Category: art

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Drawing with help from a couple of great books

Aftermath abstract mixed media artwork
“Aftermath” abstract mixed media artwork

I’ve joked in the past that “drawing to me is like being forcefed cruciferous vegetables for those who hate them.” Bear in mind, I love them (vegetables), but that’s neither here nor there.  As I’ve traveled this art journey of splendor and tactile and visual delights, I’ve done my damndest to avoid drawing at all costs.  It’s why I gravitated toward acrylics and now oils.  When things don’t look right, I’d just slap more paint over them to make it right.

But lately, I’ve accepted if I want to really, REALLY improve, I cannot be afraid of and avoid drawing.  So… I’ve been tooling around with some great books of late, and sketchpads, the Ipad and other instruments to record what I see.  The first and foremost book I’m talking about, is of course Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards.  This book was instrumental in giving me confidence to draw and push myself, but even more, to enjoy drawing in and of itself.

So, after that wonderful trek into pencil and paperland, I ventured to ye olde local library and discovered another great gem:  Expressive Drawing by Steven Aimone.  I can’t tell you what a spectacular book this is!  I’m taking my time with it but love, love, love the adventures it has exposed me to.  The photo at the top is something I did based on his book and I apologize for the lack of modesty, but I find it exciting! You may not, and that’s fine as art is purely subjective.  But after I did this work, I really could not take my eyes off it! I find it offers nuance and hints of things that could be there, but might not be.

So I have a question for you now.  What book has changed  your art life? 

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The ceiling tile is up!

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Dolly, my breast-cancer “Overcomer” friend is on her second to last treatment today! She was happy to see that my painted ceiling tile has taken up a place on the ceiling there for her and all those who cross the threshold to receive chemotherapy treatments to enjoy.  I am so honored to have been able to paint it for her and that it came out well enough to hang, viewable to those receiving cancer treatments.

I will now confess to the great deal of anxiety I had when working on this painted ceiling tile. First, because I was not sure what kind of uplifting message/image I could come up with to bring to these patients. What if what I painted was just ho-hum to them? Worse, what if it was unintentionally offensive to some? I stressed and delayed and finally talked to Dolly to find out what was important to her.  I figured if I at least did something that resonated with her, that would be enough.

I had only met her a short while before taking on this project, but knew from LaTarsha, our mutual friend, that she was a beautiful, uplifting soul. She takes on life with gusto and joy and shares that with all those around her. In fact, my first meeting with her was at a Zumbathon held to raise money to cover some of her medical expenses. She was right there in the midst of a crowd of 100 or more, dancing away! I loved her from the moment I met her and saw she was an absolutely adorable dynamo!

So, the image that came to me – and that’s really how it happened as I opened myself up to my “geni” – was of Dolly and others in their Zumba garb dancing in joy in the rain.  The words I found actually defined the image I decided on:

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.

The second part of my anxiety was over the material I’d be working on.  An acoustic ceiling tile. Designed to absorb sound, I knew it would be difficult. But somehow, again, thanks to “my muse”, I instinctively knew how to lay the paint on.  I wanted bright colors but figured other works in the room would be the typical pink symbolizing breast cancer.

I’m so pleased with how the painting came out and hope it brings mounds of joy and happiness to all who enter that room. Especially Dolly. All along, she’s battled with very low white cell counts and has had to take on the insurer too, to convince them to cover a special injection to boost her count so she could receive the treatments. Well, she HAS overcome so much, and I cannot wait until next Wednesday.  It’s Dolly’s last treatment and I will be there with LaTarsha as Dolly “rings the bell” to symbolize the big occasion. She’s so inspiring and I am so excited!

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Museums in the digital age

You say you want to soak up the world’s greatest art but don’t have the funds or passport for a visit to the continent? Pull up a chair (or charge up your Ipad) and check out these sites:

First stop, point your web browser to Museumlink’s Museum of Museums.  It has links to US, Canadian, International, and even Virtual Museums.  Not all the links are for art, but they are inspiring, educational, and hopefully motivating.

The Washington Post’s Museum Links Page (warning, it notes it was last updated in 1999!) focuses on the great art collections of the world and at the bottom has a few random listings, including my personal favorite, the Toaster Museum which offers 12 month calendars singing the praises of vintage toasters for only $17.99!

Finally, for online touring, check out Global Museum, an award-winning site that posts links to major museums online as well as museum news.  And for jobseekers that might be interested in working in museums, it also includes a great Museum Jobs link.

For the mobile Anglophile, there’s great news! Check out V&A aps for both IPhone and Android.

Not to be outdone, The Museum of Modern Art in New York has its own ap for Iphones. 

and finally, if you decide after all this, you’d like to visit the world’s largest museum in person, consider using The Louvre’s Audio Guide ap. It’ll help you get around in that grand expanse of fabulousity!

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20 years ago today

The folk ballad “Independence Day” was released by Martina McBride.  Written by Gretchen Peters, this narrative song tells the tale of an abused wife in desperate circumstances from the vantage point of her eight year old daughter.  It has become the anthem for marginalized women everywhere, containing powerful words strung together with the greatest use of metaphors I’ve ever come across.  The video by Martina is mighty powerful too as you can see below.

This song serves as a personal linchpin to me when it comes to creating art.  That something can evoke such emotion, produce such deep feeling is an incredible gift.  I can’t imagine ever having that kind of capacity, and it’s find if I don’t.  It is just an awesome thing to know that there are those out there who ARE able to produce works that reach right to the center of the world and shake things up in such a zeitgeisty-kind-of-way.

Enjoy the video, listen to the words:

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So, yeah, about those flamingos

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I was about to go on a Flamingo – painting binge.  You know, those gorgeous, brilliant salmon , pink , red , white colors of the fun iconic Florida bird.  The idea came to me because the guest bedroom in our new (old but new to us) home is painted a bright, beachy aqua, so what better to set off the wall color than these fun birds?

Here, I present you a few finished products.  I hope our guests enjoy them and I hope you do to.  I sure had fun painting them!  They’re acrylic paintings, glazed to preserve a luminous glow.

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In need of kitchen art, so what do I do?

As the title suggests, we’re in our new home and oh wow! We needed art for the walls! So what do I do? Of course, I paint!

In all honesty, I did the Market Basket trio of paintings themed around the family farm, featuring an ear of corn, watermelon, and a ripe juicy tomato, a couple of weeks ago, inspired by a ride out in the country. They’re on masonite panels rather than canvas. The Rooster and Hot Salsa were strategically planned to grace a couple of prominent blank kitchen walls in our expansive new home. We’re pretty jazzed at how they came out — the paintings and the walls, that is.

SHAMELESS PLUG MOMENT: If you have some kitchen or walls that need gracing, or are in search of a housewarming gift for a friend with a homey, folksy, country style decor, you can always visit my fun Home at the Farm gallery to buy prints or canvases at Fine Art America. There, if you find an image you like, you can order it in several formats, from a single greeting card to your own canvas print. A few originals are even listed there, too.

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Not three, but FOUR months later…

and I’m finally getting back into my painting.  With a full time job in social media for a major central FL company, my days are busy and free time is a luxury at this point.  The house is settled in, more or less; We’re in a groove in terms of pool, lawn and home upkeep; We’ve even got a well-stocked freezer, filled with Grouper, Tuna and Snapper thanks to my son who visited and had a successful fishing trip on the gulf side.  So, there’s little else to do but paint!

And it’s hit me: it’s time to try Flamingoes!  I can see them now, all aqua backgrounds, cheery red/salmon/pink/crimson and white bodies with graceful long necks and impossibly skinny legs and balls for knees!  How fun!  I was so motivated I already slapped the backgrounds on about five canvases of varying sizes.  The plan is, to paint and hang these (hopefully) adorable works throughout this, our “Florida” guest room.

The room was a big renovation project we tackled last month.  Long story short, the homeowner’s son was a heavy smoker and preferred dark drab colors.  Not us, that’s for sure, and after painting, carpet cleaning and furniture reworking, we love the end result.

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Transformed from drab dark blue to this, we hope our guest bedroom is inviting and welcoming.

So, stay tuned for a few froliking and fun Flamingoes!

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Iraq invasion was 9 years ago today.

The Iraq invasion 9 years ago today. I get emotional thinking about it as my oldest son was a Marine 0311 (infantryman) on the berms. #verklempt

The truth is, back then I was immersed in the role of supportive military mom. But with reservations. I had watched (and videotaped for my son) EVERY SINGLE hour of the U.N. Security Council meetings, hearing the testimony of the UN WMD Inspectors and our own Colin Powell, in dire hopes that this invasion I was sure was about to happen would not be in vain and the UN would find just cause to go in.  Alas, as we all know …

So, five tours, two veteran sons and massive personal and national cost later, I found art my way of escaping the ugliness and death and misery of all that. I wanted to celebrate life instead and found this my way of doing just that!

I’m so glad for the distance between then and now.

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When two heads are better than one…

Corporate Veil

Inspired by the glass model head David recently purchased to hold his eyeglasses and earphones, I borrowed it for a couple of days for some fun masks.  The first, “Corporate Veil” is a basic paper mache mask using old newspaper articles from the financial collapse and ensuing banking and corporate finance scandals.  Words like “Goldman Sachs, for example, bonuses of more than $1 million went to 953 traders and bankers and Morgan Stanley awarded seven-figure bonuses to 428 employees.” and “Bank Bailout CEO Got Golden Parachute.”

The below image is a mask I did from fused plastic shopping bags.  Fun!

 
Bald-faced consumerism
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Some fun new works

So, I started a while back by creating this one:

I call her “Rainhat Lady” and she’s hung on the diagonal against a black wall here.

She’s created from melted olefin that’s been painted with metallics, luminescent paints, and etc. She’s on gallery wrapped canvas and is 12 x 12 inches.

After Rainhat Lady came:

Sally Streetqueen. Again, there’s the melted olefin, aluminum, acrylics and metallics.

Then, after Sally was born, I became inspired to do a whole darn series of these cuteys. I call them the “Mannequin Series” and the newer ones are created to be storefront window mannequins on display somewhere or other… Here is a photo of the whole shootin’ match.

Storefront Mannequins Series