A few years ago, my husband asked me to paint something we could use to create Christmas cards for that year. With doves so dear to my heart (and their symbolism so deeply meaningful, especially at the winter holidays), there was no question about what image to capture in paint. My first effort resulted in this gentle dove, a meditation in violet and cerulean blue. The image pleased me so much because it exhibits what artists call a "painterly" quality--meaning it is as much about the joy of paint and brushstrokes and the serendipity of how they interact on and with the paper as it is about the object being depicted (in this case, the dove). During the painting proces, the paper became quite wet, so the violet in the upper part of the dove's wing and in the tail bled into the surrounding blue to provide a feathery effect. In the belly, the violet ebbed away, leaving the pinky-lilac underpainting visible and creating a mottled effect. Despite my love of this painting, my husband thought it was too impressionistic and asked me to try again. (To see the result of my second attempt, click on
Dove, also in this section of the Gallery.) Nevertheless, this remains one of my favorite paintings.
