Making Sense of It All

I've always had people around me. I see them in faces in leaves and in folds of curtains. New companions join me even today: faces in the bathroom floor's marbling, and many crowded in my pile of wood scraps. They seem to be involved in whatever they're doing and don't mind me observing them.

Woman with windblown hair

Sometimes I keep a sub-section in my wood scrap pile of pieces that remind me of certain things. Usually casualties from projects that hit a bump somewhere in the creative process and got tossed aside. But even then, when I look through that pile, I see something else yet again.

Bird waiting to fly

For example, this piece (left) started as the head of a woman in the wind. Was she going for a motorcycle ride?
But when I rediscovered her (right), she had turned into a bird.
When giving it a little thought, I wonder if it was some unspoken message. Was I missing the birds this winter? Or was I observing a fairytale: did she wish to become a bird and was waiting for the chance to fly.

Fairy Tales and Folk Art

I'd like to do a whole theme of favorite fairy tales someday when there are no deadlines. Is that Neverland? Guess Frog Hollow's 'Grimm's Fairy Tales' show is still on my mind. (blog posts Sept. 8 and 15, 2012)

The new subject now for the Framers Market's Gallery show (November 2, '12) is 'Tweets.' Will it only be about birds?  Many ideas are flying, and I need one to land. In the meantime, I did this small painting that covers both:

'Fly By Night'   acrylic on canvas         ©robinrkent

The idea came from my memory of an Andersen's fairy tales illustration.
So convenient that my mother read while I stared at the illustrations. I looked forward to pages that displayed them.
I don't think being read to helped her goal of teaching me to read, but really helped my studio arts education.
The illustration style from those old children's books held me. They had a mystical yet ominous style I still love. Was life harder? Childhood short, and reality bleak. Maybe the candy colors of today are just illusions.