A Little Birdhouse in Your Soul

Birdhouse in Your Soul
Copyright 2015 Hirschten
Acrylic on Canvas
22" x 28"
Prints Available on Fine Art America

This painting is inspired by the They Might Be Giants song "Birdhouse in your Soul."  The song is about a blue bird nightlight that brings comfort to the listener.  In the painting the bursts at the bottom represent the opening beats.  The eggs represent youth.  The young girl in the center of the painting is my daughter who is currently age nine.  I hope that she can keep the nightlight in her soul burning bright!

Part of the composition was inspired by a piece by Eldzier Cortor that is currently on display at the Art Institute of Chicago.  Loved it!

Jewels/Theme IV by Eldzier Cortor

Another element that inspired this painting is a photo of my father when he was in the first grade:

John Wooten, 1952, Knoxville, TN

I feel this photo really captures his spark, a unique youthful quality in him.  I attempted to get the same quality of image from my daughter choosing a direct gaze and replacing the "I Like Ike" button with the birdhouse- ha ha!  My father was a musician who taught high school marching bands.  Many of my first memories are of watching him direct his students to the rhythm of the beat.  This beat, this light "that doesn't rest" is what we need to push away the monsters in the shadows.

Also my mother is a birder who has always had numerous bird feeders and houses in the sanctuary of her yard.  For me- this is a painting rich in personal family symbolism.

"I have a secret to tell
From my electrical well
It's a simple message and I'm leaving out the whistles and bells
So the room must listen to me
Filibuster vigilantly
My name is blue canary one note* spelled l-i-t-e
My story's infinite
Like the Longines Symphonette it doesn't rest"

-They Might Be Giants