"Poe's Tell-Tale Heart"
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| "Poe's Tell-Tale Heart", my wee tribute to the master and his classic suspense story all about 'something hidden' indeed.... |
Nibblefest time, yet again.
The Contest sneaked up on me this month, as it does EVERY month -- but even more quickly and more quietly than usual it seems. I've been very much enjoying a busy summer on my end -- what with both my young adult children visiting here at home, plus extended stays of their significant others, and plenty of other stuff going on. And so it was I found myself dragging my feet just a little upon getting an entry together for July's theme of "Something Hidden". Thankfully I wasn't too stumped though. I managed to conjure up a few reasonably passable literary concepts at first -- stories all about "hidden" subject matter, like "The Secret Garden", and "Treasure Island". One good friend even suggested doing something with Nancy Drew, Girl Detective (I was a hugely rapid Nancy Drew fan in my youth, as was she), being as that Nancy D. was always on the hunt after some hidden something or n'other. That would have been fun for sure (and is mentally filed for future reference!). But it wasn't until dear Mr. Poe and his ultimate in 'hidden' literary 'things' (as in, body parts....?!?) came to mind that I felt I really had something I wanted to sink my teeth into (so to speak). And so, yet another Poe tribute seemed to be in order (because I never need much arm twisting for THAT)....:
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| Painted on all sides of a an 8x8 square, found wooden plaque.... |
I thought a lot about how I wanted to approach this particular composition. I can be attracted to the dark and the macabre in Life...., while at the same time often finding myself quite squeamish and sensitive. I think I harbor a touch of superstition too -- as such I always try as a rule not to put too much "negative energy", or whatever you want to call it, out into the world, one that already seems to have more than enough of that as it is without any extra 'help' from me. And yet I'm not exactly a Pollyanna either... -- thus, this was what I came up with, something that for me felt like a happy medium between the beautiful, and the grotesque (plus a little bit of kitsch. Because please, as we know I'm all about the kitsch!)...
For fun I'm posting a pic of my initial sketch. I know not all artists pre-sketch, but I nearly always start with one -- it just helps me formulate what I'm trying to visualize (plus because I'm always working with 2nd-hand or found painting supports, of all different shapes and sizes, it helps me work out spatial elements). It needn't be a refined drawing for my purposes -- in fact, my sketches are typically extremely rough and 'sketchy' indeed, as seen here. Just a general outline to see where I'm going is enough....:
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| A few details aside, not a whole lot of difference between my initial sketch and the end product...: |
The following is my auction description...:
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~"Poe's Tell-Tale Heart"~
My entry for this month's
Nibblefest Art Contest (NFAC), the
theme for July being 'SOMETHING HIDDEN',
features a portrait painted in loving tribute to the much-beloved,
classic author, Edgar Allan Poe, and his popular 1843 story of
suspenseful macabre, "The Tell-Tale Heart".....
One
of Edgar Allan Poe's best known short stories, "The Tell-Tale Heart",
is ALL about 'something hidden' -- specifically, the murdered body of
the narrator's neighbor, killed in revulsion for his icky "filmy eye",
then dismembered and tucked away under the interior floorboards.
Police come to check out the missing person report, proceeding to sit
right above where the body parts are concealed. The narrator manages to
keep his cool..., that is until that pesky, dead, tattle-tale heart
starts up -- beating ever more loudly in its clandestine hiding spot,
filling the room with dreadful noise.... (I chose to symbolize this
particular wee gory detail of Poe's vivid imagination, as him casually
showing off one highly unique, ticking time-piece....).
Here's hoping you enjoy my entry this month as much as I did creating it...!
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| "Poe's Tell-Tale Heart" |
......UPDATE-UPDATE.....
Happy to say my "Poe's Tell-Tale Heart" tied for First Place in July's NFAC --
here's many thanks to all my bidders....!
