Day 4 of the Facebook Three Paintings in Five Days Challenge

DAY 4 of the Three Paintings in Five Days Facebook Challenge…More Asian inspired works from my time traveling there. “Odd Man Out.” was recently judged by an artist I greatly admire, Thomas Schaller, for the Kansas Watercolor Society Exhibition. Thank you Thomas! It evolved from a plein air sketch I did on Peel Street in Hong Kong. I love this painting because it takes me right back to the memory of doing the sketch.  I did a blog post about it here.

Lotus Nocturne

$175.00

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Limited Edition Archival Giclée Print Signed and Numbered, Edition of 300

Original painting is SOLD.

Image Size:  Half size from original, 19.5" x 9.25," (23.5 cm x 49.5 cm)

Shipped flat with backing board.

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I adore the Lotus plant which I saw all over Thailand, Japan, and China. “Lotus Nocturne” is a self-reflective painting for me. From a previous post here, you can read about the symbology of this beautiful plant.

I had to paint the “Kyoto Tanuki" seen all over Japan because he is so darn cute and mischievous. You can read about the symbology of the Tanuki on from a previous post here.

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Lotus Nocturne

Lotus Nocturne

$175.00

Price Includes Shipping

Limited Edition Archival Giclée Print Signed and Numbered, Edition of 300

Original painting is SOLD.

Image Size:  Half size from original, 19.5" x 9.25," (23.5 cm x 49.5 cm)

Shipped flat with backing board.

Quantity:

Purchase

The lotus is part of the symbolic language of eastern religions. It is a symbol of purity, enlightenment, and rebirth.  Each part of the plant has a meaning or significance from the roots, to the stems emerging from muddy waters, the leaves, buds and flowers.  Symbolizing the souls journey through life, coming from the murky water, the stems rise above the mud, the buds an unborn soul, the beautiful flower rising above it all and opening, enlightenment, and the seeds falling from the pod, enlightened souls to help guide others.

Traveling through Asia I have marveled at lotus ponds I have seen in Bali, China and Japan.  I have wanted to do a large painting in a vertical format for a while and felt this was the perfect subject matter.  I enjoyed designing the composition for this piece and wanted to depict all the stages of the flower from bud, to bloom, to the seed pods and the strength of this majestic plant rising to the heavens.   It wasa meditation and a challenge at the same time working with a limited palette of color for a larger painting.

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Balinese Lotus

One of my favorite projects I worked on at Walt Disney Imagineering was Disney’sAnimal Kingdom, especially since it involved travel!  I was part of the design team for the Asian area and Discovery Island, formally known as Safari Village.  The design team would go on research trips to Asia, to immerse ourselves in the culture, and photo document countries we visited to help us to re- create similar environments in the park.  We would also seek out and work with local artisans and craftsmen to create elements that would eventually be part of the overall design.  On one of these trips we went to Bali, one of the most peaceful and magical places I have ever been.  This painting is called Balinese Lotus, after the lotus pond at Cafe Lotus which overlooks Pura Saraswati.  This is a small study for a larger piece I’m working on.  In the next post, I will post a few progress photos of this piece.

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