Sunday, November 15, 2015

"Dog of the Dead", the 6th in the "Day of the Dead Fairy" series by Dennis Mead



Been a busy four months since releasing the last painting "Desert Race".  After getting Michel mostly settled here in Arizona, we started doing a lot prep work to build a new workshop for me to do my wood working in, which has consisted of a lot of yard work really.  People often think that AZ is one big desert, like they see in the movies.  Dust storms, saguaro cacti and tumbleweeds as far as the eye can see.  What most dont realize, is that a large part of Arizona is in the Rockies.  Here in the Verde Valley, there's a lot of vegetation, and unfortunately, some of it grows REALLY FAST, namely the weeds and the "paradise trees".  I've been spending so much time in Montreal the last 5 or 6 years that the yard got away from me, and quickly became a bit of a rain forest.  We've taken out over 500 of these "paradise trees" already, which includes digging up their roots so they dont grow back.  We're starting to see daylight, both figuratively, and metaphorically, as we're nearly done digging up trees, and the backyard is much sunnier.  It'll be nice to get it all cleared and have more workspace, as there will be some other work shops going in, and outdoor work spaces too.

While cleaning out the backyard, I found a bunch of piles old lumber I haven't thought about in years that I collected during the years I worked in construction, and while tearing down and rebuilding part of the house I live in now.  Whenever I've needed a break from yard work, or during rain storms, I've been working up some of these piles, making frames to put the prints of my artwork in.  It's been a lot of fun.  A big mess in my studio, stacks of wood and sawdust everywhere.  I REALLY cant wait to have a dedicated wood working space, instead of the temporary one I set up once in a great while.  Sedona Green has been getting most of the framed pieces so far, but I've been taking them to art shows the last several months as well, and will have them at a couple of upcoming temporary art shows at local galleries here in Northern AZ.

With Michel finally here in Arizona, he's been helping me more and more in the studio, taking over some of my jewelry lines and such, giving me more time to do things like get back to wood working, and doing art shows.  We have done 3 art shows in the last couple of months, 2 of which were really fun.  And we have 2 more before the end of the year, including a local favorite that I have in the front yard of my studio during the Christmas parade.  Really looking forward to restarting this tradition, as I haven't been able to do for a couple of years now, due to being in Montreal so much.

Before continuing on with a big list of things that would really be boring to anyone other than Michel and I, about work and such, I'll continue on with this blog and just say we've been really busy.  But, I managed to sneak in a little time to finish this new painting "Dog of the Dead".

This painting was actually supposed to be the first painting in the "Day of the Dead Fairy" series.  While coming up with ideas for the Fairy paintings, I looked at a LOT of pictures all over the internet.  Pictures of flowers, and rivers, and streams, and butterflies, and well everything.  During the huge search of pictures, I came across a photo of a dog painted up like a skeleton dog.  Immediately I knew I had to paint a fairy with a painted skeleton dog.


I started this one back in January, but was having a lot of trouble with it, right away.  I kept trying all sorts of things to combine the fairy and the dog.  Everything from the fairy riding the dog (which lead to the idea in the painting "Desert Race", to having the fairy in a ballet pose on a dogs nose, to the fairy using a skeleton dog's tail to swing around on like she was on monkey bars (which the fairy in "Fairy Lockets" was going to do from a bleeding heart vine).  I finally settled on a fairy just posing next to a skeleton dog, in a stone and flower garden setting.  I had so much trouble with the layout though, and not really caring for the general concept that I decided to put it away and start on another painting while I gave more thought to this one.

I started working on it again back in June,  after stopping at a gallery in Montreal to have a look around.  It was more of a show for student artists really, but some really good pieces mixed in here and there.  There's always the standard pieces at these types of galleries:  too many portraits of famous people, tributes to feminine parts, lions, tigers, and zebras, and I have yet to go to one of these student shows without seeing a painting of a really detailed hand, resting on a sheet of paper with a pencil in its hand, drawing another hand.  Never been to a show without a version of that.  This show was no exception.  But near that piece, there was a painting of a woman in various levels of completeness, with a paintbrush in one detailed hand and arm, connected to a completed shoulder, neck and face, but the rest of the painting was still "in progress", as she was painting herself.  I really liked the idea, and toyed with doing a day of the dead version of it, when I looked to the painting to the right of it, of a pug.  That was when the idea of a fairy painting a dog to be a skeleton popped into my head.  I will revisit the idea of a woman painting herself in the future though, as it's a great idea.

I went back to the apartment and looked at the painting I had started with this new idea in mind and realized I wouldn't have to change much of the general lay out or painting I had done back in January, other than changing the way she was standing a bit, and I changed her wings, as Michel and I had gone to a insectarium and I took a picture of a butterfly that had wings like this.  I got pretty far with this painting while still in Montreal, but had to quit on it as we had to start getting Michel ready to move to Arizona.

We've been so busy since getting back to Arizona though, that I haven't had time to paint until just this past week, spending many nights painting, instead of sleeping.  My friend Teri had a birthday a few days ago, on Friday the 13th.  She's a big fan of my Day of the Dead artwork, plays in the same hockey rec league as I, she and her boyfriend Jesse were both in the wedding parties when Michel and I got married, she and I even clogged together in a 4-H group as kids.  I knew she would love this one, as she loves dogs, fairies, and day of the dead, so I used her birthday as a deadline to get this painting done.  After giving it to her at her birthday party, I told her that as part of her present, she would also get the chance to name it, but only if she came up with something good, and she did :-)

Getting back to work here.  We're working in the back yard again today, with lots to do.  Hope you enjoy the new painting.  If you want to add it to your collection, it's available at the Dizzybear Creations webstore starting today (November 15th, 2015) in three sizes, matted and ready to slip into any standard size frame of the same size.  The matted prints will also be available at Sedona Green within the next couple of weeks.  Sedona Green will also be getting a large batch of my art prints in wood frames soon too.

To find the prints at the Dizzybear Creations webstore, click this link:  www.dizzybearcreations.storenvy.com



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