Ondine Makes Her Debut

I first introduced you to this little girl way back in October. Since then she sat, partially completed, on my drawing table. Not for lack of wanting to work on her...but because I was stumped as to how to acchieve the effect I wanted. And I couldn't decide whether to do her in 'straight' pen and ink or to add delicate hints of watercolour to her. Finally...I worked out an arrangement with myself.

Complete her in pen and ink...and then have a copy printed onto watercolour stock paper and add the hints of colour to that. So.... here is Ondine....making her debut:

 I'm absolutely in love with her...and excited to do the watercolour version very soon.

Valentine, My Valentine...

Happy Valentines Day to everyone. And most especially, to my husband Kevin...my best friend, my sweetheart and my rock. Though we are less those two babies in our favourite wedding photo...and more like the couple below...The Weasleys. There is a romance in the comfortableness and familiarity we share. Candy and cards are lovely, but I'm much happier with the everyday blessings you bring to my life.

***I've just changed my comment setting for blog owner approval due to seeing a post on a blog I follow about 'spam comments' and attached viruses etc. I went thru some recent posts and found two comments that may have been something similar. As this is currently, the only computer in my household, I need to take precautionary measures. Thank you in advance for understanding. :) Kelly

Violet

This is Violet... Aside from the possibility of an antique wash to really make her 'shabbiness' pop...she was finished yesterday pre-Super Bowl. Another angel. And again, she was somewhat unexpected... She seems a bit quieter than her sister... more of a shy away from attention kind of girl. Except for those shimmery wings...

Sneak Peeks...

It's Superbowl Sunday and amidst all the football and feasting we should be able to squeeze in a little art. I had promised new paintings at least a week or so ago.Unfortunately, even while I consider my art to be my primary focus and work, so many other things conspire to make it secondary and even-in a few cases-a distant third on my list of jobs. I have been griping about this the last couple weeks...I think this must be the curse of the artist who is also a woman,wife,mother, etc. I know that these are the roles that have afforded me so many blessings in life, but some days I wonder if I would be more prolific and productive in my art if I could be-I don't know- Pablo Picasso or Jackson Pollack....and have Lee Krasner or anyone of a dozen mistresses to make my meals and clean my house and do my laundry for me.

So, here I am on Superbowl Sunday, taking a moment between squeezing in some art-time and needing to make nacho dip and brownies to take to a Superbowl feast,to show you some glimpses of the art I'm working on...so excruciatingly slowly.

My response to the responsibilities and whatnot that won't let me sneak off to the studio for more than a couple hours here and there...is to move the studio into the parts of my life that won't give up. Hence, my kitchen table is completely consumed in decoupage ornament making...and has been for over a week or so.

They are coming along.... They started out with an intent that they would be one thing and when that wasn't 'gelling', I took a day or so to reconsider what I wanted to do. That's the part of being an artist that--to outward appearances--doesn't seem to be actual work. But at the end of those couple days, I knew what I wanted and how to achieve it. And now I'm back on track, getting these little hand drawn and painted ornaments nearer to completion. They're being sealed in beeswax, so that's an entire long process too.

Apparently, even though I truly do strive for simplicity in my life, I'm destined to make things more detailed and complex. Fun.

The topmost picture in this entry is a sneak peek at a painting I only just finished today--about an hour or so ago. As soon as she's dry and moveable I'll get some decent pictures of her and post them.

Glue In My Hair...

Forgive the bad photography... The only way to get a picture of all my hair is in the mirror, which means zero flash and also shaky-blurry pictures.
I have alot of it--hair that is. It's very long and has-over the years-gotten thicker and wavier as it grows, which I guess isn't usually what happens. When I was younger my hair was thin and super straight and my mother cut it for me in her own version of a 'shag' haircut. It wasn't the best look. So, for most of my adult life I've had my hair varying lengths of long... I've cut it a few times but I always grow it right back. I love long hair and I know for a fact that I would never be one of those ambush makeovers who gets convinced to cut off all their hair for a new look. Nope. No way. However, long hair plus messy art is not a comfortable mix. I've accidentally dipped my hair in paint more times than I can count. I think I know why Frida Kahlo and Georgia O'Keefe pinned their hair up.
Yesterday, while gluing together dollar-store cardboard coasters to prep for painted ornaments I managed to glue a few into my hair.


I managed to get them out and rinsed the glue out of the ends of my hair. Then , a short while later, I accidentally dipped my hair in the glue and that has not been so easy to get out. I should mention that ponytails and braids don't always help this problem.

In the eighties, I had one of those wonderful asymetrical hairdos with enough spray or mousse or whatever in it to hold it through anything. Glue shouldn't be a problem for me...except for how nearly impossible it is to try to comb or brush it out. From now on I'm wearing a shower cap in the studio!

On another note: I'm hoping to have some ornaments and a new painting to post by this weekend or early next week. Provided I can keep my hair out of it.

Unexpected Angel

I'm not completely sure where she came from. This painting...begun kind of vaguely with old book pages and smears of acrylic paint...didn't seem to have a defined personality. I really didn't know why I needed to paint it or what it was I needed to paint. It wasn't until I took out a piece of charcoal and started sketching that I even could see a face in the canvas. A layer of gesso and then paint and last night she began to take shape.

I still wasn't sure I liked the look of her. This morning I sat with her, just staring at her...getting to know her a little better. This afternoon, I picked up the brushes again and now...I think she is done. I will sit with her for a little while to be sure...

I don't even have a name for her. She was that much of a surprise. She feels like peacefulness and early thoughts of Spring to me...

Eclectic Creative Chaos

Credit where credit is due: I 'cribbed' this phrase from Milliande. In one of her lovely videos, she made mention of her "eclectic creative chaos" and I swear a lightbulb came on in my brain...That's it!!! That's the perfect name for my studio! In it's current state...it is the absolute personification of eclectic creative chaos...it just can't help it. It has me as a caretaker, resident messmaker/artist. I have tried--so fruitlessly--to organize,label,winnow out the junk, but all that ever comes of these efforts is that I seem to lose track of my muse. I get so swallowed up in the cleaning that the creating just doesn't happen.

I work best in a mess. I should put this on a sign and hang it on my door. I should take a jumbo Sharpie and write it on the wall as a reminder. I should stop wasting my time fighting with my messes and I should just let it go. Within reason, of course.

So long as there is seat surface enough for my rear and table surface enough for my supplies...the rest can stay as is. I get more inspired "shopping" (rooting really...) in the bins and piles, looking for one thing and then finding three or four alternatives I hadn't even considered. I have finally made my husband realize that his occasional vacuming forays into my studio are unneccessary; whatever (paper,yarn,beads,what-have-you) is on the floor is still a potential supply. Vacuming it up just creates stress.

I am happy in my disarray. If I had one of those uber-clean and perfect studios that are often shown in the magazines...I would just have to mess it up before I could create.

Here's to a Perfect Mess!