What inspires the imagery and themes in my artwork?
I have spoken of this in many of my newsletters and of course, in statements (visible on my website: www.DebbieMathewArt.com). But today, I share a different source of inspiration that over the years has spurred new concepts, imagery and even media for me as an artist. It comes from the Gallery-Artist intersection. A gallery puts out a call for art, along a theme for an exhibition they want to mount. Of course, there has to be a good ‘fit’ for the medium, technique &/or topic of the invitation; these details vary greatly. But those that call to me strongly, inspire me to accept the challenge.
Recently, a regional WA gallery sent out a call to artists for a themed show called ‘Taking Flight’. It stated “Majestic yet feather-light, delicate, our avian brethren connect us intrinsically with our natural world. With the arrival of each day’s sunrise and sunset, these messengers of environmental fluctuations provide us with endless fascination and inspiration. The Confluence – Art Gallery in Twisp, cordially invite you to “soar to new heights” with your bird inspired artwork in our exhibit “Taking Flight – The Celebration of Birds”.
I simply could not refuse the invitation. This ‘call’ also inspired within me, a desire to explore different ways of approaching my media, new imagery and compositional aspects. I’ll show you a few of the works, and describe some of these new approaches.
Destiny Calls, 22″h x 10″w, Encaustic and Mixed Media
My first inspirations were to somehow include bird sounds along with their images. I also wanted to use ‘realistic’ bird imagery, so the kind of bird was obvious. I used a free photo online website. I am grateful to the wildlife loving photographers that post their images for free download.
The image on the right is the one I used for the piece on the left; It is a red-tailed hawk.
In researching further, I located visual representations of the bird’s calls. The amazing Cornell Lab is a wealth of bird information, including a library of bird songs. I discovered the online resource after recently downloading their Merlin Bird ID app; this app allows you to identify a bird by its’ calls.
It has changed the way I attune to nature, bringing me so much joy to know which birds are serenading my hikes. Finding the Macaulay Library was a gem; from there I downloaded images of the sonograms of some calls. Notice the vertical axis of numbers is the sound frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz). I needed to flip the image because I’m transferring the images directly onto the wax surface, which would have made the numbers backwards. 
So, if you look at the finished art closely within the yellow ‘headline’ where the sonograms are located, the numbers are correct (not reversed), and you ‘see’ the screech of a red-tailed hawk. You’ll also see the bird is reversed in the colored version. The transfer process used a toner-based Xerox of the image, which rubs off onto the warmed wax surface. I then color the images afterwards. The lotus flowers and hearts are common in my lexicon, as are hands, but this hand is different. It is a ‘palmistry’ hand, not the typical mudra hands I’ve used for years. It still relates to Yoga, but not as directly. Yoga practice was traditionally developed for an individual, using their astrology birth chart for insight as the proper yogas to create optimum health. The planets are represented within a person’s hands, (as you can read on the image), but typically this is analyzed by an astute palm reader, not a guru. So, this piece highlights new imagery, concepts and a new image transfer technique.
In this artwork, three cranes, (a bird signifying blessing, gifts and good luck), fly within a dark sky; three sacred hearts float below/amongst them. While not quite finished, the sensibility of this work of art, is of a ‘night flight’, under the Full Red Supermoon, their homecoming calls reverberate within the celestial night sky. Here, I am exploring the use of oil colors on top the wax surface to create the sky; what is pleasing is the manner in which I could create and control the ‘atmospheric’ feel of the sky, and the subjects (cranes, hearts) within it. The application was primarily using my fingertips, rubbing the oil colors onto the surface. I could play with the sense of light surrounding each bird, and heart, suggesting a radiant energy being emitted. Their sounds occupy the top yellow strip; one doesn’t have to know the bugle call (top left) or the goose-like call (top right) to know the visual vibrations within the top horizon band is an essential aspect of these majestic birds.
I’m not yet sure if the colored oil is integrating enough into the wax – it may not be as stable as I desire… so there is more experimentation to be had. The is also plenty of possibilities of when the image transfer are laid down and colored.
In summary, the call to artists, was definitely a superb way to kick-start a new exploration to add to my lexicon and bag of techniques. I love this aspect of community galleries reaching out to artists and the visual dialogue that ensues.
What do you think? Any questions for me?
I love and appreciate you taking your time to read this, and always any input warms my heart.
Wish me luck to get accepted into this show. I applied with 3 pieces; go to my Instagram account to see followup.