"A Meditation on the Pacific Northwest", Third Buddha Painting

This small work is the last in my series of Buddha paintings. Because I wanted to make this a meditation work, I used a border to draw the viewer inward to make Buddha the focal point.

Even though I used the same Buddha figure and Pacific Northwest landscape as in the previous Buddha paintings, I could never paint them exactly the same. Nor would I want to!

The knot border is done with gold over a transparent red oxide. I used the crow symbol to break up the border. The crow is outlined in an iridescent violet. The Buddha is once again holding the tulip and apple, symbols of the Pacific Northwest. The tree he is sitting in front of has that beautiful green moss you find covering many of the trees here. What doesn't show in the photo or scan is the luminous quality of this piece.

Gessobord has a slight texture, so when I started to paint the features on the figure, the texture kept getting in the way. To correct that, I painted several layers of gesso on the figure, sanding each time between the dry layers using very fine sandpaper. When the figure was finished, I added the iridescent and metallic gold glazes on Buddha and around his form. When you see this work in person, the figure in certain light looks as though it is floating.

I'm not sure if I will do more Buddha pieces, but I really enjoyed doing these three. I hope you enjoy seeing them and hearing a bit about their background. As always, thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and look at my work. I hope you will come back soon.


This work, A Meditation on the Pacific Northwest is available on my secure website for purchase. Just click on "add to my collection".

I notice that this image is showing up in google images. I do hope that viewers will take note that this is an original painting done by me and is available for purchase on my website at www.bfreestudios.com. I also hope they will respect the copyright of this work. Thank you for looking and please, I'd love to hear from you, leave me a comment.

A Meditation on the Pacific Northwest

Copyright 2009 Barbara A. Freeman

Acrylic on Gessobord, 5 1/2" x 5 1/2"

Framed size, 9 1/4" x 9 1/4"