Tag Archives: ideas

Jun10

Going Back…

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Going Back…

This afternoon as I was thinking about writing a post, and most definitely struggling with content.  As I reread some of my old posts,  I was stunned to realize that I had actually written them.  The content was familiar, and I could feel the words, but I couldn’t believe I wrote them.

On one post, I wrote about our trip to the Island of Kauai, and on another the day we picked up my son, Dennis from the airport after he made his first CD.

So whats your point?

I sitting here wondering if my writing is getting better, or worse?  Just like the paintings I create.  If you go back and revisit old works of art, often it is unbelievable  to think you had created them in the first place.  They aren’t all great, some of them I can actually believe it was me who painted them.  That’s painful to admit!

 Who did those, it couldn’t have been me!

But in fact it was me, in both cases.  When I write I pour my heart out just like when I paint!  It may be good at the time, or a struggle at that time, it depends.    Sometimes we don’t even realize how much of an effort it is until it unfolds.

Art is different for me because when I struggle,  I always know it!  It’s great when it flows, but that doesn’t always happen.  Sometimes I struggle painfully with something, a concept, a start, or maybe even more than that!

The Abstract Dancer has already taken two or three sharp left turns.  I have ideas, and who knows if they will work, but it’s better to try something than nothing!  Right? By posting this online, maybe it will shake me loose, and drive me to work on it!  I’m trying to avoid doing the Jackson Pollock thing to it.

At least that is my hope.  So someday when I look back on prior posts, I can look at this one and remember how I was struggling to pull it all together, and make Abstract Dancer a real painting!  Someday maybe I can read this post, and say to myself,  I did pull it together, and that Abstract Dancer is exactly what I had envisioned!

 

Jun10

Ramblings of an Overheated Artist?

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Sometimes on FB there will be surveys about things like, if you were a car, what would you be or, if you were an animal what kind would you be. One very early morning when I was feeling particularly fabulous, I started thinking about describing myself, all I’d been through in my life, and the resilience I have.
I’m strong, determined,  I don’t have to be right, but I’m not always wrong either. I have a sixth sense about me –  I know when I’m not being told the truth, I can feel it. I’ve lived long enough to have wisdom, some of it from learning experiences, some of it I just know!  I don’t do the FB thing very often, actually I really don’t care if they think I’m a fast car, or a lion, or what my color is!

Soooooo

That being said, I was thinking how I would describe myself, and this is what I came up with…..

I’m an Oak Tree!  A mature, sturdy, mighty oak!  I stand tall, yet I can bend, I am filled with wisdom, and the owl that lives in my branches provides me with whatever information  I don’t know!  You can’t have it any better than that!  I haven’t any idea what kind of owl would be living in my branches, but I do know we’re best friends!

I don’t know what the owl would have to say about that, I really haven’t taken the time to talk to him lately.  If truth be told, I haven’t seen him lately.  He’s tricky, and only comes out at night, probably after I’m in bed.  He also may be preoccupied with a lady owl.  What she-owl wouldn’t want to stay in a mighty oak with her dream he-owl?  I have chimes playing all night long, and they can hunt, and return to the safety of my branches.

Did I hear you say I was crazy?

Maybe!  I prefer to call it creative.  By the way this was not my intention to write anything remotely like this, but its way too hot to do much of anything else, even painting!  Maybe especially painting!

Back to the Owls!

Before my very eyes, and ears I think I have an Owl family in my branches.  There is a lot of rustling going on during the day, and this I know from going out to water plants, and check on my Matilija Poppy.  This is only about the sixth poppy I’ve tried to grow–without any success!  This time my son-in-law John  is nurturing it!  Good thing, because as I said, I’ve killed the previous five.  At least the leaves are still green, and in this 100+ degree weather too.  That’s another story though.

The good thing is that a few doors down for our home, there are abundant critters, so the owls will have plenty to keep their tummys full, and plenty to feed the little owlets after all that kissing stops!

 

You remember this…..

Mr. & Mrs. Owl sitting in a tree

k-i-s-s-i-n-g…..

first comes love, then comes marriage,

then come the owlets in a

Baby Carriage!

Ok Back to the Owls!

I’m not sure owls even have baby carriages, after all how would they push them, and how on earth could they keep them on even the sturdiest of my limbs?   If they pushed the carriages off the limbs  would it be accidental or would they really be trying to encourage the owlets to fly?   I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

Back to the Owls!

Now I’m positive it’s the heat!

I know it sounds like I’ve been smoking something, but you’re wrong!  I don’t smoke, and I told you it was the heat!

Any questions or comments, I’m more than happy to answer them for you.  You might have some additional thoughts on the subject as well.  If so, please comment, or email me!  I’d love to hear what you have to say….

Maybe you’re advice would to have those little buggies outfitted with magnets so they would stay on the branches, you know much like a San Francisco trolley.  Either way, the owls need your help, maybe I need your help as well.

Go ahead let me know what you think,  I can take it!

 

 

Mar15

The Makeover Continues!

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A few weeks ago, I wrote about getting our home painted, having new rain gutters put up, and the patio roof repaired.  It all looks so fabulous, it made us want ...more!  So our son-in-law, John has continued to make improvements!

What did he do next?

Well, the first thing John fixed was the irrigation system.  It has always been a bit poopy, and he quickly discovered why!  This is all technical, so I won’t get into it although I did understand after John explained it…..several times!  The long and the short is this:  it was never installed right in the first place!  (Landscaping by a professional expert, having landscaped all over the Middle East!)  After putting several hours into digging many holes, a trip to Lowe’s did the trick!

Oh those back-breaking holes!

The only one around here that knows how backbreaking digging holes in the yard can be is Daisy, our dog!  She has most recently been on archology excursion to find  the Lost City!  I need to tell you, neither Les or myself taught her to do this.  I’m sure she learned it from talking to the other dogs at the “dog park!”  You know the ones,  the dogs whose parents don’t teach them right from wrong!  So now, we have to be the bad guys and give her a time out for attempting world travel, or trying to bury a chew stick.  I hate being the bad guy!

Now the fun starts…

Tuesday night after John had prepared the yard for new dirt, and sod, and headed for home, Daisy went outside and…No she didn’t dig holes, but she spread her toys over the dirt.  I think she was saying, “This is my yard, leave it alone!”  All through this process she has been agitated, and I couldn’t even get her to leave the house for a walk in the afternoon.  The yard being all torn up bothered her, and she would come in to get one of us, and take us out into the back to show us what John had done to her yard.

What’s next?

Wednesday the top soil went down, and from Wednesday until Thursday afternoon, Daisy had to stay out of the yard.  I believe it is “Murphy’s Law,”  to have the animals roll in freshly watered, manure, and top soil!  We could just see her with the smelly dirt stuck to her fur, and needing a bath before we could let her back into the house!

Thursday morning John started putting down the sod, and then things  changed.  Keeping a dog off her grass is a challenge, and reasoning with her to not dig holes in the grass or she will have to sit on the “Naughty Rug” is the fun part!

Today is  a new day, a new start, a new yard we can be proud of, and it looks great!   After the yard was watered, pots will get drips on them, and things just look so much neater.  I’m loving it!

Then what?

There isn’t  much left to do.  Maybe a few little things like putting a few more drip lines in, or re-wiring an antique iron lamp that was my Great-grandmother’s, but that is about it!  You can be sure that pictures will follow one of these days!  This was back-breaking work, that I could neither do, or help with.  We are both so grateful for John, who tirelessly worked to make our home, and yard something we could all be proud of!

I think we all deserve a glass of vino, and maybe some cheese and crackers,   and oh…..Chocolate!!!  We must have chocolate!

Mar7

And…More Practice!

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This practice thing is going to be on-going for a very long time.  One might say, it never stops!

I said there were many unfinished canvases in my studio, and I was planning on finishing them.  The more they sat there, the more I started to think, “If they haven’t said anything so far, maybe even they don’t know where to go with themselves!”  So I grabbed a second unfinished painting, and gessoed  over it.  Ha! I’ll show it!  Gessoed over it very lightly, so the under layer of a mix of Quinacridone Burnt Orange, and Quinacridone Gold still showed through in places.  Then the sky came to life with some light blue, and next but not last, I lightly brushed in some violet, orange, and yellow.   That ‘s just the sky!

Now the trees!

The larger trees were already roughed in with tissue paper, so my decision to paint trees was already made.  I just followed through, and added some more trees, but decided to emphasize the bigger trees since they were standing out in the first place.  No big decisions there!  At some point, my thoughts have gone to, “Enough time wasted on this, let’s get down to business!”  While I love to keep playing with my trees, I also want to decide on what to do next, and start something else!

My ideas are all over the place, and usually I tend to jump in feet first, sink or swim……usually sink!  It would be nice to do a little more planning for the next one.  The funny thing is, I love the spontaneity of not knowing where I’m going, or how I’ll get there. I love letting the painting take the lead, with Happy Accidents at the finish of the painting!  The very thing I love the most, is the very thing that trips me up the most!  Is it the planning that is the problem, or is it the subject matter?  Or, am I not listening?

How many of you have the same problem, or do you have answers that I hadn’t thought of?  Let me know because I’ve been struggling here, and someone must have answers….

The trees are speaking……

After playing with lighting, and watching my trees, I pretty much decided to keep playing with them.  My trees are not finished, but still need shadows, more lights, and darks!

While I’m finishing up my trees, I’m also getting ready for another class.  This class will be all day at ArtBeat on Main Street.  This is a fairly new gallery in the heart of Vista, Ca,  that took me by surprise when I walked in.  The ladies that own tArtBeat are down to earth, and easy to know.  They seem to have put together a gallery rarely seen in this area!  It really belongs further south in Del Mar, or La Jolla.  It’s that classy!  So when my friend, and artsy sister said she was taking this class, at her urging I checked it out, and was pleasantly surprised.  The artist teaching will be Scott W. Prior, an artist well known in the art community.

We’ll talk…

Feb26

Practice, Practice, Practice,

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And more practice!

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Recently I was in a workshop at the Artist Tree in San Marcos.  The artist giving the class was Cathy Carry, and if you aren’t familiar with her work, please take time and look her up.  Cathy has a distinct style that I haven’t seen in too many present day artists.  I’ve always been interested in her work for a number of reasons.

  • Cathy is really good at what she does!
  • She is an excellent colorist!
  • A great teacher!
  • Easy to get to know, and willing to share!

So when the opportunity presented itself for this half day class, I jumped on it, and  I wasn’t disappointed!

In my February 4 post, I talked about the class, and a little about my history with Cathy Carry.

Last week one of my paintings that wasn’t working, just found itself with a fresh coat of gesso on it, and the beginning of not just a new painting, but a new technique!  It started out so well, and just like anything else one is trying to master, went downhill…….  There isn’t much else to do to it at this point, except maybe gesso over it once again.  However, I’m not going to do that.

Here is Why!

When I’m working on a new technique, I like to look at it, analyze it,  let it sink in, and give it a chance to talk to me.  That is my process, and in doing that I can see things I don’t want repeated, things I might do differently next time, or even things I really love about the painting.  This painting has all of that!  I have posted pictures from beginning to end, and I don’t think I’m going to go any further on it, but rather keep it so I might be reminded of what direction I want to go, and what direction I never want to go again!

The pictures are also an attempt at stomping back my ego, and get over myself!   After all you can’t be perfect right out of the gate, and how can I develop a style if I don’t practice, practice, practice?  

Taking pictures of my work as I’m painting is one of the ways I find things that might, or might not be working.  I’ve done this for years, and it has helped me a great deal.  As I’m gathering the pictures to include in this post, I’m seeing new things that I like, and things I realize now I don’t want to repeat.  So thank you one and all for prompting me to keep writing, and to me for listening to you.  I’m learning as I sit here and blog!

P.S….As I look at this painting, and trying to figure out what isn’t working, I’m seeing many things that I hadn’t seen before.  I said it was finished, but I’m going to play with it just a little more, and then my intentions are to leave it alone, call it finished, and learn from it!

Feb12

Valentine Fever…

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Recently I talked about making Valentines for my grandkids, and how little time there is left to created them.  Well, I started a couple of weeks ago pressing out the clay, cutting out the heart shapes, and stamping into them.  It was so much fun creating each one differently.

My stash of stamps is numerous, and some of them spoke to me big time!  Things like XOXO, Friends One Of God’s Greatest Gifts, If The Shoe Fits Buy It, and several more.  I used paisley stamps, elephant shapes, and on and on.  When they were all baked and finished, It hit me!  Almost every heart shape would be perfect for a girlfriend, but not for my grandchildren!

Now What?

One might say, “It’s back to the drawing board!”  By golly, I think you’re right!  I can only take so much  clay, but it’s still fun to work with now and then, so it’s back to Michael’s for more clay.  I hate going in there because Michael’s always carries things that call to me, and I rarely come out of there with only what I went in for!  I really do try, but things just grab  me!  So on Wednesday, I dragged the pasta maker out once again for yet another go at the heart-shaped clay Valentines!

Somehow I was Having Trouble Getting Back Into The Hearts!

In Michael’s I  found  about six more stamps (on sale for 99c) appropriate for little ones.  The old standbys like, Be My Valentine, or Will You Be Mine!  That’s more like what I wanted to put on Valentines for a three, or a six-year-old.  The  girls are easier to make Valentines for, but the boys just have to get use to them also!  Boys will be getting Valentines for the rest of their lives!

Again – Now What?

Since there are all kinds of projects going on around our house, I’m going to pack up all the “Stuff,” and take it for an Art Day with the Fabulous Five this weekend!  Every month my girls and I get together to share, critique, and play with ideas.  Sometimes we get really into some project, and sometimes we sit and throw ideas around, discussing technique, or problems we’re having with some specific piece of art one of us is working on.  Whatever happens, we all come away from our day together feeling  full of creative energy, and more ideas than we could have even imagined!  All of us agree, that the single most important thing an artist can do for themselves is to share creative energy with other artists.  So yes, I have a great support system,  consisting of four other artists, each bringing something different to the table.  Not one of us creates the same way, but each of us is inspired by the other.  I couldn’t ask for more!

What did you create together?

Nothing!  We hadn’t seen each other in quite a while, so not one of us could stop talking long enough  so we could get some Valentines made.  And after I bought über amounts of clay to make them with!  The clay will go back to Michael’s just as soon as I’m finished.  All in all, we had a great time together with many ideas (not involving Valentines).

Once Again – Now What?

Now it’s back to the drawing board to finish the Valentines on my own.  I’m happy to report that after baking dozens of heart shapes, and stamping into them, I’m so finished!

With all the hearts completed, put together, wrapped, & addressed they are ready to go out the door.  The pictures above are of the four sets of Valentines that are finished!  I don’t want to see another Valentine until I get that box of See’s Candy from my husband in a few days!

 I’m so ready to get back to organizing the studio, and to painting. Mostly Painting…