It has been a busy holiday season. First, I decided to organize the house right before Christmas. I couldn’t stand the clutter anymore. Boxes and boxes of stuff were given to Goodwill. Next, I had the bright idea to make Christmas presents as funds are very tight this year, but we had lots of company. This made it hard to get into the studio to create. Finally, when things seemed to settle down and I had the whole weekend to prepare for the holidays, guess what? A snowstorm happens, and we lost power! No sewing…no baking…no soldering…no photoshop. But, I am so happy. We never get snow, and at Christmas time. What a bonus. So, the presents are going to be a little late…it’s all good. I had a snowman in my front yard.
Winter Wonderland and the Motley Snowman
December 27th, 2009 · Musings
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art finds its way out of the studio
September 21st, 2009 · Art, Musings
With much trepidation I finally put my art in an actual art show that the public comes to see. While this does not sound like a huge deal, for an extremely introverted artist who thinks that her art is her voice, this was so scary. I never like to talk about myself, which appearing in one of these shows requires, but I do find talking about the process of art quite enjoyable. Maybe there is hope for me yet. Anyway, I thought I would share some of the pieces that I put in the show.
mockingbird
grow
girlie girl 1
growth
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Painting away
August 3rd, 2009 · Art, creativity
I’ve been painting away in my little studio. Everything is starting to come together, but still unfinished as you see. It’s sometimes hard to stay in the studio when it’s summer time and the tease of picnics and other wondrous outdoor activities taunt the reasoning for doing such. Luckily for me and Asheville, it has been raining almost every day, so my desire to be in a cozy little studio overtakes my yearning for summer activities.
I’ve been working for while on this painting. I painted her face and then I became stuck. I have an specific idea for the background. But then I panic, and wonder if it will be too much? I guess I just need to be brave and go for it. I can always paint over everything! The swirling elements coming from her hat are just placed. not too sure about those yet.
Here is the preliminary sketch I did for this painting. I created it quite awhile ago. I’m happy to finally have some progress on it. I really enjoyed painting her face and seeing her start to “come to life.” after living for so long in my imagination.
Have a great day!
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sketches, ideas, in progress
April 17th, 2009 · Art, Uncategorized, creativity
Goodness, It has been difficult getting time to post here. I have been hard at work sketching, recording new ideas in my sketchbook (never leave home without a notebook or sketchbook, ideas are everwhere) and practicing new (old) techniques.
a little bird told me...
Here are some images of sketches and works in progress. I’ve been relearning acrylic painting techniques. I’ve been doing drawing and watercolors for so long I’ve gotten rusty painting acrylics! I’m enjoying every minute of it though, I usually can’t wait to get back into the studio to play some more.
in progress...
watercolor
guardian
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The Past Revisited…
March 15th, 2009 · Art, Uncategorized
I was a lucky kid, my parents recognized my need to be artistic and often found various ways to satiate my desire to create things. Wh
en I was 12 in the 70s, we lived in Atlanta, down the street from Chastain Park. Chastain Park offered art classes, and I took a few of them. One was a collage class. We would use india ink and transparent tape to make a little cottage and cut up old magazines to make the gardens that surrounded it. That was such a fun class. I think I made quite a few of those, unfortunately I saved only one, and it wasn’t my best. I think that class is why I save magazines. I see potential subjet matter in them all. Another class used a faux encaustic technique. We used melted crayons to achieve a painterly effect. I took a leather class and made an overly embellished bracelet and wallet. My favorite class employed a specific transfer technique. We used tracing paper, graphite, fixative and a coated Xerox paper. The image above is the work that I created when I was 12, Three Faces. One of the most incredible things about those clases is that they were not geared towards children. I took most of those classes with adults. I think that there were only one or two other kids in any of these classes. It was an amazing experience for me to take these as a kid, it’s part of the layers of who I am as an artist.
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Welcome to the world of Art
February 27th, 2009 · Art, creativity
Sammi's Altered Angel
My eight year old niece, Samantha came to visit me the other day. Trying to entice me into my own art studio, which for some reason I must have needed coersion, she leads me to the studio door, opens it and announces “Welcome to the world of Art!” I was astounded by her simple and yet profound declaration. It gave my little studio a magical portal to a place where imagination is unbounded and passion lives. Something I need to remember every time I cross the threshold.
Once we crossed into our world, she proceeded to pull out a doll which I have had stored for some time with the intention of creating some type of altered angel. Sam was mortified that I had ripped off the doll’s hair and removed all its clothes. She set at once to give the poor creature its dignity back. She created everything from scraps lying around the studio. The basket at the base was from some packing material and a wooden disc. Finding nothing that would substitute for hair, she came up with one of my old 80′s mesh earrings, which drapes like a helmet. I love the addition of the lance and the feathers for wings. She certainly stimulated my creativity that day. I am working on a mixed media painting that was inspired by her visit. I’ll post it in a few days. I think I need Samantha to visit more often!
life, the universe…
July 17th, 2008 · Uncategorized
So, I started the blog and then it’s taken me months to write another post. I swore I would be dedicated to this endeavor. Yet, here my poor blog sits ever so neglected. Well I have a lot of excuses as to why, but if I had updated the blog as I said I would, I probably would have found it cathartic and not another bit of drudgery. But, I like to run away from my emotions, and I couldn’t face what was happening.
The year started off horribly. First, my Aunt passed away on New Year‘s day after a battle with brain cancer. Then my father suffered a massive stroke a few days later. This has been one of the most difficult times in my life. It had been such a journey for the entire family. My Dad has not gotten much better than when he had the stroke. We had hoped he would regain some use of his right side and his speech. But, six months later there has not been much improvement. He understands a lot of what we say, but cannot really respond. He tries, but the words just don’t come out. I cannot express how frustrating and horrible it is to see someone you love be struck with this.
I really need to find a way to gain control of me and my time again. I have been scattered here and there, and then I expect to make a logical schedule for myself. I have a hard time creating art when I am all over the place, It’s difficult to carry my supplies with me, but I do carry my sketchbook with me everywhere and I try and be record as many ideas as I can. Sometimes, I am just so tired and think that I’ll remember later. That almost never works for me and I am left frustrated to recapture that specific incredible idea as if that is the best idea I have every had!! (I am a bit obsessive) Funny, I think the sketchbook is actually giving me back some control of my life that I need. I feel like although I am all over the place, I am doing the best I can to record what I need. This way when I find a way to focus better I will still have my ideas to work with. My sketchbook is my own little universe that I can enter anytime.
Creative spark
September 28th, 2007 · creativity
I just created this digital collage with photoshop for fun. This is made using images from my collection.
I have a huge collection of old books and copyright free books that I have been collecting since I was a teenager. One of the best books I have is The Complete Encyclopedia of Illustration. I bought this over twenty years ago and it has been a huge source of inspiration and source material. That’s where I gleened the phrenology head for this collage.
Hello world!
September 17th, 2007 · Uncategorized
I am finally starting to blog! I started a blog on blogger, but so far I’ve only posted a picture. That was a year ago! Yikes!
I am never sure what to write about. This blog is dedicated to my ideas and creative processes. Pretty much the stuff that makes me who I am and where I get my creative notions and why I create art.
I’m looking forward to the adventure.
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