Fire is elemental fuel, at once mesmerizing, fluid and ephemeral. A comfort on a cold night and feared when unconfined. So sits anger. Harnessed, it propels growth and creativity but left untended destroys with slow burning embers or explosive eruptions. A tended belly fire is a soothing wildness pressing on perfection and demanding emotional expansion.
Watercolor 12″ x 16″
My friend wrote a children’s story, Bear in Ballard, based on the true story of a bear spotted on the streets of Ballard a few years ago. The story depicts the bear as it cavorts and explores major landmarks in the area like Cupcake Royale and the Locks. She flattered and intimidated me when she asked me to illustrate it. Though I had my doubts, I love this friend and admire her spirit and vision. I wanted to work with her so I agreed. I finished two illustrations. Bear and Dragon is an interpretation of an elementary school playground. Bear in Sprinkle Park takes place by the library being led by the moon and followed by a police dog.
Unfortunately, we didn’t finish this project. But the project taught me how to merge my style with story telling, a true challenge.
A direct gaze distorts the truth as if it’s made of sand. To see differently expectations, photographs, mirrors, assumptions, categories, must be set aside. She emerged blind-sideways from the experiment and unwrapped a thousand other possible “me”s. Unpolished, but a strong catalyst and inspiration guiding me towards new artistic adventure and identity.
The first painting I proudly framed and hung on my living room wall, after I put the paint from photographs away.
watercolor 12″ x 16″
Opposites are not linear, but circular. At the extreme of one sits its opposite, always in contact with one another in a dance, not isolation. If the opposite of love is fear then the opposite of suffering is inspiration. A garden personifies inspiration. It is creation, beauty, growth where once stood loss, suffering and death while carefully and lovingly tended. You could not have one without the other.
watercolor 9″ x 12″
Original Painting: $225
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In 2004 tendonitis shot numbness and electric pain along my forearm to my wrist, making it difficult to use my dominant hand. For over two months my days were stormy with Uncertainty, Questions, Frustration, Tension, Blame, Fear, Self-Victimization and only by necessity, Perseverance. Meanwhile, sticky sweet Healing brewed in the stillness deep below. My storm’s turbulent surface obscured the soothing deep. Injuries are a test of character and faith.
Watercolor 12″ x 16″
Original Painting: $225
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In the summertime, my father would take me to the fragrant kaleidoscopic rose garden near our house. I liked to watch the goldfish rise and descend in the stately pond. One would surface in a quiet blip and peer at me quixotically through the ripples. A fresh joyful cry and my hands would shoot out in a fearless attempt to capture its magic but the wizardly creatures always escaped. A mutual act of full attention.
12″ x 16″ watercolor
Original Painting: $225
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The year of trying to get pregnant drew longer until I began to wonder if something was wrong with me. I wished I could see inside myself and withdraw some understanding. Was I wounded? Broken? Was this karma? I held my belly; inhale, exhale, energy, light, healing, and please, some sight and insight. Nothing came. So I painted. What emerged glowed with health and beauty – a wondrous soul-catcher.
13” x 10” Watercolor
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Twelve years is a formidable time. Upon review, our vows act as a magnifying glass. They are strangely prophetic while painful and joyful. Reflecting on the time passed, the words reach much deeper, beyond my heart and to my belly. A long road has been traveled between twelve years and two souls, not just in time and distance but in personal growth.
During our vows we read Pablo Neruda’s Sonnet XVII that ends:
“so I love you because I know no other way than this: where I does not exist, nor you, so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep”
Twelve years and our souls still merge, but do not be fooled into thinking the process is as easy, peaceful, and soothing as falling asleep. When red meets blue, they don’t just merge, but blend, fight, splatter, create structure and chaos, puncture, glow, constantly shift, recreate, learn, and reconstitute. Ultimately, the process is a form of beauty, but it is a process not a state.
My husband said this painting looked almost celestial. When I told him what it represented he said “Why? Because it is bloody and exploding everywhere?”
And the answer is “yes – that too”.
24″ x 18″ watercolor
Personalized Limited Edition Print (of 25) : $70 What’s special about a limited edition print? Click on my Print Options
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What little kid doesn’t like to be spun around by the ankles then laid in the grass to observe the sky swimming by? I laughed until my belly hurt then leapt up and begged my father to do it again. The sky was forever transformed by the sensation and the pure joy of it marked my childhood memories.
16″ x 12″ watercolor
It took me a year to conceive my first daughter. The year of waiting was a tough test of my character. I tried to maintain my hope and composure but often it felt impossible, frustrating and painful. During that time, I developed a completely different relationship with my body, one in which my mind and body were at odds. Each month the baby didn’t come, my desire grew stronger as did the awareness that I was at the whim of forces much larger than myself. This is an expression of the simplicity of desire and ultimately a meditation to ease my mind.
Watercolor 10 x 14
Original Painting: $225
Personalized Limited Edition Print (of 25) : $45 What’s special about a limited edition print? Click on my Print Options
Open Edition Option: http://www.redbubble.com/people/marikareinke/shop
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The best way to contact me directly is at [email protected]
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