Valentine Nest - gouache.

Valentine Nest

6x6in gouache on aquabord  $110. SOLD

Artist Note.

I am still on the 

valentine/love theme.

I love bird nests. 

They are truly a passion of mine.

I collect them and 

I marvel at them.

I paint them for my own pleasure

in all media and viewpoints.

Even so, this one is 

a bit different for me.

An imaginary nest.

I tried to make the nest 

look as if it was floating

over a diffused background.

The heart shape stands for love

The broken egg is symbolic

of a new life started 

from that love.

The idea for a nest shaped 

like a heart happened

when I saw this nest

I think the heart shaped 

interior was created by the

compression of the branches.

Anyway - it spoke to me.

I started off with exploring

some ideas with 

watercolor on Yupo 

It is a fabulous surface

to work out ideas on

because it is so forgiving

and lends itself easily

to make changes.

My first sketch

  I wondered what less color

would be like

so wiped away the background 

and left a border

Next I thought I would try 

for an abstract shapes

thinking tree bark

Still not speaking to me so I 

wiped it all off leaving 

the interior eggs,

Cleaning up even more

with paper towel

and took it down to a heart

with eggs.

From exploring through 

these ideas I had a better sense

of how I wanted to 

my nest to look. 

The background not as bright

 as the blue and not as 

geometric as the bark one.

I realized I had never altered

the interior -

the broken egg shell was

 important

so I went with keeping 

it as the focal area.

Then I painted it on the 

aquabord...not as forgiving!