Art from a Dream: Sanctuary

By Nancy Rynes

Dec 2021

"Sanctuary" Oil on Panel, 18in x 18in (Private Collection).

Every artist gets ideas for new works in different ways. Some allow their dreams to lead the creative process. Others look to Nature for new inspiration. For many, the concepts come from an unknown place deep in our minds or spirits - a place where the seeds of creative ideas get stored away, rearranged,  fertilized by time, and watered by our experience, to eventually emerge in our minds as a work that we must create.

The idea for "Sanctuary" came about from a combination of all three of these.

It started with a visit to both Mesa Verde National Park and Canyons of the Ancients National Monument (CoA), both near Cortez, Colorado. The latter has a beautiful museum that highlights the culture of the Ancestral Pueblo People from this region. 

Just as I entered the museum at Canyons of the Ancients, a mural fragment caught my eye. Scientists removed this amazing plaster mural from a kiva in Lowry Pueblo. It had deteriorated badly due to a failed attempt at preservation. The plaster below the mural had cracked quite deeply and the paint flaked off in many places. But even through the deterioration, or maybe because of it, the mural made a huge impression on me. I remember thinking that its cracked, peeling surface might be a perfect starting point for another painting in my "Relics" series. I took several photos and stored the experience away in my memory for later use. 

I'm also in love with both ancient and modern Pueblo Pottery and go out of my way to visit museums housing good collections. The museum of Canyons of the Ancients displays a good variety of ancient pottery, as well as a large selection of other everyday objects recovered from the area (sandal fragments, yucca rope, axes, etc.). Again, I took photos, sketched, and made mental notes.

I went back home. A couple of months passed. I hadn't thought much about the kiva mural or the pottery - I was busy painting for an upcoming show and didn't have time to think about or start anything new. But one morning, as I woke from a dream, a visual of "Sanctuary" appeared in my mind's eye. It contained all of the elements you see above except for the hummingbird. I took that as a hint from my subconscious that I needed to begin the painting.

I started by creating the texture for the mural. I used a plaster recipe and application method I'd developed myself. As that dried, I sifted through my photo reference looking for pottery themes to use. I knew the piece would contain the dual theme of both birds and lizards, and eventually I found a couple of pieces that would work well. The urn-shaped pot on the left actually comes from an Ancestral Pueblo site in southeastern Utah, and the bowl came from Lowry Pueblo at CoA National Monument. 

Turkeys were an important element in Ancestral Pueblo art and culture, so I included a turkey feather in the composition. It adds to the bird theme and also helps to draw your eye through the composition.  Turquoise has been a revered stone for at least 1,500 years - the Ancestral Pueblo people even traded turquoise to the ancient Mayans in exchange for cacao (cocoa in bean form), copper, and macaw parrots. I included actual chunks of turquoise in the painting, as well as a representation of a string of beads. A piece of red jasper and a reproduction arrowhead complete the still life elements.

Anyone who travels in the Four Corners area will tell you about the abundant lizards, so I included a little one here. His coloring is intentionally toned down so that he doesn't steal your eye away from the main elements of the composition above him.

But yet, somehow, it didn't feel finished to me. When this happens, and yes, it happens more than I like to admit, I know to set the painting aside and let my mind rest a little. Several months later, it came to me that the painting simply needed a hummingbird to be complete. I searched through my photo archives and found just the right one - and perched him on the edge of the bowl.

Each person sees something different in a painting. What do you see in "Sanctuary"?

To me, this piece speaks of millennia of history and culture in North and Central America. I see links between ancient and modern, trade routes over deserts and mountains, and the perseverance of many groups of Native Peoples. It also tells me about the persistence of Nature, and the role it has in our lives and culture. I didn't necessarily set out to depict these things in "Sanctuary" - they simply evolved as a result me following my instincts or intuition.

But then again, maybe you see something completely different...

All content copyright Nancy Rynes, 2023. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes the unauthorized use of copyright material, including but not limited to internet material, a felony.

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