Last-minute painting

Talk about procrastination.  I knew about this deadline many months ago, when Sebastian River Art Club member Kathleen Richter, who is heading up the Sebastian Library's January window exhibit, gave a "Call to Artists" to paint a winter animal for her winter landscape mural project.  So she wanted the work in Saturday, December 28th, and I started the painting 11:00 pm December 27th.  Good thing I can work under pressure.  I slept late the next morning.  It's a cute one though, only 8"x10".

"Cardinal" Acrylic by Judy Burgarella

Next emergency is "Osceola's Plume," for the Flora500 project, 500 painted flowers for Florida's 500th Anniversary of Ponce de Leon's arrival to our shores.

After that have to get ready for the Vero Beach Art Club's Art By the Sea, due January 23rd.  Going to paint the Seminole leader "Osceola," whom I've painted before some years ago, using a clay bust, the culmination of much research on his image.  However, after finding a death mask of him in New York shortly after I ended up having the first bust cast in bronze, I realized I must paint him again.  So I'm almost finished sculpting a new image--an exact sculpture of his death mask, sans closed eyes and any other evidence of his being dead.

How exciting it was for me to be in the same room with Osceola's death mask, and taking pictures of it, especially after spending so much time studying him over the years.  Dead at 36, pretty young, but what an impact he had on Florida, evidenced by the numerous places and things named after him.  His story is amazing, even in death, and I believe is greatly under appreciated and under publicized.   Below is a pic I just took of the sculpted head, located on a high shelf in my studio--too heavy for me to get down right now.

Clay sculpture of "Osceola" by Judy Burgarella

Actually, I kind of like this angle, and may paint it.  The beauty part of creating your own "model," is that it doesn't move, doesn't need a break or a drink of water, and you can cast it in any light you want to.  Oh, and there's no model fee.  Oh, and your painting is completely original, with nothing on his face referenced from another artist's painting, except maybe for a portion of clothing.  Trick is, you have to make up color, which never seems to be a problem with me.  I love color, and can imagine it in just about anything.  And skin tones especially are challenging and fun, especially when you nail it!  I just love it when the face is far enough along to be looking straight at me.  Spooky and exciting at the same time. Sometimes I paint the eyes first thing, just for that rush.

Below is a bronze of Osceola, the clay sculpture of which I used to create the first painting of him.

"Osceola" bronze sculpture by Judy Burgarella 11"Dx15"Hx7-1/2W"

 The below oil painting was created using the first clay sculpture based on my original research of Osceola, examining dozens of paintings and drawings of him, as he died before the advent of photography.  Also much of the visual data was collected by first-person accounts of his image and demeanor, clothing, etc., and numerous visits to museums to see artifacts.  I have in my possession several books on Osceola, and many other books which contain information about him, which I have spent way too much time perusing--to my ultimate enjoyment.

One macabre piece of history ... his head was removed from his body after death, used as a scary artifact by its owner Dr. Weedon, given to a medical professor, displayed in a museum window in New York, and supposedly "lost" in a fire.  But I think it's still out there someplace, perhaps in the Mutter Museum in Pennsylvania, or in some other museum's archives.  Or perhaps in a private collection.  Back in the day, the heads and/or brains of interesting, famous, intelligent or violent persons were sometimes separated from their bodies for supposed "research." 

"Osceola" oil painting by Judy Burgarella, 16"x20 canvas

A very disappointing situation it was when the bronze was not even cooled before this other "proof" of his actual image was discovered by me.  And so I had to rename the bronze "Seminole," although it does not have strong Indian features, as I knew that Osceola was only 1/8 Indian. 

So that's part of the story of Osceola's image.  I hope I can do him justice on this next painting.  Hope I didn't bore you with all this stuff, but it's so interesting to me.

Stay tuned.  I'll be posting the painting when it's done, probably the night before!

Judy Burgarella
Artist & Blogger