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The Goose is a continuation of a unofficial series that I started with the Fox paintings I completed at the end of last year. I had thought it would be interesting to do a painting representing the animals that have served as guides and symbols for me over the years. These animals have repeatedly shown up in dreams, journey work, or through unexpected situations. The Fox has connections to place and home for me, which is why I created four paintings representing the four seasons that my home passes through.

The Goose represents my own spirit. You could say it is kind of a personal totem for me.

I read a lot of folklore and mythology associated with the goose. Before I stated this painting. I wanted to allow the information to simmer a while so when I began the piece, I could tap into the qualities of the goose that I connected the strongest to. However, because I let the information fill my subconscious, I believe that the painting can be viewed by many different people and each person will connect with an aspect of the Goose that doesn't necessarily represent my relationship to it.

In this painting, I focused on the qualities of the Goose that represent protection, creation, and community.

I have a Goose standing on an overlook, keeping an eye out for danger. The Celts associated the goose with war because of its watchful nature and aggressive temperament. Geese will vigorously defend their territory and warn of any visitors with their loud honking. If you have ever experienced a territorial goose on a farm, you will know they are very effective! There are stories about how geese saved the Romans with their warning cries when the Gauls attacked the citadel of the Capital.

I depicted a goose on land, one swimming in the water, and another flying in the air. Because Geese are equally at home in all three environments, they represent the integration of the physical (land), emotional (water) and spiritual (air) spheres necessary for creation. The main goose is standing on one leg, which represents the goose's ability to travel between the three spheres. Standing on one foot, in ancient tradition, was a technique for accessing the Otherworld. In Ancient Eqypt and China the goose was considered a messenger between Heaven and Earth.

In the foreground grows a blackberry bush. The blackberry is associated with the goose, probably because it is a plant that is protective and also serves as a portal to the Otherworld. I have the canes of the blackberry growing in the shape of an infinity symbol, to represent how the integration of the three spheres is a never ending cycle. The leaves on flowering canes always grow in threes. The number three is a sacred number, which is reflected in the triple nature of the Goose.

Geese are never alone. Community is everything to them. Geese mate for life and will never leave their partner behind. If one of a pair is sick or wounded, its mate will stay with it. When migrating, geese work together, flying in a V-formation to help save energy in their travels. In China the goose is a symbol of marriage because of their life-long pair bond.

Even though the Canada Goose is more common around my home, I chose to depict the Greylag Goose because of my years practicing Korean Buddhism, which uses gray robes for its dharma habit.

There are many ways to view the Goose. Don't let my interpretations limit your own. Go ahead and explore how you might relate to this fascinating bird.

DoAn

(The Goose, 5 x 7", ink on clayboard)

Step 4: The Creation Stage

I have done the research, come up with the image, mediated, and completed the drawing, and planning. Now I am ready to really bring the painting to life. This process is the least complicated, but often the most demanding.

Before I start painting, I get the colors together that I selected from the previous stage. Then I use the tracing paper and transfer a very light tracing of the drawing on the painting surface. In this case, it is an Ampersand Clayboard Smooth board.

Then I might play some music to help connect me to the energy of the painting and to set a creative atmosphere. In the case of the Goose painting, I listened to a lot of medieval music, with a tendency toward heavy drums. The band Corvus Corax became a favorite while working on this piece. The music helps to connect me to the painting, which is beneficial when I have to stop and start painting many times.

When I actually start the painting, a curious thing tends to happen, I find myself entering a meditative state, similar to when I am creating the drawing. I have a tendency to lose track of time. In fact, I often can paint for five or six hours straight, thinking when I have stopped to take a break, that I have only been working for an hour or two. When I am working on the beginning stages of the painting I need to be sure that have a good chunk of time in which to work. If I have a place to be or have a job to go to, it is not a good idea to start painting, or I will end up missing the appointment or being late for work. If I wait until the end of the day, after I get home from work or my appointments, I might paint until the wee hours of the night and end up losing precious sleep! At later stages when I am doing detail work, I can start and stop more easily. So, sometimes I can paint for an hour before work or after I come home, without fear of disappearing from the world for too long!

Where do I go when I paint? If any of you meditate, you might relate to this experience more easily. I practiced very serious sitting meditation for over four years before I began shifting my focus more heavily on painting. To me, there is little difference between sitting meditation and painting. The only difference perhaps is in the posture. In both instances my mind is open, my thoughts are focused, but not fixed on any one thing. I am connected to the present moment. Suddenly, I am aware of no past, present or future, perhaps, I am aware of them existing all at once. I believe this helps me to create a painting that is connected to universal energy. It helps to keep my artwork authentic, which I hope, in turn, helps my work to reach people on a deeper level.

The tools I use here are:
(clockwise from the bottom left)
--The drawing from which I refer occasionally as I paint, mainly for the finer details that come later in the painting.
--The color sketch and color palette
--My laptop, which I use to view reference photos (I try not to print too many of my photos to help save trees and reduce waste)
--My tracing of the drawing (beneath that is a composite photo I created in Photoshop to use as a compositional reference)
--My cup of tea (now it is white or green tea, since I need a steady hand at this stage)
--My inks for painting
--Blending medium (for extending the drying time of the inks)
--Masking Fluid (This is a special liquid use to mark off areas of the painting that I don't want the ink to cover. Perhaps I want to reserve white in places. I can brush the masking fluid on and let it dry. Then I can paint all over it. When I am done, I simply rub the masking fluid off and the the area it covered is untouched by the ink. I can paint that area or leave it white.)
--Spray mister (to keep my palette wet so the inks don't dry out)
--Jar of water with my brushes in it
--Small jars of mixed colors
--Watersoluble Ink Pencils (These come in handy for very tiny details, as this painting is only 5 x 7")
--My mixing palette
--Paper towels (These are made from 100% recycled materials. I try to reuse them many times. Since once the ink dries it is permanent, I can re-wet the paper towel and don't have to worry about the ink running.)

The length of the Creation Stage various depending the painting. Some paintings can take weeks or months to complete, others only a few days. Usually, the smaller pieces take less time. But, if I am doing a lot of glazing work, the time to finish a piece can be significantly longer due to the drying time required between layers.

I am adding the finishing touches to the Goose painting now, and I will be posting the final piece in a few days. Be sure to check back to see the result. At that time, I will also share the background information about the Goose and why I chose it as a subject.

DoAn

Step 3: Cultivation Stage

Now that I have the idea or concept and a composition is drafted, I can explore color! Color is a very important factor to my paintings. It is probably the main thread that connects all my varied styles of art. I am drawn to saturated colors. I like rich, vibrant colors that are still natural and not too garish. This is probably why spring and autumn are my favorite seasons, as they tend to be the two most colorful seasons.

The purpose of this stage is to determine the color palette that best suits the piece. The colors I choose are not only part of a visual aesthetic, but should also match the theme and concept of the particular piece. Color not only reflects the world we see, but it can also evoke mood, create atmosphere, and act as symbols. I try to incorporate all these in varying degrees in each of my paintings.

In this stage, I will create a color sketch of the painting. First, I transfer the drawing onto paper, then I will start to paint the image using the colors I think will work best for the piece. I am not as concerned with detail or exactness of the image. I am focusing mainly on color relationships. While I am painting, I keep track of the colors I use and think are right for the piece by making a small color palette on a separate sheet of paper.

One of the side benefits of doing a color sketch is that I get a second chance to see if the composition works. In the case of the Goose painting here, I realized once I started adding the trees in the background, that the painting was feeling too cramped. So, in the final painting, I will get rid of the trees and leave an open sky with a low horizon. Now the goose can breathe!

Often, while I work on the color sketch, I make notes to myself about the piece. For example, on the Goose painting, I didn't like how dark the grass was behind the black-berry bush, so I made a note to lighten the green in the final painting. I might make suggestions about altering the composition, adjusting a color, or adding or subtracting details.

The tools I use here are:
On the left side:
Colored pencils for coloring small details or fine lines
Permanent marker for writing comments on the color test.
Paper for testing out colors.

In the Center:
Bottles of Ink.
Bottle of blending medium for mixing with the ink to keep it from drying too fast. (Once ink is dry it is permanent and nearly impossible to make corrections.)
Color Palette of selected colors for the final painting.
Color Sketch.

On the Right Side:
My cup of tea. (I am back to black tea here, as this part of the process doesn't require any careful brush strokes.)
More bottles of ink.
Jar of water.
Small containers for storing newly created colors. (Sometimes I have to combine two or more ink colors together to create my own color mixtures. It is much easier to make large quantities at one time to make sure the color is consistent in one painting.)
Dropper for mixing colors.
Brushes.
Ceramic palette for mixing colors.
Paper towel for absorbing excess water and pigment from brushes and for clean-up.

Once I get the colors right and have a good color palette created. It is on to the next step: the Creation Stage

DoAn

Step 2: Growing Stage

After the idea or inspiration for a painting begins to take more solid form and substance in my mind, I can begin sketching and working out the composition. Here the previous research and meditation have its greatest influence as the image begins to appear on paper.

I usually make several drawings, some will be simple line drawings, others will be value studies. I will play around with compositional elements as well. I use many different pencils for doing the drawing and value studies. I use tracing paper to trace over my drawing and then use the tracing to reposition the drawing. That way I can experiment more freely with the composition and save time from having to redraw the entire thing from scratch. The rubbing alcohol is used to fix the graphite on the tracing paper so it doesn't smudge all over the paper when I am transferring the image. I use the colored pencils for tracing so I know what part of the image I have already traced. For example, in this drawing I have the main goose in the foreground and two other geese in the background, one swimming, one flying. I can trace my drawing, then transfer it to a new composition, moving the flying goose higher or lower to create a stronger composition.

Often, when I am working on the drawing, I lose awareness of time and my surroundings. When that happens, it is only when I step away from my desk to stretch or refresh my tea that I notice fully what I have been working on. I may decide to do some refinement at this point, or perhaps follow up with some further research. Occasionally symbols or images appear in the drawing that correlate with a deeper meaning from what I had originally intended. This happened recently with my drawing for the painting Boann: Transformation of a Goddess. After several hours working in the drawing, I stepped away and noticed that I had drawn a fish. I did some further research and found out about the powerful connection between Boann and the salmon. The information was very likely in my mind from previous research, but it was stored somewhere in my subconscious memory, because I wasn't aware of it. The trance-effect of the drawing process tends to bring the subconscious material out onto the paper.

The other valuable tools I use are erasers. I use the white nylon eraser for getting rid of large areas completely. The kneaded eraser (that knobby grey item) is used to lighten areas without erasing the pencil completely. The electric eraser (the thick pen-like object) is one of the most fantastic inventions! I use this as another drawing tool, erasing areas to shape and give form and depth to the drawing. The power of the eraser lets me erase fine areas all the way to the white of the paper. Sometimes drawing is more about subtracting pencil marks, more than making marks!

The tissues are for smudging the pencil on the paper to create more gray tones I also use the tissues for applying the alcohol to the tissue paper.

You can see some field guides and some photos for some quick references, in this case, to make sure I get such things as the number of leaves on a blackberry branch or the pattern of the goose feathers correct. Even though I am working with myth and folklore, I like to have some aspects rooted in reality. I would prefer to have most of my information come from direct observation, but unfortunately, until I can become a full-time artist, I often have to rely on other sources like these.

And lastly, my faithful cup of tea! By this time, I am beginning to move away from the black teas, into black tea blends and oolongs. Soon, I will be breaking out the greens and whites.

During this step, I might take breaks and, weather permitting, go for walks in the park. I usually bring my camera and take pictures of things that inspire me, or catch my eye. If I have time, I might bring my sketchbook and do some quick observational drawings. Usually, however, the walk is more about stepping back from the drawing process. I might need to clear my mind or settle my energy. This part of the process tends to raise my energy and I find that once I get up from my chair, I feel a bit antsy and hypersensitive. Walking outside helps to ground me once more.

Once I get a feeling that the drawing is ready, it is time to move on to the next step: The Cultivation Stage.

DoAn

There is much that happens before a painting is completed, posted on my blog and loaded to my website, or various print-on-demand sites. I thought it would be helpful to my clients, those interested in my work, and to other artists to share my creative process with you. Over the next few posts, I will be giving you the step by step process of how I create my art.

Part 1: The Germination Stage

Here you see my desk with many of the tools I use to brainstorm and come up with ideas and compositions. Many times, I already have a picture in my head of what I think I would like to create. Other times, I have no image, but an idea of a theme or a subject. In either case, I need to refine the image or develop the idea into something workable. It is rare that I can actually recreate the images in my mind to my satisfaction, so research helps to develop something more workable.

You can see several books that I reference for ideas. In this case, I have an idea to create a painting based on myths and totemic relationships to the goose. I look at books on folklore, mythic traditions, field guides, and studies in biological behavior. I use the computer to do some additional research (see the pages of notes on the right). I compile all this information and write about it in my journal, which you see in the center. On the left are small thumbnail sketches that pop into my head as I research and write my notes.

In the back are CDs of music that I listen to while brainstorming. Music is a very helpful tool in creating my art. Sometimes music is a direct source of inspiration, like the band Boann's Clan was when I worked on my painting Boann: Transformation of a Goddess. They had a CD that was about the life of Boann. I am not always so lucky to find such perfect music, however, and usually find music that is relaxing and inspiring. Music helps me to set a mood and atmosphere for creation. I often listen to the same music over and over while working on the same piece. No matter what I am doing, or what other jobs that might take me away from working on my art, I can put in the CD and I am right back in the same space I was the day before.

Occasionally, I will stop, do some meditation, and let the information I have gathered interact and merge in my subconscious. This helps with developing images and gives my intuitive side an opportunity to offer input. I am much more interested in allowing the subconscious have a more prominent role in the development of my work. The research I do helps to ground my work and gives it the potential to reach a wider audience. My intuitive side, helps to personalize the gathered information, so that my work remains original.

Lastly, there is a cup of tea. There is little I can do without a pot of tea nearby. Those who know me, know about this minor obsession of mine. It doesn't matter what kind of tea: green, black, white, oolong, etc. Though I do tend toward the blacker, more robust teas at this stage of the creative process. The lighter teas like green and white are more favorable at later stages of creation, as they tend to be less stimulating, and allow me to connect more directly to painting as it is being created.

Next Step: The Growing Stage

DoAn

As part of my on going exploration of earth friendly art materials, I looked into Golden Artist Colors. I use Golden products for my acrylic paintings, including paints and mediums, as well as for varnishing all my pieces. I like the quality and consistency of their products. But, with my new mission, whether I like a product or not isn't enough of a factor to keep me using the product. The company has to offer more.

I went to the Golden website and found an extensive section on social responsibility . That section describes such "green" initiatives as the Seconds Program, explained on the site:

GOLDEN has an overall "green" attitude; everything that we are striving for as far as our formulations are concerned is geared toward environmental friendliness. This includes the ingredients that go in our paints, the wastewater we generate making our paints as well as cleaning out equipment, and any waste we may generate in between or after that process goes to good use in our Seconds Program. The Seconds Program is a way for GOLDEN to support artists and keep product out of the waste stream. Employees, along with local and artist communities, are offered products from the "Seconds Program." The Seconds Program offers paint that does not meet GOLDEN standards at little or no cost to artists or non-profit organizations that can greatly benefit from the program.

Golden produces a newsletter titled "Just Paint", and in issue #18, there is an article that explains the company's new water reclamation process. Water is a necessary component not only for the artist to use paint, but also in the manufacturing of paint. Golden has installed a Reverse Osmosis (RO) filtering system that reuses over two-thirds of the water used to clean production equipment. They also utilize RO in a wastewater treatment process that filters out the solids of acrylic, pigments and other materials from the water. That water is then sent to a city treatment plant where the remaining chemicals are removed. Please see the newsletter for the complete explanation of the RO process.

Additionally, the website has extensive instructions for artists about how to reduce waste of materials and how to dispose of waste materials in an environmentally sound way. To fellow artists, please do check this section out. Even if you don't use Golden materials, many of the suggestions are applicable to other mediums. I use some of the cleaning techniques recommended by Golden in my studio, but will begin practicing even more waste-reducing techniques.

I wrote to the company inquiring about the possibility of Golden producing a line of colored inks. I received a prompt and friendly reply indicating that their line of Airbrush Colors are essentially inks. I was sent a packet of informational materials on Golden products, newsletters and hand painted color swatches of many of their paints. I have since purchased some samples of the Airbrush colors and will experiment with them to see how they work in comparison to the inks I currently use.

Because of Golden's commitment to social and environmental responsibility, I am happy to continue to include their products to produce my art work.

I am still waiting to hear back from other companies I have been using, if I don't hear back in another week, I will send out one more inquiry. If I do not receive a response after the second inquiry, I will write a letter explaining that I will no longer use their products until I have heard from them regarding their environmental policies.

I will keep you updated!

DoAn

Many of my collectors have come to appreciate my work through the abstracts I have been working on for the last few years. I also have a base of clients who have long enjoyed the representational work I do and at the same time there are others who respond strongly to my Asian-inspired brushwork. So, what is going on here? Some have asked about my varied styles of work. Shouldn't I just pick one? Do I have a problem making a decision? I realize that from the outside it must be somewhat confusing. So, I decided I should explain a little about my art and where it comes from.

Most artists develop a style, then focus on that style, refining it, and simultaneously guiding and being guided by that particular style. The style of art that a particular artist works in, becomes their mode of expression, of documenting their relationship to a particular thought or idea. If the artist is serious about their work, their style will evolve over time, sometimes dramatically, other times very subtly.

Perhaps because I am a self-taught artist, my style developed out of an intuitive relationship to my art, rather than from any formal structure. From an early age I felt a need to express myself through art, even if at the time, I wasn't quite sure what it was (or that I was) expressing. My deep love of nature gave me a subject to focus on as I learned different tools and mediums to create my works of art. I even turned to writing for some time, when I felt my relationship to art becoming strained and forced.

To me abstract, representational, or brush painting styles are all very strongly connected. They do not appear very different to me at all. I have called myself an interstitial artist, because I never felt I could classify my art within a particular group. Lately, I have been thinking about the idea of my art being intuitive. Perhaps Intuitive-Interstitial? But, why apply any labels? Regardless of what I am creating, I strive for the piece to be authentic. I utilize a lot of meditation, either before or during my painting that helps to keep me connected to that authentic source, be it Spirit, God, Unity (again, more labels).

The art I create is challenging. It pushes me. Sometimes it is agonizing, verging on painful, but when the painting is finished and it successfully resonates with that authenticity, I experience joy. This joy grows stronger when I learn that my work reaches and affects others in a positive way. I know then, that I listened well to that inner voice and remained true to the Source that makes each of us both unique and the same.

Originally, when I posted my work on my website, I grouped it all together because, to me, it all seemed the same. However, I realize that the connection, from the outside viewer, may not be so clear. But please don't let the separate galleries keep you from seeing those relationships. If you go to my page on Fine Art America you will see that I didn't separate my work. Each piece on that site has a description about it that gives background about the development and what the painting means to me. Perhaps, from there, you too will see that each piece is both unique and the same.

DoAn

My latest piece titled Boann: transformation of a Goddess is completed. It was part of a commission that began almost a year ago. The process of completing the work was rather demanding but ultimately inspiring. The research, meditation, and painting process itself all became fuel for many more projects that are now been developed. And, yes, there are some new abstract pieces on the horizon for those who have been inquiring!

This painting depicts the transformation of Boann, of the Tuatha De Danann, into the River Boyne. The story of Boann is a fascinating one. There are several interpretations and, as is often the case with Celtic mythology, they often contradict each other. Here is the story based on my research and how it assembled itself after meditating on it:

Boann’s husband was Nechtan, who was keeper of the sacred well Segais (the Well of Wisdom). Around the well grew nine magical hazel trees, from which grew magical crimson hazelnuts. The nuts fell into the well feeding the five colorful salmon that lived inside the well. Each salmon represented wisdom obtained through the five senses and had distinctive crimson spots on their bellies from eating the hazelnuts. All, but Nectan and his assistants, were forbidden to approach the well.

This restriction irked Boann, and she decided one day to approach the well. To spite her husband, whom she believed greedily coveted the well, Boann approached the well counter clockwise. But what she didn’t know is that the well itself had specific conditions in which one could gaze into it. One must approach clockwise three times before looking straight and steadily into the well or one’s eyes would burst from the power of the wisdom contained within.

Boann peered cautiously into the well, which caused the water to rise angrily and it took one of her eyes. Because she approached the well counter clockwise, she had further angered the waters and so the well erupted with a torrent. Boann fled from the rushing waters losing an arm and a leg before the angry waters reached the sea, leaving behind a 70 mile long river, now called the Boyne River.

Having lost one eye, one arm, and one leg, Boann was transformed. She existed from that point on somewhere half in and half out of the physical world. She became the soul of the river, but also something much more powerful. For when she released the waters of Segais, she freed the salmon of knowledge into the world. Now humans had access to the wisdom reserved only for the gods. Anyone who ate the flesh of the salmon, instantly possessed the knowledge they contained.

Boann then became the patron goddess of poetic and spiritual inspiration. Her influence bridges the gap in the wisdom of mind to allow the feminine nature in each of us to stream into our being. Her sacrifice represents the transformation of the self that is required for wisdom to enter. Her essence is present in all rivers. To call upon her, one must simply invoke her name while sitting next to a river and listen with a clear mind and an open soul. Her gift of wisdom will transform you!

The original has been sold. But prints and greeting cards are now available for more info go to www.doanart.com.

DoAn

Beag: the keeper of the well of wisdom is published!

Emerging Visions, an e-zine for visionary art, edited by Laurie Corzett, has posted its LeapDay Issue on the theme of ImagiNation, (http://emergingvisions.blogspot.com/) and I am happy to announce that my painting, Beag; the keeper of the well of wisdom, was selected to illustrate the issue. Please take a moment to check out the poetry, essays, flash fiction and visual art by the other talented artists and writers.

The original painting of Beag is available for sale as well as prints and greeting cards. Please visit my pages at FineArtAmerica.

DoAn

I now have selected pieces available as giclees and fine art prints by Print on Demand at http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/doan-art.html.
Please visit regularly as new images will be added as they become available. You can also get the prints matted and framed from the same site, one stop shopping!

If you are interested in having greeting cards made, please look through my gallery (www.doanart.com) and contact me if you see an image you would like made into greeting cards. I am happy to work with you to create a unique card.

The drawing posted here is a preliminary plan for a future painting. This drawing came from a sketch I did last year. I used the sketch as a basis for an ink and watercolor painting that failed miserably. I liked the composition and thought I would develop the drawing more and later would try to paint it again.

About the drawing, well, I wanted to do a painting that featured the Dagda, the Father god of all the Tuatha De Danann. He had many consorts, and Boann was one of them. His relationship with Boann was kept a secret, because at the time he was with another goddess. Boann became pregnant as a result of their union and the Dagda extended one night to cover the nine months of her pregnancy. Thus, their son, Oenghus Mac Og, was conceived, gestated and born in a single day.

I am not sure if the woman in this drawing is Boann. It could be the Morrigan, who was the goddess of war, who the Dagda slept with on Halloween, in order to gain battle wisdom from her. Or, perhaps she is another goddess. Perhaps I will know who she is once I start the painting.

I used a new product called graphitint, which are graphite pencils with a tint of watersoluable colors. I intended to keep the drawing dry, but when I sprayed it with fixative to keep the graphite from smudging, the colors bloomed. I actually like the effect.

DoAn