Art Soup, Boots and Just Hangin'

So!  I absolutely love hanging with other artists.  I traveled to Patris' Studio and Gallery for "Pop Up Friday and Art Soup Luncheon" recently and it was a wonderful, artful day of sketching, meeting new people, getting together with some past friends and having a great conversation about the art of marketing ourselves as artists to eventual sales of our creations.

That's me in the white coat.  Our model was a young girl, Beth, in blue jeans and boots.  She fidgeted a little but was fun to sketch in that her skin is wrinkle free, she still has that rounded jaw of a  youngster with eyelashes to match.  Here's a couple of examples of what I did:

 Patris has a fulll kitchen in the gallery, so she put on a big pot of broth in the morning.  Sherm brought chicken, somebody brought corn, we had some lemon grass and garlic for spices, I brought yellow squash and zuchinni and a feast was had with breads and some garlic toast that were also contributed.  Mmmmm, such a nice day:   to enjoy the aroma of soup cooking, the sound of Tony Bennett singing in the background, doing what we love to do without the disturbances of everyday life for just a moment in time.

I end with a view of our model, Beth so you can compare it with what I did.  In critiquing each others work, we painters agreed that our work may not end up looking like the person modeling, but surely somewhere in the world there is a person that looks like our work.

Goodbye Bee and Fox News

Since Kauai I have been doing a small sketch everyday.  This is one I did of Christmas balls in a glass apothecary jar.  It's dated December 20 so it was probably raining; otherwise I would have sketched something outside of my kitchen window.  This is part of my plan for a change in 2013.

For years my day has begun with coffee and the Bee.  I would read it each morning front to back and then and only then be able to begin a constructive, positive day.  A few months ago, Jack expressed his desire to cancel the Bee,  all the pre-recorded Fox News programs and limit our worldly knowledge to what is reported on the 1/2 hour local news program at 5pm each evening.  I must admit it took me a few months to warm to the idea but we eventually agreed and weaned ourselves while in Kauai.

My new ritual in the a.m. is to sketch at my window while enjoying my coffee.  I still keep updated with my ipad news stories, Facebook and communications with friends and family.  I've got more time to write and be creative and I've even started another blog which is a compilation of my thoughts while sitting at my window.

I feel more calm and at ease with this new way of being, or letting it be.  And it's way easier to just breathe...

Koloa Town Gallery Hopping and Kim Starr

So!  We've returned from a lovely time away to Kauai.  This is me just enjoying the property at the Hyatt, our home for a week.  It was pretty hard to take having people cook all of our meals, make the bed every day, clean the toilet as needed, etc. etc.

We drove to Old Koloa Town one afternoon.  It's a very quaint street of shops and restaurants and was actually the site of the first sugar plantation in the 1800's.

As I was enjoying paintings in a gallery there, I was drawn to a piece done of a woman strolling on the beach.  The movement of the woman along the shore was so calming, and I immediately recognized the pallet and style of the artist.  The owner had just explained that most of the art in his gallery was his, and ALL of the art was done by local Kauai artists.

I think I squealed a little, quickly turned around and asked in an excited voice "did this artist do a series of ocean scenes with a beach ball years ago" to which he replied yes.  All of a sudden I recalled Jack and I day-tripping around the isle years ago and happening upon an artist's gallery which was located all alone in an isolated area farther up the coast.  I really admired the art and the artist's husband explained that his wife had just done the series that I was seeing of a colorful beach ball at the shore.  Her pallet was what drew me initially; then each piece had a little different focus from the beach ball, to the shadow of the beach ball, to the ocean, to the sky, then to a differently colored beach ball.  Her husband shared that Kim had tied the ball to a pole and he held it while she painted, or photoed or she held it and he photoed, can't remember specifics except that there was a very specific plan for this series of paintings.  He gave me a brochure of her art and I kept it, admiring it for many years.

Back to present time and Mr. Riso is telling me he has one of those beach ball paintings in the window at the side of his shop.  At first I can't find the side window and am embarrassed to bother Mr. Riso again as I think I have insulted him by being so interested in the beach ball artist and not his art.  Finally around the corner, in an inside alley-like corridor I find the painting by KIM STARR, Kim Starr is the signature on the piece.  It's a beach ball dancing lightly in the air at the shoreline with the waves coming down behind and around it and there is the wonderful shadow on the sand below it!  This beach ball is in different colors than I remember so apparently I didn't see the whole series back 10 years ago, or the series continues.

Back at the hotel, I google Kim Starr and find all kinds of sites that she is a party to, though I haven't found a blog or any kind of words from her which would make me sooo complete.

The Universe has spoken though and my pallet of color will be changing in 2013.  I also began sketching every day while away and will continue that here at home from my window.  I may even begin another blog...At My Window...stories that are about life and not necessarily art stories which I will still be sharing here.

BFF's

This is my BFF, Margot, and there I am toasting you for holidays filled with joy.  Margot and me get into great adventures together.  We travel to Downtown Sac a lot for tests she has to have at U.C. Davis and in that process stop at different restaurants, art galleries, art stores, etc. etc.  Etcetera, etcetera is what Margot says all the time.  I think it's because her husband used that phraseology when he was alive but that's just a guess.  She's Belgian and so meticulous with our language that it's very obvious she is proud to be an American.  I love her accent however she hates it and is shy about it and herself, though just get her started on conversation and One cannot stop her.  Anyhoo, I love this woman very much and am proud and grateful to the Universe for bringing her into my life.

Happy Christmas!

Magazine Ads, Christmas and Love

A memory of a romantic Christmas moment comes to mind today.

It was about 20 years ago that I was flipping through a magazine and came across an ad for some rings done by Bvlgari.  They were very different and colorful and I casually said out loud to my boyfriend at the time that I was very much impressed.  He wasn't overly attentive to my comment but did give the page a quick look.

At work about a week later I was at lunch with a friend and mentioned the ring that I admired so and she was interested in seeing it so I promised I would bring the magazine to work for her.  For a few days I looked and looked through all the magazines in my home trying to find the ad so that I could bring the proper magazine to work.  I thought I had dreamed the whole thing as I could not find the ad anywhere.

I had looked in one particular magazine several times as I was sure it was in that one, to no avail.   As a last attempt to prove to myself the ad was in that book (and that I wasn't insane), I carefully pulled apart each page at the middle binding to see if it had been torn out.  I did not find it had been torn out but the page had been carefully cut out of the thick bunch of pages so perfectly that it was difficult to really find that a page was ever there at all.

I still have the ring that Jack "surprised" me with that Christmas.  We still laugh about the fact that once I found the page missing, I would have been very disappointed had he not purchased it for me.

I also selfishly keep in my heart the memory of such a romantic gesture.  The ring size is very small as I guess my fingers were so much smaller than they are now.  I couldn't wear it for a time since it only fits on my left, ring finger but this Christmas I am wearing it instead of my wedding rings...and every time I glance down at my left hand I feel the thrill of that Christmas all over again.

Missipoo, Maddie and Flowers

Missipoo and her little one, Maddie, Crab Shack

I'm 40-something supervising others in the handling of insurance claims, claims by workers that have been hurt on the job in some way.  Nothing sexy about claims work.  I'm alone now, kids have moved away, husbands long gone, thank you.  I pull the car into the garage closing the door behind me; I am now in my happy sanctuary til 6am the following morning when I leave again for the office.  I leave the car, go through the garden patio and on into the kitchen of the condo.  It's dusty and stale from being closed up all day, I kick off my shoes and get comfortable, opening windows and the front door to let the breeze in through the screen door.  I enjoy my view of green grass, flowers and trees, then my eyes glance the welcome mat on the porch and there I find a carefully gathered bunch of colorful flowers.  I push the screen door slightly open and pick up the bouquet that I realize has been picked from neighbors yards and left as an obvious message for me.  I suspect Missipoo...later she says yes she left flowers for me again, just to let me know she came by to say hi.

Flash forward to now, Missipoo is a 30 something mom.  She's still visiting, via airplane though, since we don't live in the same neighborhood anymore.  And now she brings Maddie and Gustavo along.

What an honor it is to be this woman's aunt, to witness her growth from a little girl to the beautiful, bright and successful woman she has become.  And she's not only beautiful on the outside but inside as well.

Thank you Universe!  I am so grateful for all of my blessings.

Christmas Memories

So here's the clock Jack got at an antique store about 15 years ago.  It reminds him of one in his home as he was growing up.  The statue is one I purchased in Taos a few years ago.  The artist is Ned Archuleta and it is entitled "Wind" I believe. The lamp and mirror we bought when we moved to Roseville, a temporary move for me that ended in the most wonderful love adventure of my life.

The statue  brings to me memories of the open-ness of Taos, the chiles on the front doors, the food that we experienced which is very much in the style of my mom's cooking which she learned from her mom who came to SoCal from El Paso.  She was the manager of a restaurant in Los Angeles for a time.  Oh, but I digress...Taos, a wonderful experience with artist friends.  The lighted box in the center is of glass and is a lighted Christmas present, just beautiful, made by a friend and purchased at our annual Boutique this year so it's a memory I made this year for the future!

So on to pick up Missipoo, Gustavo and little Maddie at the airport.  I am so looking forward to hugs and smiles and to creating some more Christmas memories!

Memories Light the Corners

I began collecting Christmas decorations when I was first married and Tina was a baby.  A "Christmas Around the World Party" that a friend had in her home, a friend that I can't remember now, introduced me to all the different ways to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  Of course Mom always had a wonderfully festive house and tamales were provided by some relative or another, usually either Aunt Sally or Aunt Genny.

My first born with her bright teal blue eyes, all dressed up in her fluffy pink coat and hat was there to let me view the holidays through a child's eyes.  So excited over the Christmas tree, the presents wrapped under the tree and all of the wreaths and ribbons and lights; she was my best girl helping with all the preparations for parties and gatherings with friends and family.  It's incredible how the two of us just kinda hung out together, but as I look back, I realize that I was just a young girl raising a very young girl and how those moments together were so joyful and precious.

There were difficult times back then too.  "You and Me Against the World" is the song that brings those memories back along with the feeling of gratefulness for having my Tina, the world's Bene, in my life.

The Joy of my Christmas

As I open the first box, I am at first a little apprehensive with the thought of getting out these same, old, dusty remembrances of Christmases past that for so many years brought stress and tears, and for others brought overwhelming joy.  I notice first that everything is packed away so nicely and carefully, a far cry from the years of small children, demanding husbands and my desire to just get the stuff out of my sight. The person that lovingly stored these items obviously was so at peace with the season and with the treasures that she was protecting.

With each little package wrapped in tissue paper, a memory comes to me.  I open a tiny angel made out of plaster which one of my girls painted in a light, faint blue with an orange face.  I smile as I remember days of kids at the kitchen table engrossed in their Christmas projects.  Another tissue package reveals an angel made of paper, ribbon, and a wooden ball for the head and I recall Annie beginning her tradition of hand made personalized ornaments for each year that passed.  I open up a small ceramic bell and William's face comes into my head as my recollection of his 7 year-old face smiling as I opened it up all those 30 some years ago.  And oh, another small ceramic bell...is this the one(?) oh well, one of these bells is Will's present to me.

And then last night my daughter says to me..."Well Mom, that's the gift of Papa.  He loves people for who they are, not for what they appear to be."  And there is another Christmas memory for me...not even in a material item that I place on our small tree in the living room...but from the mouth of my youngest, my Annie.

Names and Creativity

So yesterday was such an uncreative day for me.  I posted in this journal hoping to get myself into the "work" mode with my kitty abstract that is now Stupid Cool Squares.  I studied it for a long time to no avail, so pulled out Complementary Flowers and Fresh & Free to just add a couple touches that I have been meaning to do.  So maybe they're completely done now, anyway I'm hanging them in the house and am considering them done...well, maybe, smiling.  

 Fresh & Free

Complementary Flowers

I really don't like the names of these paintings, so am thinking "Warmly Fresh" and "Cooling Complements"...or more spiritual names like "Trending Warm" and "Calming Cool"...yeah, maybe the last two.  

So finished these yesterday and "Trending Warm" hangs in the living room frameless but needs a frame as it is not a wrap around canvas.  I am finding a place for "Calming Cool" today which means I must rearrange and dislodge some that are hanging now which is good because there are a few that need to come down and go away.

Today, creativity lives!  Jack and I took a long bike ride yesterday and discovered a whole new bike trail accessible to us.  We were gone for a couple hours and so I slept really well and I'm back.  Listening to CSN&Y about life, nature and the whales and "looking for me."  That's a good name for a painting I think.

Getting to Work

Oh well...this is what I did to the  kitty painting.  It totally got cool all over and the kitty disappeared and I don't even like the color it is now and the square shapes are stupid.  At one point I liked this painting but always felt it was a wimpy composition which could have been helped with complementing color; however now that my original composition is gone, I need to reset and plan this painting again.

There's a pumpkin color in there, maybe I should just draw a giant pumpkin on this canvas and go from there!  Too funny...and I really don't know why I am so uninspired today.  Ok, so am not going to wait for inspiration...am just going to get to work!

Contrast, Value, Wimpy Washes and Stuff

So...had "Independent Cats" in the family room for about a week now and it is still wimpy washes and not a strong statement so this A.M. did another wash with Nickel Azo Gold.  I applied it thick and then after it dried for a bit, I did another layer with a combination of the Nickel Azo and Bronze.  I am loving the dark red places but I want to have more value changes as well as majority of colors warm, maybe 10% cool.

It still isn't working, so am writing to talk myself into washing it with a buff pigment in an effort to get some opaqueness into it along with lightening parts for more contrast.   What that will do is to either enhance the underneath layers and then I can continue the piece, or it will wipe out so much of what I have done to a place where I can kind of begin again...still to be the story of independent cats.

Grateful?

Oh my goodness how the time flies.  Here it is already November 20th, Thanksgiving on Thursday, my 63rd.

Worked a bit on Fresh and Easy, and am thinking it is done...maybe.   The flower in the front still bugs me.

I am desiring my perspective be from a distance and not so in the face.  My composition is based on how the photo was shot (except for the colors) instead of varying it so that it makes sense in the painting.  I do not as a painter wish to be so loyal to the photo.  I already have the photo, what I am creating now is the story of flowers in the garden.

So I'm grateful, I am grateful for so many things.  But truthfully, right now I am just mad at this painting and how it could have been so much better and am really not in a happily grateful state of mind.

Well, it's late and I need sleep.  I'll be grateful tomorrow when I am thinking of a better name of this piece.  What was I thinkin' with Fresh and Easy???

Realizing Joy

Found my joy today listening to music, creating and catching up with things that are important to me.

Listening to The Hungry Years and remembering how my mom loved this song and so much wanted to return to the years when her and my dad were not the millionaires that they became.  Life was simpler and it was easier to have each other, depend on that and appreciate the important things.  Later when the success came and the money was there, our whole family lost the importance of the love that we had for each other. "Everything we wanted was everything we had."

Now Dad's gone, Mom is too though just miles away.

My joy is about my daughters.  When they walk into the room, they take my breath away.

My joy is here with my husband.  His hugs, his smile; I live for those.

My joy happens with my grandkids, in their laughter and their smiles.

Just sayin'...

TWO NEW PAINTINGS;

The first was "Complimentary Flowers" and I have shown it however was never really happy with it.  Finally I took it down from the wall and changed the color.  It was about 1/2 cool, 1/2 warm before and now it is predominantly cool with about 20% warm and now I really am enjoying it.

The second was "Never Been to Me" or "Sister Golden Hair", remember that???  So now it's becoming an abstract.  This image doesn't show the contrast very well and possibly I need more contrast on the original painting but not today.  Maybe tomorrow.  

Right now, going off to my alone space to meditate...and to breathe.

Summer Yosemite View

Here's Yosemite View which I did this past Summer.  Next is the painting revised yesterday.

So, I've changed the color and the composition.  I like the composition so much more .  And I think it got to cooler colors because I was referencing some Kondos paintings as I was re-doing this piece.  I'm leaving it alone for a while to determine how I feel about it as time passes.  I may want to go back in and fiddle with the color some more, maybe not.  For now, it's still a "Yosemite View" just in another season.  The original photo that I did from life was taken in the Fall,  and the new edition could be more of a summertime view.  

Critique

Working on Yosemite View II in hopes of taking it to my critique group today.  We are traveling to Nevada City to El's new digs for our get together.  I am taking a couple of portraits I did in the Siegel workshop, and the two landscapes from the Kondos workshop.  Since I don't really have anything of my own ready, I am up at 5:30 to transform the Yosemite painting to a place where I am okay with taking it.

Here are the two portraits which I did in September:

Don

Richard

I don't think the two look alike and I can see the two guys that I did; however portraiture is very difficult and from my eye they look like I rendered them accurately...maybe not from somebody else's view.  I'll see what my critique-ers say today.  My passion is not portraiture, however doing the work and extending One's knowledge is always a goal.

Dream and Girlie Time

Gathering with two of my girls today to have a little lunch and then dream tend here at my house.  At night while our bodies re-energize, we have some moments of kind of organizing thoughts into coherence and those are our dreams.  If we become conscious enough of those thought processes, we can access those and then try to determine where we are with problems, issues, experiences and consciously tell our dream psyche where we want to go with the issue or our dream psyche can actually tell us where we need to go with the issue.

So off I go with my girlies.

Fresh and Free II

At left is a painting I did back in June and at right is my revision, adding a little more color and contrast.  It's still entitled "Fresh and Free" because that's what I feel when I see it and what I felt as I was creating it.

I don't know if I won't go back and do some more differences in value on the flowers.

Oh it's Saturday, I'm in my room doing art, my husband is watching politics, the sun is shining and I am grateful for everything in my life...mostly my breath which connects me to my joy.

Yosemite View II

Working on this Yosemite view and placed some hills in the background and simplified the painting a bit.  I may add a few touches but other than that I think it's done.

I am going to work on my painting of two girls that I did about a year ago, here it is.

Something is not right with it, so have been studying it for a few days and I think I need to change the table color and the background.  Anyway that's what I'm going to do

Now off to Aaron Brothers for some turp and white paint.

Yosemite View in Progress

So here's the painting I referred to about a week ago of a Yosemite view.  I have reworked it and now i like the color better but need to still do some work on it as the water needs more color up close and the mountain in the background needs less color.  I didin't intend to change the tree color however it happened and I'm not unhappy with it, it's just different from my plan.

Maybe I'll have time to work on this later this evening.  Right now I'm just awaiting my peeps that need to do the upkeep on this house!

In the Pink

So six of us attended a luncheon put on by a Placer County breast cancer fundraising group at our Timbers Lodge. Decor was all in pink and mostly people wore pink, but I didn't think I had any so I wore a boring green dress but I was still cute.  We had champagne and pink mashed potatoes, colored with beet juice.  So, a lovely day for all and we felt good about ourselves for contributing to a good cause.

Haven't done any art lately.  Reading and playing with my husband since I was away for a few days at the Kondos workshop.

Our rainy season is beginning, so I'm going to get some good art time in soon.

Out the door for lunch with a friend in MidTown Sacramento.

A Yosemite View?

88 degrees?  It's October.  Can we get some Fall weather in here sometime soon Universe, so we can then complain about the cold weather?  Haha

In my art room today assessing what is what.

I find this little canvas I did in local color a few months back, it is from a photo that I took on one of our Yosemite trips.  I never have shown this piece because while I like it, there is something not quite adequate.  Today, I feel color might be the problem.  I've got it on my easel and am going to do some work on it and see where I can take it.  I might just hafta gesso over the whole thing and start fresh, but maybe not.

For me the joy is in the process, not in the awards and applause at the end.  HA!  And anyhoo, the joy in my little art room allows me breathing space which I know is so important...so am breathing.

Kondos Workshop

Just did three days with the internationally known Sacramento artist, Gregory Kondos, for a very humbling, happy, spiritual and freeing experience.  I recall the Clint Eastwood movie; The Good, The Bad and the Ugly and that it was separated into three parts.

THE HUMBLING:
The man is 90 years old, and still a very vibrant, talented and forthcoming artist who shares his innermost thoughts, experiences, and opinions.  The humbling for me came when I realized that I am a mere minion in this painting endeavor that has occured in my "last act" and that sometimes I just need to sit and listen and BELIEVE what my senses are telling me.  I think this is Mr. Kondos message in his stories of "stupid teachers, world sketching adventures, friendships with the likes of Wayne Thiebauld and others, the love of his mother and listening to our mothers, and not listening to critics."

THE HAPPY:
Gregory and Monnie (his wife), are an act within the act.  There's a certain bickering that goes on between the two which at first kind of embarrassed me, but then One realizes that the love these two share just has to come out in this way and it's a funny, happy way to live-- to be so sure of the other person in the relationship that whatever is said is taken with a grain of salt and "yes darling" can be the next words uttered by either of the two.  The playful, flirty personality of Gregory is just so fun to watch and of which to be a part.  Then we have Monnie, who is the holding together beam of this House of Kondos with her husband contributing his own kind of stories of a life well lived represented by his paintings.

THE SPIRITUAL AND FREEING:
And then to really HEAR permission given to go with my gut, to free myself of all the rules of art, to simplify and be one with the process without worry about the outcome became such a spiritual experience for me.  I have heard the words many times before and intellectually I know that to be true, the process is ART for me--not the outcome.  And this is an ongoing lesson in my life that never ceases to bring forth that joy of life that I have within me so much of the time.  Greg is not the only painter that has given me the spiritualness of this lesson, and so I thank them all for that.

Here are the two paintings I produced during the workshop.

Hey hey, Everyday

Off to buy art supplies for the upcoming workshop I am doing with Greg Kondos.  Had absolutely nothing on my calendar today, then realized there are a few colors I need and possibly some canvas.  So that means I get to put Peawee's top down and roll over the highway to Sacramento on this glorious day.  I might even have to stop a few other places, depends on what I see along the way.

Everyday is a new adventure.

Remembering to Breathe

So cleaning my art room today and feeling like Sister Golden Hair is on its way to becoming I am Woman. What could be better than gathering my thoughts about Sister Golden Hair, Never Been to Me, and I Am Woman(actually 3 of my most favorite songs in the world) and placing those emotions on a canvas?  Would women actually get it?  Do I care?  Should I care?  Most importantly I should not care about the outcome; after all, my art is about the process.

While I can say out loud that my art has always been about the process, telling a story and getting emotion down on the canvas; how can it be really since I have so much to remember:  rules of art, rules of color, my innermost feelings of color, my sarcastic and truly hispanic feelings about color, my just doing paintings with the color that I have left over because I have no money or energy to go buy new, and then there's the showing of the art after it is done and weathering the criticisms.  Actually criticisms are always positive, but an artist is always their worst critic and so they tend to think others will point out all the little bad things about a painting even before they've ever shown the piece anywhere.  So where are we?

Oh, so I am now at the place where I need to put all of my energy into my authentic self getting out from inside of me to the outside and then being able to paint that.  My plan is to paint for a while just getting paint and texture on the canvas, then when I am in the painter "zone" to actually open up my heart (that chakra in which my heart dwells) and let the woman emotions dribble up onto my shoulder and down my art and into my hand and then onto my brush.  Will I have to cry?  Will I have to be consciously unconscious?  I'll let you know.  I know that I will let my right brain take over and so possibly will I be painting with my left hand??

Ok, so I have wound myself up so tight just talking about it, I need to breathe now.  Taking my glass of vitamin water and gonna meditate outside on my wicker chair for a while...and remember the breathing.

Yay!

So took a shower, washed my hair and then was drying it and thinking how to tame the beast, beast being my hair this time.  Got out the hair straightening hot tool and began to straighten this curly, thick mass of stuff when I hear Michael Siegel saying to me "finish your brush stroke."  What the...WELL, at one of the painting workshops this year, the Master instructor went to the extreme trouble to explain a brush stroke which begins, with lots of paint on the brush,  deliberately on the canvas and ends when you want the paint to end, deliberately, not wimpily.  Do not take the brush away early for a scrapey appearance.

And that's how to do my hair!  Begin the tool at the spot where one wants the straightening to occur, and do not pull away until the ends are straightened also.  I was pulling my tool away too soon thereby not calming the ends of my hair enough for a smooth outcome.  No wonder my hair was smooth at the scalp and the ends were sticking up all loosey-goosey.

Voila!  And now I'm clear on both issues.  Yayyyyyyy!

In My Head Today

Oh no, look what happened to Sister Golden Hair.

It now has a layer of paint, matte medium, some tissue paper and some copy paper with a grid in black ink.  I also did some lifting of paint where I could letting some of the underneath layers show through.  Now I'm waiting for it to dry so that I can decide how this will evolve.  I have been looking at this golden haired floosy for too long and finally decided the canvas needs to have something more meaningful on it, the gold is coming through the orange I placed on top of it and some of the red and blue too.  I may just find a way to express my feelings about strong, decisive women in the complements of orange and blue.  That's what is in my head anyway.

Ok, I have been holding my breath all morning and also whilst I was placing this bright orange on the canvas so maybe it's time to relax, take a walk, breathe, think.

Wimpy to Masterful

Okay, this is the latest rendition of the piece on which I am now working.

It's difficult getting the image out of my camera to represent the piece's colors accurately.  From this image I see that my washes look too wimpy so am going to correct with some thicker, deliberate paint.  Possibly I need more stamping in these subsequent layers.  The light parts of the image is actually bronze but possibly too wimpy for the camera to pick it up.  This particular painting, since it is on wraparound canvas which is not meant to be framed, needs to be sealed with a glossy medium...or matte...dunno.  I can try both.

Okay, so here I go again.

I AM WOMAN

A young mother at a drive-in movie with her daughter, a 1 year old all comfy in her car seat (in the front passenger seat since in those days there were no air bags, this is 1974 after all), is a memory I have in my brain.  It always brings tears to my eyes, so sorry for this pathetic soul who bravely goes to the movie with her child in tow in an attempt to prove to the world that she can do this alone.  The thought in her head is you don't show up for me when you say you will, I'm gone.  I can do whatever it is I have planned without you.

22 years old, full of life and happiness, just beginning to understand what joy is all about and Helen Reddy happens.  Helen shouting "I Am Woman, hear me roar in numbers too big to ignore" empowers this child mother to be all that she can be on her road of life.

So many of Helen's songs are in my memory "My Sister", "You and Me Against the World", "Peaceful", and of course "Ain't No Way To Treat A Lady"--just one of my lifelong anthems.

My thought is to put this into a painting.  How to honor women with my art?  Not just women but all that women ARE; their feistiness, their loving-ness, their wise-ness, their selfless-ness, that they sometimes can be so vulnerable and unable to hide that part of themselves, that sometimes they can hide that vulnerability so well that others don't get that about them--their softness, their willingness to let all go unsaid if it benefits somebody else.

Memories truly do get us through so much especially when we have the time and energy to remember...remember, breathe...breathe, remember.  I'm not a novice any longer, if I have to I can do anything...I am strong, I am invincible...I AM WOMAN!

Make Art!

Oh gosh, haven't been blogging for  few days I guess.  Well!  That is because we did a day trip to Tahoe and had a wonderful time Monday in the beautiful weather there.  We stopped and bought sandwiches and then picnicked right on that magnificent, crystal clear, blue lake.  Having a little convertible sports-car is perfect for that kind of drive and being so close to Tahoe is the best.  Jack took some movies of our escapade however I don't have any images for this blog.

I do have an image of the piece I am entering in the Blue Line's Lottery for the Arts upcoming show.

I've published it here before, but I love mandalas so why not look at it again???  Anyhoo, Kathleen from the Blue Line called and urged me to enter the lottery; my mentor, Elma, says to get out there again and again and don't every quit.  So I'm out there again hoping to be judged INTO this fundraiser in which  I am donating my art.  Make art!

Thick Washes, Layering, Layering

I have added a couple more thick washes on top of more stamping in the lower left corner in an effort to make the canvas part of the total piece.  I am thinking a couple more washes with possibly the bronzing pigment are necessary but at this point am just pondering and enjoying the piece as is.  I'll eventually know what more should be done to finish.

The story is "independent cats" and that is the tale of a friend dipping in too close because then we know the relationship has got to fall apart.  This brings to mind the poetic saying about some friends coming into One's life for a season, or a decade, or a day...not all friendships last forever; in fact, very few.

So while there is only one cat depicted in this story, the name is Independent Cat(s), plural for all the "cats" that have friends coming in and out of their conscious lives.

Independent Cats

So this began a few years back as a 30x22" piece of watercolor paper and after possibly 20 layers of paint evolved to a sublime piece of art with a cat peering into the abyss.  I have in the past couple of weeks glued the paper to a big canvas 30x40" which was prepared with some gesso and paint.  Today, I am adding to the stamping which is barely visible on this image and am beginning to collage the canvas incorporating the paper with paper, string, maybe some tapes.

Cats are independent, wise to organize their caring ways around their human when they want, how they want without judgment, without any intention for the outcome, without expectation.  In human relationships with one another, One often has expectations and is manipulative even in caring ways in order to obtain the outcome  desired.  Even if the intention comes from love, it is wrong to expect something in which the other person is not capable.

I think I should be more like a cat.  Mind my own self business, not "help" others to be what I expect them to be and remember the "live and let live" mantra of my youth.

And so to go deeper, my paintings are my emotions put onto paper telling my story...stories that may be different for each painting, a STORY which may be the same story over and over again without explanation, without narrative.

I'm breathing well today.

Friends and Flowers

Whew!  Where does the time go?  A few weeks ago, I did an oil painting workshop and signed up to do the next class which was in 6 months-- and here it is 6 months later already.

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.  Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away."  HENRY DAVID THOREAU

I have a friend.  She lives in my neighborhood presently but in a few short weeks she is moving to another neighborhood.  She's moving on.  She's moving on, and this means to me she needs to move on because she has outgrown her life here and in essence me or us, those that're left to be in the place that she has outgrown.  I'm laughing inside at how my ego tells he these things and how I can hear it and laugh to myself that I am so clever because I am so happy for my friend.  I know that my friend moving on is me moving on too.  I'm not going to let this beautiful person get away from me, she is my mentor, my confessor, my council, and nothing will break apart our friendship.  I'll take her flowers if I must...i'll take her flowers because I love her and appreciate her.  So Ego-Mine STOP--, stop that silly chatter and let me go watch the baseball game with Hubby for tomorrow I'm taking my friend flowers.

Breathe, just breathe.

Sister Golden Hair Who Has Never Been to Me

SO!  Never got back into the studio to paint until a few days ago.  Here's my princess painting now that I've glued it to a big wrap around canvas.

At this point One can see that there is a paper part of it so I'm working with pigment to incorporate the smaller image in the canvas.  I don't like the purplish on the right side of the canvas so will work to make the whole predominantly warm, with just the blue background shapes being cool along with a little cool on the skin's shadow parts which show very green here, are actually a neutral on the piece.

Don't know if I should finish off her head with hair placed on the canvas or not, at the top.  That could incorporate it into the canvas a bit more.

So worked for a couple hours today and am free to do more tomorrow.

Working title at this point is "Never Been to Me" after a song that describes a person who has been with Princes, done things women are not suppose to do...still is not authentically herself.

Black Vase Finally Finished

This is a fun painting I have been working on off and on for a couple years.  It just never came together for me til now, the whole painting is mostly warm with a tiny bit of cool, even the white is warm.  Anyhoo got a good deal on a frame at Noel's so it's ready to hang.  It's had a title of "Black Vase" for a while, even though I've changed so many things about it over time.

I'm off to the art room to deliver "Black Vase", "Flower Flurry" and "Garden Scene".  They are going to be shown at our own Timber Creek Gallery for this month.  I have sold off of our wall, so it's a possibility and also the most popular painting is also published in our newsletter, Courier and that's fun.

Then I'm back in my work space to do some finishing up on the two acrylics on paper that I am going to convert to wraparound canvas pieces.  Busy, busy.

Grids and their Messiness

I am off taking this finished piece to the framer.  I am thinking a nice mat and wood frame in a modernistic style.  This piece is difficult to edit for printing as the overall look is cool blues, not so much pinkishness just a very subtle underpainting that kind of comes through the blue so I am not really happy over the image here.  The finished piece I absolutely love.  It's titled "Messed-Up Grid" after the perfectness of grids, the Sacramento media frenzy over their "grid" and my eccentric idea that nobody should be telling me to shop the grid, or eat the grid-- "they" should be letting make my own decisions.  HA!

Do I sound testy?  Just when it comes to people giving me their opinion on how I should be.  If One is left to "just be" and to make their choices in their own peaceful way, well noo problemo y'all...ok Bobbie, breathe....just breathe.

Sister Golden Hair

So have been working on recommendations from Critique girls and here's my finished painting Sister Golden Hair:

I am going to have Noel frame it so that it is presented in the best possible way.  I have an inkling to place most of these new abstracts on canvas or board as they seem too small on the watercolor paper which is 30x22", but dunno.  Is it crazy to think that they will be better mounted without the plexiglas to obstruct the paint???  Is it my ego speaking to me and not listening to my own self be true?  Or is it my own self be true that is putting those ideas out there?

Ok, I'm tired today already...going to rest and come back into the studio tomorrow and ponder these questions.

Organization Day

Beach Boys song, "God Only Knows" comes to mind--not that I am wondering what I would do without Jack but I AM wondering where I am today with my art.  I think this is a day for organizing and replenishing my supplies.  I have $100 to spend at UArt, a birthday gift, so am just going to go through my paint and supplies and make a list of what I need or desire.  Maybe I'll get an empty box and get rid of some of the stuff I have in my art room that just sits here and is never used, then I can donate it somewhere.

Art Critique meeting with the girls was great yesterday.  I got some suggestions for a couple of my current pieces of abstracts.  I only took those and not any oil paintings.  So I need to sign a couple, add more hair to the back of my lady's neck, etc.

Oh and maybe going to organize the furniture in my art room a little better so that I have more room without having to move something out of the way to get to something else all the time!

Being Grateful and Turning Off

Look where Jack and I went last week.  This is around Muir Park, Stinson Beach area.  We traveled from there all the way North on Hwy 1 to Bodega Bay.  Gosh we live in a beautiful part of the world, the most beautiful in my opinion and what a wonerful day we had.  We had clam chowder and salad in Stinson, then had steamed clams and tilapia in Bodega Bay.  We listed to music for a while but mostly talked and enjoyed the view sharing the task of driving.  I brought back an abalone shell that I purchased in Stinson for about $9.  We picked these up for free in Baja when I was a child...how things change.

I don't think I got any good photos for a painting but am onto my feelings of rejection today.  Gonna get out a canvas or piece of paper and just go with that which is in my heart...turning off that voice in my head that points out all the awful things about losing people in One's life, and remembering all that I am so grateful for:  my husband, Stinson, clams, mulles frites, my daughters, tra la, tra la...

Mandala Style

An abstract in the "mandala" style, this has a lot of neutral tones in it and doesn't have a lot of contrast.  I am taking this to my critique group on Monday for their take on it and advice on whether or not to do another wash or two to get some more vibrant color going on.

I don't have a name for this yet except that it is a meditation piece and I could just call it that and leave it to the viewer to get their emotions into or out of it.

Now Onto Authenticity

Finished piece.  I am taking this to my critique group on Monday to get their comments and suggestions.  But I really am happy with the piece as is, it's very warm and meaningful to me with a strong presence especially on the wrap around canvas that I have painted all the way around.

I have a new emotion to sing about and it is aging gracefully while still enjoying my own being me without narrative, without apology.  So what does that painting look like?  Not triangles, no sireeeeeee...more of an organic feel with possibly a face or a human form???  How can a painter put down on a piece of paper the feelings of happiness, a life sort of fulfilled while still conveying she has more to say and more life to live for further fulfillment?  Dunno...gotta get into that most authentic place without my inner ego speaking.  Oh and One must breathe for this to even begin to happen, so here I go.

So now it's August 15th, and I remember the story behind this piece (about Mrs. Potter?) so the I am naming the painting Potter's Spirit.

Making Memories into Art

Here's the next step of my painting which I am calling Triangles for now.  I glued the watercolor paper first draft to a wrap-around canvas making it bigger and now it is framed around to the back though I haven't painted the sides yet.  I am working towards 90% warm, 10% cool and desiring the three blue-green shapes to be 3 different sizes.  I am going to do some kind of edging to the front of this I think, maybe some stamping in a warm though, not to get caught up in contrasts which will be counterproductive to my 90/10% goal.

So I am in my art room listening to faboolass music, creating this piece and thinking about Mrs. Potter and how she was so beloved in the community and so misunderstood by me or so misunderstood by the community and found to be so superficial by me.  I give me the credit really...so am content to make art with this memory.

Expressions of 2012 and Mrs. Potter

Here's my dragon.  It's a triptych, that is a 3 piece painting (3 10x10" canvases) and they are hung together.  He may have a face that's too nice so I may be going back to do something about that.  I like his big wing that goes off the top of the canvas and he colors are marvelous.

This is the year of the dragon (2012) as just everybody knows so this is my celebration of the fierce person that is born now, and in every 12 years.  These people are charismatic, gifted and the problem solvers.

I am also working on another of the abstracts that I began about a week ago.  This one:

It kinda looks like a Japanese kimono, or trees or three triangles but the composition is a cruciform sort of and I actually like the colors.  It's a proving piece to me, in that it reminds me of a kindergarten coloring I did.  Whatever the teacher had mimeographed on the page was suppose to be green and this was around Easter time, however I didn't listen to what it was suppose to be and when I got my page I just picked out a color and that color was orange.  Well, Mrs. Potter, tore me a new one over that mistake and so I took the piece back and colored over the orange with my green crayon.  To this day, orange and green together mixed are not my favorites--BUT I am proving myself wrong with this piece.

I have glued the 30x22" watercolor paper to a canvas and I am embellishing the design I have begun and we'll see with what I end up...should I call it Mrs. Potter??? Breathe Bobbie, breathe, smile...breathe.

Calm Moment in my Psyche

I love this one and in person I think it's better than it photographs in that the colors are sublime and the textures are very subtle.  It's a calm moment in my psyche, where I find my love of animals and the softness of touch-- believe me, for me these moments are very few and far between with my ADD personality.

This piece is on paper and is for now untitled.  I don't know if I may possibly want to go in with a few more layers to make the colors demonstrate more and/or to make the stamping that I did pop more.

So I'm working, working and breathing.