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.

Dragons and the Global Connection

I have been working on this for a couple of days.  It's a piece of paper that I had done work on but always hated the piece, so now it's covered with new paint and textures.  Don't know if I'm going to go 90 percent warm/10 percent cool or visey versey.  I did a dragon this morning on some wood that I had laying around and now I'm seeing dragons everywhere, you know it's the year of the Dragon so maybe I'm getting some Asian vibe from an ancestorial plane.  Oh well, who knows what this will become...right now dragons just make me feel the global push/pull and our organic connections to all the living.

Touches

So look what popped out at me this morning.  I call it "Touch"...it just says touch to me, touches of human-ness from one to another, touches that I love to get:  a smile from a stranger, a hug from one of my grandchildren, a big hug from my friend Gerri, a hug from my huggy-bear husband, a reaching out to me from one of my daughters, small everyday touches.  I am so grateful for all of the touches in my life.