Brown Bear painting completed

The Brown Bear painting has been a 3-part process. It was first interrupted by a commission for 2 icons. When I got back to it, I was having difficulty in that it had been a while since I had painted a piece for the Journeying With The Totems series, and jumping into a 48"x48" was daunting. The larger it gets, the more detail is required.

I decided to hang it on my wall, until I could return to it once again, and felt the need to return to a painting which I had done in 2015, the Raven/Eagle Shield from the Centennial Pole in Alaska. But I was on a tight deadline then, as I was opening my first Solo Show at the Silk Purse Gallery in early February. that year. It went from my easel to the gallery, and was sold, so I didn't have time to process it at the time. And seeing that I had been struggling with the large Brown Bear canvas, I needed to return to that point in time, and start anew. The second painting went in a bit of a different direction, in that it had far more detail then the first painting.

It was challenging, but a great journey. It gave me the time to reconnect with my style and technique. Once the Raven/Eagle was completed, I felt ready to put the Brown Bear back on my easel. I wasn't overwhelmed by it anymore. It felt completely natural once again. But there was one daunting thing though, the fact that the 2018 Sooke Fine Arts Show submission deadline was on June 4th. With a  piece of this size, and being a striking image, the art show was the best option.

The submission for both the Raven/Eagle Shield and the Brown Bear has been made this afternoon, and now to wait until June 12th to hear whether either was accepted.