Liption

30” x 40”

31.5” x 41.5” framed (maple floater)

Oil, acrylic, and colored pencil on panel

The master resident of the home that my husband and I rented during my French residency was a black cat that I dubbed “Liption” - a name that my sister and I jokingly call all black cats after the feline in the 1990 film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel “The Witches”. Here Liption frolics amid the daffodil fields that flank Princely Beguinage - the only remaining beguinage in Bruges, Belgium. Historically, beguinages were homes of Benedictine nuns dubbed beguins. While this building is indeed Belgian, the term has French origins and France is home to some standing beguinages. I like to think of nuns as a kind of antidote to the witch (whom I more closely align with given my penchant for the natural world and mother nature’s inherent power vs. that of some all-powerful male god), making Liption’s presence here a kind of challenge of powers. The ornate gate that separates the freewheeling fields of daffodils - the witch’s turf - from the orderly stands of the nunnery is a depiction of the gate to the Parc de la Tête d’or, which translates to “Park of the Head of Gold”, in Lyon, France.Thanks to my friend Blake Weber for alerting me to the existence of the beautiful Princely Beguinage via some photos he shared of a recent trip to Bruges.

This painting is part of my solo exhibition “Salty and Dark” at COL Gallery in San Francisco. For purchase inquiries, please contact Callie Jones at callie@colgallery.co