New Website!!

Did I mention my super amazing friend Shanna took new photos and made me a new website???  Maybe I did already, but I'll say it again:
http://www.raraavisart.com/

For those of you that can't handle change and don't know how to spell or pronounce Rara Avis, I will soon be mirroring it to my old site name:

http://www.rarebirdart.net/

It may take a few days, so just be patient.

Dancing on Golden Eggshells in the Rain...Especially Created for Shanna

"My painting!! Finally!" Shanna exclaimed as I lugged the 50 inch long, 2 years overdue painting  into her  Morrocan inspired home.  She had tried to stuff it into her teeny tiny VW convertible the night before...fearful I would say I wasn't finished for another year, but it just wouldn't fit.  It may actually be 3 years overdue, but I'm trying to keep that hush hush.  I wanted this painting to be so personal yet so perfect for her home that I gave myself paralysis.  I have known all along what I wanted to paint, but I have issues with small decisions and completion.  I am overcoming these issues and fears with the invaluable help of my dear friend, Shanna.  I truly cannot thank her enough.  Her support and belief in me has gone above and beyond.  I am so very blessed to have her friendship.  This past year hasn't been easy on either of us and has surely tested us down to our souls.

I won't go into every personal meaning of this painting, but the intentionally long title should say quite a bit.  I tried to push myself again with more texture and material experimentation....so, I just have to say, those are real eggshells people!  I also used tiny metal and glass spheres and various mediums.  Several of my usual motifs are there: nature and growth, movement and freedom, awakening and light.  Shanna especially loves butterflies, so we've got those fluttering about..  And, when you turn off the lights, you'll see the fireflies.

Shanna broke into my home and took these wonderful pictures as well as many new better ones!  They turned out so great....you can see more by checking out my new website Shanna created for me: http://www.raraavisart.com/

Anne's Tree

My dear Aunt Anne passed away this past Saturday of lung cancer.  She was both extremely talented and stubbornly ornery.  Her art quilts were a sight to behold, if you did indeed get a chance to see them. She hid them away as fast as she worked on them.  Like me, her artwork was "not quite finished, not yet good enough."  We shared a type of fear of showing things off.  But she believed in me.  Whenever I showed her a piece I had been working on, she'd always say something in a feisty possesive tone like, "That one is miiine!".  Well, the painting above truly was hers.  It hangs above the mantle in my aunt and uncle's living room and I'd like to think this first of my tree ladies watched over her and kept her at peace during my aunt's last days...at least I hope it did.

My aunt had quit smoking many years ago, but I guess it just wasn't soon enough.  I have a love/hate relationship with smoking.  I dearly love so many of my friends and family that smoke...but I truly hate it.  I don't judge anyone that smokes (I have my own bad habits)...but I do wish they would take a moment to reconsider.
Aunt Anne, you will be remembered fondly.