Orin's Dream...

Here is the finished painting of Orin Scandrett's dream. Orin sent me the description of the powerful dream he had on the evening of his first of chemotherapy treatment.

This was a very special painting for me to make. I love the subject matter. It was also a very tricky painting to make because it's all about capturing someone else's experience. (Not to mention it has six animals in it that I have never painted before). Fortunately, I feel Orin and I have a similar attitude and approach toward life and this dream really resonated with me. I let his dream absorb into the pores of my skin and run around in the marrow of my bones for a while. This wasn't hard but when it came to making the painting I had to shake my hands really hard to force it out of my fingers. ...and I'm happy with the result.

The flat gold background here was Beth's idea. It was a last minute thing. I used a gold block printing ink that was left over a project years ago. (And it smelled toxic!) The painting was almost complete when I added this. I rolled it out with a brayer on the wood to make it completely flat and then wiped off with a wet rag the areas that had the animals and repainted the edges. I think this flat gold makes the painting. It acknowledges the spiritual. Like the gold leaf in Byzantine work. (With the Lion, it seems kind of Ethiopian).

Anyway, I'm copying the description of Orin's dream here in case you missed it in the earlier post:

I dreamed I was out in the middle of an open prairie (not like MN prairie but more like Africa…maybe the word would be Savanna.)
Standing in a circle around me were large animals…twice as big as life. In front of me on my right was a Lion, standing next to the lion was a rhinoceros with a white horn, next in the circle was a large bird (ostrich family…Emu?)… on my left next to the Lion was a brown bear, next in the circle a gorilla, next in the circle some kind of baboon like animal. I was surrounded by a complete circle of other animals but I can’t visually recall each of them right now.
In front of me behind the Lion was a beautiful bronze colored sunset arching across the horizon. The sun was not visible. It had already set. The animals were high-lighted and shadowed in browns and bronzes against the rays shining over the horizon.
Standing in the midst of this circle I felt about two feet tall.
Then, the Lion stepped forward and bowed his head. I reached out and touched his head. I will never forget the feeling of that moment. Then the Lion stepped back into the circle, turned around, and walked slowly off into the sunset. Next the rhinoceros stepped forward and bowed his head. I touched him. He stepped back into the circle, turned around and walked off into the sunset. This took place with each animal around the circle ending with the huge brown bear.
When they all had left, I spoke: “Wow all of God’s creatures care for me and are here to help me.” Then, a warm wonderful feeling flowed from my head down to my feet.
I woke.

Thank you for this experience, Orin. ... and Happy 80th Birthday!!! I wouldn't be surprised if you lived for 80 more.

I recommend reading Orin's book Lost Souls and Mad Saints about his years working people with severe mental illnesses and reconciling that with spirituality. It's an intense read. Available here:
Lost Souls and Mad Saints

Trip Through Gooseberry.

Jael Lang commissioned me to make a painting for her husband John for their anniversary which they celebrated yesterday. (...so it's now safe to post this today). I was happy to oblige. I’ve been friends with John Lang for over 20 years. We grew up together in North Minneapolis (....and for some reason both moved out of that area). I was even the best man at their wedding.

Jael asked for a painting about makng the journey through life with someone you love. She told me a story about a camping trip they took to Gooseberry Falls State Park on the North shore of Lake Superior, shortly before they were married.

They were hiking and decided to wander off of the main path on to what turned out to be an over grown deer trail. This lead to Gooseberry River. They jumped from rock to rock to the middle of the river.There they sat. It was beautiful and peaceful...  and fun.

In this painting I decided to catch them in the action of making their way out to the rock. Here they are helping one another. I wanted to acknowledge how maintaining a good relationship is active rather than passive.

I’ve been married for almost nine years and sometimes it is work. I have to be very conscious of what I do. (Like most people, I can easily turn into a jackass). Anyway, work is good... keeps you happy and healthy...

I have never been to Gooseberry Falls State Park before so I took Jael's suggestion and referenced pictures online. Of course it's beautiful. Much of the Gooseberry River has rocky banks and the water appears to move rapidly and mist and spray.

I intentionally made the water bluer than it appears in the photographs I referenced. In these pictures it's greenish brown. It is probably from silt on the bottom and from reflecting the color of the thick wooded areas around it. But I made the water blue with little yellow sun reflections. This seemed more appropriate to the content.

No one wants a painting about their relationship to be poop brown. Right?

In other news...

I am still working on Orin’s painting  but will finish it this week and will post it on Friday. Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions on the Panda Facebook Page. Upon consulting with him, Orin decided to go with seeing the animals from his point of view rather than seeing the human figure. This makes more since to me too.

Anyway, Thank You John and Jael for your friendship and for asking me to paint for you.

Preparing for a Dream....

This is a quick ink and watercolor sketch made as a study for a painting commissioned by Orin Scandrett. Orin has recently been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and has been receiving a series of Chemo treatments. He says that his prognosis is good with an 80% chance of remission and 50% chance of a cureOn the night of his first treatment, Orin had a "wonderful and powerful" dream. He asked me to paint it for him.

Here is Orin's dream in his own words:

"I dreamed I was out in the middle of an open prairie (not like MN prairie but more like Africa…maybe the word would be Savanna.)

Standing in a circle around me were large animals…twice as big as life. In front of me on my right was a Lion, standing next to the lion was a rhinoceros with a white horn, next in the circle was a large bird (ostrich family…Emu?)… on my left next to the Lion was a brown bear, next in the circle a gorilla, next in the circle some kind of baboon like animal. I was surrounded by a complete circle of other animals but I can’t visually recall each of them right now.

In front of me behind the Lion was a beautiful bronze colored sunset arching across the horizon. The sun was not visible. It had already set. The animals were high-lighted and shadowed in browns and bronzes against the rays shining over the horizon.

Standing in the midst of this circle I felt about two feet tall.

Then, the Lion stepped forward and bowed his head. I reached out and touched his head. I will never forget the feeling of that moment. Then the Lion stepped back into the circle, turned around, and walked slowly off into the sunset. Next the rhinoceros stepped forward and bowed his head. I touched him. He stepped back into the circle, turned around and walked off into the sunset. This took place with each animal around the circle ending with the huge brown bear.

When they all had left, I spoke: “Wow all of God’s creatures care for me and are here to help me.” Then, a warm wonderful feeling flowed from my head down to my feet."

I feel honored to be trusted with such an important dream.
The little watercolor painting above was made to generate ideas for composition and color. I'm going to run this by Orin and hopefully he will be able to give me some feedback about changes that can be made for the finished product.

Here is what I think I need to do:

1. Bring the horizon line lower.
2. Put the animals in the correct order according to his dream.
3. Work through the colors to get a consist scheme of browns and golds.
4. Look at reference pictures of the animals to make them more accurate.
5. ...and look at picture of African prairies.

I also question of whether or not the human figure should be in this painting. Since it was Orin's dream, he probably didn't actually see himself in it. Should this painting be what Orin saw with his eyes rather than from the prospective of someone looking on?

With all of this said, I'm going to consult Orin. The finished product may end up very different from what I have here, and I am completely fine with that.

Magic Garden... without the Prozac...

This one is a commission from Leon and Steph for their friends Sean and Laura on their wedding. Steph told me that Sean is a guitarist and an "audio geek" and Laura is a horticulturalist who loves gardening. Maybe a "plant-guitar hybrid" she first suggested.
Later Leon had a full plan for me. They wanted a magic garden of music.

My first thought was over-the-top psychedelic color drenched Prozac happy garden. ...but after talking more with Leon, I realized a less drug induced scene would suit the couple better.

Leon specifically asked for music notes. This is tough. It's hard to mix something even kind of realistic with graphic elements. This usually feels awkward... or like advertising. So, I tried to sneak the notes in as if they were physical entities in this garden. I thought of them as being like birds.

Originally, I also put a I put some G-Clef bugs on the red flowers in front. I painted them yellow and black like bees. I thought this was a cute. I showed this to Beth and she couldn't figure out what they were. They were so tiny. I covered them up and decided, once again, that some things just sound like a good idea...

In Other News:
Here is a link to the Haiku Bandit Society blog where someone wrote a haiku inspired by my fiddlehead fern painting. (You have to scroll down to the March 31 entry to read it.) This marks two haikus this year that have been written inspired by my work here. How many people can boast that? ....really... ... ?

Anyway:
Many thanks to Leon and Steph and many years to Laura and Sean!