The Fox & my Tribute.
It started simply enough, the inspiration of this fox in a painting. I consistently want to try creating things that are different from other watercolor I have seen. I love the ethereal way watercolor creates a mood, but I also like bold colors and a bright orange fox and blue skies seemed a great way to celebrate the vibrance of watercolor painting, afterall, orange is my favorite color so why not right? I am learning that part of my voice is born in the inspiration of the artists that I love and this truly is moving in that direction. I love the bold colors that @Kristythepainter uses! She loves color and uses it in unexpected ways, I just did a sunflower painting in her style, emulation is part of how I grow, and it had pinks and purples in it in addition to the bold yellow we all know and love. I also love the oil paintings of @DimitraMilan and how she puts women and animals in paintings looking at eachother. She does this fun double exposure, or use of more than one image to create an incredible painting. I often watch her and wonder about doing similar things in watercolor. Someday I’ll do it in oil but my watercolor journey is further than my 1.5 oil paintings, ha ha.
I finished this piece about a month ago and titled it “Run with the Fox.” I have my bright bold colors and used somecollage paper, added a bit of a poem I found in an old book and a little of my own handwriting to bring in my own poetry. I even used some modeling paste to help me create the movement and the texture of the wind flowing behind the fox. Sharing a photo of it recently a friend said, “Oh, I love the movement!” And that was exactly what I was hoping for, people would experience this fox running across mountian fields, with no burdens just joy.
That is when it hit me, the significance of this choice anThis d where the tribute actually lies. This year, yesterday actually, was the 20th year since my father passed away. He was many things, but one of them was an outdoorsman. He hunted, birds and big game for food and fished as well. His love of the outdoors and nature in general was one of my favorite things about his and one that I often honor in my life as inherited from him. When I was a kid, we would often spend a Sunday afternoon on a drive, “scouting” places that he may go hunt. I would always be amazed at the number of animals he could identify when all I could spot were cows standing in a field. As I got older I wanted to spot animals like him, but inspite of intently staring out my window, still just cows. I would get so frutrated that my dad started teasing me by saying “Look Jod, deer!” I would quickly look his way only to find the same cows in a field. I finally asked him how he did it, how could he spot all these animals and all I could see was cows.
He explained to me that he wasn’t looking for specific animals, he was looking for movement, once he saw movement he could see what animal was there. Of course there were places I had to learn to look, rarely were those special animals (not cows) in the open field, I had to “learn to follow a tree line or look just next to bushes and ditches where animals could hide. And then it happened one day, out of the corner of my eye near some bushes in the distance I saw movement and was rewarded with a happy little fox running across the field. My heart was elated, I was 10, maybe 11 and I felt like I could fly as I called out, “Dad! Look, a Fox!” He knew how long and hard I had worked on how to do this skilld and his pride rang out in his voice as he said, “atta, girl! You did it!” Its funny the things that stick with you.
As I finished the painting I understood why I chose the fox in this more complex piece. It was the first animal I saw on my own and there was so much joy that my heart lept right along with that little guy. This is a nice story but it is also part of how I see the world, my relationship with the Lord. Watching is such a key function in the life of faith and in the life of an artist. I watch for what the Lord is doing in and around me, I watch for threats, and I watch for inspiration. Ultimately, I am watching for movement in my heart, my minds’ eye, and it is that place of watching that I rest. I am not trying to perform, to perfect, my posture is to humbly follow where I see him lead. When all I have to do is follow the pressure leaves, perfrmance falls by the wayside. It’s just me and my happy heart following along.
That’s why this is a tribute piece, for my dad, the seeds planted that ultimately brought forth a way of living that then brought forth this painting. I hope you enjoy it.
