Thursday, January 3, 2013

Day 179


Return Our Wings, 6 x 6 inch oil on panel
© 2012 Kathleen Coy

I was in the mood to do a figurative piece, and was looking around on http://artists.pixelovely.com/practice-tools/figure-drawing/ for a pose that caught my eye, and this was it. Is there really any other shape that is as compelling, powerful, or precious as the female form? This is a theme I've been interested in exploring - capturing the power and emotion and movement of the human spirit with paint. We'll see what happens with this in the future, (there are so many things I want to paint!) but it will definitely be with my own models and photos. Still, this was a very enjoyable piece for me. The title is taken from from Jewel Mathieson's incredibly powerful poem, We Have Come to Be Danced:

We have come to be danced
not the pretty dance
not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance
but the claw our way back into the belly
of the sacred, sensual animal dance
the unhinged, unplugged, cat is out of its box dance
the holding the precious moment in the palms
of our hands and feet dance

We have come to be danced

not the jiffy booby, shake your booty for him dance
but the wring the sadness from our skin dance
the blow the chip off our shoulder dance
the slap the apology from our posture dance

We have come to be danced

not the monkey see, monkey do dance
one, two dance like you
one two three, dance like me dance
but the grave robber, tomb stalker
tearing scabs & scars open dance
the rub the rhythm raw against our souls dance

WE have come to be danced

not the nice invisible, self conscious shuffle
but the matted hair flying, voodoo mama
shaman shakin’ ancient bones dance
the strip us from our casings, return our wings
sharpen our claws & tongues dance
the shed dead cells and slip into
the luminous skin of love dance

We have come to be danced

not the hold our breath and wallow in the shallow end of the floor dance
but the meeting of the trinity: the body, breath & beat dance
the shout hallelujah from the top of our thighs dance
the mother may I?
yes you may take 10 giant leaps dance
the Olly Olly Oxen Free Free Free dance
the everyone can come to our heaven dance

We have come to be danced

where the kingdom’s collide
in the cathedral of flesh
to burn back into the light
to unravel, to play, to fly, to pray
to root in skin sanctuary
We have come to be danced
WE HAVE COME



4 comments:

  1. absolutely love this...the skin tones...the gesture and the overall feeling you are able to achieve. I just love it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is incredibly beautiful, Kat. The skin tones, and the emotion conveyed in this piece are positively amazing. I love the poem also... it's just the perfect complement!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Maria and Linda, thank you ladies so much!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is beautiful as a painting. The poem adds to its emotion. Great job.

    ReplyDelete