Reunion Owl 2011

Billy Childish painted this reunion owl with a simple palette of blues, greens, and browns, and I can almost feel the energy of its making. Look at the textured brushstrokes, dancing and swirling to form the feathers and foliage. I get the sense Childish was out in the woods, or maybe just dreaming of them. I bet he was thinking about the wisdom of nature, the silent observation of the owl, maybe even a bit of nostalgia. It’s all there in the way he handles the paint, thick in some places, thin in others. See the way the blues flow into the greens, creating depth and movement? And the eyes! Those bright yellow eyes, staring right at us! Childish’s painting reminds me of other artists, too, like Marsden Hartley’s landscapes. It feels like we're all having a big conversation across time. Painting is like that: a form of embodied expression that thrives on uncertainty, inviting us to see things a little differently each time.