A R T I T

restless......

2012-01-25T16:14:00.000-08:00

I have knocked out close to 20 pieces on paper in the past few weeks and I was DONE!!! Out of the 20 pieces I was able to resolve about three of them and the rest are waiting their turn to find out what their fate will be - resolved painting, fodder for collage, steps to other paintings, etc., etc., etc. When a person is done, it's time to switch gears. Bees wax seemed a good choice. I heated some up, pulled out some rice paper, an old board and loaded my little torch - exactly what the doctor ordered!! Bees wax is so yummy! You can glob it on thick or just glide the wax brush over the surface - I grabbed my scrap box and added bits from other projects that I've deconstructed. I was able to burn foam core, muslin, paper, netting and a few things I didn't recognize. The piece below pushed me to another one on canvas that I finished today. This feels like a good direction for awhile. Using what is laying around the workspace - something very satisfying about that.

mixed media with bees wax on board, 31x13.5, 'She Let Out The Clutch'

Hope you are all busy making art. January is almost over and that means we are heading out of the dark/cold. It gives me hope.

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deconstruct/reconstruct

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

I haven't done a progression in awhile, but I've gotten so many emails these past few weeks about my technique that I thought I would document a painting from 'deconstruction' to 'reconstruction' - the process is all intuitive and doesn't mean much using words, but a series of photos gives a better idea of how my process works - The first photo is a painting I did last year that I never connected with - the resolve always felt contrived so I thought it would be a good one to use for this progression -

the next photo shows my first marks to deconstruct the painting - white oil pastel and yellow ochre

these next photos show the deconstruction process

now I see a new shape emerging....I start carving out the new images

the next pic is the place I start editing - I got so involved in the next part of the process that I didn't take anymore pictures until I finished the new painting

Here is the new painting - I feel a connection to this work and call it finished for now

mixed media on board, 24x24, 'When Madelynn Dreams'

I hope this answers some of the questions I've gotten - I just paint! I'm not a technical painter - I work wet on wet - I don't mind if the colors get muddy - I like the color of mud - I love when I get to the editing part - add, subtract, add, subtract, take out my favorite part, take out another favorite section, take out all the ambiguity- done!

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Saturday Armor

2012-01-16T16:38:00.001-08:00

It's a very real challenge to work in my workspace during January and February - I basically have an outdoor shed with minimal insulation that I converted into a workspace - IT IS COLD!! I have a little space heater and that gets the temps into the 50's and then I layer my outerwear and that lets me work for a couple of hours during the day which I am so thankful for!! I can bring work into the house to dry. We've had little showers of snow for the last two days, but it doesn't even stick to the ground, thank god! Other places are not so lucky - being so close to the water keeps us a bit warmer and I'm very thankful. I have finished several paintings in the past few days and I'll share the one I finished today. The work, even though a bit more settled then a couple of weeks ago, is still coming pretty fast. I don't question this anymore - I just take advantage of it and paint as much as possible. This too will stop and then I will have to dig deep to start new work. And when those dryer times come, there is the excitement of trying new things - I always love messing with video, or my digital camera, new mediums, etc. But for now, painting is on the front burner.

this is oil on paper, 24x19, 'Saturday Armor'

Another Monday has rolled out and I hope you are all on board for the week!

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'AWOL'

2012-01-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

Things feel like they have started to settle and the work is back on track. Whew! Figures are not new for me, but the 'pouring out beginnings' have almost all included figures in some way. I find this interesting. I mean they are always appearing, but these particular figures are bit more persistent. Don't know how long they will stick around, but will follow this particular path for awhile until something points another way. The painting below I finished a couple of days ago. Hope you are all settling back into your work and finding it all good.

this is oil on paper 24x19, 'AWOL'. Grab the week everyone!

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Five days in......

2012-01-05T15:45:00.000-08:00

We are five days into the new year - I didn't know what to expect as I started working again - I knew I wanted to cover new ground in new ways but how wasn't clear - so I putter and putter and putter and the paintings are coming pretty fast - the work below I finished today in a very short time - It's like I can't paint fast enough - work on paper lays about drying on the floor, wood pieces are started and a large one waits for me to work on tomorrow - even though the first day in was difficult, the work is pouring out - of course not all of it will be good work, but it needs to be done - much of it will be reworked after this initial emptying - hope you are all finding new ways to drop into the new year - will see you all on the other side of the weekend......

oil and bees wax on board 12x12, 'Sideways on the Big Dipper'

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re-entry.....

2012-01-01T20:04:00.000-08:00

It's been a rough re-entry into the studio today - I wanted to work, but when I closed the door to the studio, I didn't want to work.....I just wandered around, picking up this, looking at that, cleaning off my work table - sigh - I picked up a piece I had started earlier in the month, clipped it on my work board and just sat and looked at it - I kind of liked it the way it was - no, not really, but I just didn't have a clue where to start - there was a piece of graphite laying on the floor so I picked it up and made a couple of marks, then a couple of more marks, then I rubbed the graphite into the paint and smeared it around and then I added some ochre paint and then some raw umber and then a few hours later I had the piece below - certainly not the best work I've done, but it got me moving again.....re-entry is never easy - trying to find my way back into the work - letting go of the holidays - emptying myself of the last three weeks - tomorrow's work will be informed by the work I did today and so on and so on and so on.....it's a start - welcome to 2012.......

this is mixed media on paper 24x19, 'When the Cypher Breaks Down'

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sliding out of 2011......

2011-12-28T16:15:00.000-08:00

Unbelievably 2011 is coming to an end. Even as I type the words, it's hard for me to believe, I mean, I know that sounds cliche, but SERIOUS!!??? Have I been on the bullet train? and am I just now getting off to try and figure out what I was doing for 12 months? It seems like that - I was busy, a bunch of stuff happened, good stuff, bad stuff, life changing stuff, reality changing stuff, and then a whole load of ordinary stuff. Personally I like the ordinary stuff because it keeps me grounded - that first cup of coffee in the morning, the good feeling AFTER working out, throwing on my work clothes and heading to the studio to throw paint, the days of a thousand errands, climbing into bed at night with a very good book, housework all checked off, lists with everything crossed off, watching the birds in the yard, turning the computer off at night - the list could go on and on and maybe I will add things as the week goes by -

I ran back over the work I completed this year and made the mosaic below of my favs - it was another year of some good work, some bad work and a transition that I'm just falling into..... Two new outlets for my work and even a few sales.....life is good and one of the good things on a daily basis are you guys - my cyber friends - I so appreciate your continued support - I want to wish each of you the VERY BEST for 2012!! It's going to be a very good year.

lights out.......

2011-12-22T16:23:00.000-08:00

It's been dark in my little work shed for the past week - energy has shifted from painting to Christmas and all that that brings - it's the same every year - I tell myself I will work through the holidays no matter what! because it's just too hard to gear up to start again after any downtime. sigh - I had to run into the studio to grab a few things this afternoon and it took every bit of energy I had to walk back out again! I wanted to sit down and work so bad - the sun was out, projects lined up in progress, an especially almost finished piece on the easel - but walk back out I did - I have a sense I will be working tomorrow if only just a short while -

Before I post this and slip back into Christmas mode, I just wanted to share a little phenomenon I have run up against at least once or twice a day for the past two weeks - there are women of a certain age who carry handbags that contain at least 50 to a 100 compartments - you have to understand I am of the 'black hole' bag group where you open the bag and just drop things in, they land at the bottom and are retrieved by feel in a snap! but basically I keep the CARD in the ONE side pocket for quick retrieval - so when I'm waiting in a check out line and the little lady ahead of me starts unsnapping, unzipping, unfolding, each one of the hundred little compartments to retrieve the extra three cents and then refolds, rezips, resnaps each of those very same compartments before moving on, I have to take deep deep deep breaths so I won't yank the hideous brown bag out of her hands and hurl it across the store while all the people lined up behind me cheer!!!! Serious??!! Just let the clerk make change, it's totally okay!!

The lights will be on again soon, but until then, enjoy all things holiday!

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continued?......

2011-12-14T09:09:00.000-08:00

How do transitions niggle their way into our art practices? I have been thinking about this alot lately. It is obvious to me that I'm experiencing change in my art practice and I wonder how this begins and what triggers the transition. My work is becoming more sparse on the top surface, but much more complex beneath - I'm still painting with my darker palette, but more and more the work is shifting into more ghost like images beneath the surface - lighter colors on top - it is still very much me but with a bit of a different voice - I'm shifting between the two palettes quite unconsciously but landing more and more in this newer vain - I'm enjoying more of the mystery in this newer work - I'm loving this new exploration - new edges to push - I love that this transition chose me and I didn't choose it - I'm wandering this as an explorer which is exciting to me.......

the painting below is oil on paper, 24x19, 'Pretend Silence'

Happy Wednesday everyone! See you all on the other side of the weekend!

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detour......

2011-12-08T09:54:00.001-08:00

I just love it when the work takes an unexpected turn. As I told you in my last post, I was messing around with using blocks with wax impressions on them to do some fun printing. I was enjoying the surprises the print blocks left, but for anyone who follows this blog, you know what I love most is painting, so? a painting I went - it took the most unexpected turn - all light and lacy and looking so different from my normal palette - I didn't even try to force my normal palette onto the surface - I just went where the paint told me to go and the photo below shows the final product. I added some bees wax early on. I have left my header because that shows a detail of the bones of this piece.

mixed media with bees wax on paper, 19x24, 'The Locked Box'

The weekend looms with Christmas preparations all around us....have the best one ever and I will see you next week!

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reminded again.......!!!!

2011-12-04T09:56:00.001-08:00

As our days are really more night then day right now, I am reminded AGAIN! how much environment plays in my painting palette. I have been working on the piece below for a couple of weeks - it has gone through about three major phases - from very light to very dark and finally resolved in the painting below. As I'm turning off the lights, heater, etc. in my workspace each afternoon about 4pm, I come outside to see the moon and first stars already in the sky, or dark clouds forming over the tops of the trees - it's twilight and feels magical somehow - that moment has filtered into my work this past month - I'm also playing with bees wax on little boards and blocks and using them as print elements on paper - will show some later in the week -the painting below is oil and bees wax on board 12x12,
'When The Moon Fell'

Happy Sunday everyone, see you all later in the week!

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edges.....

2011-11-28T15:30:00.001-08:00

I have a thing about edges. I love the edges of my work to show the depth and layers that are underneath - I never try to smooth them out - I leave them raw - Sometimes I lose these bits I love so much when the work is framed, but I know they are there. Even here, the edges are cropped off many times to even out the photo - if I'm working on paper, the clips make marks in the paint each time I turn it - I just leave those random marks - most times they are way better then anything I can make.

.....and lately? I've been working with more negative space then I have in the past. This was not on purpose, but just started happening. When you work into a piece as much as I do, it leaves very little negative space - but as all transitions, this started changing before I even noticed - I'm liking this new slant. We'll see where it takes me - I love a little change - it revs up the work and that is always good.

The piece below is oil on paper, 19x24, 'Pink Champagne'

black neoprene = opportunity....

2011-11-23T10:07:00.001-08:00

When I bought my ipad a year ago, I also ordered the classic black neoprene cover to protect it. Yet another ugly electronic cover - sigh - I knew I would eventually cover the cover, but as all things, I never got around to it - then I had the unfortunate experience of leaving the ipad in a rental car when we were in Tuscon. Thank god I realized it was missing before I flew home - I trudged back to the car rental and asked if anyone had found it in the car. No, they hadn't. The car I had used was still in the garage, so the lady said I could go look for myself, so I did - nope, not there - then I ran my had over the passenger seat, and BAM, there it was - totally invisible laying on the black seat - black cover on black seat - wake up call!! I have used the cover to doodle on for the past month while on the phone - the photo below shows how it looks today - I have to turn it over and start on the back - at least one white line so the 'invisible' ipad doesn't happen again.

I hope this finds everyone who will be celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow prepping to enjoy family and friends. Until next week.

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gotta love MOO!!

2011-11-18T15:23:00.001-08:00

Is there anything better then getting a new set of MOO cards!!?? I love this company - I have never been disappointed in their quality. And to be able to have a variety of your images is excellent!! There is always a little bit of excitement when you fan out the cards and say, 'pick one you like' - I highly recommend this company, however, if your are a stickler for getting the exact color of your images, you will be a wee bit disappointed. That doesn't bother me a bit, close enough!! Prices are so reasonable too.

This next photo is the work I finished this week. This is oil on paper, 19x24, She Felt The Symbiosis.

We are headed into the weekend. I hope you all have wonderful plans! Until next time.

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just the simplicty.......

2011-11-12T16:11:00.001-08:00

There are so many materials I love to use when I'm working and each time my world goes upside down, I am reminded again what I really love the most is the simplicity of just painting. It's pure joy moving a brush around a surface and falling into that intuitive zone. When the realities of life rear their ugly heads and energy and focus take a hit, just painting does it every time for me. A wonderful afternoon prepping new surfaces and puttering around in my workspace. Things seem to balance themselves out. I finished the painting from the last post below. It is oil on paper, 24x19, How Pain Enters.

I hope you are enjoying the weekend. Very stormy and gray here. When I look outside I see my palette.

And and thank you to my readers/commentors. I know leaving a comment had become an ordeal and I'm thankful for your persistence. I finally had enough energy to switch back to the old template until they get the bugs worked out. Whew!

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at 10

2011-11-08T15:45:00.001-08:00

Life comes at you fast!! I've been dealing with a health issue for the past three weeks. Diagnosis not in yet, but the pain has been a 10. Pain at 10 takes precedent over all else. The one constant, my art, has been the thing that I've been able to turn to and drop into for small amounts of time. I had a treatment yesterday and today is a good day. Pain at about 5 which is a huge relief. I actually spent a bit of time in the studio working. Such a fabulous release. I hesitate to share health issues because it sends out alarms and I'm not dying, just dealing with an aging body, so fear not dear readers. My point in sharing is to reinforce the idea of how my art helps me deal with life issues on a daily basis. I feel extremely lucky to have a place to put myself when things go upside down and/or are just humming along. I wanted to share with you a work in progress that I worked on today. This is oil and mixed media on paper, 24x19.

Will be back later int he week, hopefully in a better place. Until then.........

bits of news......

2011-11-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week so far - I have an opening this weekend in Port Townsend, so if you are local, would love to see you there - Seagrass Coastal Home for Gallery Walk. And a wonderful bit of news - one of my long term goals has been to have local representation and that happened last week. I am thrilled to have been juried into Bainbridge Arts & Crafts on Bainbridge Island, WA. I made the jury appointment over three months ago and totally forgot about it until last week when it showed up on my calendar- yikes!, so I got all my stuff together, resume, statement, forms, etc., loaded the car with paintings and headed to Bainbridge not knowing exactly what the process was about. As it turns out, this is how they find their artists - you get there, unload your work and come back later in the day after the jury has gone over everything - they do this about 8 times a year and only do 10 artists at a time - they gushed about the work and kept three of the pieces, I signed a contract and BAM! local representation. I am just thrilled. The wax and oil continues and the painting below is on paper 24X19, 'Via Third Street'.

That's it for now. Remember to be logged into google/blogger if you wish to leave a comment, or poof!, it's gone - I have got to the point where I copy my comments before I hit publish just in case! Enjoy the upcoming weekend.© All Rights Reserved

continued........

2011-10-28T18:43:00.001-07:00

hello and happy Friday - nothing much new happening here - I have continued experimenting with bees wax and oil this week - I have made so much bad art, but I have learned a huge amount of things that work and ALOT of things that don't work!! I have no plans to work any other way for awhile - I really want to nail this medium and be able to incorporate it into my work - I'll leave you with a piece that turned out 'not too bad' - you can see my works in progress on my 'works in progress' page - some major bad art for sure!!! Next week I'll share some wonderful news I got yesterday, but until then, have a fabulous weekend!

too fun.......

2011-10-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

That's what I'm having, too much fun - bees wax and fire(I've only burned myself once) - what an amazing combination - this is my second experiment on board and I've prepped a much larger board to start working on next week. Working like this seems limitless right now - so many possibilities - this is bees wax and oil on a 12x12 board........'Inside The Whisper'

Hope you have all had/are having a wonderful weekend. And remember, be sure you are logged into google before leaving a comment or it will disappear into the ether. Also I posted a wee video in 'bits and pieces' in my title bar using the torch and in fact this is the final product from that video.

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experimenting........

2011-10-20T08:48:00.000-07:00

......and yes, I've decided to embrace the new 'dynamic views' templates - I mean really!, for an image site like mine these are truly wonderful - I have lost my sidebar, but realized I can use the 'pages' option to post some of the other info I've used the sidebar for (still under construction so check back) and and I'm sure the new templates will add gadgets in the future, so I experiment - but what I really wanted to share is how much I'm loving my new 'wax' knowledge - AND I've added a new tool to my fav things to work with - a little torch! oh, man, do I love this - that little blue flame does stuff that just thrills me - Karon let me use hers last week and I fell in love! a whole new frontier - I'm experimenting for the next few months with wax, oil and flame on board and paper - so much fun! The first photo is the first experiment with bees wax and oil on board - I have so many ideas I want to try, so expect to see alot of experiments in the next few weeks.......

and this is a photo of my new little torch - if you've thought about getting one, and haven't done it yet, do it! today!

the weekend looms, have a good one every one!!!!

ps - be sure you're signed into google/blogger before you leave a comment otherwise it will disappear - sigh

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its a good thing........

2011-10-15T17:08:00.000-07:00

I haven't been on an artist retreat for a very long time - I had forgotten what a 'good thing' it is. Jim flew home from Tucson on Monday and I drove down to Tubac to visit a friend. I was blessed to stay in her casita/studio - We worked together for three days - Karon is a printmaker/encaustic painter and art teacher!! What a time we had. I was totally out of my element - I brought very little with me in the way of art supplies - a little acrylic, inks and some pastels and graphite - that's it. We played with the press one morning and then I moved onto working with wax - my, oh, my! With Karon's expertise in encaustic I was able to experiment for three days - I had so much fun - I couldn't pull any rabbits out of a hat since I didn't have my own materials and was swimming in foreign water - I pushed my edges for those three days in a way that filled me up again. I worked on the same two sheets of paper the whole time. The photo below is the result of manipulating the paper into a three dimensional piece that also includes some sticks and rocks. I am very poor in a class environment so the opportunity to work on my own with some personal instruction was optimum for me. If I can understand how a medium works, then I want the opportunity to work with it in my own way. So this was a 'very good thing'.

I want to give you a link to Karon's website - not only can you see her work, but information about the studio rental and the other opportunities she offers as well. I very seldom do this unless I think it's a very good thing. I had a large, well lit working studio, a kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. There is a side deck surrounded by mesquite trees, 5 acres to roam, a river close by, Tubac a short drive away with galleries, galleries, galleries, shops, restaurants and historic sites to visit if you like. Her prices are extremely reasonable. If you want an opportunity to go to a beautiful place and work, check out her site here. I'm going back in the spring.

Also I had the opportunity to meet another cyber friend in person. Melinda Esparza who lives in Tucson. I've admired her work for over a year now and was so excited to meet/visit her studio and her and the work in person. Please check out her blog here.

That's it for now. I'm very excited to take some of the new things I've learned and start working this week. I highly recommend a working retreat!!

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from Tucson

2011-10-08T18:36:00.001-07:00

We are on a short getaway in Tucson. The art here is the Sonoran Desert. We are enjoying the sun and the beauty of this beautiful landscape. Jim leaves Monday and I continue on to Tubac to spend a few days with a friend at her studio doing art. Will check in later next week.

I like........

2011-10-03T11:05:00.000-07:00

I do - I like the new 'dynamic views' that blogger has hauled out. They are very stylish and fresh and for image sites, they are a wonderful support. However, one of my fav things disappeared when I made the switch - my sidebar - little did I know how I have come to enjoy this space on my blog for all the odds and ends that don't go in a regular post. So - as much as I would love to make the switch, I'm not ready to give up my gadgets - from what I'm able to glean, they will be adding that to their new templates in the upcoming months. Very nice! I'll wait. On the painting front, the pic below is a painting I finished last week. I'm loving working on paper right now - it offers different challenges then working on board and I like that - the challenge that is.........

this is mixed media on bristol paper 24x19, 'She Exited'

It's Monday and the whole week is waiting - make it a good one everyone!

guilty.......

2011-09-27T16:17:00.000-07:00

As I've already mentioned, I'm reading Twyla Tharp's book, 'The Creative Habit' - as in all books that profess an individuals personal point of view, some of it hits home and some of it doesn't - it appeals on so many levels for me and when one of her thoughts resonates, it's like a home run! I'm sure if I sat down in a room with 5 or 10 other people reading the book, everyone would have their own personal connections - well, ya, that makes sense! Anyway, last night after one of the weirdest days I've spent on the planet, I settled in with Twyla - as I'm reading along she relates a time when she was given unlimited resources to choreograph for a prominent ballet company - she was ecstatic and went big and made a not so good ballet, yet she had everything she wanted and more - she said as she looked back she realized that her best work was created out of adversity when her resources were severely limited - this is when she excelled! She was pushed to be creative with what she had and found original ways to use her limited resources that she wouldn't have found if she had been given everything. Of course! I can see that - Guilty! I have dreamed for years of a bigger better studio - unlimited art supplies - but would these make me a better artist? hmmmmmm, I don't think so - my space is extremely humble, but it's MY space and it's limitations have forced me to focus all my energies on what I can do in the space and not what I can't do - I've circumvented many of the expensive materials in the art stores with common materials I can get at hardware stores or in our garage - actually I have found this to be extremely fun to experiment and have found materials I never would have thought of using - so all our limitations open doors that we might never have knocked on. She had a quote that I wrote down and is now in my workspace - 'whom the gods wish to destroy, they give unlimited resources' wow!

I did finish a painting this week - this is mixed media on bristol paper 19x24, 'When The Air Gets Too Thin'
Have a good one everyone!

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bumpy week.......

2011-09-23T16:27:00.000-07:00

Some days are just better then other days! It's just a fact! I had a week of days that could have been the 'better' kind - it's so tiring to bump into so many ways for things to go off track - sigh - Friday has landed and it's the last day of summer - this makes me sad - I love summer - I like Fall, but I LOVE summer - fall is pretty and all that - when it's not raining or when there is not cloud cover, it's beautiful - but summer is way better! I've been wearing boots already - I almost grabbed a scarf a couple of times, but I'll hold out until it's absolutely necessary - I did finish a painting this week, so I thought I would share that with you - this is mixed media on bristol paper, 19x24, Her Slip Was Showing......

I keep going back to this kind of paper - apparently it's my favorite - it's very durable and can take alot of punishment - and another thing I'm loving right now is Twyla Tharp's book, the Creative Habit - I highly recommend it - I had lunch with a friend this week ( one of the highlights) and she was talking about the book so when I got home I downloaded a copy to my ipad - I'm almost finished but it's one of those books you will go back to over and over - well that's pretty much it for now - jump into the weekend everyone, it will be gone before you know it.

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possibilities......

2011-09-17T16:13:00.000-07:00

It's been an extremely looooonnnnnnggggg week! We all have them so I won't bore you with all the details.......not very much painting time and what I was able to squeeze in is not ready to show, so I'll show you another thing I like to do when my brain is inside out - I love creating possibilities with all the bits and pieces laying around my workspace - the stuff that is in my collage box, stacked up on the work table, trampled on the floor, etc.......it's that sort of ' don't have a clue and don't give a damn' place we go when everything is on overload - I took a few pictures while I was messing around and here are a few shots of possibilities.....

pretty basic stuff, but oh such a great stress reliever! Now I'm going to go make some comfort food - soup - made some french bread yesterday and that seems a good combo - the weather has definitely changed, cool, wet - soup and fresh bread weather - hope you are having a great weekend!

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when is it too old....?

2011-09-12T16:34:00.000-07:00

I have spent the last week in 'computer land' - the computer I use everyday is ten years old -it still runs fine, but it can't keep up anymore - it's slow, can't run some of the new applications I need, and generally its age is showing - sigh - I've been a Mac user since the late 80's and so have added a new iMac to my little fleet. Wow! Talk about a leap forward ten years! The nest of cords that have resided under my desk for the past ten years is gone! Just three things plugged in - I can actually vacuum under my desk now without the fear of sucking up all that spaghetti! So what to do with the old mothership - I mean it's not dead, just old - hmmmmmm - I decided to add an airport card and move it to my studio space! Brilliant! That will alleviate dragging all the studio bits (paint, glue, oil stick, etc.) into the house while I download, upload, etc. - well as all things go, there were a bazillion glitches with this idea - it has taken me a week to trouble shoot most of the problems - sometimes things are just too old and need to be retired completely, however! I am sitting in my studio typing, uploading, etc. and it all seems to be working fine - serious? fabulous! re purposing an old friend! It wasn't easy, but so worth my crossed eyes at the end of each day this past week.
As for the painting part - not too much time spent working, but this seems to be at a resolve - I will wait until it dries completely to make sure - things can change while the drying process takes it sweet time, but sometimes it stays as is.

This is mixed media on board (crappy board) 36x36, If She Cried At Midnight
Happy Monday everyone!

painting again.....

2011-09-05T15:57:00.000-07:00

This has been a fabulous Labor Day Weekend - warm and sunny everyday, nothing on the schedule but painting - my energy is returning and so is my focus - when I'm tired I can't keep my focus on my work - my mind wanders, mostly to wanting to sleep or just stare off into space or to just wander around the yard, grazing on blackberries and watching the birds do all their busy bird things. Painting takes huge amounts of energy, not just physical, but spiritual and mental - the thought of trying to wield a large piece of board around in my small space was just too much, no less the painting and then the CLEAN UP!! But I'm back and loving it! I'm working on the new board and finding it awful - it doesn't take the paint like my old fav board, it's bendy and in all ways just an unsatisfying surface to work on, but work on it I do.....it will have to do until I can get out of here and make the hour trek to another home depot and hope that they will have it.......anyway, this is mixed media on crappy board 36x24........'The Sugar Bowl'

Five days into September - yikes! We are rocketing into Autumn in a few weeks - hope you are all enjoying your three day weekend.

sketching with collage

2011-08-30T11:44:00.001-07:00

I haven't felt very well for the past month and so my energy level has been pretty low. Thank goodness the Dr. found the problem and I should be back up to speed in about a month. As many of you know, it's hard to work without much energy, but I found a wonderful way to continue in the studio this past month besides prepping. I've been sketching with collage. You know all those bits and pieces you save for something but you don't really have a clue what? Well my stack runneth over and so I sat down and started collaging on board. A very good low energy endeavor. It's kept me in the studio, working, and I learned/still learning alot from it. I've started painting again, but am still intrigued with laying down these bits and pieces - the work has given me some unexpected jumping off points. I picked a few that were somewhat successful - there is no additional painting on any of these - just cut and glue and on the bottom two I did some mark making with graphite. Such easy cleanup!!!

Hope you are all enjoying these last days of August!

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prepping........

2011-08-25T15:22:00.001-07:00

Well crap! On our last little venture out of here to do some major shopping, one of the stops was Home Depot to stock up on boards for the Fall and Winter - after 1/2 hour of searching the mdf stacks for my fav board, we came up empty handed - no where in sight - finally got someone to help us and he couldn't find the dreaded board either - they stopped carrying it - sigh - I had to choose an alternative - doesn't even come close to what I've been using, but what can you do - I bought one sheet to try - this has a slick coating that I had to sand off - not a fan of sanding - today I prepped two of them - I have been asked how I prep my surfaces so I thought I would show you what I do most of the time....the first photo is the board after I sanded off the surface....

found some green acrylic paint that I covered the surface with.....
surface covered and then I use a few tools to mark/scratch into the board

the bottom photo is the prepped board after I've used ink/graphite/more acrylic paint and my knife to do some more damage to the board.....

so that's pretty much it - these two boards will sit at the side of my workspace and I will start cleaning my brushes on them - when I need a new surface, I'll grab one of these and start working for real - can't believe we are running up on another weekend - enjoy everyone!

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whew!!

2011-08-17T08:38:00.001-07:00

At least a year and a half! That's how long I have been pushing paint on this surface. This painting is a visual diary riding through four seasons and coming round to almost another Autumn. As you all know, some pieces are like that. Refusing concentrated efforts and process - staring at you from a corner while you finish piece after piece of other work - but there it is - still - a resolution only in bits - in the upper corner, a section in the middle, a large area at the bottom, but not all together - Finally - a whole piece - months of my life blended together to tell a story. This is mixed media on board - 38x48 - "She Made A Poem"

We are starting to ride into Fall - strange since we really didn't have a summer, or at least a summer like we think of summer - it's been a sort of non season - but the sun is definitely lower in the sky, the mornings are chilly, night brings heavy marine mist - hope you are all enjoying your week.

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new directions.......

2011-08-12T11:30:00.001-07:00

For the past couple of months I have been exploring some new ideas that keep pushing themselves to the front burner. Like everything new, it demands time, so I've given it most of my attention with very little success - though not very successful, it has lit a new fire under me - pushed me into an area that I'm completely excited about - it has all my abstract ideas, but takes a turn into another part of my imagination - I'm a strong believer in giving new ideas their due - these are not ideas to be ignored, but pursued and followed as far as I can - the reasons are never really clear to me, but I go anyway - this work will enrich my art practice in ways I don't know yet - it's not easy - it challenges me in ways that are hard for me - the two photos below show a couple of the pieces that were somewhat successful - I feel this is just the tip of the iceberg - I have no expectations, I'm just enjoying the journey - egad! another weekend looms and another chunk of time has evaporated - have a good everyone!

mixed media on paper

mixed media on paper

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totally out!

2011-08-08T15:34:00.001-07:00

Man! I am totally out of painting surfaces! No more paper, no more boards, nothing on the top two layers I want to rework, sketch book too small, can't find the mylar sheets (geez, where did I put those?) Yikes! So I'm taking old work out of frames and burning them and I had some old pieces of mat board that I used to back the old paintings - that works - so I painted on old backings today - I'm just messing around and doing some quick one session paintings the past couple of weeks - the photo below is one I did today on old mat board -

it's mixed media on mat board about 14x10 - 'Her Peripheral Vision'

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend - now I am off to the art store and hardware store to resupply.

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quick stop.....

2011-08-02T18:15:00.000-07:00

hello, I wanted to make a quick stop here in blogland while I had a chance - July is GONE! and now we are two days into August already - I just can't imagine where it has all gone, but gone it has - the photo below is a painting I have worked on for the past year - it's one of those that has evolved and evolved and I'm feeling this is the final evolution. I have a couple more of these works that I go to when I just want to move paint around. It can be very relaxing and expectations are low - a good thing when time moves at lightening speed!

mixed media on board, 48x38 - 'She Thought She Had It Right'

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ado......

2011-07-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

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.........

2011-07-22T11:56:00.001-07:00

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......

2011-07-16T15:56:00.001-07:00

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......

2011-07-10T17:24:00.001-07:00

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......

2011-07-06T16:02:00.001-07:00

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......

2011-07-02T15:29:00.001-07:00

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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growth spurt......

2011-06-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

Something occurred to me as I was working this weekend. Something felt different. I was working like I always do. Doing the usual process of, "um, that's pretty good, um, not so much." Working on one piece, setting it aside while I waited for it to offer me a way to continue - picking up another piece and finding my way in - layers, scraping, painting, things appearing, things disappearing - all usual except one thing - I felt different - more relaxed, easier with the work - not so frenetic - more thoughtful - still pushing, but feeling at home while I did. Have I finally grown into myself and my process? I know this has been a gradual thing - this change has been happening on a level I wasn't aware of until this weekend - when I really knew - the work is still hard and I welcome the challenge, but now it's tempered with an inner knowledge that I have grown into. That's good. The photos below are of two pieces I finished this weekend.

mixed media on board, 12x12, 'She Couldn't Balance'

mixed media on board, 12x12, 'She Saw the Flash'

I have my roller skates on again this week!! Fast forward!

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a connection.....

2011-06-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

Another busy busy week and very little time to paint - the sketchbook was my friend this week for sure - the photos below show a painting that has taught me much about myself and how important it is for me to be true to myself with my work. The first photo is a piece that I worked on last week. It took several days of painting to get to a point that satisfied me and that's what you see below. I like the colors, the forms and the collage pieces I added.

BUT! it didn't feel like me - I had no feeling for it when I looked at it - a piece has to tell me something when I look at it and it just sort of sat there with a bunch of stuff I liked asking the question, "ya, so I have some good elements, but so what?". I got to work for a few hours today and I intended to work on a very large piece but instead I grabbed this little guy and started working.......I have learned that my work is more interesting to ME when it is more subtle - a bit more mysterious and not so much up front - now this little piece feels more honest - I have a connection to it now.....so important for me......

this is mixed media on board 12x12....

I realize as I'm typing this that this is the first day of summer and it actually feels like it here today - warm, warm, warm outside and even a bit sticky in my workspace - I love that - we are almost midway through this week already and I'm still running as fast as I can to stay ahead - later.....

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under construction.....

2011-06-13T15:48:00.001-07:00

It's been a rough couple of weeks in the painting department for sure - while all the ugly stuff was happening, I was also working on some collage pieces with mixed media - like many of you, I have a tonnage of paper scraps - and like many of you, I save them - one kind of paper that piles up in my space is deli waxed paper - I use it to remove paint from work - sometimes when I pull it off, it leaves really interesting marks and designs - I have been collaging with them in the past week and finding it very stimulating work - I'm using cold wax, collage papers and oil paint on board - before I get into this very busy week, I thought I would show you one of them......

I like where these are going - I plan on doing a series of them over the summer...I'm sure they will evolve as I do more of them....hope you are all deep into your week - will be back in a few days to show you some other things going on......

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well, UGH!

2011-06-10T17:07:00.001-07:00

Sometimes things just go south and that's the way it is..........Ask me what was the last thing I wanted to do today .....not walk the seven steps out to my workspace and work, that's for sure - I would much rather have arranged myself on my bed and streamed a movie off my ipad! but I didn't - I put one heavy foot in front of the other and went to work - the painting I showed you in my last post took a turn for the worst after it dried for a couple of days - that happens sometimes - colors fade and lose their way, so I decided to work on it today - I looked up two hours later - that was the good part - I had fallen into that 'zone' and just disappeared for awhile - the painting? well, not so much - a photo of it below - there are still things I want to work on - it's just not there yet - the painting went south, but I'm so glad I made the effort to push myself up and out the door - will tackle it again tomorrow and the next day and the next day until we become friends again - can't believe the weekend is here - see you all next week....

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treasure

2011-06-06T14:31:00.001-07:00

I found a little treasure buried under a pile of months of work - a piece of mat board I used for at least a year to prep work on paper - it was totally covered in random splotches and drips and marks - how cool to find a surface already with the bones laid down - treasure!! - the photo below is the mat board before I started work on it a few days ago - cool isn't it!

and then the completed painting below - mixed media 28x24 - "She Refused"

working on other stuff also - some collage work and sketchbook stuff - will catch up with you later in the week with more.......

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it's just been that kind of week.....

2011-06-02T09:11:00.001-07:00

There are a few things I know for sure and one of them is, just when you think you have a few days with nothing but painting ahead (because you've been diligent and done the days of a thousand errands), bam!, you don't! It's just been that kind of week - every day I thought I would be in the studio working, I was obliged to be somewhere else doing anything but painting - sigh - thus my trusty sketchbook keeping me a bit balanced with a few minutes on those days when it was just imperative that I needed to escape into my own world - just choosing a clean surface and sitting quietly making a few marks is so life saving........the photos below show a few of the pages I escaped to......nothing earth shattering, just me, talking my language and setting myself right for that day......

my love of textiles is really been pushing itself to the forefront in the past months - I've finally decided to give over to it and work with some new materials in the next couple of months....we'll see - see you all next week!

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evolution.....

2011-05-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

The Catherine Person Gallery in Seattle is closing it's doors. I felt so honored to have my work there. It was one of those 'touchstones' in the evolution of my art practice. My work at a reputable gallery in a large city. Very satisfying. Many reasons for her to close her doors and I'm thrilled to say she will still be active in the art scene with her 'Art Advisory Services' - So what do I do now? I continue to paint, to knock on doors and continue my 'art practice' with the same intentions I've always had. Paint my journey. It's nothing more. I do have new things on the horizon and I'm excited about them. 'Skype' - I know many of you already have been using this brilliant format, but I just now got on board so that I can mentor other artists. This is such an exciting door for me to walk through. Video skype makes this possible from my little desk stuck in a closet in our home. Extremely cool! I'm gathering material to self publish a book of my art later in the year. Gigantic job. As my work is ever 'under construction', hard to nail down finished work. The photos below are the painting I showed you in progress in my last post. It's large and hard to photo and show the details, so the first shots are a few details and then the final piece. The weekend looms and I hope you all have amazing plans!

48x38 mixed media on board, 'She Saw It Differently'

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enough!

2011-05-22T16:24:00.000-07:00

.......with the 10x10 boards! I'm putting the little boards away for awhile and dragging out some of my larger surfaces that have been used for cleaning my brushes for the past two or three months. Whew! I learned alot though, working on the small surfaces. It's pretty obvious that a large painting has more of an immediate impact. Small is more of a challenge to create a similar sort of impact. I was successful for about 1/3 of the time. The rest will be reworked when I can face working on that small space again. It felt so good to actually be able to almost walk into the work today. I had to keep moving back farther and farther to get a sense of how it was progressing. It was definitely time to make the switch. Obviously we are home from roaming the Rockies. It was fun, but nothing beats walking into our back door and being HOME!!! That's just me!

this first photo is of the board before I started working on it today....

this is how I left it this afternoon.....still a work in progress, but I like where it is going...

see you all later in the week......

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something new

2011-05-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

It is snowing here in Whitefish Montana this morning and we are tucked into our condo here at the ski resort. It gave me time to figure out how to do a blog post from my ipad. I think I have it figured out....the photo above is one of the gorgeous sites in Glacier National Park. There is a photo opportunity around every corner. Well the snow has stopped and it is time for us to get out of here and see what we can find.

where did it go?

2011-05-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

....time that is.....it's been over a week since I've been in my studio - I'm always a bit surprised when I realize that art practice got set on the back burner - jam packed with my other life for the past week - huge amounts of computer work, paper work, yard work, days of family, friends and not even a line in my sketch book - starting to feel a bit wonky and slightly out of balance - we leave in a few days for some time in Montana (I love Montana) - so it's today or none until I get home - I will satisfy myself with some sketchbook work and packing a small art bag for travel - most times I don't do art while I'm away because I'm so busy taking in all that is new - it's more like taking a security blanket with me - it's there if I need it......the photo below is a little painting I finished last week.

oil on board 10x10, 'She Knew It Was Time to go Home'

See you all on the other side of next week!

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occasionally

2011-05-01T08:48:00.001-07:00

I've been known to occasionally have a small 'mini fit' in my studio when working on a piece! I mean really! sometimes it's just too exasperating when a painting is giving me grief! The one that no matter what I do, just sits there looking like the worst thing on the planet - it doesn't have anything to say except, "ha! I don't feel like resolving this time either!" Well for any of you who follow this blog, you know I have no problem reworking a piece, and have huge battles with others - but the piece below?, I have to say has given me the most grief ever - it NEVER resolved - just a board sitting with some color, or not, scratches, blacked out entirely, left outside so I didn't have to look at it and I was thinking about just tossing it into the fire pit to burn with the spring cleanup - I used it as a work surface for awhile, propped up a table with it and generally just ignored it until yesterday - yesterday I really didn't feel like painting, but I showed up anyway and grabbed the damn board off the floor - you see, at that point I didn't really care - after about five minutes I was in the zone and the painting below emerged - I like this work - it's very present for me - I don't think it's a big mystery why it worked this time - I had to just get out of the way.....

mixed media on board, 'She Couldn't Stop Crying'

And on a side note - after I finished this painting yesterday, I grabbed another board sitting against the wall that had been bugging me - I cleaned my brushes on it - then I realized the piece was on my website for sale! Now I had ruined it! Oh, No! Serious?! And then I thought, so what? Who has been banging at my door to purchase the piece - no one! So what's the difference - just take it down until it's reworked silly - Geez, how many times do I have to get over myself? many, many, many times I'm sure. Have a great week everyone!

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sketching......

2011-04-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share a little bit of my sketchbook with you today. Sketchbooks are places for many things - notes, ideas, thoughts, actual sketches, textile swatches, and the list just goes on and on - I don't journal - tried many times, but the pages just got ripped out and used for other stuff, so I put that idea away - one sketchbook I use, I do little sketches that take no longer then five minutes - sometimes shorter - this is really fun for me and is part of my art practice - the pages, as the journal pages, usually get ripped out and used for other things - however, I decided not to do that with the book I'm working in now - I told myself, "wouldn't it be nice to have a whole book of 5 minute works?" - YES, it would! - so here are a few to share with you - I have made a vow to myself not to rip this book apart - at least until I'm done with it! Will keep you posted.

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ousting the critic......

2011-04-22T15:34:00.001-07:00

It's Friday and the weekend looms - We will spend a quiet Easter at home - a pleasant way to welcome a new season - this week has been very scattered and so studio time has been limited - I felt like sketching some heads - I love doing these - it's a very cathartic painting time for me - these are a staple in my art practice. Sketching these heads seems to ground me and free me up to paint with fewer negative thoughts jumping in to critique my work. These are little oils on board, 10x10's.

For those that celebrate Easter, have a wonderful one. Until next week.

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an oddity......

2011-04-18T15:43:00.001-07:00

It's Monday and we've had an odd occurrence for most of the day - sun - I keep stopping and looking up to make sure that is really what it is - obviously it has been in VERY short supply the last couple of months - almost nonexistent - but here it is - not gone away at all - once in awhile I would see it trying ever so hard to poke through the cloud cover - a milky white disc hanging in the sky and then poof! it would be gone - but today! today it made it's entrance after black clouds dropped hail on us this morning - it has stayed all afternoon - I'm hopeful it will reappear tomorrow - fingers crossed - I wanted to share with you a few movie titles I've watched in the past month - I enjoyed each one for different reasons and highly recommend them:

The Art Of The Steal
Wasteland
Herb & Dorothy
The September Issue
Exit Through the Gift Shop

And below is a little painting I finished this afternoon when I finally stopped staring at the sky:

this is part of my 10x10 series, oil on board, 'She Ate The Center First'

Happy Monday everyone! hope you all get to make art this week.

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finally.......

2011-04-13T16:01:00.001-07:00

I have worked on this painting for over 6 months - it just never got there - the last rendition with the green just killed me every time I walked into my workspace - these are just a few of the ways that came into being - I always liked one section of the work, but never the whole thing and when the green monster appeared I literally gave up - it has been sitting in a corner for a couple of months and felt so out of place in my world - today I thought, UGH!, either get rid of it or just cover it up,

one rendition - UGH!

another.....

the worst one of all.....

so I put it on my easel and covered it with raw umber and then some black and then two hours later I had a smile on my face - aaahhhhhhhh, this is an honest piece, finally - I've learned that if it doesn't hit me in the stomach, it's not going to stay - it can finally go inside to dry - very satisfying - happy Wednesday everyone!

oil on board 24x24, 'She Couldn't Fake It'

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scrapbook......

2011-04-10T15:03:00.000-07:00

Literally, I made a scrapbook - Artfest 2011 has been camped in my backyard at Fort Worden in Port Townsend for the past week and on Friday night they had their 'vendor night' and Lis and I dropped in to see what they had. On a side note?, we have gone for the past 4 years, but this year there was a really different feel - it was not pretty - so much pushing and shoving, lots of shoving!! - it didn't feel fun, just extreme - we stayed just long enough to pick up a couple of items and exited - at the table I found this little antique photo album, we were shoved and pushed and one lady just snatched another antique photo album right out of Lisa's hands!!!! Geez! People!! It's just stuff! It felt like this was the absolute LAST place on the planet to pick up any art related materials - we checked that event off of our list of 'things to do' pronto!!

Okay, so this afternoon I sat and pulled things from my scrap pile and made a little book. It was really fun - I haven't uploaded all the pages, but here are a few to give you an idea....

This shows the spine and pages - I didn't trim anything - I like it all sticking out...

this is the front page.......

two of the middle pages.......

more inside.......

the back page......

this is one of those pieces that looks much better in person.....the weekend is almost over - hope you all had a good one.

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revisited......

2011-04-05T17:14:00.001-07:00

As I already told you, after the weekend of 'wax & oil', I felt I had pushed my edges a bit and found some fresh ideas - revisiting my work isn't a new idea for me, obviously - sooooo, as is the process in my work space, I was digging in a pile of papers and STUFF!! and came across the three little pieces I had sewen into collages last year - I didn't even think - I just put one up on a work board and started painting - there wasn't a question that the next step was to paint - I got two of these to pretty good places before I quit - pushing myself reclaimed my trust in my intuition - that's a good place for me to be - now I'm actually looking at them and thinking about ways to mount them - that usually means they are cooked - I really like the journey these pieces took - paintings, ripped and torn, sewed onto another painting that was cut up and now painted again - visual diaries of the past 12 months -

The photo below shows the collage before I worked on it today........

this is the piece after I finished this afternoon - I feel it is much stronger........

again, the collage before I painted it......

and here is the finished piece.......again, I feel it's much stronger.
I will work on the third piece tomorrow - I think these would be wonderful mounted on raw canvas, probably sewen on......hope you are all having a fabulous week.

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almost done?, not!!

2011-04-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

Every time I think I'm almost done working on my 10x10 series, I pick up one of the boards that was 'FINISHED' and rework it - AGAIN!. Won't even bother to show the before's on the piece below - it took a drastic turn after my escape into my weekend of bees wax and oil and whatever!! That was a really good thing I did for myself. Putting everything away and just messing around in a very random and untechnical way gave me new eyes and some fresh energy - I highly recommend it.
The work below is mixed media on board 10x10, 'She Could Only Sigh'....

I've now covered over two more paintings and have more then several in progress - if you are boring yourself, do something totally not right and see where it takes you. The weekend looms - hope you all have fabulous plans.

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other things.....

2011-03-27T14:41:00.001-07:00

I thought you might be interested in some of the other work I mess around with besides painting. One of my passions is mixing everything up - taking mediums I love working with and combining them - much of this work never goes to the public, it's a way for me to push myself and keep the work fresh......I had some raw canvas pieces (not primed), a block of pure beeswax and the need to take a break from painting for a few days - I also have a ton of wax sheets that I lift color off with when I'm painting - I save these for collage - so, I melted my wax in my crock pot, heated up my iron and started working.......none of this is technically correct, but that has never bothered me - I pretty much do what interests me.......

the piece below is oil, beeswax, wax paper on raw canvas - I heat the raw canvas up with the iron, dip the wax paper with the oil I lifted from a painting into my crock pot and adhere it to the canvas with my iron - then I'm off - more painting, maybe more dipping, scraping, just whatever....

here is another one..........

and another one........

who knows where these will end up - sewn onto other elements, mounted as individual pieces, or just stacked up in another stack - it's just fun and a good way for me to stretch - sometimes I come back and peel all the wax off and the canvas is pretty amazing underneath - options, lots and lots of options.......a new week is looming - make art everyone!

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settling.....

2011-03-24T15:50:00.000-07:00

It's taken years, but I finally feel like I'm settling - finding a comfortable rhythm, but not too comfortable - feeling like I've got the hang of keeping the work in MY zone - comfort but still pushing the edges - keeping my aesthetic honest without trying to do what I saw and fell in love with yesterday, last week, two months, etc. - I've tried on alot of 'art styles' and finally feel like I'm home. This is not to say that I won't evolve, but I now have a very strong base to work from - I am messing with textiles, building assemblage, and experimenting with bees wax - I love it all, but it now carries my stamp! When I line all my work up together there is a cohesiveness - it feels like the same family, but with the usual number of individuals represented. The two paintings below are a continuation of my 10x10 works - these are a real challenge for me - the small area has really stretched my ideas on space and structure. They have been hard for me - I would rather travel a much larger surface, but am finding a way to work that I wouldn't have found if I hadn't challenged myself.

this is 10x10 oil on board - 'She Buried It Deep'

this is mixed media on board 10x10 - 'She Felt It Peel Away'

The weekend is on it's way - hope you all have a fabulous one!

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grounded......

2011-03-19T14:44:00.000-07:00

I'm not surprised - it's just reaffirmation - my color palette - I spent the winter months experimenting with colors I usually don't gravitate to - reds, greens, blues - I liked them, but..... - I'm back in a rhythm now that the weather has turned a wee bit warmer - not thinking, just doing - without intent, thought, plan, etc. - and here they are again - my colors - raw umbers, burnt umbers, whites, blacks, yellows - and of course gray! can't live here in the Pacific NW without gray being a a major player - this palette really grounds me - I never get bored with it - I've already covered over some of the paintings that I did this winter - these colors are like my favorite old jeans, the scarf that I've had for over ten years, the old goodwill sweater that is getting it's first holes - I just love the used up and worn out things - they live the loudest...........

This is a painting I just finished this afternoon (I think) - my palette in it's earthy tones -

Tomorrow of course is the first day of spring - so happy Spring everyone! and I hope some of you get to see the 'big moon' tonight! I'm hoping to see it coming up behind our trees in the back.

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a quick followup.......

2011-03-14T11:58:00.000-07:00

It's Monday and the week ahead is fully loaded so I thought I would start it off with a little followup to the post I did on how I start a painting. Remember this board that I had cleaned my brushes on for awhile?

well the photo below shows where it ended up a couple of days ago - you can still see some of the bones I laid down and perhaps a bit how developed.....

this is oil on board, 10x10, 'She Sought The Moon'.......

and just a little side note - I've been in blogland for about four years now - I started as a rabid blogger and immersed myself in blogland - I made friends, received encouragement, inspiration, gave and received awards, and watched the evolution of 'blogging' - anyone who has followed this tiny spot in cyberspace you have seen it evolve and then settle into what it is today - I am ever so thankful for all that I have received from all the people who have commented, followed and inspired me over the years - and also as you know, I have retreated somewhat in the past few months - it's a time management thing - but I have received another reward - now when I venture out to see what my friends are up to, I spend time catching up on their worlds and find I'm enjoying this so much - I'm not missing anything, I'm just cruising cyberspace in a different mode - very satisfying - thank you all who comment and follow this blog - you enrich my life xo

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challenging...

2011-03-09T15:17:00.001-08:00

That's what it has been like most of the winter - challenging - the work yes, but the biggest challenge was working in a freezing studio!! Finally, yesterday we got a whisper of Spring - the sun was out and I actually turned my little heater off while I was working - the first time in months - it was just such a pleasure to not have to run into the house to warm up - I just sat and worked (yes, I sit most of the time, bad knee you know) my smile really was genuine - I was relaxed instead of the 'shoulder hunched up' position - just a warm sunny space where paint actually moved - ahhhhhhh - feeling much more centered - the little piece below is one I finished about two weeks ago in the 'hunched up' position - it's a mixed media on board 10x10

'She Wanted to Live There'

next weekend daylight savings time begins and my art practice will kick into high gear!

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Local?

2011-03-05T09:10:00.001-08:00

If you are local, a wonderful new show just opened at Northwind Arts Center in Port Townsend titled 'Into The Woods' - David Sessions was the juror and I'm thrilled to have three of my pieces selected as part of the show. The three paintings below will be up until the end of March.

Jim and I just back from a much needed little getaway and I'm anxious to get back to work. I've started a new project for the spring that I will show you in a few weeks. It's barely underway and I have a couple of paintings that I need to get to the finish line. Hope you are all anticipating spring which is just about here. Have a great weekend.

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questions.......

2011-02-26T14:28:00.001-08:00

This has been a week of questions from people who have visited my website. They were all similar questions about my process - well actually I had three emails - it isn't like I was deluged with people seeking information about my process - The basic question was how do I start a painting and then build it up - well anyone who follows this blog has a good idea of how the work gets built up - love it, hate it, love it, hate it!!! - then you have some layers!!! - the starting process isn't rocket science either - I hate to waste art supplies!! so when I clean my brushes, and I do clean them after I'm done working for the day - early on I didn't and had to throw brushes away and REPLACE THEM!!! $$$$$$$ ten minutes of clean up at the end of the day has saved me $$$$$$ - I highly recommend it - anyway I clean my brushes on painting surfaces - sometimes these are old paintings, newly hated pieces and sometimes brand new surfaces - I have two surfaces I have been using for this part of the process that I thought I would show you and show you where I begin a new painting - below is a board that is pretty well covered - you can tell what color palette I was using - anyway, I then look at the surface and find places that I like....

from the board above, I chose this little section - I like how it has begun to layer, the scratch marks and even a bit of form - this is where I will start the work....

below is another board I've been using.....I found two places that I liked on this surface

this is one of the areas I like.....

here is another section that interests me......

so that pretty much gives you an idea of the beginning part of the process - pretty basic - Happy Saturday everyone!!!

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it was just a whisper......

2011-02-22T14:48:00.000-08:00

This little piece finally claimed its place today. This is it's third incarnation. I picked it up again after I'd cleaned my brushes on it for the past few weeks - you know how it goes in my work space - love it one day and hate it the next - get it back again but it still doesn't say anything except "I'm back and I could pass but I'm feeling a bit hollow? Right?" And of course it is! Very hollow that is! Today this guy whispered a memory to me. Mission accomplished.

This is mixed media on board, 10x10, 'She Knew My Sister'

We've had wet snow here all day - it's one of those days where you want to curl up with something hot to drink and a very good book - hope this finds you all hopeful with spring right around the corner.

under way .........

2011-02-15T16:05:00.000-08:00

That's right! Things are truly under way in my workspace - paintings drying everywhere and they represent finished work, work in progress, and work that is in desperate need of redoing - it seems that much of my time is spent moving them around - paint on this one, scrape off paint on that one, carve into this one, turn those to face the wall because I can't bear to look at them right now - move a few into the house to dry faster, move some back out of the house to start all over - constant motion - however I did finish one the other day, well, almost finished - I knocked down some of the blue in it today, but it's subtle - that subtle thing seems to be so necessary to me - I know I could just leave it, but a little raw umber rubbed into the blue seems to make it just a bit richer, just a bit creamier, more textured - you know what I mean....

This is 48x38 mixed media on board - 'She Stepped In Blue'

hope this finds you all working hard! Oh, and did I say I love my ipad? Oh, yes! I love it! So worth it!

me and my little G4

2011-02-10T11:59:00.001-08:00

My G4 refers to my little Apple notebook - I've had it for over seven years. We have spent almost every morning together wandering cyberspace with coffee in hand - we've vacationed together - we've spent sick days in bed together - some of the letters are disappearing from their keys - the outside is scratched and a bit dented in some places - it has been in for repair only once and that was really just a checkup - it knows where I want to go and gets me there without a problem every time. It is one of the best buys I've ever made. Well two days ago his new brother came to live with us.

There he is below - brother ipad - the moment this came on the market I knew I wanted one. I have had years to form my 'user' habits and this guy seemed right up my ally. After having it in my hands for two days, I feel certain this investment is as good as when I purchased my little notebook. This little guy will slip in my bag and do everything I need on the go. Email, internet, mapping and my portable library. It can do alot more, but those are the things I have come to rely on. My laptop will still be in use everyday - my husband will use it more and most likely it will still be my morning companion - I like a regular keyboard - there is alot more I could say about this new addition, but just know I love it!

and for the art part, here is a little piece I finished a few days ago - another circle thingy.....

this is mixed media on board 10x10 - Happy Wednesday!

something new.....

2011-02-03T15:52:00.001-08:00

About 4 months ago I ran out of two of my 'go to' colors - titanium white, and yellow ochre - they are two of my staples, so no time to order online - I got in my car and drove to our local art supply store - even though we are a small town, we have a wonderful art supply store and the only reason I don't do more shopping there is because I've gotten so used to shopping online - click, click, click and I'm done and back to work - anyway, off I went - low on money and time, I grabbed the two large tubes of color that were on sale - I went immediately to my studio to continue work when I got home - squeezed out my first blob of white, loaded my brush and MY OH MY! I was painting with butter! Serious?! What is this? This is M. Graham paints! These paints are so pigmented that just a little will cover!, hear me, I said Cover! a pretty good area - I quickly squeezed out a little blob of yellow ochre to see if it was the same - yes! the same! Well lucky me - a time crunch manifested a new product for me. I haven't looked back. If you are not happy with the brand of paint you are using, give the M. Graham line a try. I use oils, but I know they make other paints also.

Also, here is a little painting I finished yesterday. Mixed media on board 10x10

Hope you are all busy making art! (I always hope that :))))

back from the 'in between'....

2011-01-29T18:07:00.000-08:00

I picked up my painting tools again today. I really had to force myself to go out into my cold damp workspace, but out I went. I started by cleaning up my sewing mess - OMG! I'm not one to mind a mess, but this was off the chart - then I started looking at the pieces that have been drying - most of them needed touch ups, so I went into that mode - moving from one to another and finally settling on one little piece that just didn't have it going on anymore and found my way back in - the photo below is how I left it this afternoon - as I was turning out the lights, I realized it still needs some tweaking - it's better, but not quite there yet - it is mixed media on wood, 10x10...

the painting below I finished a couple of weeks ago and felt it was still okay, again, 10x10 on wood

then I had a nice surprise in the mail today - my friend Lynne Hoppe sent me a tube of paint she didn't think she would use (I'm so grateful, thank you Lynnie) and also inside the package was this wonderful painting she did - she works very small in moleskin books and used books - it's only about 3x4 and just wonderful - she does mainly faces, but also fanciful objects, animals and other magical things - this little guy is now attached to my easel and will be my special guest for awhile - definitely check out her blog here.

We are very soggy here but it's going to get much colder again - cups of hot tea back on the drink menu.

in between......

2011-01-25T12:59:00.000-08:00

In the 'in between' - that's where I am right now - in between painting and painting - more clearly put, it's time to clear my head a bit - full on painting is exhausting as most of you know - so it seems to happen about the same time each year - January - it's now that I usually put down my paintbrushes and bring out all the bits and pieces that have accumulated over the past 11 months - assemblage always seems the way to go - it's a very random act - sorting, cutting, arranging old work in new ways - I painted on yupo last year to see how it would take oil paints - I pulled one of those paintings out and to my surprise, it was completely dry - it was not very good, so it got cut and sorted and then became my base - I started sewing all the bits on the back of the pieces I had cut up - it left wonderful stitch marks on the front of the painting so each day I ended up with two pages, front and back - I could sit quietly among the last 11 months and create visual diaries - I'm still working this way and I thought it would be fun to share a few of them - if you would like to see all six pages you can go here. Don't have a plan or purpose for this work right now - my head is clearing - that was the only plan - below are a few of the finished pages.

Hope you are all creating with passion!

consistency...

2011-01-20T09:14:00.000-08:00

Consistency is my mantra. It's our path to getting on the road to be the best we can be. It gives us an advantage, a head start. It takes away much of the angst about our work. If we work consistently, we gain a strong base to work from. What seemed difficult last year is now our familiar playground. Gaining technique and knowledge about what we do, allows us to head into the unknown and discover things we didn't even know were there. I made a painting about two months ago. It never really spoke my language, but it was a good exercise in color and form. The painting is below.

this is mixed media on board, 48x38. It sat in a corner drying until about a month ago when I just couldn't stand to look at it anymore - I moved it next to my workspace and started cleaning my brushes on it each time I painted. It started to interest me about a week ago. It had finally become unknown territory again. As I was finishing work yesterday I started to work on it. Two hours later I had finished a piece that spoke my language. It's the piece below. Because this is a large work it is hard to get a very good photo of it, but you can get a general idea. Much of the detail doesn't show up.

This painting is one that found its way because of consistency. It finally gave back and became a true visual diary for me. One of those gifts for showing up everyday. And because this experience isn't exclusive to me, I was thrilled to read Bridgette Guerzon's blog this morning and learn of her recent experience of consistently showing up and reaping the rewards. Definitely visit her blog and see her gorgeous work. Hope you are all working hard and reaping the rewards!

prepping.......

2011-01-15T15:38:00.000-08:00

It's been all about prepping boards and paper to work on - I usually like to almost finish a piece and then call that the prepped surface. I love having surfaces ready to go when I'm ready to dig in. The photos below show details of a couple surfaces I've been working on. These are both on board. The last photo is of a finished piece on paper. So that's what I've been doing. Basically staging my workspace for some extreme work in the next couple of weeks. I might even vacuum the floor. Hmmmmm, that's real iffy though. Hope you are all riding out this month of January.

this is work on paper, 24x19 - mixed media - 'She Saw The Collapse'

2011

2011-01-07T09:46:00.001-08:00

I have one major goal for 2011 - to get better at what I do. And the only way I know how to get better is to work consistently. So?, that is what I'm doing. Working. Just me and the paint. Finding ways to dig out of comfort zones, saying yes even when it's a total disaster, living with the unresolved, and on and on........the photo below is a little 10x10 mixed media on board - it's a touchstone to begin the year.

close to the last one.....

2010-12-31T11:31:00.001-08:00

Here is the finished work from the last post. It's not the last painting of the year because I finished another one yesterday and will probably do the same today, but close to the last piece of 2010. It feels very much like a farewell to the past year. It's a full meal deal with familiar shapes, colors and textures swirling in all that was 2010. The good, the bad and the ugly. All the parts represented and waving goodbye as the clock ticks down.

I give a sigh and a smile as I look at this painting. It's a map of my life this past year and leaves me with remnants to fall into the new year. See you all on the other side of 2010!

baby stepping....

2010-12-27T09:36:00.001-08:00

That's what I'm doing. Baby Stepping my way back into the studio. Like so many of you, I'm sure, studio time has been limited. The holidays were wonderful and I wouldn't trade a single day, but the desire to work has been put on a back shelf until the last couple of days. Yesterday I was able to work for a little while. Grabbed a painting on paper that no longer resonated with me and started that deconstruction process that lets me find my place again. The work was not tentative by any means. Layer after layer after layer........enjoying the transformations taking place - this, no that, yes much more of this, and that, and here just a bit, banish that section, shape this corner, more red under the brown, oil pastel very heavy, scrape the center out, define the new shape, layer, more red and then the time was up..........below are pics of details in the work.........nothing permanent yet - flexing my muscles - mapping my time - looking for the edge to push......

hope you are finding life good as we head into the new year.

thank you....

2010-12-21T11:28:00.000-08:00

I wish to say THANK YOU to all of YOU out in cyberspace who have continued to support and encourage me and my work. 2010 has been a year of amazing opportunities for me. As I mentally scan back over the past 12 months, I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite. Each experience pushed me ahead to another level in my art practice. Two very wonderful group shows, a three week residency and teaching opportunity at Southampton Art School in Ontario Canada, my work at the Seattle Design Center at the Catherine Person Gallery and the continued support and encouragement from all of you in the blogesphere! I count myself lucky. As 2011 approaches I will start the new year with my art represented by the Barfoot Fine Arts Consulting Service in Ontario Canada. This is a new enterprise and I'm happy to be on the ground floor so to speak. I am looking forward to everything new in 2011. A whole year ahead with new adventures and opportunities. The mosaic below is a peek back at some of my favorite pieces. Click here if you would like to see them in their entirety.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! Will be back here after the holiday.

pushing paint.......

2010-12-11T15:47:00.001-08:00

It's the way I breath in the world - pushing paint - the following photos show what I've been working on the last few days - this is a nice size, 38x48, though a bit difficult to maneuver in my small space - it's like dancing very close but trying not to mess up my dress - the first photo shows what I did about 6 months ago, set aside and just now picked up again....

this was the first phase - finding and defining more shapes....

this photo shows the underpainting and a pretty good idea of where I'm going...

this is the final, or at least how I left it this afternoon - I'm loving the greens and yellows and the blood red underneath - this is not the best photo, but it gives you and idea.....you can see more of the purple/red in person.....

hope you are all having the very best weekend!

in case you haven't noticed......

2010-12-06T11:50:00.001-08:00

Just in case you haven't noticed, I have had less of a presence in 'blogland'. My life right now is fully loaded and the time I spend here has become less and less. I am spending more and more time in my studio working and that is where I want to be. When I get here I wander about in the background checking your sites, so even if I don't leave a comment, I have probably visited. Now that so many of you are on facebook, I can catch up there also. And then of course there is Tumblr! I know alot of you have gone there too. I'm keeping my spot here, but posting and commenting less. I appreciate everyone who comes by and leaves a comment! Who doesn't love a comment. I will leave you with a piece I just finished.

this is mixed media on paper on board 10x10 - "She Hesitated"

See you in cyberspace somewhere! xxo

my other job.....

2010-11-28T19:26:00.001-08:00

I just got home from my other job - I'm exhausted - it's a very physical job, but one I love. My dearest friend Lisa and I have done window display and art installations together for the past four years. We just finished the display work at the 'Delucca', Lisa's hair salon, for December. I can never get very good pictures of the window because of all the glare inside and out, but this one was so fun, just had to share. Lisa comes up with an idea then we just knock it out on the fly which is the fun part - we never know how it's going to turn out - People wait every month to see what we are going to do. Always alot of street traffic stopping and giving us a thumbs up. The first two pics are of the window display.

this first one is from the inside......

and this second one from the outside.......

and finally I finished another painting.....

this is mixed media on board 24x24 - 'She Took Her Second Chance'

have a great week everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving.......

2010-11-23T15:08:00.001-08:00

The snow came yesterday. I'm not a fan. FB was absolutely alive with snow reports from friends all around the area. A state of giddiness seemed to prevail. I was not giddy. It causes all sorts of disruptions and extra challenges I would rather not deal with. By the time the storm finally blew itself out, we had almost a foot of snow on the ground. Sigh. It's just cold and extremely difficult to get around - yesterday I wore two sweaters, two pairs of socks, my dads old fingerless gloves and actually worked in the studio and finished a painting. I could see my breath the whole time. The only reason I can think of that I did that was because the part of my brain that sends me all the messages about living in a reasonable manner was frozen and not functioning. I'm still not warm. Today Jim and I had to go in search of pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. Nightmare. Not the roads, but the grocery store. It was teeming. We got a parking place and very carefully made our way across the icy parking lot , found a cart and entered the chaos. Everyone was on a mission. It was a huge traffic jam of people and carts. 'Excuse me', 'oh, sorry', 'thank you', 'uh oh', 'excuse me', 'oh, hi', 'uh, no I'm not doing theatre anymore', 'right', 'good to see you too', 'who was that?', 'can't remember his name', 'excuse me', etc., etc., etc........the photo below is our backyard.

and here is the painting I finished yesterday - after I posted it on flickr someone said it reminded them of straw and ice - very good interpretation....

this is mixed media on paper on board 10x10 - 'She went too Far'

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone.

domino effect.......

2010-11-20T15:21:00.000-08:00

It's cold here. Just a few leaves are left on the trees. The days are short and I find the idea of changing from pj's into work clothes is really just a habit that helps me keep track of time - when I have my work clothes on, then it's daytime even if it's pitch black outside - when I have my pajamas on, then it's night time. I drink alot of tea this time of year. My favorite right now is Cocoa Chai Tea - I think I like the name more then the tea. As I was heating water to brew up a cup, I decided I needed to stretch my back (since the dampness is back, so are my aches) and as I was bending over to stretch it out, I saw something - upside down peering between my legs the bottom of the refrigerator came into view - what was that? Geez, when was the last time I ran a vacuum cleaner hose over the vent at the bottom - UGH - thank god the teapot whistled that my water was hot -

I finished the painting that I posted about last week. This is it -

mixed media on paper on board 24x24 titled 'She Wasn't Sure' - hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

thankful........

2010-11-16T16:05:00.000-08:00

As I pushed my cart through the store today, picking up a few groceries, I was bombarded with all the special food items now lining the shelves for the holidays. Boxes of prepared dressing mix, cans of cranberry sauces, special dinner wines, exotic fruits and vegetables, specialty cheeses, roasting pans, basters, new holiday cook books, and on and on and I happily thought to myself, I don't have to cook a single holiday meal this year! It kept me smiling for hours after. I love being the invited guest who brings just one special thing and helps with the clean up afterwards in someone else's kitchen. I'm thankful already.
I did finish this painting today. The starkness of outside appears to be planting itself on my surfaces.

This is mixed media on board - 'She Said Eventually'

and it begins......

2010-11-12T15:26:00.001-08:00

FINALLY! I'm back to work in the studio. It's been almost a month since I've been able to spend time working. The photo above is a work in progress. A starting point to get back into the rhythm that develops when I start showing up on a regular basis. As always, a bit awkward trying to get started. Finally I just put my blinders on, grabbed a board that I had collaged paper onto last month and made the first marks. I could feel the tension starting to release as I worked. The light is so different now. The sun, when it's out, getting so low in the sky. My little heater on next to me. A scarf around my neck now. The darkness coming as I decide to finish up for the day. Hot tea instead of cold water. It's all good.......

NY

2010-11-07T09:46:00.000-08:00

Inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art - NY

I'm very lucky! Those of you who have had the pleasure of actually meeting face to face with people you originally met online in blogland will know what I mean. I was in NY last week. I spent time with two friends I met online and one new friend. It was last year at about this same time in NY that I met face to face with Daryl from Out and About in NY - Daryl is an amazing photographer, has great energy and we clicked right away last year, so this year I was eager to hook up and cover more ground with her. We had dinner together two of the nights I was there and the talk was nonstop. Also last year I met Lyn from Two Ghosts. Lyn is an artist in many areas - visual art, writing and the art of life - She met me at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in her neighborhood. It's Disneyland for artists. It was a magical day and ended up in Central Park sitting in the sun watching NY go by. Then this year I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting Seth Apter, whose blog, The Altered Page, has just been picked up by a publisher to go into book form.. We had breakfast together and talked nonstop (I believe actually, I talked nonstop). It was wonderful and next year we plan a day of doing some art together. Check out their blogs. You won't be disappointed. I'm very lucky! I highly recommend making the effort to meet face to face.

Metropolitan Museum of Art - NY

I don't need to say NY was wonderful. It's my yearly treat to myself. I'm filled up again and eager to get back to work. I'll be back later in the week with some new work to show. And a side note. I flew Frontier Airlines this year. Their motto should be "WE APOLOGIZE". My list is too long to go into right now. Have a fabulous week.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2010-10-30T18:43:00.000-07:00

I'll be traveling this coming week so see you back here in a week! Boo!

the inhabitants......

2010-10-26T16:16:00.000-07:00

I knew something was coming and here are a couple of them - I've been painting worlds for a few months now and the inhabitants had to show up sooner or later - two of them made an appearance today - the work has been a struggle for over a month and I finally realized today what the battle was all about - these came very quickly - there may be more and there might not - but however it ends up, I truly am breathing like a normal person again!

These are both mixed media on board 10x10 -

when I'm the enemy......

2010-10-20T15:50:00.001-07:00

I struggled with this little painting for the last five days - I painted, scraped, painted, scraped, tossed in a corner, wiped off, painted, painted, finally got something and then f____d it up again!!! I won't blame all the life interruptions because to be honest, circumstances are never going to be perfect! Perfection is some sort of magazine fantasy or book fantasy! Today was so disjointed it's hard to track back and sort through all the starts and stops and constant interruptions - but then, it's all that sort of energy that my work is about - I like where this finally landed and I think it really speaks about what my week has been like thus far. So this is my life on a 10x10 board using extreme mixed media - and yes, I have also ramped down my surface size which caused a real jolt to how I work - at least I'm breathing normally again - hope you are all making art!

....the finish

2010-10-13T19:27:00.001-07:00

I have had at least 7 paintings hanging out in my studio drying.....a few of them were not finished, but I had to wait until they dried to go back in and work on them - they are finally (finally !!!!) dry enough to finish, so I've been working on final layers for the last couple of days....this can be a touchy part of the process - notice I say 'CAN BE' - this is when a work can go upside down pretty fast, but, I personally like the challenge - sometimes I succeed and sometimes, well, it becomes something else - the two paintings below stayed pretty true to the original paintings....

The photo above is the under painting and the the pic below is the finished work....this is mixed media on board 24x24 "She Had A Secret"

again, the top photo is the under painting and the photo below the finished work...mixed media on board 24x24 "Summer's Elbow"

have a couple more to work on later in the week......hope you are all having a wonderful week!

sigh.......

2010-10-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

CARDINAL RULE NUMBER 1: Never step on the scale the day after getting home from vacation! It's ability to calculate the chocolate and peanut butter ice cream in a chocolate waffle cone, extra pieces of warm corn bread and butter, white chocolate fudge with m&m's, large package of plain m&m's eaten while sitting in the dark of the 1914 era theatre watching "Get Low" (highly recommended), some sort of homemade candy that contained chunks of chocolate, marshmallows, nuts, all wrapped up with some sort of sweet outer layer, and now forgotten other yummy treats - well needless to say.........We are not in Oz any longer and reality screams "what were you thinking!" - "I don't know, it just seemed so right at the time..........." - sigh - back to reality and the first fire of the season -

happy Monday everyone.........

on the road......

2010-10-06T16:15:00.001-07:00

Jim and I are on the road this week, getting the last bits of sun in the Eastern part of the state - As we were loading the last few things into the car, I grabbed my art bag without even looking inside to see what I had - sketch book, pencils, a few tubes of water color and acrylics and some oil pastels - so I just messed around for a couple of hours this afternoon - it was fun - nothing serious - a few sketches that have already been torn up and now I'm working on some collage - I have a very old glue stick that I've had to add a bit of water to to get even a bit of stickyness going on - I will have to pick up a new one tomorrow - hate to see this old stick hit the trash - it was the old formula before they changed to the 'more health friendly formula' - the new sticks barely hold anything down long enough to get a good build up going on - will be home sometime next week -

these two pieces are on paper that I worked so much I rubbed holes in them......

hope you are all making art!

UPDATE 10/07/10

I had some more time today, so I used the two sketches I made yesterday, collaged them together and then worked into it - fun!

what's a girl to do?........

2010-09-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

What's a girl to do when she is sick and needs to stay quiet for a couple of days, has no interest in daytime TV and not a good book in sight? Well she trolls eBay for some funky autumn fashion! That's what she does! I love thrifting and eBay is a great place to troll if you know what you're looking for. I made a game out of it and gave myself $100 to shop with. $100 in today's retail doesn't go very far, but if you like a treasure hunt, you can make it work for you. The first item I searched for was a new leather, well not new, but pre-owned, handbag for fall/winter. I found a seller that had fabulous bags and great prices and I got a great deal on the black bag in the pic below. Then I knew I wanted another little shrug. I love these little sweaters. They are perfect for Fall evenings. I don't wear polyester because it heats me up faster then noon in the desert. Cashmere or cotton or a blend of silk and cotton, etc. Well I found the one below and won the auction. It's perfect! Then it was off to find a cashmere scarf.

Yum! I found the one below and it should be here by the end of the week. I love the two patterns together.

I still had some money left so I started searching for a pair of vintage doc marten 1460 8 hole black boots. Found them! Won the auction and they should be here at the end of the week also. I went a bit above my $100 limit by about $12. Not bad. I then moved on to etsy and why I would shop anywhere else, I don't know! They have some of the most amazing designers selling fabulous clothes. My Christmas list grows by the day. That's what I did when I had my cold. It was fun and I got some things I've wanted without leaving my house and staying on budget! There is one more thing that I'm dying to own and it is a little Italian black leather and studded bag at my local consignment shop! Oh, I love it. It sits in a special case with a price tag of over three hundred $$$$$$'s. The owner paid over $600 for it in Italy. Sigh. However, I'm in negotiation to lower the price a bit and my own credit (from my consignments) gets higher everyday. I visited it today on my way home from town. We had a walk-a-bout through the store together and then it was put back in it's special case. sigh......

I have also been working and I'm in that deconstruction phase - deconstructing my work on cardboard that I did in the spring and reworking it on some old canvases. This seems to happen every Fall. Must be some sort of unconscious ritual that I have to perform every year. Anyway, this is one of the pieces. Some of the muslin I ripped off of things is also showing up on these. I have a couple more in progress and some paintings in the works also.

Hope you are all well into your week and finding it good.

better.......

2010-09-25T16:17:00.001-07:00

Feeling better and am deep into some experiments in my workspace - one thing I have been doing is ripping the muslin off some of my work and then sewing it onto the shoulders of my sweaters - hard to get good pics, but the sidebar photo gives you an idea - finished this painting today -

'She Had a Secret' - mixed media on board 24x24

will be back with other things I'm up to later in the week - have a great weekend everybody!!

damn.......

2010-09-19T16:02:00.001-07:00

damn! I have a cold! I hate colds - they are energy suckers and no one wants to hug you - sigh - I worked as slow as a slug today - I would make a choice and then it would be wrong (yes a choice can be wrong, very wrong) - so I just stopped making choices and painted - it was an underpainting day - that's all I could muster - these photos are up close and personal details of the underpainting - little art pieces on their own - lots of yellows since there wasn't an ounce of yellow outside - I just took some echinacea and vitamin C and am now ready to lay down and close my watery eyes for awhile - hope you are all feeling better then I am - sigh

these are all details of mixed media on board 24x24

it's about the turquoise......

2010-09-15T15:25:00.000-07:00

That's right, turquoise - I've fallen in love with the little threads of this rich color - it's like mining for gold - finding the little veins of sky blue color - outside is a typical NW color palette - light gray, gray and dark gray with slate gray rain hitting the ground - in the studio, it's yellow, red, burnt orange and delicious turquoise - and of course, tones of gray - it's the way it is today -

both of these paintings are mixed media on board 24x24

Hope you are all enjoying the transition from summer to fall - I am.........with turquoise.

oh, right!, I get it now.......

2010-09-08T11:55:00.001-07:00

Okay, so it's always harder then I think - letting go of summer - don't get me wrong, Fall is just a wonderful season, but summer? for me?, it's a ten plus - then a certain malaise sneaks in and zaps my energy - I never quite catch it in time and then I remember - it's almost over - those warm/hot days that infuse me with energy and make the work spill out of me - almost gone - the light starts to change, a coolness in the mornings, leaves start falling, night comes sooner - it's started and I never seem to quite get on board soon enough to make the transition smoothly - my color palette knows before I do - this painting just finished -

it speaks for itself - cold white starting to cover warm tones and the browns sneaking back at the edges -a different way of working has already started - there is more warm up time in the studio before the real work - it's almost Fall and I'm finding my way there.........

I wonder.....

2010-09-03T11:58:00.001-07:00

I wonder where August went - I mean I just got out of bed yesterday and it was August 1st, then I got out of bed this morning and it's September 3rd? Serious??!! Where was I?

How can I be tired of over 400 songs on my iPod? I mean really!! It's true, I am...sigh....

Why did I wait two years to order these boots?!! These just arrived at my door a few days ago and I love them! True, they look all spanky new right now, but in three months? Fabulous! Frye engineers - get them! Don't wait!

And when did I paint this? I did because here is proof! And when I peeked into my studio this morning, it was sitting on the floor drying - I looked at it and then, yes, I do remember this journey - fire, ice, and something I can't name now.....

These are the things I wondered about this morning, September 3rd, 2010 .......

ps - .....and why doesn't my spell check recognize ipod?

pps - the painting? yes, I do know - it's about fire, ice and how my August was - all scattered with a detour around every corner - that's how it was

waiting..........

2010-08-29T15:12:00.000-07:00

Everything in my workspace is in the process of drying right now and even my underpaintings are wet, so I grabbed this off the floor and started cutting.....

Then I drug out a little 9x12 canvas that I had already ripped everything off of and started gluing down the little pieces from the deconstructed painting on cardboard...very random....

then I played with it by painting over the collage pieces - I added a bit of muslin and attached that with my cold wax........

it was a great way to still work while I'm waiting for things to dry - now this is drying - sigh - have a fabulous week everyone!

a quick stop.....

2010-08-24T16:16:00.001-07:00

mixed media on board 19x24 - Site #3

Hello and happy Tuesday to everyone - I won't bore you with which one this was before, but trust me, it's much better - we had a fabulous four days with family here and I am just now back to work in the studio - this piece is #3 (obviously) in a series about 'sites'- sites being places that have been rediscovered by digging into them - that seems to be my MO right now - digging past something pleasing to get to something deeper - hope you are all finding life good!

in transition.....

2010-08-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

That's where I am - in transition - I've been riding this new wave of moving forward - this post is really just a continuation of my last post - everything that I found just 'okay' got yanked and reworked - some of it too reworked - I was on a tear for sure - but I knew/know I'm in a time of looking at my art practice with new eyes - change is coming and I'm finding my way through it - it's a small change really, sort of like when I change from cayenne pepper to cinnamon in my morning coffee - a flavor change - but it's voice is strong and I'm paying attention - I'm deep into working with this new eye and finding it very challenging - I guess the best way to explain it, is to give you an example - the piece below I finished last month - it was okay.......then it got yanked...

the photo below is the first rework - it was totally over worked and I basically killed it.....that's what happened to much of the rework - overworked......

this last photo shows where I left it yesterday - I like this - I feel it is much stronger then the first place I left it........

so I'm in transition - just like life - will let you know what I find along the way..........