Notebooks, and their inevitabe doodles

When I was very little, my stories were shared out loud. I came up with them on the spot, writing them  out loud, sharing them with those who were willing to listen. It was entertainment for me, and, in some sense, a way of bonding with the people around me. Stories were always running through my head. Following them, running after them, gathering up the fragments and trying to weave them into something tangible was always a natural impulse for me.

Continue after the jump for more words and a boatload of doodles!

the Lemon Quail!

Update: this piece has been sold, and is now unavailable for purchase!
Fly away, lemon bird, to your new home, and be free!

Is it a lemon?

Is it a quail?

Behold - it is a lemon quail!

A ceramic clay sculpture, by me. A work of genius, elegance, and beauty.

Not really. But this is pretty much the height of what I'm capable of when it comes to sculpture. I'm no natural talent when it comes to 3D works, that's for sure. And painting them is hard, because the colors look different before they go back to the fire, so I'm never entirely sure what it's going to look like and always have to cross my fingers a bit. The yellow looks really great, but I do wish I'd made some different choices with the accent colors. I think I would've liked a bolder green.

It's a lemon quail because when I was shaping the clay, trying to get it to look something like a bird, I thought it looked like a lemon. Turning it into a lemon bird seemed natural, so I went for a lemon quail. Why a quail? Because quails are great, and I'd been thinking about quails. Why a lemon? Because lemons are my favorite fruit. Lemons are unstoppable.

 

LEMONS

unidentified flying lemon

they're everywhere

they're invading

(p.s. if you don't remember what quails look like, you can click here to behold an image of one of the most glorious creatures on the planet. Here's one of a whole bunch of 'em. You're welcome.)

Works in progress: cardinals and falcons

Hello, oil paintings I've been chipping away at for the past two months! How are you doing?

Clearly, the lighting did not agree with my camera, so there is a great deal of glare, but you get the idea. Northern Cardinals, a bird you've probably seen many times! I certainly have. So when I paint them, I find I usually have to put some kind of spin on them! Like black and white, or strange patterns. This painting is reckless frustration finally breaking through its chains. I can't say much more, because right now I'm just staring at it and thinking about what I want to change when I work on it again!

Speaking of black and white paintings! I've had this idea since I finished my previous black and white piece. A vision of a bird in flight against the night sky, with a cartoon-ish crescent moon. I finally got around to painting it. Black and white's fun, so I was excited to return to it. The bird's a falcon, though viewers have called it a dove, which is perfectly alright. Again, I'm still just thinking about what I want to change!

These paintings are both nearly done. I've been alternating between them, switching whenever I get tired or want a change of pace. Between the two of them I've put in a good 16+ hours of work, spread out over those two months. Sizes are 24x30 and 18x36.