THINKING AHEAD TO VALENTINE'S

 

I am thinking about the upcoming Valentine's Day.  Hubby is such a sweet loving man that I try on that day to do something special for him.  I have several ideas swimming about in my head, but I thought I would get the juices flowing by drawing a locket that he gave me years ago...

PECAN SKETCHING

 

I spent a quiet evening cracking pecan shells...I am using a Texas Inertia Nutcracker, which works especially well on the thin pecan shells.  However, I am now having to think about vacuuming the entire house, as the nut shells flew about willy-nilly!  Before I do that, however, I thought that I would draw a handful, eat a few, and post my efforts!  Then, maybe make pecan-maple fudge???

FLOWER SKETCH, KEEPING IT SIMPLE

 

 

This flower didn't come out as I had planned.  It is actually a very delicate flower, but I seem to be a bit heavy-handed today.  The petals are rather thick looking, and stiff.  I wonder how I could have made it look thinner...

BOTTLEBRUSH FLOWER SKETCH

 

 

This is a bottlebrush bush flower.  I first saw these when I moved to Southern California.  The hummingbirds love them.  They are fine and feathery, and reminded me of many of Jim Henson's creature creations.  I kept this sketch simple, all line and no shadow.  I love the simplicity of it, and the need to almost touch it.

STINKY FLOWER SKETCH

 

 

I have been craving some color lately, so dug out my inks to play with.  This is a huernia zebrina, a flower that blooms from a type of succulent house plant.  The flower when it blooms, gives off a horrible stench of rotting icky stuff in order to lure in its pollinators.  It is large, and has the most wonderful striped patterns to play with!  Isn't the world a weird and wonderful place?

NATURE'S OWN ART

I discovered this creation of art on my back patio this morning.  Nature does a much better job of it than I can...interesting technique, don't you think?  I can only hazard a guess, but I think that the leaf, combined with rain caused an imprint that sure left an impression on me!  I am inspired by the simplicity, and the message...

BLUEBIRD SKETCH

 

 

I don't often get a bluebird at my feeders. We are situated rather deep in the woods of Tennessee, and bluebirds are fond of fields and bugs.  I think that this one was just curious as to what all the other birds were doing...I had an especially busy day yesterday, with dozens of birds feeding on a new batch of sunflower seeds!  Anyway, my goal this year is to sketch and eventually paint my birds in a more natural position than just profile.  I love the way the bluebirds' feathers layer and fold! I also love the way the slight breeze fluffed some of the down out, giving it a windswept and unkempt look.  I used a super fine tip pilot pen to render this.  He was an almost cerelean blue with a rusty red throat.  Can't wait to get my paint out!

 

 

 

JACK RUSSELL TERRIER SKETCH

 

I am amazed at how much easier it is to read an animal's emotions and thoughts than it is a human's! Or maybe it is just that I never actually look directly into another person's eyes...anyway, this little guy was just begging to be played with, and his owner didn't have the energy to do it. I used a basic pilot pen to render this sketch, and am not real pleased with my perspective. However, it is my first sketch in over a month, so I am thrilled to be back!

LOOKING FOR INSPIRATION

Forgive my slowness in posting this week...Blogger is having issues with Windows browser, so I cannot post a photo of my latest work.  Hopefully, they will fix this issue quickly...Meanwhile, I will verbally discuss my frustrations with post holidays creativity funks!  Or maybe it is just the fact that I haven't seen the sun in weeks.  Here in Tennessee we are getting rain, clouds, and grumpy hubbies galore.  The new year stretches long before me, the economy is not promising a boost in art sales, and I am searching for my inspiration.  I have begun my spring cleaning in the house this week, and decided to get rid of a lot of old craft books...it is there that I found my spark of creativity, my possible enthusiasm, and an inkling of an idea!  In a VERY old book on masonry and cement techniques, I found a small article on plaster...which led me to think about frescos, which led me to think about landscapes on frescos!  Yes!  I think the softness, the diffusion that happens when working on plaster would make for some very zen paintings.  I am always looking for new ways to add calm and serenity to my space (mandalas should have worked, but didn't for me).  So I am now researching how to do a basic fresco painting on a small scale.  You can find inspiration anywhere, I guess...can't wait to start!

JOY IS IN THE UNIVERSE

Detail of "Tulips and Oranges"
in oil

 

 

"Joy in the universe, and keen curiosity about it all -- that has been my religion."

    ---John Burroughs author, naturalist

 

I don't think you can truly appreciate something unless you know it, and curiosity is the key to starting the process.  Through appreciation comes joy in the knowledge and true intimacy with the world.  I had a study in oils to do once, in which I chose individual tulips to paint.  Each tulip, I chose carefully for its color and shape, then preceded to draw it, study it, notice every inch of it over a course of 3 days, tenderly wrapping it each evening in wet cloths and refrigerating it to keep it as long as possible.  I grew to know each bloom millimeter by millimeter, finding 20 shades of color in a yellow bloom.  What was a simple, easy to draw flower became a complex world.  I gained respect for the flowers' creation, and love for its petals. Through knowledge came joy in the study.  Joy in nature and it's creations.  An artist has the special privilege of getting to know her/his subject intimately. They learn to look in a different way at the world because of the experience. I look a bit closer at the flowers in my garden these days.  I take special joy in drawing or painting something unfamiliar, because I know that even if it is 'just a bug' I will appreciate the complexity of it, the glory of it, all the more when I am done!  How happy I am to be an artist!

EMOTIONAL ART

Photo by Rose, filters added with Pixlrogram app.

EMOTIONAL ART

My young daughter once asked me why I couldn't use ALL of my emotions to paint.  Anger and paint equals Van Gogh masterpieces, right?  For me, my creativity shuts down when I am going through a negative emotion.  My hands shake and I can't let go, or stop THINKING and just paint.  An example that it runs in the family is my mother.  A watercolorist, she was taking a class after a particularly nasty divorce.  The instructor picked up on her anger from her paintings.  They all were red and black slashes of color in phallic shapes.  He said they made him uncomfortable to look at them without protection - her anger came through loud and clear.  Was it something intentional? No. I am thankful that I haven't been that emotionally distracted very often this year. However, If you have seen a bit of a slow down through the past few months, it is because my emotions and my painting haven't worked well together, and I have trashed everything I have done! Calm has descended upon my little world with the new year, and I look forward to growth in my art and in my heart.  I wonder if you have created something incredible while under great emotional duress...if you would like to share it, I will make a special guest blog spot just for you! After all, art is about sharing your heart and spirit with the world...

AVOIDING THE ISSUE...IT HAS TO BE PERFECT!

Wooly Mammoth painting 3'x4', unfinished for 3 years!
 (see the finished painting in the blog archives)

 

 

AVOIDING THE ISSUE...IT HAS TO BE PERFECT!

 

More excerpts from my art journal on the creative process in my mind...

 

"It is amazing what you can accomplish when you are avoiding an especially daunting painting.  I had decided to do a particularly large piece, and it was in my mind exactly what I wanted.  I spent hours sketching, planning, doing thumbnails and color variations.  Then I discovered I HAD to rearrange the furniture.  I HAD to clean the oven.  I dug out half of the backyard to get a rock garden started.  I needed to make detailed pictures of the wild flowers growing on our property.  I HAD to finish a craft project that I had started five years earlier.  I HAD to make tiny bead dragonflies to sell at the upcoming festival, because the economy was too bad to sell 'real' art.  Eventually, however, you run out of excuses.  You feel so bad about avoiding the canvas that you creep up to the studio and stare at the canvas.  You even get the nerve up to gesso and tint the canvas...SO NOW WHAT???"

HOW MUCH I HAVE GROWN IN MY ART ATITUDE!

3"x3" landscape in acrylic, of Glacier National Park, MT

 

 

HOW MUCH I HAVE GROWN IN MY ART ATITUDE!

This is an excerpt from my art journal 5 years ago.  Upon reading it, I realize how far I have come in my confidence.

----"Why do I panic at the thought of finishing a painting?  For me, I know the exact moment I was warped for life....my high school art teacher would encourage and instruct me - until I came to the finish of the project.  Then she would take my painting away from me and finish it herself.  That told me that she was sure I would ruin a painting should I ever finish one.  So I never finish a painting without a LOT of panic, double-guessing, and anxiety. I need others to tell me if it is good or not. I feel NEEDY, and worse, I feel like the art is no longer MINE.  I have compromised my own feelings and emotions and put in someone else's.  How's THAT for self-sabotage?!

At one point, I was so frustrated with my inability to finish a painting that I started using smaller and smaller canvases.  I was eventually painting 2"x3" pieces...and still unable to complete them.  Worse, if you have ever talked to a miniatures artist, they are much harder to do than the larger one.  Great care has to be taken on a small surface to use it properly - composition has to be perfect.  Values must be perfect.  I had inadvertently painted myself into a corner..."

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

 

I collect a lot of books, new and used, to give me inspiration.  For some reason, calligraphy has always inspired me with the shapes and movement of script.  I see an eventual change in my art , heading in the direction of script and nature.  I don't know what it is yet, but I am inspired!  What inspires you?  I find it very easy to get lost in the CRAFT of art...altered books, playing with color, fabric painting.  Sometimes I forget to be inspired by the playing to continue with my painting.  My mother-in-law calls it 'idle hands making the devils' playground' , but my mother sees no harm in the play.  Guess who I will listen too?

GUEST BLOGGER: JO ANDERSON, COTTONWOOD LEAVES

COTTONWOOD LEAVES

I am a volunteer at the Missouri Department of Conservation Nature Center, and once a year we go on a statewide trip...this one to Kansas City. While there we got a chance to use a huge hand-operated press.  On this piece, I painted the glass plate with a roller, then took cottonwood leaves and painted them atop the glass. A paper was laid over that and I hand cranked it through the large padded press.  What a surprise...a piece of nature art!

 

 

GUEST BLOGGER: JO ANDERSON

'Open Spaces' by J. Anderson

 

This painting was done when I lived in Colorado, and traveled to Wyoming where my grand children and antelope lived. The open spaces and even the stormy weather inspired me to paint in impressionist styles on full sheets of watercolor paper.  My daughter, Rose and I were also taking a life drawing class at that time...what fun!!!

 

(This painting is 26"x32", owned by daughter, Rose)

 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOURS

Merry Christmas to all of you!  I wanted to thank you all for being interested in art, the creative process, and the beauty found all around you. It is that interest that brings us all together and gives us a common thread. The new year is fast approaching, and I have some big goals to think about for the upcoming future of the blog.  If any of you would like to comment, add your 2 cents worth, and offer suggestions, I am delighted to entertain them!  Meanwhile, enjoy life, enjoy color, enjoy yourselves!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND INVITE TO SUBMIT ART

Happy Holidays to all of you!  The holidays always stirs up a malstrom of emotions for me, and my creativity either peaks or plummets.  This year it has done a bit of both, so don't expect anything particularly great from me...however, if you would like to email me with some of your creative endeavors, I would be delighted to put them on my blog in the next few weeks!  Do you have something you have done that is especially close to your heart?  Send it to me, or leave a comment so I can contact you.  Meanwhile, I will try to reach through my moody freak-out, and get creative!  Have a great Holiday, everyone!

MY ARTIST'S HEART: POEM BY ROSE

MY ARTIST'S HEART

 

 

I need the gentler moments,

No crisis every day,

To grow and be creative,

And find my artists' way.

 

Van Gogh could use his anguish

To fuel his passions' fire.

But me, I need tranquillity

To find my heart's desire.

 

Da Vinci found his calling.

Picasso and Rembrandt, too.

But I struggle daily to find my place,

Scared to know, afraid to do.

 

Art is a mirror of yourself,

The soul a door, the heart a key.

Exposure means taking a risk...

What if it's NOT for me?!

 

I need the peaceful moments

To calm my fears and start.

It's all inside, each stroke, each line,

I'm an artist in my heart.

FAIRY TALE SKETCHES

Old King Cole's 4 and 20 blackbirds, baked in a pie
 

 I have been trying to work up some ideas for the Artist Challenge, subject of Fairy Tales. I did several sketches illustrating some of my favorite stories, but none of them really seemed to be right for a painting, so I am not sure if I will actually participate in the challenge or not.  Regardless, it has gotten me to thinking, experimenting a bit, and testing my 'wings' in the illustrative venue.  I am pleased to have pushed myself, even though the drawings aren't particularly good.  I need to be able to tell a story with my picture, and it isn't there yet...wish I could take some classes on this!

This is from the Shoemaker and the Elves

REINDEER PUZZLE PIN

I always have a puzzle with several pieces missing laying about.  For years I hunt for the missing pieces, holding on to the puzzle in the off chance I will find them...knowing full well that the cat probably ate the pieces in retribution for shooing her off the puzzle table! Being one to never waste anything (lesson learned from my mother, who survived the Depression) I made this silly reindeer.  Three puzzle pieces, a pin back, googly eyes, a tiny pompom and a bit of paint.  Warning...I make one or two every year, and they fall apart after a lot of hard wear.  Maybe I should add a fourth puzzle piece to support the three in the back?  Anyway, Happy Holidays!

SANTA CINNAMON STICK PIN

 

This is a blast from the past, isn't it?  These pins were really popular in the early 1980's, and sold by the dozens at church bazaars. I decided to make one just out of sheer madness, as the one I bought so many years ago fell apart.  I always wear it with my December scarf to keep from losing it in the wind! All it is...a broken cinnamon stick, a pin back, and a bit of paint. Oh, the creative juices are flowing this week!

INSIGHTS ON ART

PAINTING DONE WITH BILLY KIRK'S GUIDANCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT

I took a painting workshop a few years ago from the impressionist landscapist, Billy Kirk (now deceased).  He was an amazing, thought-provoking instructor who was able to give me some valuable insights on art.

"In language, you can define words in a dictionary, but a true artists will form words into poetry."  In other words, an artist can technically be good, but it is the emotional aspects that turns it into real art.

"Take horror films - the most terrifying ones leave the most to the imagination."

This is the first time anyone has expressed it this way to me.  I keep being told by 'family' that my work is too detailed.  Now I am seeing that it isn't so much that, as I am relying too heavily on my technical training...not allowing my emotions to come into play.  Once again, I am hiding.  How do I allow that emotion to come out?  I have no idea, but I know what to work towards now.  Thank you, Billy Kirk, for your instruction, insights, and encouragement!

SNOWMAN PIN...PENNY RUG STYLE

This time of year brings out the Artsy-Fartsy in me (as my younger brother calls it!) Today I dug through my bits and pieces drawer, and found a few scraps of felt.  I designed this snowman around what I had, which was just enough for one 3 inch Christmas pin.  I have, in years past, been busy with making penny rugs, so this pin is reminiscent of that style.  I used embroidery thread to blanket stitch around everything and add a few features.  I was quite pleased with the results!  Since I miss snow the most at this time of year, I thought a snowman was perfect.  Hope you like!

 

 

EPIPHANY AND REALITY



What an epiphany week!  I discovered that my fears of 30 years have come true.  My avoidance and procrastination of creating art was due to a terror that I would find out that no one wanted it, no one appreciated my art, no one would buy my art.  I was afraid that hubby would depend upon my abilities and sales and I would fail.  My epiphany?  I was right!  Today, at this moment, no one is buying my work.  I can't help monetarily, and I feel like a failure, inadequate and less than mediocre in my chosen profession.  Worse, my family is helpfully telling me to change this, change that - reinforcing the idea that I am not good enough.  Can I go any lower than this?!!

On the positive side, I have faced my fears and survived, not intact, but still here.  The depression will fade in time.  And with the worst behind me, I can possibly move forward, make some progress and stop fearing the worst.  Life isn't easy, but it's better than none at all.  So I need to pick myself up and sort through all the helpful advice, and throw it all out to find what is in my heart.  What do I want to do? How do I want to express myself?  Should I change my style (which I am told is 'out')?  I could really use a week alone with my paints to find an answer...

ART DREAMS

 

I have this little tiny dream, this secret wish...an artist's retreat for a week or two!  I read in the back of my art magazines about workshops in exotic locals...Italy! Denmark! South America!  It all sounds exotic to someone sitting in the middle of a landlocked state.  I would be tickled to go to a retreat in Seattle, or Connecticut. Not really exotic, but different, picturesque and near an ocean.  Oh, and to go and concentrate just on my art! What a wonder! To talk to other artists, share experiences and ideas...such a tiny dream. Such a BIG dream!  Someday, I am going to do that...

NEVER KICK A COW CHIP...

This is the companion sketch for my Southwestern cards.  As you can see, the feet of the boots both have spots...I LOVE ostrich skin boots!  Someday I will own a pair..and yes, there is a story behind that!  I never met an ostrich that wasn't bad tempered and as mean as my mother-in-law.  I think it only poetic justice to be able to wear them someday...

OWL CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT

Owl Christmas Ornament
 



Hubby and I are donating an ornament to the Arts in McNairy (AIM) organization for a silent auction fund raiser.  We chose one of my hubby's owl carvings on an antique thread spool.  I then chose the beads and baubles to string it all together.  We hope that it will bring a little bit of money to the excellent cause of bringing more culture to our small county!  We have some wonderfully talented people here in western Tennessee!

DON'T SQUAT WITH YOUR SPURS ON

I am working on a few sketches for cards.  Several of my friends are fans of the southwestern genre, so I drew boots, and used a Will Rogers quote to give it a sense of whimsy.  Hope you like it!



CUPCAKE DISASTER SKETCH

 

Really, it is ridiculous how awful this sketch looks of this strawberry cupcake with white icing.  The real tragedy of it is that the sketch is right on!  It was my baking that was so hideously bad!  The cupcakes came out flat, some were even sunk in. No amount of frosting disguised the fact that they were lacking fluffiness. I did warn my hubby many years ago, however, that I wasn't exactly the domestic type.  I am frequently moody, often forgetful and flighty, and ALWAYS disorganized!  He thought he could change me....ha!