Moody Birds

I started this series to commemorate the giant Easter egg I painted (see Egg-mania post). It was named Moody Birds at the onset simply because the tones of my color palette made me feel emotional, they were calming and introspective. Other than knowing what birds I wanted to paint, I just painted what I felt, and reflected later as I named each of them.

As I scoured my brain to name each bird, nothing really felt right. I took a step back and remembered these are my Moody Birds, and knew the name would need to come from my heart, not my mind, so I asked myself – what do these make me feel? What was my mood when I created them? In turn, I realized these are a direct reflection of the feelings I had towards myself during the great egg event.

The Fierce Peacock – She’s a powerful being, symbolic of strength and tenacity. The encircling light and wind represents change, a force that aims to knock her off her perch. But she stands strong, making her presence known. She is undisturbed by the swirling movement, she becomes – she is, more powerful than the winds. She faces the changes fiercely.

“FIERCE”

The peacock was the centerpiece of the egg, so she had a definite spot in this series. The theme of the egg itself was similar with swirling movement, the winds carrying the rebirth of spring throughout the painting. If you read Egg-mania, you’ll know the original design of the egg was different from the final product. The changes I made were fluent, and in the moment. I went into it with one idea, but immediately started without a plan. With the fierce peacock at my side, I didn’t let the constant change and uncertainty fail me, instead I powered through without hesitation.

The Unruffled Lilac Breasted Roller – She’s perched on the highest branch, above the chaos and noise below. It’s peaceful here. She’s free of worry, free of constraints. She is still, present in this moment of tranquility. She closes her eyes for a moment to breathe in the freshness of the air and the softness of the breeze. She looks ahead with clarity. The path is clear ahead, her heart is open. She is ready to move forward, unruffled by the world below.

“UNRUFFLED”

When I’m creating, I get in a zone of extreme focus. If you’re an artist, you know what I’m talking about. You somehow shut the world off around you and everything is clear. It’s a sort of therapy, as most artists would tell you. I become so focused that I don’t even realize how much time passes or how many hours I’ve been standing, before I “snap out of it”. That’s what this painting represents for me, being above the pressure, above the interruptions, so not to lose focus. This bird was my favorite on the egg, I love how she sits happily in her bright colors. She had a definite place in the series.

The Poised Flamingo – The evening is calm, the night begins to whisper around her. She gracefully emerges alone, her fears lost in the grassy plains. She pauses, standing taller. Her strength and confidence illuminate the evening. She is calm, collected and poised.

“POISE”

The evening that the egg arrived, I knew I needed to start painting right away if I wanted to stay on schedule. I closed the garage door behind me and sat with the egg, trying to feel my way to a starting point. Again, with my original idea out the window, I just trusted my gut and started, choosing not to be afraid of the unknown. The flamingo didn’t make it on the egg, but she is in the series because after I laid the base that night, I looked at it and thought a flamingo could be a good choice of bird. In the end I stuck with the peacock, but still felt the need to bring the alternative ending to life.

The Hopeful Blue Bird – She has a place that brings her joy. Somewhere she can return to whenever she needs to be re-grounded. She is rooted here. She comes here to reflect on her past, and dream of her future. She is hopeful.

“Hopeful”

As I wrote in Egg-mania, this experience rekindled my love for painting and inspired new ideas for future projects. I feel like I got out of my artistic rut. The reason for the bluebird in this series, is that she was the centerpiece bird on my original design. However, after seeing the size of the egg, I decided I would need a much bigger bird! The place the bluebird goes to is a metaphor for that zone I mentioned in Unruffled. I feel grounded coming out of the zone, like I’ve reconnected a piece my soul. This experience not only resparked my passion, but resparked my confidence to keep moving forward with this thing called art.

#art #painting #birds #purpose #artist