Migratory Muses

Each of us, at some point, has envied a bird. I can not escape the memory of a certain robin to this very day. As a child I watched as she clicked around her nest in a drizzling rain just outside my bedroom window, her oiled feathers easily slicking the downpour, her spirit unflappable. It was the beginning of bird envy for me. Some of us recover from the disappointment of our earthbound, ambulatory existence in time to lead adult lives in which these delicate darlings of the air are largely taken for granted; others, like the namesake of Gennine’s Art Store, enshrine their bird aspirations in art as a lever against forgetting nature’s beauty. On the wings of such lovely subjects as Bird Number 21 (an addendum to the stunning 20 Birds series) and in the handsome dusk tones of the Three Little Birds, her details bring to life a creature whose sonorous presence leaves the day “clean and fresh washed…resounding like a green dulcimer” (Neruda). She leads us to a bygone landscape in Homage to Chagall, then channels Warhol’s forward thinking in the composition of Together.

Gennine doesn’t stop with avian art, however. Her paintings of boats perched on used postcards, as in Ahoy and Fishing, troll the waters of imagination and haul in preposterously large catch. Her plant life in one print rises from Botanical Gardens moonstruck with night magic, and in another, Flower Party, lies etched against a tapestry of bright desert colors. In fact, in surveying Gennine’s Etsy gallery one comes away with the distinct impression that she really does love to surprise us. And if surprises are your thing, a bit of good luck might bring you another: The winner of today’s giveaway will win a Limited Edition Print of Three Little Birds courtesy of the artist. To qualify, visit Gennine’s Art Store, then come back here to tell us about your favorite print. Tell us in a second post if you happen to subscribe to Wishing Willow, since our subscribers receive an extra entry in the contest. To post without a Google account, just click “anonymous.” Be sure to also leave your email address. The winner will be chosen randomly. Contest ends 11/1/08.

**We have a winner! Annie who said, "I love Pile o Wood, its so special! Thanks."**