Hawks~Equinox~And Seeing the Big Picture

Hawks Circling, Calling, for 7 Days.

This Hawk demanded attention for sure! Actually, there were two on some days. Every time I’d go outside the house, she’d be there. I researched and really felt this was a call to balance out the details of life with the big picture. It’s too easy to get stuck trying to control the details, the little things, making everything happen a certain way. And it will stop you dead. Energy needs to move, to shift, to be allowed to flow and grow. To translate that feeling to my painting, I made the background first. Colors were wiped on, rolled, sponged, sprayed, tilted, and run. It was a very freeing approach to a wonderful pink Santa Fe sky I saw on our trip. It shimmered with pinks, lavenders, and golds. The distant mountains had soft edges and blended into arroyos, sage, streams, pinon, and juniper. Everywhere you looked seemed magical and unearthly.

Then to really get a handle on this wonderful hawk in my mind’s eye, I did a charcoal sketch playing with proportions, shadows, and faces. This is a composite of all hawks I have known. She is a contemplative hawk, evaluating the landscape with her piercing eyes, scents, and instincts. Full moon hovers above as the second hawk soars over the countryside during this Equinox time.

My sketch paid special attention to Hawks Eyes. This is where the details came in. The Soul is in the Eyes. The result was a wonderful transparent Hawk, belonging to the land and sky, with an intelligence all her own. Balance comes in the details with the Big Picture over all, as the Sun pauses at Autumn Equinox, half way on its journey from the summer far north months, to the deep south of winter. A moment in time.