Author Archives: Old as Dirt & Proud of It!

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About Old as Dirt & Proud of It!

Welcome to Old As Dirt, and Proud of It by Karen Samenow. I named my blog Old As Dirt And Proud of It because that's where I am in life. You may find art or music, or inspiration included because, I'm an artist, a spiritual medium, and I'm always learning more and exploring. I hope you find us interesting. My focus for this blog is to bring a little levity to well seasoned women. Sometimes it actually may help!

Thursday Time Out For Art

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IMG_0235Dusty is finally finished!  He is 24″ X 36″ and is almost entirely done with a pallet knife, and neutrals.  He started speaking to me immediately after I toned the canvas, and hasn’t stopped since.  Never have I had a canvas chatter so much, and give me their opinion non stop from beginning to end.

I also have never used a pallet knife for an entire painting, and that was a fun experience.  Maybe I’ll do more, maybe I’ve found something exciting and different for me!

Zebra Designs & Destinations is always an inspiration, check them out – you too may be inspired.

Good Morning Tuesday

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I’m sitting here in my studio trying to decide what to do next!   I have many unfinished paintings that aren’t speaking to me, and just like so many others, they may just end up under another painting.  Molly Moo had several paintings under her, and Dusty the bunny has at least four paintings under him.  Dusty hasn’t been revealed yet, but his day is coming this week.

Molly Moo the Free Cow

Molly Moo the Free Cow

I have started a small 20″ X 24″ abstract a couple days ago, and decided to let it dry before continuing.  Now I’m thinking I should have just kept going while the paint was wet, and see what happens.  After all it is intuitive art, and it is abstract, so the worst that can happen is that it becomes an underpainting.

For me, the best thing to do is get into the studio early while I have lots of ideas, and energy…..turn great music on, and open up jars of paint.  The bigger the mess, the more creative I become, and louder the music, the faster I paint, and the better the painting.

So let’s get started!

A Chilly Spring Day!

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Wow, a bouncing baby girl!  Of course, I really wasn’t bouncing at the time, that came later, but a baby girl, I definitely was!  I think my mother told me that we were in the hospital for two weeks. Can you believe that, two weeks! Now days if you get to stay over night, you’re lucky. Being a nurse myself, I’ve seen new mothers kicked out of the hospital when they were too young to even have a child, didn’t know how to care for it, and needed some extra time with the nurses to help them get comfortable with the care and feeding of an infant. But not us, we got an entire two weeks.

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My parents built a home in Royal Oaks, in the burbs of Detroit.  I recall my mother telling me it was just off of Woodward Rd, or maybe it was Two Mile Road. Either way I’m sure it doesn’t look, feel, or smell the same today. That was more than a half century ago….. things have changed!

 

IMG_2868We had a sweet little home, I remember it well.   Ok, I remember the outside really well because I still have a picture. Lately, I’ve been going through all the old pictures with noting on the back to tell me who they were.   I wish my mother would have written who they were, or where they were taken, it would have been oh so much easier…on me! I have all these pictures of ancient relatives who don’t have any names on the back, and wouldn’t it have been nice to know who they were, and where they were taken?

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For a while I actuarially belonged to a Genealogy Club, trying to learn how to research, and find my heritage. That’s a lot more difficult than one might think. My heritage is English, Irish, and Scotch, two-thirds of them came to Canada on a boat,it could have even been a rowboat, or a blow up boat for all I know. The records are difficult to find, even with help! Eventually, it took up so much time researching dead relatives, that I had to decide if I wanted to sit in front of a computer getting a bubble butt, or did I want to paint. I decided to paint instead, and leave the research to a time when I couldn’t paint, or see to paint. The irony is, if I can’t see to paint, I can’t see to research! I’ll tell you though, it certainly is fun when you can find a lost, and forgotten relative that you knew was there, but had never been ably to locate before!

Ok, Ok enough of the genealogy stuff!  That stuff will come much later…..

 

 

 

 

Thursday Time Out For Art

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Molly Moo the Free Cow

Molly Moo the Free Cow

Next Up

Next Up

After finishing Molly Moo last week, I’m going to start another abstract painting.

 

 

 

Even though Molly was more realistic, the next painting I’m planning with any luck at all will be more abstract!   I just can’t seem to help myself..

The next canvas is long and narrow, so I’m thinking it will help me create a little more extreme art.   We’ll see! It’s also got at least four paintings underneath, maybe that’s the key!

First the sides,  I hate doing the sides.  I always start shaking and can never get them straight, so they go first.

Inspiration comes from everywhere.  I’d like to suggest checking out a couple of sites that might help with creative energy and inspiration,  Zebra Designs & Destinations, and On the Easel.