Beauty In Unknown- a NEW Painting

Beauty In Unknown. Original (SOLD).
Prints available in my shop.

This bear started out as a lion and evolved into a girl before finding itself as a black bear.

It always seems that when I am not sure what character to paint, I go back to painting whatever character I had painted last.

And in this case, I had last painted a lion.

A few weeks had already passed, which is pretty unusual. Normally the art is just gushing out of me. 

But on my recent trip to California, I found I just had no inspiration to do artwork. I could only write.

Still, I tried to paint. And so this piece started as a flowering lion.

Beauty In Unknown. Original (SOLD).
Prints available in my shop.

All of my painting inspiration came rushing back as soon as I returned home to springtime in Wisconsin.

And again, since the two pieces I did finish in California were both girls, I turned my lion into a girl.

Yet it wasn't until I got completely frustrated with this piece, finding it so ugly I didn't care if I ruined it, that I then splattered it with india ink.

And from there the black and white bear came out of the canvas and got its story...

A girl in resistance grows a bear nose and ears, turning black and white while the world around her vibrates with color and meaning.

...............

ps. I had an extraordinary time teaching with Mindy Lacefield and Danielle Daniel this last week... I can't wait to share everything with you soon!