Genesis

This piece is based on Abraham 4:9-10 and Genesis 1:12.

Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Genesis
Photo by Hawkinson Photography

Genesis

This one is also from Genesis 1:12. The design is called the Breath of the Compassionate, it's from Islamic art. The Compassionate is one of the 99 names of God in Islam.

The Breath of the Compassionate

watercolor

9x9in

2012

Series: Genesis

Piece of the Week

Another new one from the Genesis series, I'm excited about how it turned out and glad that I found a way to make this idea work. When I first started the genesis series I had a piece akin to this but it just wasn't working and I couldn't figure out how to make it work. Problem solved.

Day

watercolor and pastel

9x9in

2012

Series: Genesis

Genesis

Another piece based on Genesis 1:12.

Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis

Piece of the Week

The latest from the Genesis series, there's more where this came from.

In the Beginning

watercolor and pastel

9x9in

2012

Series: Genesis

Genesis

Posting is not going as usual this week, sorry about that. I've got a deadline coming up for a show application (wish me luck there) and it's not sent off yet, and yesterday was my normal blogging day but the days events seriously deviated from my plan. Here's the next piece in the Genesis series. This piece was another one of the first pieces I made for this series, the first ten or so. It comes from Genesis 1:12.

Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis
Photo by Hawkinson Photography

Piece of the Week

This week, two pieces that are currently in the works. Check back to see the final pieces.

Genesis

This piece is on the same lines of the last two Genesis pieces, although this piece was made before the other two I believe. This has a companion piece that will be shown in a few weeks.

Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis
Photo by Hawkinson Photography

Genesis

This piece is really simple but I like how it turned out. It's based on the same things as this piece.

Earth
Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series:Genesis

Piece of the Week...

So for the piece of the week, this is more of a pre piece of the week. I don't know what a lot of other artist's sketch books look like, but this is what one of my sketchbooks looks like.

 There's a lot of writing in my sketchbook, also there's generally a lot going on, I'll just use the space where I find it.  The writing at the top of the picture is from months and months ago The colored picture is from yesterday...

 I started doing this about a year ago where I do a little thumbnail of a piece to keep track of a series (this is the Genesis series), that way I can easily know how many pieces I have, if they've been finished, started, etc. if there's a title I write that down and maybe a note or two about what was behind the piece.

 I sometimes use colored pencil to either better capture the idea or experiment with possible colors.

Also like I said above, I go all over in my sketchbook and there's not really an up or down, I start from the front, the back, and use any page direction that's convenient.
Somehow I would guess that many people's sketchbooks look like, and not all of my sketchbooks look quite like this but there are a lot of similarities.

Genesis

This piece is about dry land being separated from the water/ocean/seas. The scriptural references come from Genesis 1:10, and Abraham 4: 9-10. Again, I used the red and squares because they're symbols of earth.

Dry Land
Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis
Photo by Hawkinson Photography

Genesis

This piece is based on the same scriptures as last week's piece. This piece though I took in a different direction. I had seen a picture or painting of space and those sort of glowing colorful light clouds? (sorry I have no idea what they're called) and I was reminded how beautiful space and the heavens can be. I framed the scene in an eight pointed star because I've learned that eight is sort of a symbol or representation for the transition to heaven. If you have a square representing earth and a circle representing heaven, an octagon is sort of a bridge between the two, like in domed buildings, between the square base and a round dome, there's often octagon's to make it a smoother transition.

Firmament Called Heaven II
watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis

Genesis

This piece is the next piece of the Genesis series. It's based on Moses 2:8 and Abraham 4:8. The piece is called Firmament Called Heaven, and I tried to use symbolism to visualize heaven. The pillars represent a transition. The orthagon square is in the middle, it contains all 12 of the orthagons, I would once again remind myself and other artists that it perhaps would be good to leave yourself notes on what deep and creative ideas you have behind your pieces, so that you will remember them later on. I guess what I was going for with all of the symbols is perhaps a sense of the eternal, with the orthagons, the alpha and omega and the color purple which it the color of royalty. I'm very sorry that I can't remember more of the thoughts behind this piece.

Firmament Called Heaven
Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis

Genesis

So the piece this week is a variation of last weeks piece, a slightly different take and more inspired by Egyptian art.

watercolor

9x9in

2012

Series: Genesis

P.S. The lightning type stuff on the bottom is supposed to represent water, I think but can't currently confirm that that comes from Egyptian art.

Genesis

This piece comes from Abraham 4:6-7 and Moses 2: 6. These verses talk about an expanse or a firmament and I looked in the footnotes to try and better understand what those words meant, to get a better picture of what was going on. In Moses 2:6, the footnote refers one to Facsimile 2, and figure 4. I think from here I remembered something that I'd read or seen in Hugh Nibley's book One Eternal Round and I researched more in that book. In looking back on my notes for this piece, there are thoughts like:
-divide water from water
-like water in the atmosphere and water below?
- boat belongs to the moon and the sun
-Sokar bird (that's an Egyptian thing I believe)
-connection to stars
-an ocean of stars
-the rising sun emerging from the lower regions
I wish I'd thought to start blogging about this when I'd made the painting because I'm sure I could have explained it better then. I do remember that the top corners are supposed to be clouds, the water in the sky and the bottom corners are the ocean.

Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis
Photo by Hawkinson Photography

Genesis

This piece is based off of Genesis 1:5, Moses 2:5, and Abraham 4:5, the moon through the night over a world without any land yet. The constellation is Orion. I believe what I was thinking about with the background pattern was heaven and earth, with the blue and read and circle/squares.

Night
Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis
Photo by Hawkinson Photography

Genesis

So I inadvertently skipped to pieces and had to go back but now I'm back on track. This piece is a companion to this piece, I've thought about making them a dyptych but I don't know. Suggestions are welcome.

Evening
Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis
Photo by Hawkinson Photography

Genesis

This piece was inspired from the same place as last week's piece. It's a bit more of an abstract take on the idea I suppose. The winged circle is based on Egyptian art/symbols I believe it either represents a sun-god or just the sun.

Divided From Darkness
watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis

Genesis

My last Genesis post got ahead of itself, after this piece, comes this piece.

Light II
watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis

This piece is on the same subject as the last Light piece but a different take on it.  I think that the various elements were going through my mind. The different colors in the circle and their quadrants in the square are symbolic. In the bottom right corner is red, the color and the area are symbolic of earth. The upper right corner and the color yellow, I think this is light or fire, but I'll be honest, I'm not to certian and my notes say different things. As for the blue and the upper left corner, I would like to say water but my notes say that it's air/ether and that does make a lot of sense. The green and the lower left corner are designated in my notes as water,  I typically associate water and blue but I have since learned that green is also symbolic/representative of water in Islamic art and water makes more sense on the "ground" part of the square than the "sky" part.

Genesis

This piece is based on Genesis 1:5, Moses 2:5, Abraham 4:5.

Morning
Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series:Genesis
Photo by Hawkinson Photography