Soul of an Orca

    ORIGINAL DRAWING MADE IN SEATTLE

FIRST PAINTING CREATED FROM PRINT OF ORIGINAL DRAWING
MADE IN SEATTLE...THIS ONE IS
FOR SALE. NOT THE ORIGINAL.
THIS IS OUR STORY.


There is a buyer who wants to buy the orca painting, shown above in black. This is one version of many I will complete based on the Original (on top.) The title of the original is: "Oh, Killer Whale, please teach me to breathe underwater!" and it
was drawn at a cafe across the street from the hospital in Seattle where Edwin had his cancer surgery, which included some pretty close calls, post-op...I was helpless to do anything other than ask the orca to teach me how to continue functioning in the midst of what felt like the impossible...the drawing was a plea...I sat and drew and drew while Edwin slept or had whatever they needed to do done. The Cancer Center there had an Art Therapist, can you believe that? We discovered that drawing and making birds' nests was the way my aching soul chose to express its pain. So, I rode the orca, like the girl in the movie "Whale Rider" when it took her beneath the sea...she did not drown. Nor did I. And Edwin lived.

Here's the catch. The buyer does not want the "finished" painting, she wants to also see the original...as disorganized as I admittedly am, I can usually ferret out what I need...given time. And functional neural synapses!

The truth is, I don't want to sell it. The original would sell for a LOT more money and I currently have one dollar and one cent in my checking account. I checked today. But more coming in from art sales last month will get us through the rest of the month...the point being that - financial need aside - this is "my totem whale" and it cared for me...and does not want to be "captured or sold" as if it lived in a zoo or Sea World! It wants to swim quietly in my soul, and has therefore dived to the depths of the sea where I cannot retrieve it...for now.

Whether the buyer will want the "finished" repainted version I cannot know.

But this has been the most extraordinary spiritual experience I have ever had with a piece of art...the second most extraordinary experience also was about orca whales, baby orca whales. So, apparently, the Orcas have chosen me.
We have three non-migratory pods who live right here in the San Juan Islands.
I have never seen one, refusing to take an "orca boat tour" as I believe these boats disrupt their normal behavior, placing them at risk. That is not respectful.
So I have only seen Orcas within.

That is all I have to share.  I don't know how the buyer will respond to this,
but I am truthful about this experience and we do live amongst some pretty darn Sacred Native American land, sea, mountains, and sky: All deserve the utmost Respect. They humble me.

Love,
Chana