From Within Us

"From Within Us"

acrylic painted wooden birdhouse

7.5 x 7.25 x 5.5

2014

available HERE

Here's my contribution to Modern Eden's "Home" show; entitled "From Within Us".  The imagery is very personal to me; barn owls depicting aspects of life/death/birth, amongst human skulls and other bones.  One side has a juvenile barn owl, another a baby, and the front is the adult (parents).  

In this world, animals such as these magical owls have outlasted "The Uprights" (humans) who have destroyed each other with their savage wars and the creatures are left to a peaceful existence.

It was a fun challenge painting these wrap-around scenes on a three dimensional object; it was my first time doing so besides a nesting doll set several years ago.  I hope to do more three dimensional objects in the future, and hopefully take it even further to making my creatures three dimensional.....

Owl Masquerade

"Owl Masquerade"

acrylic, graphite and silver leaf on birch panel

8 x 10 inches, framed to 12 x 14 inches

2012

inquiries: corylou311(at)yahoo(dot)com

Here's my painting for "Incognito", a show curated by the wonderful Daisy Church.

It's this Saturday, at Mission Comics and Art in San Francisco.

Coming soon...Talisman!

My solo show is a month away!

Conjuring

"Conjuring"

acrylic on birch panel

16 x 20 inches

2012

I've been ignoring this blog for a while because I've been working my ass off in preparation for my August 11th solo show at Modern Eden Gallery, called "Talisman".

 As the name Talisman implies, this show is about the magical amulets typically worn around the neck which protect and help the wearer. I'm fascinated by these amulets, I have been interested in them since I was a kid.  I wanted to make a series incorporating them into my favorite animals' lives.

Here's a new finished piece called, "Conjuring". This one portrays a male fox who has lost his dear wife and is conjuring her spirit using her skull and the Magic Hexagram amulet.  I found online that "although it is not as famous as the pentagram, the hexagram has been used as a magical symbol for thousands of years.  It is frequently viewed as a form that can act as a portal to the spirit world.  As such, the the Magic Hexagram amulet is a great tool for anyone seeking to invoke or evoke spirits, angels or demons."

The barn owl also is assisting the husband fox with a heart-shaped Ouija planchette which bears the symbol of the pentacle.  Between the wife's ghostly image and the husband's solid one is the flower astilbe, which means "I'll still be waiting" in Floriography, the Victorian language of flower meanings.  Astilbe leaves float down from the sky around them.  Beside the husband fox are white tulips, which mean "lost love".

Augurium

"Augurium"

acrylic on birch panel

16 x 20 inches, plus frame

2012

For my August 11th solo show, Talisman at San Francisco's Modern Eden Gallery

call (415)956-3303 or email info@moderneden.com for inquiries

or corylou311(at)yahoo(dot)com 

I've been working on this painting for a while, and it's finally done!

It's called "Augurium", about the Ancient Roman practice of Augurs, whose main role was to interpret the will of the gods by studying the flight of the birds; whether they were flying in groups or alone, what noises they make as they fly, direction of flight and what kind of birds they were.  I found this and much more useful information on this subject on Wikipedia. 

Only some species of birds could yield valid signs, and the meanings would vary from species to species.  Among them were ravens, woodpeckers and owls, the ones I decided to picture here.

The curved object pictured here is the lituus, which was used as a symbol of office of the augurs to mark them out as a priestly group.

Auspicium would design the technical process of the operation, i.e. aves spicere (the Latin phrase included on the bottom frame of the painting), which means "looking at the birds".  His result would be the augurium, i.e. the determination , acknowledgement of the presence of the auges, the favour of the god(s), the intention and the final result of the whole operation.

I found this whole process to be utterly fascinating, and also added elements of floriography (the Victorian language of flowers) to the piece.  The irises represent "messages", the wild strawberries, "foresight" and "future promises" and the pear blossoms represent "hope, health, longevity" and "good government".

The talisman that the barn owl holds in it's mouth is the Fourth Pentacle of Mercury amulet which assists in acquiring knowledge of all things, including reading minds.

Here's the progress shots:

"Genus Species" Show

Here's some pictures from this weekend's "Genus, Species" at Modern Eden with my "Tyto Alba (Barn Owl)" painting.

It was so nice of them to give it such a great spot in the show.  It looks like a  beautiful space!

And here's a blog post from Eclectix about the show.

TONIGHT!

Tonight at Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco....

Sandra Yagi's "Primal Renderings" and "Genus, Species", the group show I have this piece in:

"Tyto Alba (Barn Owl)"

acrylic on birch panel

8 x 10 inches, framed

$300.00

Inquiries on this piece please call 415.956.3303 or email info@moderneden.com

See www.moderneden.com for more about the gallery

Tyto Alba

"Tyto Alba (Barn Owl)"

acrylic on birch panel

8 x 10 inches, framed

2011

available HERE

Here's my finished piece for Modern Eden Gallery's "Species, Genus" group show.  I chose the magnificent barn owl, which I portrayed in a few different views for this piece.  And yes, that's a barn owl skull that the large one is perched upon.

The opening will be Saturday, November 12th, 7-10PM

Modern Eden Gallery

403 Francisco St

San Francisco, CA 

and will run thru December 4th, 2011

Inquiries on this piece please call 415.956.3303 or email info@moderneden.com

See www.moderneden.com for more about the gallery

And here's the progress shots again on this painting...

New Painting Progress

Here's some pics from the new piece I'm working on for Modern Eden's November show, "Genus, Species".  It's not finished yet, but it's getting there!

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!**