A Grey and Grizzly Day

A Grey and Grizzly Day

by Sandra LaFaut © 2014

9x12" on white Claybord

colored with Ampersand inks

My husband and I watched this bear amble along the beach at Yellowstone Lake a few years ago. We were up on a small bluff about 15 feet above the beach. The bear was not paying any attention to us until some crazy lady next to me yelled "Hey Bear!" very loudly. He looked up and I snapped the photo - then I took off for the car. Good thing he didn't follow - I didn't have the keys. But I got a nice photo.

Keeping Watch Over Sparrows #1: Finished

The subject matter for this is from my own photos manipulated in Photoshop to get a digital image to work from. The sparrows are regulars at my feeder and from a big series of photos I took over a few winter days of strong backlighting. The eye is my own from a selfie I took last year for another project.

My heart has always been in art that portrays spiritual subjects based on Christian themes. This one is based on the theme of God's care for us in Luke 12: 6-7 "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

I see 3 levels of meaning in this as I worked on it:

1. It is God's eye:  God watching over sparrows, and yet the eye is not focused on the birds before him, but on the viewer. He watches over us: we are his precious sparrows.
2. It is a person's eye:  God is outside the image watching the birds, but looking beyond the birds to the person who he dearly loves and cares for.
3. It is your eye or my eye:  As we become more like Jesus in our values, we do as he does and watch over his 'sparrows'.

It's titled #1 because I may do a few more in a series.

WIP Watching Over Sparrows

This one is still a work in progress (WIP). It is 5x7 and on black Ampersand board. So far I have only used a #11 scalpel blade to scratch it. That seems to be my favorite tool right now. I love the very light, soft marks I can make with it.
The subject matter for this is from my own photos manipulated in Photoshop to get a digital image to work from. The sparrows are regulars at my feeder and from a big series of photos I took over a few winter days of strong backlighting. The eye is my own from a selfie I took last year for another project.
My heart has always been in art that portrays spiritual subjects based on Christian themes. This one is based on the theme of God's care for us in Luke 12: 6-7 "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
In this one the eye represents God watching over sparrows, and yet the eye is not focused on the birds before him, but on the viewer. He watches over us: we are his precious sparrows.
I have a fair bit of work to do on this still, but will be posting along the way or when I finish it with a good scan. This is just from my phone camera.
I am open to doing more with this, maybe going into a small series. This started as a study for a larger piece.