, which clearly took a lot of time and attention? everything elso in the studio pales in comparison, so vivid are the colors. perhaps during the period i was deeply engaged with babaji, i was exploring the visuals of the hindu tradition and was so taken with the imagery that i just had to make a painting. i honestly can’t recall.
i will definitely need to protect her from the light, or the gouache colors will surely fade!
KALI, 182x48 cm. gouache on paper, likely date: 2000-2008