The Wedding of Mrs. Fox

"The Wedding of Mrs. Fox"

acrylic on birch panel

5 x 7 inches, framed

2011

inquiries: corylou311(at)yahoo(dot)com

I found this synopsis on Wikipedia:

 In one variant, Mr. Fox feigns death to test his wife's fidelity; in the other, he actually dies. Many suitors arrive. Mrs. Fox rejects them: in the first variant because while they are foxes they do not have the nine tails of her husband, and in the second, because they are wolves, bears, etc. and do not look like her dead husband.

One suitor arrives who does resemble him, and a wedding is held. If Mr. Fox feigned death, he arises and drives them out all.  

The word for "tail" used has an obscene meaning to make her preference clear.

I was very eager to make a painting about this story because I had been dying to paint a fox, as I've never painted one before.  I wanted these small paintings to resemble the illustrations that accompanied stories my parents read to me as a child, but with my own style as well.  I'll be revealing more of them soon.

This piece has Mrs. Fox, and a ghostly image of her husband (with three of his nine "obscene" tails pictured!) and his skull, a pink rose which signifies grace, and a purple rose representing sorrow.

Jareth's Doppelganger

"Jareth's Doppelganger"

Labyrinth tribute

11 x 14 inches, 16 x 19 inches framed size

acrylic on birch panel

2011

SOLD

This painting is for Seaside California's Alternative Gallery 's "Guardians" show, which will also feature the beautiful work of Matt Linares and opens October 14th.

This is my second tribute painting to Labyrinth, one of my most favorite movies of childhood and teenage-hood.  I had always loved Jim Henson's muppets as a child, but adding my idol of idols David Bowie to the mix was simply sensory overload in the best possible way.  As a Bowie-obsessed teenager, I watched Labyrinth almost on a constant loop.

The imagery in this painting depicts Jareth (Bowie) in his barn owl form with his double staring intently back at him.  One Jareth balances upon the dream-telling, juggling crystal balls while holding the 13 hour clock in his beak.  Thirteen hours was the amount of time Jareth gave Sarah to solve the Labyrinth before he made her brother his forever.

The other Jareth perches atop the magical peach that bewitched Sarah into the Masquerade scene, and holds one of the masks in his beak.  This scene was always my favorite part of the movie, and I now see how it is a metaphor for childhood emerging into adulthood. 

Since Jareth's character seems to be describable as a duel personality, I wanted these two owls to represent that duality, but to also represent both simultaneously, as if one isn't just good and one isn't just evil, they are both, and just as complex as Jareth's character in the movie.

**More to come about this show and my other included pieces!**

Cinderella's Doves

"Cinderella's Doves"

acrylic on birch panel

11 x 14 inches

2011

SOLD

Like I said before, in the original story of Cinderella as told by the Brothers Grimm, Cinderella wept upon her mother's grave, and up from the tears grew a tree, and in the tree were these doves. And when Cinderella finally married her prince, the doves took revenge on the two evil stepsisters for their cruelty and gouged their eyes out, leaving them blind.

Also, I added lavender to rest in the sister's eye sockets, which in Victorian flower language represents devotion.  As in, the doves' devotion to Cinderella.  

I'm very excited for this show and am painting furiously, like I've never painted before, to get these pieces finished for the show.

This theme is one I came up with in cooperation with the fantastic owners of the gallery, and it's one that I feel suits my work very well.  These stories are both brutal and beautiful, which is how I like to describe my own style of work.

The title, "Grimm Tales" obviously refers the Brothers Grimm, but I also wanted "grim" to reference the metal phrase "That's grim".  So there's my musical influence again.  

By the way, I've been very inspired by the music of Dimmu Borgir and Amon Amarth for these pieces (they keep me going!)

More to come very soon!

TONIGHT The Lead Gets Out!

"Little Bat" 

acrylic on birch panel 

10 x 12 inches, framed 

for Get the Lead Out III 

SOLD

"Little Bat" (line study)

graphite on paper 

11 x 13.5 inches, framed 

for Get the Lead Out III 

SOLD

TONIGHT IN SEATTLE, HEAD OUT AND "GET THE LEAD OUT"!

Little Bat

"Little Bat" 

acrylic on birch panel 

10 x 12 inches, framed 

for Get the Lead Out III 

SOLD

"Little Bat" (line study)

graphite on paper 

11 x 13.5 inches, framed 

for Get the Lead Out III 

SOLD

Here's my two pieces for "Get The Lead Out III"  which will be:

Friday, September 9th, 2011

6pm-9pm

Echo Echo Gallery, Seattle

8537 Greenwood Ave

Seattle, WA 98103

The curator, Ally Takeuchi is currently taking pre-show offers on the pieces, so if you're interested, please don't hesitate to contact her.  You'll make my 91 degree day.

I love how adorable this bat came out, I don't usually make paintings that are just cute without a skull or something, so that was a bit of a challenge for me.

And I love the little drawing with the matte and frame.  The matte was another departure for me, which I hope to utilize again in the future.


Ah, well, no time to rest, I must get back to painting.  I've got some big things in the making, and not even this ninety-one degree day in Buffalo will let me rest.

Fortunately I've got my Clamato/Blue Light/lime juice mixture to keep me right.