Every Painting Has Its Unique Story
Welcome to my art blog. As an artist my intension is to use this space to inspire my viewers to take a longer moment to examine the pieces in my online gallery and to learn what inspired me to paint that picture. Each painting has a unique story behind its origins. Let me start with the story behind my oil painting, A Bison with a Bird, and some lessons I learned as I worked on this piece.
I have long desired to paint a series of North American Buffalo. I truly admire these huge creatures for their strength, their massive bodies, and their environments. As you will learn, landscapes play a large role in my art–and I love sticking a bison in it somewhere. So, a year ago, I embarked on a 30-day challenge: to sketch a bison every day for 30 days. My purpose was to get familiar with the anatomy and colors of the bison. Well, I regret to say, I did not meet my goal in that challenge. However, I did sketch eleven charcoal drawings and have been working my way through that stack, painting the most inspiring ones in oil paints on canvas. I now have five paintings nearly completed-two of which are posted in my online gallery, and one in a local fine art gallery in my city: Bella Art & Frame (https://www.bellaartandframe.com)
Here’s my first charcoal sketch.
I don’t know about you, but titling a piece of finished art is always a quandary for me. I feel the title should not only introduce the painting, but somehow, it needs to tell a little bit of the story that may draw the viewer into the painting. And of course, it must sound ‘cool’. Well, on the day I was getting this finished painting ready for an art show, that’s when it happened! A FLASH blitzed through my brain: a new title entered my mind: my thoughts said: “It should be titled “Never Alone“. What? I argued with myself, as suddenly, the simple title: “A Bison and a Bird” did not satisfy my heart—I felt it did not declare the greater story in this painting.
Standing back a few feet from my painting, I studied it now with fresh eyes. My train of thought ran along these lines: here’s a lone bison standing in a field of wildflowers; a solitary bird is perched on the bison’s hump. Mmmmm, I thought as I went a little deeper in my contemplations: Neither are truly alone. The birdie had a big wooly companion. The big wooly bison had a tiny, feathered companion-each complimenting the other. This little fowl finds in the bison a much needed source for his daily bread (or should I say daily bugs – the insects feeding off the flesh of this beast, pestering and punishing the bison incessantly). And conversely the bison finds in his birdie a welcome companion, not only relieving him of some of his unwanted parasites, but all the while singing his birdie songs and chirping the time away as he grazes on the big, lonely prairie. Together, they find peace, coexisting in the vast field of wildflowers and buffalo grasses in the heart of Colorado.
I wish it were that easy for we humans!
Here are a few lessons I’ve learned from my Bison with a Bird! I hope you like them.
Appreciate your companions – they could fly away at any moment.
Be Kind – help where ever you can to get rid of pests!
Be Fearless – you are never entirely alone – there is strength in numbers.
Don’t forget to smell the flowers all around you, and lastly,
Sing your heart out – even if your audience is just one.
Have a blessed day,
Linda
