'Looking for Me', Contemporary Realism Still-Life by Paula Peacock

'Looking for Me'
by Paula Peacock
30" x 24"
Oil on Canvas

" I wonder if I've been changed during the night. Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!" (Alice in Wonderland)

After my son was murdered in 2014 I started a series of paintings and sculptures which I call 'Altered Soul'. This is one of those paintings. Major depression had set in and my world and as well as myself had changed, never to be the same again. I was missing what life used to be for me and I was searching for healing.

I heard Buddhism is not a religion but an education in searching for the 'self.' The 'self' is who I lost when I lost my son. I was, and still am, on a journey of healing. I am much wiser and understanding now and have gone through that tunnel to the light at the end.

The eucalyptus symbolizes caution and the Buddha is indicative of my search for peace and serenity.

Saturday Weekly Oil Painting Classes for Beginner Art Students covering painting techniques, color theory, composition, featuring the subject of Still-Life. You will gain an understanding of the oil painting process as you learn about color mixing, values, complements. Canvas prep, varnish, framing, mediums and paintbrush care will be discussed. Each student is encouraged to work at their own pace. For Materials List contact Paula Peacock.
Location: Peacock Art Studio, 1515 Main St., Longmont, CO  80501
Cost: $45 per 2-hour class
To register: text 720-938-9661 or email paulapeacock@rocketmail.com

For purchasing please contact Paula at paulapeacock@rocketmail.com To view more of my work go to www.paulapeacock.com

'Metamorphosis of a Bi-Polar' Contemporary Still Life Oil Paintings by Paula Peacock

Metamorphosis of a Bi-polar
by Paula Peacock
12" x 24"
Oil on Canvas

Raising my grandson from the age of 6 years old, I watched him struggle with severe bi-polar his entire life. He is now 28 and the bipolar is somewhat under control. But, at the time, I wasn't quite sure about bi-polar or how to help someone through the nightmare as such as his. I think I did this painting as my way of trying to understand what he goes through. From being highly manic and violent to being down, depressed and anxious that nobody liked him. Rarely were things 'peachy' for him or the family. The peach representing the middle ground or what we would call 'normal' was rarely present. It seemed he was always morphing from one mood to the other throughout the day. The peppers represent his manic stages and the mushrooms, the depressive stage. Until someone pointed it out to me I didn't realize that out of the vine I had created his profile, at the top, and hands and legs (and a tail?)on the middle and lower levels. Talk about inadvertently painting ones' sub-conscience!

Take weekly oil painting classes with Longmont Artist, Paula Peacock. Private Lessons and Group Workshops Available
Go to www.paulapeacock.fineartstudioonline.com for additional information about art classes or email: HERE

 If you are interested in Purchasing email me HERE

'If it Walks Like a Duck...' Contemporary Oil Paintings by Paula Peacock

'If it Walks Like a Duck...'
by Paula Peacock
12" x 24"
Oil on Canvas

Edgar Degas said; "A painting requires a little mystery, some vagueness, some fantasy. When you always make your meaning perfectly clear, you end up boring people." I like it when I manage to pique someones' interest in a painting, to keep them standing in front of it, thinking, cogitating on its meaning, wondering "What the heck was this artist thinking?" I don't try to make it my goal. I'm simply painting my life journey. Painting is a state of being and self-discovery. A painter paints what she is.

If you are interested in purchasing please contact the artist HERE

To view more of her work see www.paulapeacock.fineartstudioonline.com

'Looking for Happy' Contemporary Still-life by Paula Peacock

'Looking for Happy'
by Paula Peacock
24" x 30"
Oil on Canvas

In 2014, my little sister lost her battle to breast cancer at the age of 51. Five months later I received a call from the Denver Coroner telling me my son had been murdered. Two days after that horrific phone call came yet another; local police informed me my art studio had been broken into and vandalized. Five of my paintings had been damaged or destroyed. Needless to say, major depression took over my life and I embarked upon a 5-year journey of creating dark paintings and sculptures as my way of expressing my grief. This is one of those paintings-

The Buddhas depicted are known as the Happy Buddha. In this painting, they remain somewhat hidden, in the shadows or behind objects. This is representative of a search for happiness but not quite finding it. One feels it’s just around the corner but never fully in view.

The string is our connection to the different aspects of our lives that define our happiness. Life is represented by the twig of small flowers, not in life-sustaining water, but in cold marbles. The twig has been cut from its’ Mother tree.

The two hanging pendants, one the Endless Knot representing a connection and link with our fates and karmic destiny and second, the Golden Fishes symbolize happiness. The Asian vase, for the most part, is random Chinese characters. But, at the bottom of the centerline are characters representing ‘Mother’ and ‘Warrior’. The left vertical line actually says ‘Christopher’ in English followed by the symbol meaning ‘Son’.

The singing bowl at the top is purposely left vague indicating a silent song or nothing to sing about and the teapot is representational of a hope for emotional healing herbs.

Take weekly painting classes from Longmont, CO artist, Paula Peacock. Private, group lessons available as well as individualized workshops. For more information got to http://paulapeacock.fineartstudioonline.com/

For purchasing please contact Paula at paulapeacock@rocketmail.com To view more of my work go to http://paulapeacock.fineartstudioonline.com/

'Pandora's Box', Oil Paintings by Paula Peacock

'Pandora's Box'
Oil on Canvas
16" x 20"

Love, love, love how this one turned out! This painting was years in the planning stages. Planning of the composition, the subject matter, do I include Pandora or not? How to depict the evils of the world? How to depict 'Hope'? In the end, I decided Pandora was overdone and in other paintings I found, Pandora always seemed to be depicted as an overly sexy sex object and a bit on the 'witchy' side. So, I decided to save Pandora the humiliation and let her take a rest from this rendition by painting only the 'box'. All the other elements fell into place after I found the perfect vessel. The apple is representative of Eve, another woman blamed for the woes of the world. But, that will be another story in another painting.

Here's a bit of what I call 'useless information that stuck in my brain for no apparent reason'. It really was NOT a box but a bowl. I guess they didn't do the box thing way back then. There was a misinterpretation of the word bowl to box in the 15th century and it has stuck for the last 500 years.

OIL PAINTING LESSONS in LONGMONT, CO

Contact me (paulapeacock@rocketmail.com) if you're interested in oil painting lessons; private or group. I offer to mentor as well. I also hold workshops on The Basics of Handmade Paper, How to Make Paper Pulp Vessels, How to Paint Mandalas, Acrylic Pouring and more. Whew!

I am also a Reiki Master Practitioner. Reiki is a wonderful treatment that alleviates anxiety, stress, balances your chakras and facilitates energetic healing which in turn helps the body stay healthy and happy. Reiki does not cure but is a complementary treatment to Western medicine. I do not give medical advice.

To see more of my work go to www.paulapeacock.com

Contact me at paulapeacock@rocketmail.com