'Wedding Dance' in progress

'Wedding Dance' is the working title of my current painting, named after a fabulous bottle of reisling from Amity Vineyards in Oregon. www.amityvineyards.com

The focus of the painting is the elaborate headdress she is wearing, called a tsuno-kakushi literally translated as a "horn cover". Traditionally it is worn by the bride during the wedding ceremony to "hide her horns" (jealousy, anger, disobedience, etc...) and symbolizes her commitment to be a good wife.

I had a few choice opinions on the matter so of course I had to give her horns. Just as I was about to give her two I decided a unicorn horn would be most appropriate.

There will be cherries in time.

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I'm currently (eating dark chocolate covered espresso beans) and working on this painting that will be at my May 2 show at Shearwater Gallery in Seaside. I came across a bird carcass while on a hike and knew it would fuel the inspiration for a painting. I can't seem to decide on a color for the sky. I'm bouncing between peach and green.

This is the third time I can remember where I honored a real life fallen animal. The first was a lizard on my porch in Arizona and his striped tail inspired the black and white striped/checkered borders of my paintings. (See, it has absolutely nothing to do with Tim Burton as many people assume.) The second animal honored was the Netherlands bird Domino in my painting Domino. You can find her story online.