Angel 4 " Dawn's Hope"

Angel 4 came in an interesting way. I began this one in September. It was spawned after a reconnection with a child hood friend via facebook. I had 2 friends growing up named Dawn, so that alone means something to me. Also the dawn as in a new day, which brings hope. I hadn't done a green painting yet so i knew the colors i wanted. anyway, the history with dawn and i is such: we were friends in jr high school, and like most school girls we were emotionally immature. the way i remember it was i stole her boyfriend, and therefor we became enemies. i think this is true, and i wish i had been more mature than to do something like that, but i wasn't. i have always felt badly that this incident happened, for more reasons than this blog will entail. i cannot remember how Dawn and i got over this and how it was pivotal. dawn and i worked together for several years and even walked together in graduation. Life goes on and since the world of facebook we have reconnected. I couldn't think of her with out remembering the past, so for her i decided to do a painting. it was titled it "dawn's gift" a two fold meaning. 1) the gift of forgiveness and acceptance of a friend & 2) the new hope the dawn brings.
I did my best to capture dawns features, but the hair turn e d out much darker than hers, but the spirit is there, and that is how she came to be!
UPDATE:: I was re reading another blog I had and found this post. Here is a snap shot of what I was thinking then. I think i will change the names back t o Dawn's Hope. My first idea is usually the better.

from: 10/04/08
This painting has been a long one to finish!
i went about 4 weeks with out getting any work done, i had "painters block"
i guess all creatives are vulnerable to this. remind you i have 2 days a week allotted to paint.
i didn't like where my painting was at one point and not being able to get it past there tripped me up. i have some feelings and there are unseen things at work here too, i can feel them pressing in on me. i got through it and have been painting again, i am getting closer to being done with this painting.
this is angel #4 in my series. i'm thinking of calling her "dawns hope" .

Angel 3...the stumbling block

Okay so here i am on my quest to finish an angel a month. I had an idea for the third one, it was early summer... i was feeling drawn to incorporate the image of an ankh into my painting. I drew out the angel, the ankh, thought of colors and began. When i begin a painting there is a large amount of under painting, I block in colors, create the shape of the wings, and then get the layers going. I was experimenting with a different brand of paint, basically it was cheap paint, which was giving me a difficult time. Because it was summer, the air was humid. This seemed to be making the paint tacky, hard to blend and just plain yuck. I must have wiped the paint off the canvas 3 different times trying to get the right color, and effect. So i had false starts, the work I'd done erased. I was getting frustrated, but at the same time liked the pink and blue colors of the cheap paint i was using. I was tempted to just stop the angel, to keep her static, simple in her stance. This was not to be her destiny. I was going to keep painting, and try to make something happen here that i had not done before. That was symmetry, a forward facing angel with two wings. Yikes, this was turning into several weeks of work, and work it out I did. I had a period of time during this one, i called a block. I had never done a face like this, I had never pushed through so many moments when i just wanted to stop painting and do something else. Persevere i did, this painting took about 7 weeks, and when i look at her now i am glad i did. My most favorite part of this painting is her mouth, just in itself is so sweet. I just look at her lips and i am happy. I ended up naming this angel "carry the cross". In Egyptian times the ankh was used as a symbol of life. It was depicted in hieroglyphs as a cross with a handle, believed to be carried into the after life. I had these things tumbling in my thoughts when i was in my art studio I heard a song called "carry the cross" on the radio. I haven't heard the song since, but it stuck with me, and the title came together. I think of my own life and how i feel at times i am holding onto life.

one down, two is a gift

Around the time I was finishing up Angel 1, I was having a conversation with a good friend. now my friend is very smart, has good judgement, and a sense of humor that is hard to compare. When i look at my friend, i see her beauty, i see her gifts and i see a day for her when her self image is not determined by looks. So i decided I was going to do her portrait in my painting, to glorify her features, that is how angel #2 was born. I'd show my friend I thought she was beautiful enough to turn into an angel..or some lofty thoughts as such. SO I took my best shot at capturing her profile, anointing her head with a crown and calling the painting "the gift". It's meaning is we all look in the mirror and wish we could change something about how we look. We fail to see ourselves how God made us, and to him, it is a gift when we can be non judgmental with our selves. To wear our crowns and hold our heads up high. That is the gift, that is what I want for all of us with our self perceived flaws.

in the beginning....there was angel 1

I am currently focusing on angels. I decided back in April of 08' that I was going to do a series of 12 Angels. AKA: Jennlynn Angels. I had this idea, this vision, this achievable goal, to set in motion. Now when I started Angel #1 I had not painted in oh say 2 years. I was dry, and I was hungering to be creative again. After a vacation to California I came home with enough inspiration to light this fire in me, and thus in May I began painting. The first angel I saw was this angel holding a crown of stars. I began painting and if i think back, i remember being joyful within; but painting was painful. It was like realizing how long it had been since talking to or seeing a really good friend. The reuniting was sweet, and I promised I would let her go.

hello world! i am an artist!!!

In life there are times when we face challenges. This is one of those times for me. For most of my life I have been involved in art; my art. I drew a lot as a child and teen, and found a love for color through painting. I have used the paint brush as a poet, as an observer, and an outlet for my searching.
I would create something on canvas or paper, and then file it away. Now by file it away, i mean I put in the basement or in a box. Hidden, undisclosed, silent. For whatever reasons (and yes i know what some of them are) I was shy about my art. Shy in general is a better description. I always knew i could draw, paint, express my creativity, and so on. But I never thought I could let other people in on my "secret". That I in fact am an artist, and I have something to share with the world. It really wasn't until I began my series of Angel Paintings that I took seriously something missing in my art. The ability to let it go. I have had baby steps leading up to this realization. Like participating in an art show at my church, or having cards made. But I have always held tightly to my artwork, and now I am facing the giants that keep my art from being exposed. There within is my challenge. Finding the "gems" that will empower me to give value to my art. Thus affirming I have value as an artist. Thus enabling to me to share my art with people. To expose my thoughts and feelings, with the colors of my pallet, to capture the echoes of my spirituality. To unveil what my intention as a visual artist is. And that is to bring hope, and inspiration into a world of people. I want to capture beauty and translate it. This is where I am right now in my unfolding as an artist, and i am going to blog this journey as diligently as i can. I seek the growth i need as an artist, the freedom and unfolding. So help me blog, I will complete this task.