Marti Lyttle

Spring time in Italy.

Orchids in the afternoon light!

I love her work and wanted to share with those who may not be aware of her beautiful paintings!

A collector asked this morning what I meant by "Fox Magic." I thought it was a great question that many of you might also share.

I use “Fox Magic” or “Fox (insert any animal name here) Medicine” to refer to the qualities they are thought to possess as spiritual animals. Indigenous peoples connect animals and plants to specific energies and traits, and believe that when said things show up in one’s life or dreams that they bring a message. Individuals can also call upon a specific animal and invite them to bring those qualities to themselves or a person in need.

Foxes are clever problem solvers. They show themselves to chosen few; they know how to disappear or stay safe. They are wise, cunning, protectors of family. They are connected to ancient knowledge. They tell us to listen and pay attention to actions in lieu of words.

Foxes started showing up in my own life (real world and dreams) during the pandemic. With hindsight I think they were a means of helping me manage my fears and worries for my loved ones at that time, while teaching me to slow down and reconnect with the natural world. Most recently I have intentionally invited them back to help me heal from the mass shooting at Michigan State University last month.

Some people call this sort of thinking crazy, but it works for me. As a visual storyteller I am fascinated with and find comfort in the history of stories humanity has told themselves over the years. There was a time when humans lived much closer to the land, and it makes all sorts of sense to me that their ties with the natural world over thousands of years included this sort of insight.

This is V***n, a 30"x40" painting on cradled wood. She could be the bringer of fox magic into your home - reach out if you need her.

And thanks for caring enough about my artwork to ask such insightful questions.

No to a National Abortion Ban! January 22 should have marked the 50th anniversary of Roe protecting abortion rights in our country. Instead, following the Dobbs decision, which overturned the right to abortion provided by Roe, right-wing Republican laws have taken effect in state after state to ban abortion and criminalize those....

Trump should not be allowed to run for public office ever again!!!

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"If I can forget about trying to make something good, or how much the art materials are, or if my gallery will like this direction, if I can forget all this and instead pay attention, truly drop into what is happening presently on the painting I can then respond more powerfully. I have to re-remember this headspace every time I begin working. I try to, as quickly as possible, just totally focus and enjoy the changing colors, composition and surfaces of my work."
-Nicholas Wilton

"You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby.
But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand."
Margery Williams -The Velveteen Rabbit, 1922.

Illustration from The Velveteen Rabbit by William Nicholson.