Daddy's Christmas Angel

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

"M" is for Mystical - A to Z Challenge

"Mystical Forest" ©Mary Montague Sikes
Farrah Ferand's passion for trees and forests continues as she paints a mystical forest today. Farrah, the heroine of Evening of the Dragonfly studies the woods near her home and the trees that grow there, wondering what they have seen all around them during many decades of life. The non-evergreen trees in Virginia are losing their leaves in the autumn. Those leaves are completely gone by the time of her one-person art show. Sometimes the trees are shrouded in mist, giving them a mysterious appearance. Farrah remembers the mysteries of the forest as she works on her new painting.

"Mystical Forest" is actually half of a painting. This acrylic and watercolor art work is on an 18" x 36" canvas. The other half of the canvas will be the Neverland painting for tomorrow. How she will bring the two parts of this painting together, Farrah has not yet decided. We will learn more tomorrow.


For those of you who have just joined this blog journey:
Evening of the Dragonfly is a novel set in the 1980s, a time less complicated than today. Farrah Ferand has a high school art teaching job in a small Virginia town. She meets Dirk Lawrence, a businessman from the city, who takes an interest in her and in her painting and is helping her build a studio over the garage in her rented home. Farrah is thrilled to have the studio because she has a one-person art exhibition scheduled. As she works on new paintings, Farrah realizes things about herself, her relationships, and the tragic loss of her mother. We encounter some of her realizations as new paintings and parts of painting are unveiled each day during the A to Z Challenge. My book is available in trade paperback and as an e-book.

6 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Wonderful mix of colors.

Anonymous said...

Lovely painting. I like that your work is between abstract and figurative. Beautiful!

Marian Allen said...

OMG, I love these paintings SO HARD! They are ASTOUNDINGLY beautiful! They make me SO HAPPY! Please make a book of them -- PLEASE!

Sharon Himsl said...

It does look mystical and mysterious; the colors almost appear to float.

Inventions by Women A-Z
Shells–Tales–Sails

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

Alex, thanks. Hope you will like the total painting as well.

Thruhisvessel,thanks for visiting and for the compliments.

Marian, I adore your enthusiasm. The paintings have been fun so far, and I would love to create a book with them.

Sharon, thanks for visiting and keeping up with my project!

Michelle Wallace said...

Hi Mary!
I'm popping in via Alex's blog.
The painting is wonderful... and captures the mystical element.

Learning about Farrah as new paintings and parts of paintings are unveiled each day is a mutual unfolding... a wonderful and clever thematic approach.
Happy A to Z'ing!

Writer In Transit