Forbidden Forest, Paintings by Alexandra Ortiz, 2012.
In the third grade my teacher traded with another teacher for the sections of science and art. One day my class was at the science teacher’s room but for some reason we were doing art. We were drawing trees. If I recall correctly, the teacher told us to do whatever we want; that is never the case. There were a few trees on my paper. I decided to color the trunk of one blue. Ms. C, we'll call her, found this completely unacceptable. She scolded me asking if I had ever seen a blue tree. I, being incredibly shy at the time, didn't have the time to answer that I had seen one on TV. She finished her own sentence, "NO, THERE ARE NO BLUE TREES."
It felt like forever creating this show. I insisted on making my own canvases for nearly all the pieces in this body of work, but I'm glad I did. I otherwise wouldn't have been able to work on this scale. These are the largest paintings I've made so far, not to mention the most on one subject, eighteen pieces.
Flight, Acrylic on canvas, 24''x30''
I thought I'd talk about Flight first because it is the title painting of the show. In the Forbidden Forest there are many magical things that happen. Flight is what happens after the fish climb trees. One of the fish thought climbing the tree was good, but more could be done. The leaves were all falling off the trees anyway, so this fish took two before they fell. When they were climbing trees the fish saw birds flying. The one who took the leaves flapped them like the birds did and took off. I decided to use this one for the title of the show because it best showed what is in the rest of the show, and also has blue trees in it.
To Climb Trees, Acrylic on canvas, 24''x30''
To Climb Trees was the first painting I created for the series. In this painting the river the fish lived in suddenly dried up. They don't know why. It just did. One fish gives up and dies. Another fish gets scared and nearly faints. But since this forest is a magical one, the fish continue living out of water. The tallest fish sees a black bird sitting on a tree far away and gets an idea. The bird seems to be fine in that tree, maybe fish should climb trees.
Wednesday's Child, Acrylic on canvas, 32''x42''
Wednesdays Child is based on a song by Vermillion Lies by the same title. The song is about what children are supposed to be based on what day of the week they were born.
Monday's Child is fair of face (narcissist)
Tuesday's child is full of grace (a little stiff)
Wednesday's child is full of woe (whatever)
Thursday's child has far to go (get out)
Friday's child is kind and giving (sucker)
Saturday's child works hard for a living (overachiever)
But the child that was born on the Sabbath Day
Is blithe and bony and good and gay
Is blithe and bony and good and gay
Through the whole song the singer sings about how the day she was born on wasn't her day and she was angry. She sings about things she would change if she could like rewriting story books and rewriting all the songs on the radio. Personally, I don't know what day I was born on. I would want to be Saturday's child because Saturdays are usually when I get the most work done. The fish in this painting are overachievers.
Charlie Brown, Acrylic on canvas, 3'x3'
There are boundaries to the Forbidden Forest. When there are walls or fences that is where the forest ends. Charlie Brown, the cartoon, is one of my favorites. He got lot of bad breaks in life and was generally insecure, but he had good friends. There are several comic strips with him sitting at a brick wall talking to his best friend, Linus. In this painting, the red tree tries to escape the boundaries but there is a fence in the way. One of the roots grows on the other side, but the rest is stuck in the forest. Colorful trees have to stay where the magic is. Magic stays in the forest. If the trees leave, they might lose their color.
Wire Fence, Acrylic on canvas, 3'x3'
Wire Fence shows another edge of the forest. One might find these trees and try to sneak in the forest, but there is a tall fence in the way.
For me this show has been a small rebellion, perhaps the smallest I could make. That science teacher may never hear of this art show, but still, eventually, I stood up to her in my own way.
About the Artist:
Alexandra Ortiz is a Bakersfield based artist who has been painting for five years. At Bakersfield College she earned an Associate of Art with concentrations in Graphic Design and Art History. Alex currently attends California State University Bakersfield (Art Major). She is a member of the artist groups, The Foundry Gallery of Bakersfield and The Working Artist Collective of CSUB. She recently led a workshop, “Meditative Drawing” at the Art for Healing Center of Mercy Hospital.
"No Worries, just coffee art and love."
The nX is a place for art, poetry, music and coffee. It is a nonprofit based on an internet cafe LisaAnn Lobosso used to own. She has opened her own home up for the arts. There are resident artists, a good espresso machine, and many events. Some events are Speakeasy, an open mic event for musicians and spoken word artists, On the Fly, a poetry event with dueling poets and a featured performer from out of town, and ROFL Comedy Night and many ongoing healing arts functions. It is located at 2995 North Baker, Bakersfield CA.
For Further Reading:
The Whole Show.
NX ArtHouse
Wednesday's Child, by Vermillion Lies
Walking Fish
