Where the Magic Happens ;)

     As I mentioned yesterday my parents are moving/downsizing so I ended up with a bunch of furniture for the studio - a nice flat file and a beautiful (very heavy!) desk.
     I work out of my home and my studio is in the daylight basement of our 'little house in the big woods'. It's actually a very nice studio with lots of windows even though it's located in the basement. I spent all day yesterday organizing it so I can get in there and WORK. Here are some pics.....

the nice long table

windows looking out into the forest = peaceful art making

creepy sculptures by yours truly!

my favorite part - organization achieved!

I'm Too Sexy for My Shirt

"Skinny Boy" 8.5x10.5

watercolor 2013

                                                           I'm Back! Click here to bid!
   
     Hey all - it's good to be back bloggin' and postin'. I just returned from a visit to my mom and dad's. They are getting ready to move - potentially for the last time since they are in their 70's. I helped them pack for the past 5 days. Wow. Holy stuff.
     Anyway, I did end up with a bunch of gorgeous vintage handkerchiefs that belonged to my grandmother. They are so delicate and beautiful I would like to make some sort of art piece out of them....any ideas? Please comment!

Relisted gazing at the stars....

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     I'm out of the studio this week helping my parents pack for a big move so I am re-listing this piece on eBay for any of you who missed it the first time. Nice big piece (15"x20") and the colors are much more vibrant in person - it is SO difficult to photograph watercolors.
     I am sorting through boxes of things that belonged to my grandparents today - they have all passed on now. Going through their things, reading their letters, makes me feel as if they are still with me.
     I just went through a bunch of handkerchiefs that were hand stitched/personalized by my Grandma Margie.  So delicate, so beautiful. Thinking about including them in another resin piece - suspending them in the resin somehow, like little bugs in amber.....

Multi Media Madness Continued

"Magdalene" 9"x12"

Here we are on day 2: Watercolor and sculpted hair (see yesterday's post) then added a layer of resin. After resin dried painted in with oils over the top! Ghostly effect! Fun! What else can I embed in resin?!

Multi Media Madness

"Blur" 6"x8"

watercolor and oils 2012

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This piece originally was a watercolor that didn't make the cut. Sometimes I just feel the work gets too literal, too easy, or too overworked. Watercolor is difficult because you can't really control it and you only have one real shot to make it work. I'm sure that many watercolor artists would disagree with me there but I feel like my best work is the stuff that comes out in one go and maintains a freshness. My favorite work to look at is work that looks effortless - but you know that it took years to achieve the effortlessness, the facility.
All this being said, sometimes I try to save a failed piece by adding a second media to it: the result can be seen above. I sealed the original watercolor and added oils over the top.
I love working in different media. I paint in watercolor (obviously). I paint in oils. I sculpt with fabric. I sculpt in wood. I sculpt with hair. I sculpt with wax.
Anyway, I'm trying to figure out a way to marry some of these media into one piece. Here's the result below: watercolor, hair, resin. Today I'm going to paint with oils on the resin and see what happens. Then I will probably add another layer of resin.

Re-listed!

"Kronos Expelling His Children" watercolor, 18"x 24", watercolor, 2012

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I'm helping my parents move this week to the frozen north lands (Minnesota). I won't be in my studio making new paintings so I've decided to re-list on eBay some of the pieces that were most popular.  This is Cronus - in ancient Greek myth he ate all his kids (Hera, Hestia, Demeter, Poseidon, Chiron) except one - Zeus. Zeus gave him an emetic and the rest is mythical history.

Here is a famous rendering of Cronus:

I always thought this painting was by Goya but the source I borrowed it from says it's by William Blake. Doesn't look like Blake's style at all (see below).

Mermaids and T.S. Elliot

Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. - The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock

Black Beard and Wolves Behaving Badly

"Black Beard" watercolor, 10"x11.5" 2013

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Wolves Behaving Badly

     My dear friend Amanda has written an awesome poem entitled "Wolf Party". I am making little illustrations for it. Here's what I have so far - hope you enjoy!

Wolves in the forest hunt all the night

They drink bitter ales then line up to fight,

They wrestle with bears

They tussle with foxes,

Eyeshadow

"Little Nude with Eyeshadow"

watercolor 9"x12"

2013

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Star Gazing

"Stargazers", watercolor, 15"x20", 2013

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Lilies have been associated with purity for thousands of years. Pictures of lilies adorned the walls of unearthed ruins of a home on Crete that is dated at 1580 B.C. Ancient Greeks believed that white lilies grew from the milk of Hera, the queen of Greek deities. Lilies were important throughout Greek and Roman mythology. The word "lily" is derived from the Greek word "leiron", which is believed to refer to the white lilies that were later called Madonna lilies, symbols of chastity, purity and virtue. 

Alas, Poor Yorick!

"Alas, Poor Yorick" 10"x13", watercolor, 2013

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Starting on a light note today......

Memento mori is a Latin phrase translated as "Remember your mortality", "Remember you must die" or "Remember you will die".[2] It refers to a genre of artworks that vary widely but which all share the same purpose: to remind people of their mortality, an artistic theme dating back to antiquity.

-Wikipedia

I have been intrigued with the theme for quite some time. Here are a few more pieces from over the years:

"Hades and Persephone" 36"x48", oil on canvas, 2010

"Death and the Maiden", charcoal,  20"x32", 2009

Back by popular demand!

"Blue Eyed Girl", 10"x13", watercolor, 2012

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Two months ago I decided to start a blog and FB page to show my watercolors. "Blue Eyed Girl" was the first piece I posted when I had zero subscribers to my blog and maybe 2 likes on FB. Since then I have gotten 455 likes on face book and 500 views on the blog! Thank you for all the love - you know who you are :)
Anyway, mushiness aside, the piece above has had many inquiries so I have decided to relist it today on ebay. Here is your opportunity to own an original piece of art! Here is a great article from Apartment Therapy about why and how you should collect art: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/get-smart-real-life-advice-for-collecting-investing-in-art-on-a-budget-172538

One year ago.......

"Marie Antoinette", 18" x 24", watercolor and oils, 2012

Collection of the Eden Rock Hotel, FWI

     Right around this time last year I was preparing for an artist in residence position I was fortunate to have been selected for. The residency was in the French West Indies at a VERY upscale resort that featured an art gallery. I was there to paint and give art lessons to the rich and famous. After a cold New York winter, I was ready to frolic in some warm ocean water, lie on hot sands, and to sip on some  lovely chilled french rose!
     Due to the expense of shipping art supplies, I brought only watercolor and limited oil painting supplies. I chose watercolors because I hadn't really used them before and they were easy to transport. I didn't know how to watercolor and I would say I still don't; most of the time I apply the paint and see what happens. It's a process of unveiling, uncovering, surprising myself. You can't always control watercolor and I think that is what makes it most attractive because you have no choice but to surrender your expectations of the outcome. This is a real gift. Beautiful things can happen when you let go of outcome.

If an artist paints in the woods does anybody see it?

"Serena", watercolor, 10" x 13", 2013

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Dear Artists and Art Lovers,
     Some mornings I wake up and I feel inconsequential (melodrama alert!). My inner dialogue goes something like this:

"Good morning, self! Crap. It's raining again. Go figure - it's Seattle. Time to get ready for another day of painting! But does my work really mean anything? I mean, does it say anything? Does it need to say something? What if by saying nothing I am saying something? If an artist paints in the woods and nobody sees it is it still visible? Maybe I should get more conceptual. Maybe I should build a huge installation piece about the mistreatment of women using only tampons. Maybe I should go back to painting classical portraiture because everyone gets it. Blah, blah, blah, on and on and on......."

This mental anxiety goes on until, ironically, I start painting :)

Here's where I do my creatin' - our little house in the big woods.

Dog food?

"Evil Eye", ink wash, 10" x 12" 2013

"Once a dog barked at a mask I made; that was the most honorable comment I ever received."
- Lenora Carrington
I have had dogs bark at my work before as well - a self portrait (thanks poodle) and a sculpture.  However, I have never had a dog try to eat my work before. I know the piece above is creepy - hence why I named it, "Evil Eye". Apparently my exceedingly well-behaved, never-even-so-much-as-looked at-a-shoe-sideways dog didn't like this piece because I came home to find it on the floor with soggy, chewed edges. Everyone's a critic.

Amaryllis

"Amaryllis", watercolor, 9" x 12", 2013

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detail "Amaryllis"

This year I grew some Amaryllis' despite my Black Thumb! I was kinda obsessed with these beautiful flowers when I was little because of a book title, "Eyes of the Amaryllis". I actually never read the book but I literally thought (as the title inferred) that these flowers had eyes :)
Here is a little history on the gorgeous Amaryllis from "Patty's Plants":


Amaryllis was named after a shepherdess from Greek Mythology. Amaryllis
means “Sparkling”. These flowers come in all sorts of colors from pink to orange to bi-colored. This is a Greek Legend that tells how it came to be and
why the red one is so blood red.
The Story goes like this:
There once was a beautiful maiden. Her name was Amaryllis. Where she
lived there was a very handsome young shepherd. All the young maidens in
the village wanted his attention especially Amaryllis. He was not interested in
any of them. He cared more about his plants and flowers. He would tell each
of the young maidens to bring him a new flower that he has never seen. Then
and only then will he give them his heart.
Now, Amaryllis wanted his attention more than any thing so she thought she
would ask for some advice on how to win him, from a High Priestess.  The
High Priestess gave her some strange and usual advice but she must follow it
to win the young shepherds love.
The priestess told her to take a golden arrow and pierce her heart with it.
Then she must go to the young shepherds cottage every day and take the
same path until the shepherd notices her. She did this for 29 days. On each
day she shed more and more of her blood on the path to his cottage. She was
turned down every time. The 30 day she felt her feet brush against some
flowers she had never noticed on the path. They where the most beautiful
blood red flowers she had ever seen. She picked an armful and rushed to the
young shepherds cottage. When he opened the door he was stunned. They
both were the most beautiful things he had ever seen. He asked her name and
she told him. He said he would name the flowers Amaryllis. He fell in love
with her and the flowers. They all lived happily ever after.  
Oh, I almost forgot to say, her heart was healed instantly. Thank goodness.

Breathing deep and getting inspired in the New Year!

                                                 "Respirer"(Breathe), ink, 18" x 24", 2012

                                       My New Year's resolution: breathe more, worry less.