https://maureenmccarronart.substack.com/p/electra Electra Good News, Bad News MAUREEN MCCARRON FEB 01, 2025 Share Last week I mentioned I planned to do an American Bald Eagle but I wanted to rework Electra first. Which I did. What was interesting was how when I gave her that title earlier, it came to me much the way they usually do without my doing a lot of research. This time, I looked up The Harpies in Greek mythology, the piece is based on a harpy eagle, and learned that Electra was their mother. Perfect - and there I was, thinking it was about mourning. I sold two owls this week, one a giclee, the other was Orpheus, the painting below. I did him during a difficult time two summers ago. My kitchen had flooded so the floor was ripped up for months leaving the apartment in chaos, and my studio was jam packed with things that didn’t belong in there. I remember working on Orpheus, squeezed into a chair at my desk, while the contractor was pounding and sawing and crashing around in the other room. Much like now, I am grateful I can paint to maintain sanity. The bad news, besides everything else that’s going on, is I am getting on a plane next week and it is hard to stay calm. There is a Buddhist parable I hang on to at times like this about a woman being chased by tigers. She climbs over the side of a cliff and is clinging to a vine to escape them only to find there are tigers on the ground below her as well. She also sees a rat chewing on the vine and knows it will eventually break. Then she notices a cluster of wild berries growing next to her. Tigers above, tigers below, she eats the berries and thoroughly enjoys them. In other words, Maureen, stay in the moment. Eat those berries. Onward. Maureen McCarron is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

https://maureenmccarronart.substack.com/p/fracas

https://maureenmccarronart.substack.com/p/pericles

https://maureenmccarronart.substack.com/p/guardian-above 1 Dashboard Guardian Above And Topaz Below MAUREEN MCCARRON JAN 11, 2025 Share I don’t understand social media algorithms, but since I mentioned my studio sale in preparation for my big move later this year, my website has had 236 views and I have a couple dozen new subscribers as well as 75 new followers here on Substack. I attribute the Substack activity to my friend Kevin Sessums’ including me on his suggestions list, but the website is because I’ve been posting about the sale on Facebook and Instagram. And it has been working. The pieces above and below are among the work that has sold this week. Someone who came over and took a couple of plants has also staked a claim on a few things from my collection of antiques. So it’s begun, the big move preparation. There are plenty of things I need to do first. Taxes for one, and getting the cataract in my other eye taken care of. See the dentist and cardiologist. And maybe start thinking about what to do about my furniture, although I expect to be here through at least September. I’ve done this before. My Manhattan landlord paid me to move out of my rent-stabilized apartment in Soho. I’d lived there for more than thirty years, and he gave me six weeks to vacate. That was a mad scramble, I even tore up decades of journals. I’m not doing that again, I intend to pace myself. And keep posting about my studio sale everywhere I can. Check out my website www.maureenmccarron.com - I’ll make you a deal etc, etc, etc. As Kevin Sessums likes to say - Onward.

Maureen

This week's Substack

If you count the rook and the magpie, this is my 11th corvid. Often, I don’t know, or care, if it’s a raven or a crow although I do get asked all the time which one a piece is, especially at the craft fairs. Lately, I’ve been working with black or white birds with undertones of color. Early into this series, I relied on a bright or intense palette, now I’m interested in something more mythical than color or accuracy. Usually the birds tell me their titles, this is one of the ways I know a painting is done. Sometimes I use names from a list I keep on hand or do a bit of research, but my best work has let me know what it wanted to be called. Kafka waited until it was finished. When I checked online to be sure that the title fit, I came across references to Kafka’s Secret Raven. Several of the quotes were moving but not confirmable. This one was attributed to his diaries. “I don’t believe people exist whose inner plight resembles mine; still, it is possible for me to imagine such people but that the secret raven forever flaps about their heads as it does about mine, even to imagine that is impossible.” Fits, no? Meanwhile, since I am planning a big move this year, I’m having a studio sale in hopes of having less to ship later. Check out my website - www.maureenmccarron.com - and just ignore that cookies message. Let me know what catches your eye. We’ll negotiate. Onward.

This week's blog from my website. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My last four birds, plus the raven on my table, show a trend of black and/or white, with a lot of color underneath. The burnished gold isn't new, and there were white birds as well as black in the work for my show at The Commons in September, but this is different. The loon was finished before my cataract surgery, the other three were not. Those three are also post-election and reflect my feelings about that. We'll see how this goes, the new year, the new government, the new birds - but in the meantime Tashe Delek, a Tibetan blessing for an auspicious occasion. Good luck everybody, onward.

New Substack

Apparently, finally, I am angry. So far, I’ve been too stunned and exhausted by politics but the Musk thing has nudged me over the edge. I was thinking about Cassandra as I was painting this new bird, but I’ve used that name as a title before and needed to come up with something with fear and reverence involved. Pythia, who as the Oracle of Delphi, channeled prophecies from the god Apollo, felt right. The name even goes with her gauzy shroud. And I bet nobody blew her off as a hysterical worrywart. In other news, since Americans are now going to need an ETA visa to visit England, I took care of that online this week. A bit frustrating with all the nit picky details and time limit but I’m good at this point for two years. Still can’t stay more than six months, however I’m free to come and go as I please. I planned to go again in January, but the potential government shutdown and its impact on the TSA nightmare that is Logan airport made me rethink my agenda. And although the government situation has been resolved, Newcastle is coping with Metro infrastructure issues which keep shutting the system down, so I’m sticking with February for my next visit. I was back at The Crown and Anchor craft fair this weekend. Had my old spot from last year on Saturday but moved to the other side of the room where there was more heat yesterday. More, yes, but still not enough to counteract it being 6 degrees outside. Again, it’s been all about the greeting cards and mugs but the originals I took with me got lots of attention. And speaking of originals, Auggie, my painting at the AMZehnder Gallery in Wellfleet here on Cape Cod sold during the Salon show. Yay! Auggie, the little owl below, is an angry bird too. Interesting.