Painter of the mystical, otherworldly, sensual, and whimsical.

I'm a painter living and working in the beautiful finger-lakes region of Western New York State. I am also an avid gardener and nature lover, so the lush green rolling hills, gentle streams, and majestic lakes that surround my home in this world often appear in the fantasy worlds of my paintings.

Many of the pieces draw inspiration from folk tales, myths and legends. These "teaching tales" were what drew us together around our hearth-fires for centuries, and I believe those stories still carry power.

I enjoy looking at these ancient tales, through my eyes, and painting what I see, no matter if it's beautiful or disturbing. But what's more fun is when others can see those same paintings and find something within of value that speaks to their soul directly. I do not plan for this, but am honored when it happens, and, oh, yes, do love hearing about it every time that it happens. It reminds me that maybe we are not so different after all.

Glad to meet you, and please enjoy the paintings!

Monday, June 2, 2014

What Fauna has in common with Leonard Nemoy

Above: from "the Full Body Project."
Photographer: Leonard Nemoy


Art-modeling is one of the greatest, and least-expected, ego-boosts I could imagine.  I say this as a woman who had not been in front of a lens before the age of 35, for any reason other than the usual snapshots at family gatherings, and had no experience in glamour or fashion modeling at all. I look nothing like a fashion model, and never have.  However, I understand that this is one of the reasons why +Fauna Reeves of Lady Fauna Photography asks me to get in front of her lens.  I've played several different "roles" in the collaborative "theater-of-the-mind" that becomes Fox and Jackal.

I love the fresh... no, pure. Untarnished. ...perspective young photographers bring to the table, so waited until after the shoot to send a message and ask if she had seen the hardcover book "The Full Body Project: Photographs by Leonard Nimoy"

Yes, it's *that* Leonard Nemoy, of "Spock" fame. He went on to have an amazing career as a talented photographer, with two different photo-books (that I know of) so far.  (The other one is "Shekinah," and it's just as powerful.)

Both collections are on display in the Michelson Gallery, Northampton, Massachusetts, just outside of the city where he "first experienced the magic of making photographic images as a teen-ager in the early 1940s. His darkroom was the family bathroom in their small Boston apartment. His subjects were family and friends." ~biography

The Michelson courteously offers a view a lot of the images themselves, plus many of the photographer's insights, from both collections.

I share them here for those of you who, like Lady Fauna and Mr. Nemoy, do not believe beauty is confined to a size range that falls between a size 0-6, or an age between 15 and 25.

Shekhina

The Full Body Project

Personally, I came to today's shoot as a model, so my job is taking direction from the photographer while the camera is clicking.   Outside of a shoot, I'm still my own artist. Many different body-types have appeared in my drawings and paintings.

I find runway models beautiful like gazelles or greyhounds or sculptures of cats made of spun class. but that doesn't infringe in any way on the beauty of the women who radiate power like wind and Holy Fire.  Neither of these change my love for those who have abundant bodies like landscapes and Earth Goddesses.  All, to me, can hold beauty, so long as a good photographer is willing to show it to me.

My attitude about women and men, as well as my taste in them, is very similar to Robert Heinlein's.  It's fortunate that my husband agrees with me.

I'm enjoying Fauna's bravery in tackling the unconventional, uncomfortable aspects of human sexuality that lie somewhere along the fringe of  "acceptable," and I'm proud of her for her courage.  Today was one piece of a much longer series, but playing a part in today's shenanigans resulted in hilarity on a level that is clearly, clearly! unacceptable (!) for respectable and civilized people.  Raise your glass, dear, and let's have a toast!  "God Bless and Keep the virtuous far away from me!"