One of the techniques I’ve been exploring is to create pieces with a stained-glass feel to them. Within these pieces, I like to include what I think of as “islands of reality”–areas that are more realistically drawn. I’d love to say I had some kind of lofty goal in mind when I headed in this direction. The truth, though, is that I often draw geometrical patterns during meetings at work. It helps me focus. Then I like to color in the shapes. This is considerably more satisfying with colored pencil, however, because I end up with an entire picture, rather than random patches interspersed with notes.
As for the subject and color choice, this has been a difficult winter with record snows. I found myself craving spring flowers in February–purple crocuses are a favorite. I considered doing a piece with flowers, but while I enjoy looking at flowers, I don’t generally feel compelled to center my art on them. Maybe because Georgia O’Keefe’s work is so amazing that nothing I do feels adequate.
Anyway, my neurotic hangups as an artist aside, I wanted to use purples and blues and bold colors, but didn’t have a subject until I was listening to a song called “Waters of March.” The version I know and love is sung by Art Garfunkel:
One of the stanzas is:
Afloat, adrift, aflight, awing
A hawk, a quail, the promise of spring
And the riverbank talks of the waters of March
It’s the promise of life, it’s the joy in your heart
When I heard that, I saw a Canada goose flying in my mind, and the picture followed. I was curious about the song’s lyrics, and when I Googled, I learned that the original song is in Portuguese and was written by a Brazillian songwriter named Antonio Carlos Jobim. It turns out that Jobim’s original lyrics are about the fall rainy season, since Brazil is south of the equator. But when he wrote the English version of the lyrics, he changed the season to spring, since that version was intended for those of us living north of the equator. Thought that was a fascinating bit of information about a wonderful song.
