Bear & Peacock
An origin story: On poems and painting and creative transitions.
I was recently asked about the origin story of my 2019 painting, “Bear & Peacock,” an image I often use to represent my studio practice.
As often happens while painting, phrases pop into my head, and stories begin to take shape. I write the lines of words as they reveal themselves on the kraft paper I use to cover my painting table - sometimes just thinking about the title of a piece and other times building something larger.
As I painted this piece, the following poem unfolded as I did so.
Who will be there When I fall When all is unknown Will you be my steadfast queen And carry me A friend As royalty Or will I be a burden A thief of time and will Clinging to Uncloak A heart as pure as gold. Yet onward we will go Together or apart Two friends Two foes? Sharing our sorrows Pursuing possibility As our kingdom falls behind We forge a new path Weaving our stories together Blinded by love Two souls Seeking to be one.
I see this painting as a turning point in my studio practice—the point at which I diverged from thinking of my art as a singular act. Like the subjects of this painting, I was looking ahead. I wanted to find a broader world in which to live, love, and create—one that could encompass more of my passions and experiences and find ways to connect with a wider community.
Before this personal juncture, though, “Bear and Peacock” started as the painting, “Love Knows No Bounds.”
Before taking its final form as “Bear and Peacock,” however, I worked on a large triptych using many of the same techniques of stamping and painting patterns across the surface, often thinking of the process as an intimate little dance across the canvas.
I wrote about what happened next in my 2021 book A Painter’s Journey | Art Found in Process, Poetry & Possibility, a survey of my work from 2017-2021.
In this triptych, “…as I continued to travel from mountain to forest to the swirling waters below - I began to seek more textures and layers in my painting while also following the path deeper into my story. I started finding new ways to move forward and across my artistic landscape - stepping into larger worlds of pattern and light.
It was here I discovered new possibilities as well as unknown forces pushing me forward. I was present with the paint and canvas before me, while meandering down a path not yet known.
Part of me still felt desperate to hang onto the past and keep looking back while part of me knew I needed to move forward to find what I needed.”
I often find two sides to my personality—one that’s always looking ahead and ready for new adventures and one looking back and reliving the past, sometimes in excruciating detail. This is where bear and peacock stepped into my life to help me visually define my artistic and personal journeys. I painted these two sides of myself as a singular entity wrapped in a vibrant tapestry. I knew fiber arts was about to take a more significant role in my studio practice. I wanted to show this side of me as something that could provide comfort and hold the myriad ideas spilling forward into a cohesive whole. Something that could take all the broken pieces, stitch them together, and make something beautiful.
I was honored to have “Bear and Peacock” featured in the Around Oregon Annual 2019 at The Arts Center of Corvallis, Oregon. The painting now lives in a private collection in AZ.
To poems and paintings and creative transitions,
~ Jennifer
A lovely story to hear again and now marvel on the work that has emerged since then. Kudos for plunging ever onward into the unknown.
This one of my favorite paintings! I have it in a card. Love it.