Rabbits abound

Another jack rabbit painting found a home this weekend.  The best part about its new home is that I will get to see it again, because it doesn't live too far from us here in Joshua Tree.  That is happy news! 

"Black Tailed Ck," Oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches.  ©Karine Swenson2011

It has been a challenge to be in the studio after being away for so long.  I am having trouble re-connecting with my work in the same way.  It's not surprising.  I have been to a foreign country and seen all kinds of new things.  Life has shifted.  Enough has changed that my work must change with it.  Of course, that kind of transition is never without feelings of confusion.  Maybe even a little frustration.  It may take awhile for my art to reflect the shift.  One must first absorb new experiences before that information is integrated into art.  We shall see what becomes of it all.

In the meantime, I have been experimenting with ideas that came from my art journal.  (For those of you who don't know what that is, my art journal is a place where I write, draw, collage AND paint.  I allow it to be a free platform for play and experimentation.  I don't work in it that often, but I do pull it out from time to time and glue, write, and basically make a mess.)  The first two paintings from the art journal explorations were completed last week.  They are a mix of collage, acrylic, gesso and various other markers and paper.  On board. 

Music to my Ears, mixed media on board, 12 x 9 inches.  ©Karine Swenson 2011

"Those Ears," mixed media on board, 14 x 11 inches.  ©Karine Swenson 2011

So many rabbit paintings!  I blame it on the proliferation of rabbits in our yard.  They are abundant this year.  Do they know this is their year?  I wonder.

What's new

It's odd that I am only posting once a week, because I write to you all in my head every day!  How is it that none of those posts appear?  hmmm....

I sent 8 pieces of art off to Metro Galleries in Bakersfield, CA today for a group show that opens this Friday.  I hope to make the opening, but right now I am not sure about much of anything.  I really WANT to go.  I do.  Then, I drove past the gas station earlier today, saw the price of gas, and wondered if I should.  If one of you decides to go, let me know, and then I will make a point to be there.  Anything for my blog readers!!!

The wind finally had mercy on us, and the past two days have been sublime.  Calm, sunny, and WARM.  Warm.  My favorite. 

New flower photos are coming soon - today's exciting action comes from a jackrabbit I caught, licking the salt off the concrete near our house. 

Happy Tuesday night.

Warm Days

This photo was taken last fall, before the cold weather came.  I see this jackrabbit quite often, with its split left ear.

 A few gloriously warm desert days have produced a spring fever that may have no cure.  I watch the birds, who are already planning their nest under the eaves of our house.  They wake me in the morning with their chirping.  I take Mr. Pono outside and play endless games of "fetch."  (I am not sure it can really be called "fetch" with Pono, because he has his own rules about how to play.)  We go for long walks and runs.  Sometimes, we just go outside together, bask in the sunshine, and look at the desert.  Well, I look at the desert; Pono sniffs things and pants.  (For dogs, sniffing is superior to looking.)  I have been dreaming of spring wildflowers and hot summer days.  The inevitable desert wind will soon shatter the haze surrounding me, but for now, I am enjoying every moment.

Don't despair, the lure of the studio is just as irresistible as the warm air outside, and I have been painting.  I am getting new work ready for February.  February 5th is a gallery crawl in downtown Joshua Tree, and I will enjoy the good fortune of having work up in two different galleries that evening!  JTAG will have some exciting new abstract works that are a result of a collaboration between yours truly and Tina Bluefield, a fantastically talented painter and friend.  We have painted 14 paintings together, with each of us working on every painting.  The collaboration has been so fun, and I have learned so much, seeing how another artist works.  I can't wait for these paintings to be hanging on the walls of a gallery.  I will also have some of my paintings of the desert hanging at True World Gallery, including this new cottontail painting: 

"Hot summer's Day."  Oil on canvas, 8 x 10 inches.  ©k.swenson2011

 

Jackrabbits and cottontails

Here in the high desert near Joshua Tree, California, we have both cottontail rabbits and black-tailed jackrabbits.  I have done paintings of both species, and have noticed that many people don't know the difference between the two.  If you have spent hours and hours watching them, like Mr. Pono the dog and I have, you can see one of the main differences between them is size.  The jackrabbit (lepus californicus) is a much bigger creature than the desert cottontail (sylvilagus audubonii.)  The black-tailed jack rabbit is in fact a hare, rather than a rabbit.  Both species have large ears, to alert them to the sound of predators and to help cool them in the hot summer months.  However, the jack rabbit's ears are substantially more impressive, in my humble opinion.

The desert cottontail.

Black-Tailed jackrabbit, seen from the side.  Note the longer tail.

The black-tailed jack rabbits do not dig a burrow underground to bear their young.  Rather, the female will find a safe place, often under a shrub or other cover, and give birth to her young, called leverets.  The leverets are born with their eyes open and fully furred.  They are mobile within minutes of birth.  The female jack will then move each leveret to a different location, so that if  a predator discovers the young, it will not get the entire litter.  This is in contrast to the desert cottontail.  The cottontail does dig a nest, lines it with fur from her belly, and gives birth to hairless, blind babies.  (Some of you may recall an earlier post, when Pono dug up a cottontail nest in our front yard.  You can read about that here and here.)

Here they are, side by side.  The cottontail is on the left, jack on the right.

Like their name, the cottontail has a round, white tail that acts as a warning.  When chased by a predator, the  tail of the cottontail goes straight up, alerting other cottontails nearby.  Although the desert cottontail does not live in colonies like its European counterpart, it does tolerate other cottontails nearby more than the jackrabbit will.  The black-tailed jackrabbit has a longer tail that is buff colored underneath and has black stripes on either side.  The black-tailed jack also has black-tipped ears. 

Although I love both the cottontail and the jackrabbit, very much, I must admit a certain partiality to the jackrabbit.  Those ears really GET me, every time I see them.  They are quite a bit more skittish than the cottontails, and they are big enough that every now and then I think I am seeing a coyote, when I glimpse them out of the corner of my eye.  SO COOL.  Or maybe my fondness comes from the fact that I grew up seeing cottontail rabbits, whereas the jackrabbit is a creature that I hadn't seen until moving here, to Joshua Tree.  I guess the jackrabbit just equals the desert, for me.

I leave you with a recent painting of the black-tailed jackrabbit, called Juicy Jack.  This oil painting measures 20 x 16 inches.   This painting is still available.  If you are interested, please email me.

"Juicy Jack."  Oil on canvas, 20x 16 inches.  ©k.swenson2010

I have passed 30,000 visitors to my blog!!!  I actually think I have had more visitors than that, but I didn't start counting until after I had already been blogging for a while.  I am pretty excited about it, and I am planning a giveaway next week.  Be sure to stay tuned for it!  Have a great weekend, everyone!