Saradwyn Does Dali

To Be Carried All Unwilling Into A Nameless Future

 ...by way of Edward Bullmore, googleworthy NZ Artist, who also liked using amorphous human figures.

Dali has always been one of my favorites, and not just for the moustache.  He imported many of his paintings from the faraway land of Hypnagogia, summoning dreams into wakefulness with the chime of a falling spoon.
He was utterly and unapologetically absurd and made a living at it. Quite a talent in itself.

Those are definitely my feet, solid and earthen, though my toes are less mandragorean.
Those are my toothbrush-splatter stars, which find their way into damnear everything lately.
Those are my snapping pennants, because the future is a grand place.

"It may be that when we no longer know what to do,

we have come to our real work

and when we no longer know which way to go,

we have begun our real journey."

Wendell Berry

...which I found at another favorite blog, Donna Watson's Layers

This Shit Is Bananas

extend a Hand to a Friend in Kindness
for Life is a Far Journey across the Howling Desert

But seriously, great gift for the Gwen Stefani fan in your life. Buy it HERE

This is the first thing I've painted in many a day. 

Been slightly distracted by The Best Boyfriend Ever

he's actually much taller than this

and my new job, one whole day a week at the Spay & Neuter clinic. I wasn't sure I wanted back into non-profit, but hey. It addresses the source of so much suffering. And, the people there are not guano loco!

Into Battle!

sometimes it's best not to look

a stand-in for the Queen of Swords.

Because being absurd is sometimes easier than being brave, and more likely to confuse one's adversaries.

I actually painted this several years ago, in prognostical anticipation of my recent promotion: Oracle of the League of Outa-Space

I shall now direct my energies towards constructing the appropriate Funny Hat to announce my New Place in the World.

The Vanities (nekkidness warning)

A theme from last year's experiences: false friends.
The Crows are kinder; if they pick one's eyes out, we may be shocked, we may be disgusted, but we are not surprised. They are exactly as they should be, they behave as expected, without apology.

A cautionary tale - take notice of the people and situations around you. Trust your instincts. Don't die on the wrong road, lost, but within sight of your own Castle.

If I were doing art for a Tarot deck, this would be the Hanged Man.

anyone who thinks it'd be a good Tarot deck is invited to share how that can be accomplished...

Ye Olde medieval (sort of)

Had to grab these from my DA page as they were saved on the now-dead computer. Still have original/prints tho

Recent Doings

MUSE

Our Lady Elation, the Joy of Creation.

She rises from a bright Horizon, into Dark that is palpable, but not tangible,

on her gaudy gauzy Wings

another Chrysalis motif, from a sketch i did maybe a year ago

in the Moleskine which has become one of my favorite things

sketch



around-the-housecoat

Flannel and fleece and those little coins as buttons. Surely a prosperity charm will work better if i wear it.

A Mask

i made for a friend's altar to San Simon, or Maximon as he is called in the folk traditions;  a wooden deity, a troublemaker, a link between the underworld and Heaven. more here.

My Dad is an artist too

He sends me copies of ink drawings from his sketchbook. 

Sometimes i translate them into paintings...

(this background is a rather hideous pink in real life. i like it much better here.)

The Nail from Christ's Left Hand, TransSubstantiated from Iron to Wood

( i make up titles for them too)

All Together

Peace, Love, Joy (unfinished) Freedom, Absurdity.

New Painting

I have acquired a pineapple for contemplative purposes.

I painted this one in Lily's room a few years back as part of the undersea theme. BUT the grid effect isn't a very accurate pineapple surface.

Painting in Progress. It's not Fibonacci but i'm pleased with it thus far.

Stuff i did a long time ago

Detail; this is a painted bunting (male). We actually have a nesting pair near the house.

Autumn Lady

Reinga's Road. At the top is Cape Reinga Lighthouse, located at the northernmost point of New Zealand's North Island. Reinga means "Soul's Leap" as this was in the Maori tradition the point at which souls embarked to return to Hawai'iki, their ancestral homeland. As told to me by an informative pamphlet i found someplace touristy.

Summer Lady. I think this one got lost in a friend's unclaimed storage unit. I hope not, but maybe someone will find her & enjoy.

I miss making my big Lady Paintings! These are all 3x5 feet so I can't really keep them around, and of course nobody ever buys them. But there are plenty more inside my head, PLENTY MORE I TELL YA! There's a Dawn Lady and Midnight Lady, and you should see Spring Lady, she's AWWWESOME. I would very much like to paint her. I will barter & trade for useful things btw.

the Peach

Been working on this one for a while now. Still not entirely content with the center, but that's life, i suppose. Most of my paintings emit small clouds of bad poetry and this one's no exception, so here goes:

(bear in mind that this one is called Love because it's a peach & they're lovable. The pomegranate is Peace and the Pear is Freedom, because that just makes oodles of sense)

 ahem

Love is a dark Star and hides many meanings;

A poisoned Garden,

No one knows where its paths may lead

Or which fruits may be plucked without ruin.

Anyway now that's over with, my very favorite scene from the movies James and the Giant Peach, is when James makes a lantern from the crisps package & decorates the inside of it with pictures of himself being happy, & sets the whole thing adrift with his birthday candle that his parents gave him. A very poignant and brave thing to do, setting one's Hopes adrift into the world. Good movie, too, very wise.

This Guy

A small shaggy monster of indeterminate form peers out uncertainly from a bile-covered landscape. He looks familiar, though. I think he used to live under the bed.  Spring cleaning always makes me sentimental cuz little guys like him get swept up and flung out into the cold rainy world...Won't you take him in and give him a home?

(This painting is for sale. acrylic, 8x10, ORIGINAL and ONE OF A KIND, NOT ANOTHER ONE LIKE IT IN THE WORLD.

a unique creation of an artful soul for the ungodly low price of $25. or make an offer, i'm willing to trade)

Freedom

the fruit of the tree of Life bears a seed with both roots and wings

Saint Absurdity

with thanks to edgar allen poe and hieronymous bosch