ado......

Can't believe we are about ready to cruise into the weekend! This week as been 'much ado' - summer is just that way - schedules get totally whacked - people want to socialize more - just hanging out seems okay and the right thing to do - and thank goodness I have learned something - being prepared! Prepared? yes - something I don't practice in most of my life, but have worked on as part of my art practice - it paid off this week and reinforced how baby steps translate and do count - I was with my bestest friend, Lis, early this week and she wanted to show me a new boutique that opened here locally - Very nice, very urban and savvy little shop - they are Modern + Vintage Seaside Luxe - Lis introduced me to the owner and she took us on a little tour and as I was looking around I thought, 'hmmm, my work would look good in here', so I asked if she was interested in artwork -
"Are you and artist?"
"Yes"
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, I have a card and you can check my website" (prepared - the website is THE best thing I have done for my art practice)
"Oh, is this your work?" (prepared - little cards from Moo showing my work)
"Yes" (prepared - pulled out my ipad and went to my website)
"Oh, I love these! (the moo cards) Here let me look at your website (with my ipad) while you look around. (She cruises the site) I would love to see some work."
So the story ends with my work in her very savvy boutique. Obviously, as we all know, this is not the huge hit, but a nice large step on the way and again reinforces that constantly showing up (in this case being prepared) pays off. I wasn't looking for this opportunity but I was prepared when I bumped into it. Very nice. The photo below is a painting I finished a while back.


this is mixed media on foam core - enjoy your weekend.

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near misses.........

Near misses - that's what I've experienced over the last two months -" yes, yes, I adore your work and yes, yes, I want to purchase"........"yes, yes, love your work, yes, yes, want to give you a show"........"yes, yes, yes and then oops, so sorry, not going to work out" - sigh. That's the way it goes and so go I. Plugging away knowing that a near miss is going to turn into a hit eventually! It's the way the world turns - yeses, noes, maybes, almost and then BAM! a hit! Eventually - But in the long run the hits are few and far between and last what seems like moments and then the times in between - just working - showing up, pushing edges and going forward with this personal journey. It's all good. The photo below is a painting that I finished a few weeks ago and is probably my favorite so far this year.



mixed media on board, 24x24, 'She Felt Her Pulse'

Had trouble shooting this - the yellows are really more pink but the camera insists otherwise. Friday has snuck up on me again and a totally jammed weekend ahead - can't even talk about the weather here - let's just say, we are coping as is almost everyone across the US. I know we will get a hit pretty soon.

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some more......

The adventures with mylar continue. It's now become more about painting then experimenting. I thought I would share three of the pieces that worked the best. These three are done with acrylic and oil pastel. I tried building up with pieces of muslin also. I like where that is going but nothing to show just yet. I've kept my palette to raw umber, black and white. I'm enjoying this process very much and would encourage anyone to try this type of surface. Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.










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some experiments......

If you remember a few posts ago, I told you I was working on some new stuff - well over a year ago I got the idea that I would like to try working on mylar. I can't for the life of me remember what sparked that idea, but at the time I purchased a small pad of mylar sheets and dropped them in the studio never to see them again until about a month ago. I was cleaning off a shelf and BAM, there was the little pad, so I drug it out, ripped off a sheet and started cleaning my brushes on it. Mmmmm, I loved how the oil moved across the surface, so I began using a new sheet each time I painted. This is such an interesting process, because the side I use to clean off the oil really looks very bland, but when I press that onto a sheet of paper, the thing comes alive. I have tried different mediums - acrylic, charcoal, graphite, pencil, ink, etc. and I'm finding it all very fun and interesting. I pulled three that aren't bad - these are basically sketches, but have inspired me to want to try larger sheets. So tomorrow, I'm off to purchase a few large pieces and see how that all shakes out.









It's the end of a very busy weekend - have many things in process in my workspace and looking forward to a week of painting. Happy New Week everyone!

the best time to paint......

This is my favorite time of year and my very favorite time to paint - SUMMER - I love taking breaks on the deck, under the umbrella - my mind turns off easier now - the work is more relaxed and I'm happy to work on a single piece for weeks.....soon there will be berries to graze on, little strolls in the back woods to see how the sun is filtering through the trees - so many birds to watch and then back to work - no hurry - just doing and being present - definitely my favorite time.......



this piece below has been emerging over the past week and feels finished this afternoon...



mixed media on board 12x12, She Was Suspicious

summer on everyone!

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preview......

I thought it would be fun to give you a little preview of a series I'm working on - I'm in the most fun part of developing this idea and that is the experimental stage - 'Dream Babies' - working with all the elements that I make - paintings, collage, textile and creating assemblage pieces - the photo below shows a possible way to assemble this 'dream baby', but as I'm sure you all know, it's only just ideas right now, but an idea that is rearing its head for attention, so, so be it! This is like playing with blocks creating an environment - much like mounting a theatre piece.



the photo below is a detail


The weather here is FINALLY summer! The tourists are here to celebrate the 4th - the parks and town are full - I had to run errands this morning and omg! it took forever - every year I forget what regular living is like during tourist season. Happy July 4th to all who celebrate!

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