Day 187

Ginger, 5 x 5 inch oil on panel

© 2013 Kathleen Coy

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It's been a while since I've painted a cow. Cattle are always fun for me to paint - I just love their faces. This was painted from one of my many reference photos of cattle that I take whenever I'm driving around the back roads and happen to have my camera with me. I thought Ginger was a good name for her, with her pretty light red hide.

Day 186

At Rest, 5 x 7 inch oil on panel

© 2013 Kathleen Coy

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This was painted last week at my figure drawing group. I think this is my favorite little figurative oil sketch, so far. 

Day 185

Panel of Lions after Chauvet, 4 x 4 inch oil on panel

© 2013 Kathleen Coy

This wraps up my week of replica paintings after my favorite cave art. Like yesterdays painting, this is from Chauvet in France. Yes, Virginia, cave lions were real. Isn't it amazing to think that this cave wasn't discovered until 1994 and that these lions had been hidden for 30,000 years? And how many other wonders in the world are still waiting to be discovered? Look at the original below. This is a master work. My replica is but a tribute, as are the tattoos of these paintings that I carry on my body. My way of keeping their spirit with me, always.

Group shot:

Day 184

Panel of Horses after Chauvet, 4 x 4 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy

Day 4 of the week-long series of paintings after my favorite cave art. Chauvet was discovered in 1994 in southern France, and contains some of the oldest known artwork - possibly older than 30,000 years. It's also the first cave art where drawings of predators were found (we'll explore that tomorrow) - there are drawings of lions and bears (oh, my!) And check out the rhino! I love knowing that artists still create with the same primitive tool of charcoal sticks - burnt wood. My rendition doesn't hold a candle to the beauty and sensitivity of the original, but I think we both say the same thing with our work, what every one of wants to say - We were here...

Day 183

Charging Bull after Altamira, 4 x 4 inch oil on panel

© 2013 Kathleen Coy

Continuing my week of cave paintings, here is another one of my favorites, from the Altamira Cave in Spain. This piece was a joy for me to paint. I have great reverence for bulls - not only for their awesome strength and power, but the fact that bovines represent life deep in the human subconscious. At least, they do in mine. And I'm sure they did to the first artists who painted them so often. Being a Taurus probably doesn't hurt, either.

Day 182

Chinese Horse after Lascaux, 4 x 4 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy

In case you missed it, yesterdays post was about doing replicas of cave paintings this week, and what they mean to me. Today's painting is the "Chinese Horse" from the Lascaux cave in France. I was interested in trying to capture the textures of the cave walls, although it looks to me more like the horse is running in a landscape... but maybe that's what the original artist intended? 

Day 181

Cave Horse after Lascaux, 4 x 4 inch oil on panel

© 2013 Kathleen Coy

I have some commissions I need to finish, so I need subjects for daily paintings this week that won't take too much time. I decided to paint a weeks worth of little 4 x 4s after my favorite European cave art. Cave paintings have fascinated me as long as I can remember. They reach to the core of my being like no other art. I've tried to analyze why I feel this way. Could it be the connection the early people felt with the animals around them? (The same connection that I feel.) Could it be wonder at the power of art itself - the fact that art is so important, and needs to be expressed even though every day is a struggle just to stay alive? Could it be the mystical power of a painting to capture not only an idea, but the spirit as well, a way to keep it with you? Or could it be that many times I feel I can express myself with paint more than I can with words... I think it's all of the above. The reverence I feel for these paintings trumps any other art in history. They connect me with my primal heart, free to feel fully, without civilized constraints. This weeks paintings are my tribute...

Day 180

 

Seated Figure after Charcoal Sketch, 5 x 5 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy

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My figure drawing group has been on break, but it starts up again soon. I wanted to practice, so I painted this from a charcoal sketch I did at the group a few months ago. It was a little challenging to make up the colors from a drawing, but I had pretty good information from my sketch:

Day 179

Return Our Wings, 6 x 6 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy

I was in the mood to do a figurative piece, and was looking around on http://artists.pixelovely.com/practice-tools/figure-drawing/ for a pose that caught my eye, and this was it. Is there really any other shape that is as compelling, powerful, or precious as the female form? This is a theme I've been interested in exploring - capturing the power and emotion and movement of the human spirit with paint. We'll see what happens with this in the future, (there are so many things I want to paint!) but it will definitely be with my own models and photos. Still, this was a very enjoyable piece for me. The title is taken from from Jewel Mathieson's incredibly powerful poem, We Have Come to Be Danced:

We have come to be danced

not the pretty dance

not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance

but the claw our way back into the belly

of the sacred, sensual animal dance

the unhinged, unplugged, cat is out of its box dance

the holding the precious moment in the palms

of our hands and feet dance

We have come to be danced

not the jiffy booby, shake your booty for him dance

but the wring the sadness from our skin dance

the blow the chip off our shoulder dance

the slap the apology from our posture dance

We have come to be danced

not the monkey see, monkey do dance

one, two dance like you

one two three, dance like me dance

but the grave robber, tomb stalker

tearing scabs & scars open dance

the rub the rhythm raw against our souls dance

WE have come to be danced

not the nice invisible, self conscious shuffle

but the matted hair flying, voodoo mama

shaman shakin’ ancient bones dance

the strip us from our casings, return our wings

sharpen our claws & tongues dance

the shed dead cells and slip into

the luminous skin of love dance

We have come to be danced

not the hold our breath and wallow in the shallow end of the floor dance

but the meeting of the trinity: the body, breath & beat dance

the shout hallelujah from the top of our thighs dance

the mother may I?

yes you may take 10 giant leaps dance

the Olly Olly Oxen Free Free Free dance

the everyone can come to our heaven dance

We have come to be danced

where the kingdom’s collide

in the cathedral of flesh

to burn back into the light

to unravel, to play, to fly, to pray

to root in skin sanctuary

We have come to be danced

WE HAVE COME

Day 178

Cloud Study 2, 5 x 5 inch oil on panel

© 2013 Kathleen Coy

NFS

Ahhhhhh, I like this version MUCH better! Yesterdays palette knife version bugged me too much - I'm a realist painter at heart, and this version is what I had envisioned all along... While the palette knife version* had its charm, there was just too much going on with the knife strokes and thick paint all over the entire surface for my taste, at least for a smooth coated dog. However, I really love this mixture of brush and knife work -  the varying textures feel more restful to the eye. The background is all palette knife, along with a few areas of his neck, and those areas really stand out and are a nice transition that bring the knife and brushwork together. This is probably my favorite painting of Cloud to date. My little buddy, I love him so...

*I made some changes to the palette knife version if you want to check out yesterday's post. There are before and after pics.

Day 177

Cloud Palette Knife Study, 5 x 5 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy

NFS

I wanted to paint Cloud using only the palette knife. I'm not sure what I think of this painting, to be honest. I like it, but there's just SO much texture everywhere, especially on areas that I want to be smooth, like his eye. I am pleased with the amount of detail I was able to get with the knife on such a small panel (5 x 5 inches, a new size for me. I like it!) I'm going to paint it again and post the new version tomorrow, this time using a combination of brushwork and knife, more along the lines of the self-portrait I posted yesterday, and see which I like better. Stay tuned...

***UPDATE: My friend Sue ChurchGrant made some suggestions about breaking up the large mass of brick red with some blue. I think she was spot on, I'm much happier with it now, the texture on his face isn't so overwhelming. Below is the before: