We met this little bee, flat on her back in the middle of the sidewalk, early this morning.  I thought she was dead at first, but upon closer inspection; her legs were writhing and her tongue was completely extended.  It was awful.  She was too weak to grip my finger so I found a bit of leaf to see if she could grab that, and she did.  I suspected that she'd been poisoned, given her behavior, but thought to try anyway, just in case:  The grass around us was replete with droplets so I plucked a blade with three fat beads of water and offered it to her.  I wasn't hopeful, but she began to drink, and then to visibly improve.  Her limbs ceased writhing and by the third drop, she was buzzing her tiny wings at us.  Joy!

I didn't understand how it could have been dehydration to have laid her low, given all the water around us; Todd hypothesized that she'd been smacked silly by a blast of water from the sprinklers, earlier, and then she had become cold and dehydrated while dazed on the concrete.  She slowly finished all three drops of water; I was surprised that she could hold that much given that each drop had been the size of her head.  When she was strong enough to stand on her own, we left her resting in the sun on a fat flower nearby and continued on.

If you see a bee in distress, she may only need some sugar water or even just water on its own, or a safe place to rest and warm up.  Sometimes, all we need is a little help.

Photo by Todd Powers

"I've got an arrow, here"
12x9" acrylic and archival ink on canvas 2019
Portfolio Photography by Todd Powers
SOLD

This year's annual "Loteria!" exhibit with Cactus Gallery will be especially exciting, as it's to be hosted by The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles. I am psyched. Can't wait for the opening! Saturday September 21st, beginning 6pm on the mezzanine.

For anyone new to Loteria:  La loteria is a game of chance played like Bingo, only with pictures instead of numbers. The Loteria deck uses 54 images, including characters, instruments, flora, animalia, and objects which have become iconic and synonymous with Mexican culture.  Participating artists are asked to create works inspired by the images from chosen cards in the deck.  This exhibit is a lot of fun, popular with both artists and arts fans. 

This year I chose card #31 from the Loteria deck --Las Jaras, or The Arrows.  I've chosen this card once before; arrows have a special significance for me. 

Detail of my work from 2017's Loteria exhibit:

Detail, "Las Jaras" 12x9" acrylic on board, 2017 sold

"I've got an arrow here" is a line taken from a poem by Emily Dickinson:

This poem has been interpreted in a variety of ways over the years; some think that perhaps Dickinson meant to say that she was at first unwilling, to fall in love.  That interpretation resonates with me, though perhaps not in the usual ways our culture might approach the applications of love.  For me, personally:

I've got an arrow here; what I decide to do with that arrow is up to me. 
While drafting, I was mindful of the lines from the book of Isaiah;  "They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks."

I began with the under-painting of my 12x9" canvas, and then set it aside to dry while I drafted my line-work.

Shares of WIP on this work prompted several conversations about how easily a painting can seem to appear beneath the brush, compared with the reality of creating a work start-to-finish.  I decided for this blog, to share more of my messy process, and illustrate how much more work is actually involved.  Some artists, I'm sure, get it right start to finish, the first time, but I'm not one of them.  What I start with is rarely what I end with; I do a lot of thinking aloud on the paper, draft by draft.  There were nearly a dozen drafts for this painting; there was more than a little frustration on my part.

Line work has become a lot easier since I caved and began using inks now and again, in the place of fine brushes.  Even so; details can be slow going.  I have more control over the outcome when drawing with short strokes, and taking long rests in-between.  I sometimes miss the days when all I did was draw, all day long.  But then again; if I'd been able to keep drawing like that, I might never have let myself get into all the other genres I've come to love so well. And I would not trade all those other adventures, not even for a return to perfect health.

In the past I've used sharpie in my mixed-media applications; this time I'm working with archival ink.  It worked well for my purposes, not only for line-work but also for shading when mixed with water. 

My tremor, and other health issues, make detail work an ongoing challenge.  My styles have evolved a great deal as a result.  Every painting is a new adventure:  I lay my plans and then navigate my symptoms against the deadline.  Sometimes I get where I planned to go; other times I arrive somewhere completely unexpected. 

I strive to think of it as a collaboration, rather than a battle.  I bring my ideas, skills, and experiences to the easel, and the symptoms make their individual contributions.  Every work is uniquely shaped by the symptoms I am experiencing at the time.

Join us on Saturday, September 21st, for "Loteria!"with Cactus Gallery.  This exhibit will be hosted pop-up style, on the mezzanine of The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles.  Show starts at 6pm.  Hope to see you all there!