Listening

40” x 30”

Mixed media

Canvas

This is the twenty-third in the ongoing series “The Many Faces of Eve”. Listening is a skill I am looking to revive. Largely lost in our busy world, listening requires an openness which precludes my own agenda and the responses upon which my defense and/or solutions insist. Just being. Just listening and allowing the other to solve his/her own problems or revel in the communion of attentive fellowship, that is my ambition. I had some unusual pieces of tissue paper. I had actually tried to control the outcome as I added the necessary colours. The results were far from what I had anticipated. I had set these unique pieces aside knowing there would be an opportunity to use them later. Later came along in the form of trees for “Listening”. Having installed the trees on the left I repeated the patterning on the right saving some strips for the hair. Using other pieces and colours I constructed the clothing leaving the rest for paint, graphite powder and watercolour pencil. This morning I noticed a visual error on the side of the painting. I do paint around the edge and perspective is not always accurate. In this case it was proportion that caused a problem. The ear was way too small. Of course no one can see the ear from the front so from this point of view everything looks fine… Well, out came the gesso and tomorrow my listener will have a new ear. And, although the appearance of listening is present, I wonder….