This is a series I didn't plan to paint. It just happened. Art making has its own rhythm. If we can be open to the gifts it provides, magic and meaning abound. I find that after creating more intense (realist) pieces, there's a (natural) need for a break—lighter work. Also, picking up the brushes again can be challenging, sometimes. Fear of failure, forgetting techniques, and loss of confidence hover. Focus needs to be regained and sustained, somehow.

"Just start," I tell myself. "Try to get playful and relax with the paint. Don't have a plan. Do and undo, without being hard on yourself. Something will emerge when and if it's meant to. Lose control. Details and detailing aren't important. If something excites, take things from there. Don't worry how long it takes, or if it's perfect. Turn the canvas around. If it doesn't seem right one way, it will (eventually) another..." Sometimes this "pep talk" works. Sometimes, it doesn't.

When the Look and See series started emerging, I was thankful that I'd been able to let myself go with the flow, allowing imagery different to my typical repertoire to be born. Once I gave into the process, thoughts started swirling in my head. We might look, but do we see? We might see, but do we look? There's always questions. But there aren't always answers that tell us what we want to hear or believe. Everything is there, however, staring right at us. It's just determining, at the time, what we do and don't want to recognize or believe.

Look carefully and you will see. See carefully and you will look... I did. And, once I'd found something, I stuck with it (after changing my mind a few times). You may find different things than I do. There are no rules. If you look and see and come up with the same as me, enjoy! If you come up with different than me, well done—would be curious to know more.

What I like about this Look and See series is that it wasn't something I knew about in advance. There were both aha moments and confirmations along the way. If we see something from afar, we usually know what it is. But, only as it comes into proper view are specifics visible. Memory, when able to surface, can help fill in the blanks. Limited information isn't always a handicap. Less can be more and just enough is just enough. Reading between the brush strokes is an interactive process. Artist and viewer (and artist as viewer) test powers of imagination as well as of contemplation.

By looking and seeing, I regained motivation. A creative dry spell led to the finding of hidden treasures (in the form of animal kind). Now, a little about each of them, in order of creation.

Birds of a Feather: Ducky and Red Bird

These two characters kicked off the series: Ducky and Red Bird. Cliché as it might sound, birds of a feather stick together, and Ducky and Red Bird are no exception. They look much better that way. Red Bird is a lot more sedate: just taking in the view, eyeing what's out there—like Ducky.

Deer Fox

Skittishness and cunning combine while she peruses and waits. Solitary, yet in harmony with the environment, she positions herself for a fight or flight, or simply to enjoy the day.

Whether I intend to paint them or not, animals seem to emerge somehow. The less contrived they are, the more interesting they seem to be! This is what I have discovered as an artist who who has drifted from abstract to organic art-making. Viewers opinions may vary, of course.