Opps!

How am I saying yes to yet another benefit? I’m going to blame it on Holly Muñoz, she’s not only a musician and songwriter but she’s a real sweet talker!  She thought it would be fun if the two of us got together and collaborated on a painting and a song for The Imagine Bus Project and their Finding Your Wings event coming up in December.

So we did! We shared poetry (Anders Nilsen, Emily Dickinson, Rabindranath Tagore) and photos of flamingos and angels with pink wings. Something good had to come out all that and so it has! Holly has already recorded a demo of her song Take It Go Flying! sometime between concert hops around the country (it’s SO beautiful!) and I’ve just begun working on Training Wings!

Here are some of the inspirations we drew from:

Photo I took of a  Flamingo of Oakland, loving the soft comfort of its pink feathers.

Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark……….Rabindranath Tagore

Antique magic lantern slides of Victorian angels with their heavenly pink wings.

Hope is the thing with feathers                                                                                                                       That perches in the soul,                                                                                                                                   And sings the tune without the words,                                                                                                           And never stops at all……………Emily Dickinson

Sketched in the outlines in oil directly on the canvas.

Layering thin washes of drippy oil.

Painting in placement of pink feathers and leather harness.

Ditching leather harness, it was looking limp and lifeless. A structured one might work but maybe too S&M?

Going for ribbon sashes, hoping they won’t look saccharine against the barbed wire.

Building up glazes, I’m looking for a sharp contrast between the dark and dangerous night and the hopeful pair of inviting wings.

OK, changed my mind again! I needed these wings to feel more self-reliant, like something you grow from within rather than depending on something you need to look outside of yourself for. That’s when I floated the idea of an anatomical heart past Holly – well, she was on her cell in El Paso I think – but she was on board!  Now it makes sense to me and I’m ready to let it dry and think up a new title ’cause “Training Wings” doesn’t cut it anymore!

What  about “Grow a Pair”?

Here’s the save the date for event: Imagine – Finding Your Wings