6

'Alive'

(Acrylic on 8x24 stretched canvas)

I don't even know where to begin with the story of 'Alive'.  I think I will start with where the idea for it's basic design came from. There are these vines that are all over Portland. They grow on fences and cement or rock walls. I have no idea whet they are called, but they are everywhere! The vines themselves are bare in the winter. They look a bit like dried sticks. Instead of gowing up, these vines grow sideways, usually stretching towards the East, or so I've noticed. They are thin, and sqiggly, they intertwine and weave across whatever surface they are attached to. In the winter, it makes the rock walls look like they are filled with cracks. When the spring rolls around, leaves start to sprout off of the vines. They start as small reddish leaves and slowly grow larger and more full as we get closer to summer. Once the leaves are full grown, they turn this beautiful green shade! Then, as we near the fall, they turn red again, dry, fall off, and then winter hits and we are back to dried sticks. These vines just really amaze me. Their life cycle makes a complete circle throughout the entire year. Even when they look dead, they are very much alive!

So, it was time to paint! I decided to listen to botrh of Omnia's cds while painting this, something about the celtic sound really grabbed me and put me in the mood to sling some paint. I knew that I wanted a creamy, yellowish background, so, I layed that down first. I then chose to blow on the lighter colored leaves. I mixed up a bit of Napa Red and True Burgandy for that color, as it resembled the reddish hue of the new leaves on those vines. Since I wanted the leaves to all appear to be reaching towards the smae direction, I chose to turn the canvas on it's end and blow the designs downward. I added a bit of black to my red color to get that deeper purple hue, and added my second layer of leaves in the same manner. I left the canvas in it's vertical position on my easel and let it dry. I went back to it a bit later, flipped it horizontally to add in the vines, but it just didn't look right to me.  So, I kept it vertical and added the vines that way. I actually added them from the bottom up, instead of starting at the top.

So, I'm listening to Omnia, and everytime this one song plays, I find that I've stopped painting and am just checking out my progress. When I realized what I was doing, I instatnly focused on the song and it's lyrics.

"Hot like the sun
Wet like the rain
Green like the leaves
Life is a game
Stars in my head
Shine moon shine
Everything's cool
And I feel fine

Can you touch
The root that feed us
Can you hear
The words that i say
Can you feel
The music move you
Can you feel alive today"

There is a very strong message in this song that I think we all need to pay some attention to. Too many of us get in the cycle of; wake up, go to work, go home, eat, sleep, repeat...We need to stop and smell the roses, we need to remember that we are alive and just simple FEEL that! As I was thikning about that message, I got this image of one of my faeries. Her wings matched the plant that she calls home so that she can silently watch all of us and make sure that we are living our lives to the fullest. She never forgets how very alive she is. Even though she has wings and can soar towards the heavens, she still chooses to take a diving leap from her perch towards the ground. She just closes her eyes and enjoys the feel of the wind rushing by her body. She releases her soul abd just.....IS.....she is simply alive and enjoying it!

So, I added her to the bottom of the canvas! There was a perfect sized spot just waiting for her. At this point, I put the song, 'Alive' on repeat. It was time for the finishing touches. I wanted to add some sparkles of her faerie dust. I chose the same color as her body because it felt that as she was falling, pieces of her magick would be pulled away and fall slowly behind her.

Can YOU feel alive today?!

(Faerie detail)

~Love & Light~

*Lynsye*