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Gallery

"Watching and Waiting"

Original Water Color
Watercolor, 2001, 7”x10”
Collection of Dr. Laura Addis

• Available as Limited Edition Giclee (Only one hundred will be made)
  Hand-signed and numbered
  Size Approx. 9"x7"

Artist's Notes

Inspired by a beautiful ballad written by Justin Hayward of the musical group the Moody Blues, the painting depicts a baby wolf seemingly alone in the forest howling for attention. What he doesn’t realize is that Mother Forest is watching over him and he is not alone at all. The shrubbery on the left side of the baby wolf is actually the head of an adult wolf looking down on him protectively. The song represents positive power to me as it relates to the inner strength that lives inside us all, there for us to bring out to the surface when we need it, and showing us that no one can keep us from accomplishing anything we truly desire and put our minds to. We are not alone.

The overall painting took approximately 150 hours from the beginning of the subject research to the completion of the piece. The sky alone took almost 10 hours. To maintain a sense of softness and distance, the sky, mountains and background shrubbery is practically all created in dots of color and watery washes to alleviate any harshness of pigment. More detail and contrast of colors were brought forward as the foreground came closer to the eye. As I do work in sections, the baby wolf was last, painting the richness of his fur in cooler colors to keep him apart from the warm greens and browns of the background. He almost has a 3-dimensional effect on the eye of the viewer because of this technique.

It is an unusual piece for me because I don’t usually do scenery—I enjoy a high degree of contrast and I usually achieve this by keeping the background white and letting the subject remain crisp and pure. I am very happy with the results of Watching and Waiting and I hope all of you will enjoy my newest creation.