Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Seed Eater, revisited

Seed Eater, collage/acrylic, 36 x 24, by Elizabeth W. Seaver

Here it was in February.  Don't forget to click on the image to get cozy with it.

When Aline (the taker of the original photo) saw the new version of the painting yesterday, she said, Elizabeth, where's my garden?

Oops.  

For Aline this is not an idle question.  Her garden is her masterpiece, and it's a wild and wonderful and ever-changing canvas.  Several things came to mind as I scrambled to respond.

I lost it didn't seem quite right because it never really made it into the original painting either.   

Right where you left it seemed sassy and didn't really address the bewilderment and loss I could observe in her demeanor.  

All I could think to say was, It morphed.


Thank goodness she laughed.  Poor thing, she's used to artists.  She deals with us all day long and knows we're an odd breed.  (And it takes one to know one.)

I know we artists all have folks who keep our feet on the ground when our heads are in the clouds.  Thank them today.

Thanks, Aline!

16 comments:

ariel freeman said...

Aline is very patient with us all. For some reason, she just "gets" us. Hope she isn't reading your blog, but then I'm sure she would just chuckle.

Elizabeth Seaver said...

Hey, Ariel. Yeah. We're lucky she's watching over us! I hope she's chuckling, too. Yikes!

martinealison said...

J'adore ça la folie douce que nous avons artistes!
Je trouve vraiment adorable cet oiseau qui une fois libéré de sa cage se réfugie sur ce beau tournesol qui lui indiquera le chemin de la liberté...
Au loin j'aperçois la naissance d'une ville, non?
Belle toile
Amitiés.

Elizabeth said...

I LOVE this piece!!!!
Aline is a jewel and puts up with so many different personalities with such grace!! I have yet to see her garden and I MUST remedy that !!!
What a great image to dispell this foggy morning!!!
Thanks E!!!!!

Lauren Maurer said...

LOL! It looks great, even without the garden! Love it!

Diana said...

This is a fabulous painting. The contrast of the city is interesting.
I have passed the Happy 101 Award to you. Please visit my blog when you can to check out the rules.
Hugs, Diana

Michelle said...

The beauty of nature juxtaposed with the harshness of a city, it's great! Nice piece.

-Don said...

Elizabeth... I love it! The duality of the title fits so well with the bird eating its seed while it watches the city encroach on its "garden" while devouring the potential for future seeds.

When making a statement we have to sometimes take elements out of their original context and put them into our own. I would have told your friend that the garden is being encroached upon in mankind's mad scramble to utilize every available piece of real estate for "progress"...

Powerful!

-Don

Kerri Settle said...

I liked it before too, but the changes you made give it a good depth. And anyone who can understand artists is fine by me!

Jala Pfaff said...

Hee hee. I liked the potential sassy comeback best.

Mary Sheehan Winn said...

Love your collage work!

martha miller said...

(feet on the ground - that would be my husband! i do thank him often for that!) a colorful and rich painting! love those goldfinches - they always look to be a part of the sunflowers in my late summer garden...

martha miller said...

p.s.

seed eater? word verification is GRAZOR...:^)

Linda G said...

I agree - Aline is wonderful! But I really like this version of the goldfinch - it looks complete as it didn't in the Feb version. But I'll bet it would look good with Alines garden, too

Murr Brewster said...

Hmm. Where is Aline's garden? I wouldn't know, but I'm guessing your approach would take a lot of the angst out of being a portrait artist.

Murr Brewster said...

Hmm. That comment looks strange, now that I see it out there. I love your painting.