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"The Heart of Owl Dreams of What Might Be."  I was astounded - really! - that the words for Owl came to me so easily. In fact, this painting came together in about two hours, practically painting itself! Maybe that's what two weeks without painting will do for you.  I think one of the reasons Owl manifested herself so effortlessly is that I've been trying to paint her for quite some time: she appears in other paintings, but then I end up painting her out. This particular owl is a hawk owl, a bird which appeared to me in a dream a few months ago. The dream was very vivid and I can still remember the details. The weird thing is I'd never heard of a hawk owl before, but after I dreamed it I researched owls and found that the strange looking half hawk, half owl raptor from my dreams exists in the "real" world as well!

A couple of things I find interesting about "The Heart of Owl" is that although the painting isn't "finished, it feels very close to done. I think I am going to leave it alone for awhile, except to make a few tweaks to the face and lettering. Other than that, I'm liking the unfinished feel - supported by the words "...dreams of what might be." We are always growing, inventing and re-inventing ourselves. The interesting thing is that I didn't write the word "owl" - instead let the image form the word. A little departure from what I've done in the other Birth Totem animal paintings, but again, it feels right.