WORKING B-I-G

WORKING B-I-G

This is my biggest painting ever. At 30" x 48", it's not even that big.
All my painting friends tell me that big is the way to go these days.
Big sells and we want to sell.

Jeez, did I struggle with this one. The composition confounded me.
I walked away from it many times. I'm so comfortable working on
table sized canvases that I can  hold in my lap. This was easel only
work. Getting the color and design right was a real challenge.
And frustrating.

I can tell when I'm finished with a painting. I set it on an eye level
surface and walk away. Then I turn around and look at it. If it
makes me happy and I can't find anything huge to critique, then
I'm done. Real scientific. I tried this method at least 6 times before
I got the happy feeling with this painting.

"Daisy Dog" is now in residence at Matilda's Gallerie in Roswell.
www.galleriematilda.com

So glad this one is finished. Now that I've done it once, I know I can
do it again. On to a 3' x 3' or a 4' x 4'!

Bandit

2012.

Another new year.

 More new painting.

Every time I stop painting and  start again,
new stuff appears. It might be a painting tool
or a shape I haven't used before.
I want my art to be loose and free feeling.
My background is in perfect lines and
shapes. I stuggle all the time to find the
imperfection in the lines I draw.
The art I love is wild, imaginative
and very free. With lots of great color.

This is  "Bandit" - a chicken or a rooster -
 honestly, I don't know the physical differences.
They all look like chickens to me.
This is as loose as I can get.

The new stuff is using lots of oil pastels on the
 painted surface. Am also carving rubber stamps
to incorporate in my paintings.
The star in the sky is a new stamp.

 I wish I could find giant white erasers.
They make the best stamps.

The Good Silver

Christmas is over.

It was wonderful and stressful
and full of family. I am blessed with
kids and in-laws and grandkids who
all like being with each other. We ate
too much, sat by the fire and played
games with the little ones. We missed
our relatives who were with other loved
ones.
.
As I set the table for Christmas Eve, I
was reminded of my Mom. She was very big
on saving the "good stuff" for special occasions.
The china, the silver, the crystal were rarely used.
I never did figure out what constituted an occasion
big enough for the "good stuff".

I followed her advice until 6 years ago.
I was moving again.
I put the Pottery Barn stainless flatware in the kitchen drawer.
I got the big wooden box full of beautiful old sterling flatware
ready to store in the china cabinet.
I opened the box to admire the sterling.
The graceful curves, the weight
of the handles and all the fancy pieces.

I decided it was time to live every day as a special
occasion. The stainless went into a box and the
sterling into the kitchen drawer. It goes in the
dishwasher daily. It has a beautiful patina now
and I never have to polish it because it's being
USED.

It makes me smile at least once a week.

Itchy Fingers

I have painted my fingers off this last year.
 My first love.
I am surrounded by my stuff as I paint.
 Walls of stuff.
Years of collections. Stuff I could not resist.
It's been calling my name.

I rearranged the studio into different work stations.
A jewelry area
a collage area
a salvage junk work space.

It's so cool.
And just as messy as before.
Why can't I create and clean up at the same time?

I am now a more diverse artist.

I move among the stations and voila - different art appears.
I  make jewelry.
Funky upcycled photo/recipe card holders.
And magical little villages from scraps and crumbs of
other eras and lives.

Working in different mediums gets me very energized
in a creative way.
Can't resist going back into the studio at night to look at everything.
It's a good feeling.

Pretty Is As Pretty Does

I decided to take my words to paper. Out of the pictures. Just the words.

Plus I love playing with calligraphy and alphabets and making up my own fonts.

This observation began with my granddaughters. I have three beautiful and talented ones.

No bias here....

There is so much noise in the media today - even media that 6 year olds are exposed to - that screams how important "pretty" is.

I hope that they learn that their value is in who they are, not how they look.

I sold many of these at the Country Living Fair.

My favorite buyer was a nice grandfather who was buying it for his 12 year old granddaughter.

He was concerned that she was already too focused on clothes and appearance.

I hope it helps. It can't hurt, right?

When I finished the drawing, I noticed that the final art was sitting on the sketchbook that generated the original idea.

From start to finish.

Cool.

Chicken Dreams

Every time I paint " I'd like to quit my job and raise chickens" - I sell it within the first few hours of the show.

Someone always connects with the idea or has a friend who voices that wish for a different life.

Personally, I love the fantasy of a beautiful and funky chicken coop in my backyard. Eating fresh eggs from your own hens is supposed to be an out of this world culinary event. (I have high cholesterol so I couldn't eat them. Just sayin'.)

Plus there's the part where, for whatever reason, I might have to actually pick up a chicken. I imagine it would be flailing about with it's pointy/dangerous beak. Maybe they don't flail. I wouldn't know. I grew up way too close to NYC.
However, I totally appreciate the idea of an escape fantasy. We all should have one.

It's the dream of where you'll go when life gets too tough or raw or sad.

Mine usually includes a bucolic farmhouse and acreage.

Enough land for all of my family to build a homestead if they want

Just not too sure about those chickens.

Talisman

I've been thinking about talismen a lot lately. I should probably look up the meaning in the dictionary.
I know what they mean to me. I have a lot of them.

Today I wore my Grandchildren talisman. It's a necklace that was a gift from my youngest daughter. It has 3 concentric discs, each disc has one or more of the names of my precious grands. Luke, Brayden, Mackenzie, Nicholas, Ella, and baby Alice.

I have place markers on the chain because I know there will be more to come.
I always feel special when I wear this one.

Being a grandmother is one of those life gifts that just gets better every year.
I am so grateful to be able to hike up a canyon with them /dance in the kitchen like a fool
and play every game they want. Except football. I draw the line there.

I have a necklace that is my mother. When I need her strength and protection, I sling
this one around my neck. The original gold chain and wedding band was a first anniversary
gift from my Dad. I added all her childhood charms to it after she passed.
This one comes on plane rides with me and scary business meetings.
I know she's always got my back.

I also have some makeshift talismans. My daughters and I share a crudely crafted leather
thong that has a whole bunch of saints and icons. This is one for general travel safety.

I have a large pebble on the floor of my messy mini-van.
This one is a gift from Ella Ann when she thought rocks were the best things.
They were everywhere, free, and a lot of them are sparkly.
What could be better?

I have a handmade plastic bead bracelet hanging from my rearview mirror.
It spells out "Mimi" - Ella's name for me.

I have a friendship bracelet hanging in the house from my beautiful Mackenzie.
She's 9 and makes them for all of us. All 16 of us, whenever we're together.

When I can't have the ones I love to hold my hand, I have their gifts to keep me strong
and feeling loved.

Life is good. I've been saying that a lot lately.