Fox Couple

Fox Couple -acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

Here’s a new painting for my wildlife series. Years ago, when I began my Heni’s Happy Paintings Etsy store I did a series for young children that included one of a bunny, the original of which I gave to my oldest niece’s first baby, then I did one of lambs on a meadow and then finally a fox. The fox print was the best seller. The fox brought another niece to mind as her favorite Disney film was the Fox and the Hound and I gave her a small framed print. Sometime later she met a guy who soon became her boyfriend who also happened to like foxes and in fact got a striking fox tattoo on his arm. After they had been together for a while, I did another painting of a fox in a moonlight scene and gave the print to him for his birthday. Now it’s years later and these two foxes are engaged and planning to marry before the year’s end.

With that in mind I thought it would be fun to do a new painting of a fox couple. It was challanging, I spent a lot of time working on their expressions and also getting the colors to work. I think it’s turned out pretty well and hopefully they will like it. I could see it going into the nursury of their first baby. We’ll see. I plan to get back to doing some larger abstract paintings this weekend.

Whale in Space

Whale in Space – acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

I’m back to my daily painting and have just completed Whale in Space, which depicts a large blue whale spinning out in space. I follow a whale page on Instagram which shows videos of whales as they spin up out of the ocean and then crash down on the water, it’s breathtaking. These images inspired me to add a whale to my space series. My husband tells me whales spin as they rise from the deep to create a vortex of bubbles that traps fish for them to eat.

Whales are magestic, large and other worldly; I can see why the space whale has become popular in various science fiction shows. Here is what google said about the meaning of the Space Whale: It represents the grandest of dreams. It represents a world in balance, one in which humankind has learned to walk with all of the life on this planet.

Wolf

Wolf – acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

I have just completed Wolf, a new painting for my wildlife series. My goal in this series is to have strong graphic compositions which I think was accomplished here. I was tempted to use more color around the moon but restrained myself, in keeping with the mood of the painting.

I remember drawing a lone wolf up howling on a mountaintop with the moon above on the back of notebooks in late elementary school, probably fifth or sixth grade. It was a popular motif at the time. That’s probably when I realized that I liked doing art. From middle school through all of high school, I took art class as an elective.

I have another painting a wolf with a girl which I did for my Heni’s Happy Paintings Etsy shop but this one is a wink to those early drawings. In reality a lone wolf is quite rare. Wolves are family oriented and depend on each other. They symbolize loyalty, family and friendship, but also wildness and freedom, as they chose not to become tame like dogs.

.

White Tailed Buck

White Tailed Buck – acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

My new painting, White Tailed Buck is of a regal adult male deer. I’ve worked on it consistently for the past two weeks, it took time to blend the colors of the deer’s coat. The late spring forest foliage behind the buck was inspired from my daily walks. I love looking at how the light falls on the various tree leaves and branches. I’ve tried to do it justice in this painting. Here in Atlanta, we have many majestic deciduous trees growing in our environment that we tend to take for granted. Luckily, my neighborhood has many and I sure hope it stays that way as the ranch house expansion renovations continue.

Last year, at mid-morning, a large eight-point buck leapt into our wooded back yard, the tall fence was no issue. I watched him from my studio window as he strolled across stopping to snack on leaves. He then leapt into my neighbor’s yard. Occasionally, I’ll see deer at dusk over closer to a church yard that has a large, wooded area with a stream and protected flood plain. I had never seen one here and wondered what got him over our way.

The buck symbolizes the male aspect of the deer, speed, stamina, grace and regeneration since the antlers grow back each year. The antlers grow up above the head bringing it closer to the sky and making it sacred. In many cultures, the deer buck is a symbol of spiritual authority.

Raccoon by the Creek

Raccoon by the Creek ~ acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

Raccoon by the Creek is a new painting for my wildlife series. I started with the idea to paint a raccoon and use yellow in the background color. In my recent wildlife paintings I’ve decided to be a bit more graphic and less whimsical. I included the trees in the background since they live in forests. It was fun to paint, playing with the blacks and grays and whites and to get his eyes to show through the mask. I like the way he turned out, he’s cute just like raccoons are.

Some fun facts about raccoons are that they are nocturnal and have excellent night vision, the black mask absorbs light, which helps them with glare. They are agile, their fronts paws are dexterous and actually look and work like slender human hands. They seem to wash their food prior to eating. They are intelligent and like to play. Raccoons symbolize wisdom, being resourceful and playfulness. In some cultures they are tricksters because they can be sneaky and steal food from others.

Squirrels in Spring

Squirrels in Spring ~ acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

Squirrels in Spring is my most recent painting, A few years ago I painted a lone squirrel on a tree branch with the brilliant fall foliage that I had seen from my upstairs studio window. This time around I thought it would be fun to do a spring scene with more than one squirrel.

With spring is in full force here in Atlanta, all the squirrels are busy scampering through the trees like acrobats. I imagine they are happy with the cold weather gone and are enjoying the abundant food sources. The other day I saw a mom run over to rescue her young one who cried out for her as my cat looked on from our screened porch. She carried her from the nape of the young one’s neck and quickly disappeared under a fence into my neighbor’s yard. On my walk I counted nine busy squirrels in a tree shaded front yard, This time of year I also notice the lovely bright light greens of the new leaves contrasted with the tree trunks and limbs in the sunlight. So beautiful. I tried to reflect this in my my painting.

My twin sister likes the symbol of the industrious and social squirrel which is another reason I chose to do this painting, as I am rotating an abstract with my more “realistic” paintings. There is such a strong force of life this time of year in nature, I hope all are enjoying the season.

Alice’s Horse

Alice’s Horse ~ acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

Alice’s Horse is a new abstract painting that I’ve done for my sister. She wanted one of my abstract paintings but one with muted colors that differ from my usual jewel colored space abstracts; one that would fit in with her open living space of their relatively new home. The painting is on 22″ by 33″ watercolor paper, I had not painted in this large scale for several years. In some ways it’s more freeing to paint with large strokes; I enjoyed it and I plan to do more.

My older sister took horse back riding lessons and was a natural, My dad got a beautiful horse named Scarlet for her and our family that he kept at a friend’s countryside place in Seal, Alabama. It seemed like every weekend throughout the year we were out there playing in the countryside. Alice spent many days riding Scarlet. I thought it would be meaningful for her to include a horse in the abstract landscape. Doing this painting brought back many happy memories of our times there. It got me thinking of a few more ideas of new paintings in the style to complete a series.

Black Bear Emerging in Spring

Black Bear Emerging in Spring

I’ve just completed a new painting, Black Bear Emerging in Spring. I’ve done lots of wildlife paintings but have never tried my hand at a bear until now. I wanted to get the feeling of the bear just coming out of hibernation and into the beauty of spring. It took me a while to get the pose of the bear that I felt worked, I wanted him moving and looking imposing.

Years ago, I spent a year living in a small farmhouse on a mountainside outside Asheville, NC. One spring afternoon I climbed way up the mountain behind our house, higher than I usually hiked and sat on a rock to write in my journal. Suddenly I heard thunderous sounding footsteps coming from the area above my rock, When I turned around to see what it was, the sound stopped. I quickly packed up my journal and hightailed it down the mountain. I knew it was a black bear who was probably just as surprised to see me as I was to hear him.

I feel that when we humans come upon bears, their massiveness can invoke a powerful feeling of awe. Perhaps this is why the bear as a spirit animal or totem is one of the most ancient worshiped animals. I looked up the symbolism of bears and it’s what you would imagine: strength, courage and protection. It’s been unseasonably warm here but cold weather is coming back; let’s hope the real spring will be here a bit later to enjoy like this bear!

Tiggy

Tiggy – acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

I’ve just completed Tiggy, another new cat painting. In December when I was working out how I was going to paint Katniss, the last painting, I sketched out a cat laying on the page. Once I saw the photo of Katniss sitting on the wall, I decided to put the first cat sketch aside and do a new sketch of her sitting. My daughter, who was home for the holidays at the time, suggested I use that first sketch to paint our beloved cat, Tiggy. So, that’s what I’ve done and this painting is for her.

Tiggy and his sister came into our family when they were tiny kittens. We got them from our neighbor for our daughter who was three at the time. They grew up together. Tiggy was a wonderful cat, loving and patient. Through the years he was patient and present with all the kids who came in and out and he loved our daughter. He also loved being outdoors,spending hours outside laying in the front yard. Neighbors walking by would stop to pet him. He was majestic and kind to all, everyone knew him. Here’s a picture of my daughter with Tiggy.

A few years after we lost Tiggy’s sister, we brought home two new tuxedo kittens,Tuxie and Truffle. It took him a month to adjust but he soon became like a father to them; again, he was patient and kind. At thirteen, he became ill and we knew it was near the end, but he still loved laying outside. He died a week after our girl graduated from high school. It was almost as if he waited for that, he actually went up into her bedroom and passed away. I think of Tiggy as such an evolved being and know he’s somewhere up in heaven where all our beloved pets go. That’s why I did the fanciful background as if he is in a heavenly sphere.

Katniss

Katniss – acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

Here is my new cat painting, Katniss which I plan to give to my chiropractor. Back in April when I had just started seeing him for my neck issue I brought him a few of my note cards which included some of the cat images. He then told me about their big, beautiful tabby cat, Katniss that he and his wife adore. He saw me once of week for several weeks and generously gave me a price cut. He is a true healer and helped me get through the six months of my slow recovery which I so appreciated. I decided to thank him with a portrait of Katniss.

I tried to capture her look from the photos of her he had emailed me. This image is from their neighbor’s back patio wall. I liked the composition and how it showed her adorable plump look. I’m going to bring the painting with me to my next appointment in in early February. I am hoping that they like the painting of their much loved kitty.