I decided I needed to start writing about the deeper meaning behind my paintings and I'm going to start with today's painting "PoP".

I've been feeling such deep sadness about our world since visiting my mom last weekend in Calgary, Alberta and one of the ways I process feelings and get them out is by painting them.

Before beginning this painting all I could envision was darkness and spikes plus I wanted to tie it in with my recent Spirit Animal Series. So I started, as usual with a face and drew it with a bamboo sketch pen that creates a nice, scratchy line. (Oh ya, and by the way I'm also painting with my non-dominant hand). The darkness I felt inside got expressed in the dark, flowing paint outlining her body. Yet in this darkness is light and hope as expressed in the yellow rays extending out from her head. From there I tapped into her spirit animal which turned out to be a red and purple bird. But this bird wanted company. (And it's good feng shui ya know, if you have a painting in your home that depicts a couple...it creates good energy for couples), From there I could see a moon/circle in the sky but when I finished painting it I see that it wants to become a moon-flower so I add petals or rays extending out from it.

In the end, this painting expresses the dark AND the light which is appropriate for this time of year as we are entering the dark time of year (in the Northern Hemisphere) at Hallow's Eve or Samhain, also known as the Celtic New Year.

You can purchase PoP below!