In the Pink

Spectrum Series

This past week I had a bouquet of bleeding hearts keeping me company in the studio.

It’s of one my favorite flowers. I have so many I should say it’s my favorite flower of the moment. Watching them fade to pale pink and finally turn dusty lavender is so beautiful I wanted to show you.

And, I wanted to share this painting that I’ve been working on. It’s from the Spectrum Series, a group of 9 pieces…all different colors. I can’t say this piece is inspired by the bleeding hearts because I began it last summer. Yet, when I set my brushes down the other day I noticed how those pinks seemed to go perfect with it. There seems to me to be some similarity in the swirling shapes. I like finding these little connections and hope you do too:)

Hope you have a beautiful weekend!

“I know a bleeding-heart plant that has thrived for sixty years if not more, and has never missed a spring without rising and spreading itself into a grassy bush, with many small red hearts dangling.

Don’t you think that deserves
a little thought? ”

— Mary Oliver

Quarantine Queens

Hello there! How are you holding up?

This strange time has gone on longer than most of us ever imagined. Days seem both to be skipping by and dragging into a big blur. In my studio time, I’ve been experimenting!

I’ve come to think of this set of “doodle ladies” as The Quarantine Queens.

They began with an impulse when I discovered a forgotten pile of old inkjet photo paper. I improvised mono printing with a mirror and acrylic paint for ink. Making a big mess…and some interesting swirling blobs.

They took off in all sorts of directions. It’s fun finding faces and figures in all the chaos of shapes.

Like all queens some are pretty and some not so much…but each has a power of her own.

They all have a windy & wild feel with a nod to fashion with batting eyelashes and headress hats. Masks like veils of protection so much more interesting than the cut-up T-shirt ones I’ve been wearing;)

I hope you enjoy them as a little escape into creative imagination! Stay safe and be well!

“Come on, fight me as a queen would.”

— Rebecca Ross

“A crown of kisses to the queen of dreams.”

— Albert Camus

“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.”

— Oprah Winfrey

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Tulip Time

In between making my doodles…

I’ve been having deep thinks about how to keep a creative life going at a time when uncertainty is in such sharp focus. 

The future has always been uncertain. We all know this…still, it’s so easy to ignore it. We easily turn our daydreams into plans. We get ready…we order supplies, save dates, and pennies while gulping down refreshing glasses of hope that it will all work out. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes a pandemic changes everything.

This makes us both fabulously human and diligent students of disappointment. There is a magic place of balance between the two that I’m always trying to find.

My go-to for deep thinks is my little garden. I’ve been studying my tulips in lowlight mode with my camera. Following the process of things falling apart.

Watching the fire in the petals fold up into swirl sculptures.

Seeing that single drop of water rise from the green skeleton…like a tear ready to weep. 

Or, maybe it’s breaking free and making plans…to find its way back to the ocean!

I’m not sure yet;)

I’ll miss seeing you all this spring since the open studio is understandably postponed…but I’m making plans to see you in September. Go ahead mark your calendar…September 19th & 20th!

Wishing you beauty & be well in all things!

“I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every day.”

— Oriah Mountain Dreamer

“Everything changed in a matter of minutes
And nothing was saved in time
All of my old world and all the things in it are hard to find
But they never never never were mine”

— Shawn Colvin

“We are survivors of immeasurable events,
Flung upon some reach of land,
Small, wet miracles without instructions,
Only the imperative of change.”

— Rebecca Elson

The Doodle Ladies

Duchess of Doom

Here we are…

Weeks deep in the global pandemic trying to find our way forward. I have no idea how or when we will finally be saying “remember during the pandemic” to each other.

Uncertainty is the truth of our human existence but it’s also incredibly uncomfortable. It feels especially surreal with spring blooming all about. It’s a strange mix of admiration for the beauty of nature and running on high alert to our vulnerability to it.

For a million reasons I haven’t been able to settle my jangled nerves enough to focus on oil paint. I’ve been distracting myself with making elaborate doodles. They are a bit of mixed media madness and definitely show my illustration roots. They are surprisingly amusing considering our current circumstances but this gives me some relief and I hope they do for you too!

Be well!

Empress of Chill

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The Anxiety Queen

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Crazy Cyclops Lady

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The Pandemic Pixie

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The Bubble Princess

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Masked Madam

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Little Wild Worrying Hood

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Spring Shadow Sorceress

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The Flower Ghost Girl

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“Let everything happen to you
Beauty and terror
Just keep going
No feeling is final”

— Rainer Marie Rilke

Season of unknowing

I’d taken the entire month of February as a “news media fast.”

It has been staggering to tune back in the last few weeks. I can barely get my mind around what we are in the midst of at the moment.

My eighty-year-old father who was born into a world on the brink of world war, a marine during the Cuban missile crisis, survived cancer and was one of the lucky ones at the World Trade Center told me he hasn’t seen anything like this in his lifetime.

I’ve been hopscotching through thoughts and feelings. Everything from keeping positive to a pounding in my heart. I’ve been waking up with such a surreal feeling. Each day the count goes higher and the wave of uncertainty keeps rolling towards us. At the same time, the birds are singing with all their might and green things are finding their way back to the light.

There will be a before and there will be an after. This is the uncharted now. This is the season of unknowing.

I’ve collected some photos of one of the Eden Experiment paintings to share with you and here are some hellebores I picked from my garden because it really is Spring…May you be well in all things! 

“One of the most important steps you can take to help calm the storm is to not allow yourself to be taken in a flurry of overwrought emotion or despair – thereby accidentally contributing to the swale and the swirl. Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.
Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely.
It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts – adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take “everyone on Earth” to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.
…One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times.”

— Clarissa Pinkola Estés

International Women’s Day!

“A woman’s creative ability is her most valuable asset, for it gives outwardly and it feeds her inwardly at every level: psychic, spiritual, mental, emotive, and economic.”

— Clarissa Pinkola Estes

In celebration of International Women’s Day! I’d like to introduce you to the musical woman of the Fairmount String Quartet…Beth Dzwil, Leah Kyoungwoon Kim, Rachel Segal, and Mimi Morris-Kim!

I had the honor of having my art displayed at their performances this past February.

I have zero musical abilities and honestly always felt a little intimidated by classical music. Silly! I know! I think it’s because I had never been to a classical concert. I’ve so enjoyed listening to and watching these musicians play together. There is something meditative about sitting down and just listening.

Beth Dzwil says she formed the group because “I wanted to spend my life's work doing what I loved.” Below is a short interview in which she shares more of her passion.

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What do you love about performing together?
The mutual love, respect, support, and trust we have for each other as musicians - and as people - make it easy to work together to develop our interpretation of a work. It creates a safe place for us to be vulnerable musically and that's when the magic happens.

What’s one thing you want people who aren’t familiar with classical music to know about it?
Like all music, classical music speaks to our common humanity. The emotions, joys, and struggles that existed hundreds of years ago are the same as today.
Classical music isn't all old. Classical genre music being written today uses a fascinating, wide palette of sounds and harmonic colors. You don't need to "know" anything about classical music for it to speak to you. Have no fear!

Any fun/interesting facts about Haydn, Schubert or Caroline Shaw that you would like to share?
Haydn is considered the father of the string quartet. The Haydn quartet we are playing on this program, written in 1799, was the inspiration for the Shaw work that was written in 2011.  Schubert was already suffering the effects of syphilis that would take his life four years later (at age 31) when he wrote "Death and the Maiden". It is based on a song he wrote about 10 years previously. The lyrics are a conversation as Death bids the dying maiden to come rest in his arms. It is a riveting and passionate work and is considered one of the masterpieces of the string quartet literature.

What is your favorite venue for a performance?
We have been enjoying the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia. The sound is beautiful and so are the surroundings!

When is your next album being released?
We are hoping for a late summer/early fall release. It has been a challenge to fit recording sessions around our performance schedules. Our previous album, "Spoken with Strings", was all pop music which was great fun! This album is more classical with flavors of different cultures. It will likely be titled "Not From Here".

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Happy International Women’s Day!

more info at The Fairmount String Quartet

Cosmic Lace: Serenity, oil on canvas, will be on view for the April performances

Under a Yellow Sky

As I’ve been watching and waiting for this painting to dry. I thought a title would surface from that mysterious well of my unconscious. It took a long while. The unconscious is slow-moving. I sit wrapped in my wool sweater listening to the February wind spit rain from fog and fast-moving clouds. And, something bubbles up.

The words “under a yellow sky.”

I know I heard this line from somewhere…but where?

I’m thinking… a David Gray song. No that’s not it…Ah! Alexi Murdock pops into my mind! Since both are excellent singer-songwriters it doesn’t surprise me that I’ve mixed them up.

A little google search leads me to the song I’m thinking of. It turns out I actually have the line wrong. It’s “beneath an orange sky.” This is also no surprise to me. I’m notorious for “improvising” with lyrics because I obviously have a terrible memory. (I don’t let that stop me. I sing along anyway:)

This painting is the last of the “Sea Change” series that I’ve been working on for over a year now. The yellow and details are both intense.

The series is inspired by the phrase “sea change.”

I’m intrigued by both the idea of the immense energy it would take to shift a sea and the play on words of “see-change.” I’m thinking more metaphor for emotional waves and connection to inner vision. That mysterious soul strength that carries us forward. 

This time of year when winter is half over but spring is still out of reach I feel a sense of waiting. A longing for that energy of “sea change" to lift me like a wave. Roll me under a yellow sky.

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“Well I had a dream
I stood beneath an orange sky
Yes I had a dream
I stood beneath an orange sky
With my brother standing by
With my brother standing by
I said Brother, you know you know
It’s a long road we’ve been walking on
Brother you know it is you know it is
Such a long road we’ve been walking on”

— Alexi Murdoch

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“So hope for a great sea-change
on the far side of revenge.
Believe that  further shore
Is reachable from here.
Believe in Miracles and cures
and healing wells.”

— Seamus Heaney

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The edge of spring is still a ways off but I’m keeping my eyes open for signs. In the meantime…loving the yellow throat of this giant white crocus from last year!

Till next time! Enjoy the weekend all you art lovers:)

PS

This painting will be available for the Open Studio tour in May.

24” x 48”, oil on canvas

Follow along on Instagram

It’s a new year and I’ve been focused on getting this new website up and running!

These kinds of administrative projects always end up being more work then I imagine at the beginning. My hope is that this new platform will free up my time a bit so I can post more in 2020! At the moment I’m still working out all the details building this site. While I’m getting things in order here I’ve been sharing over on Instagram, a “work in progress/follow along” for a new series of paintings called “The Spectrums.” You can check it out at @siobhan_bedford

Luminescent!

I’ve been watching the sun slide low across the western sky.

Ducking out of sight earlier and earlier each day. No amount of knowledge of the how and why of the tilting axis of our spinning world makes much of a difference to me. It seems every evening, I’m still astounded by the shortness of the day. I stretch and yawn thinking to myself “it’s time for bed.” Only to look at the clock and roll my eyes…because it’s not yet eight:)

I’ve been trying but I’ve never learned to love winter. The low light and cold make me want to hide.

In my way, I’ve tried to befriend it. I focus on it as a time of cocooning. Deep thinking in the dark. A time to review the past year. Glean what is worth gleaning. Let go of the rest. Easier said than done. Candles help. Lots of candles.

You may have already heard of Hygge. It’s the Danish idea of staying happy in winter by getting extra cozy indoors. I’ve hung twinkle lights in every room and my fake fire place is surprisingly…really cozy. 

Still, as we approach the longest night of the year the darkness feels more and more tangible. Something to hold and consider. Deep and heavy. I’ve been imagining darkness and light as threads that weave together. Stitching our days into years and making the fabric of our lives. Existence of one without the other is impossible. This is a lesson I learn again and again.

I picked this painting to share with you because I thought it would be a good counter point to the Winter Solstice. I started it over a year ago at the height of summer. It definitely has summer’s warmth with its coral orange. Though, at the moment it’s the emanating cool blue light that gets my attention. It reminds me of winter light.

I’ve been searching for a title for the piece. “Luminescent” came to my mind. A light not caused by heat. Something caused by chemical reactions or electrical energy. That idea of light without heat makes for some wintery thought. It seems light itself is more multi-faceted than I imagined. This weaving I’ve been thinking about is infinitely complex.

Tomorrow the light will shift. Its arc will slowly rise bringing with it a new year.

Maybe…I’ll learn to love winter this time around:)

“Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light.
”

— Madeleine L’Engle

Happy Solstice and Merry Everything in the New Year!

Cosmic Lace: Luminescent, oil on canvas, 36” x 36” Available spring of 2020

Moody Birds

This dark and dreary day has got me in an eerie mood. I hope you enjoy some snaps of dark and moody birds in progress. With a little Edgar Alan Poe on the side to keep it creepy;)

“While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door — Only this, and nothing more.”

— Edgar Allan Poe

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before.”

— Edgar Allan Poe

“Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling”

— Edgar Allan Poe

“Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore”

— Edgar Allan Poe