Then and Now

This afternoon I felt like taking a walk down memory lane for some reason, in my blog that is. And within a first couple of posts I show my original studio. When making art was just a hobby and it was made in the garage. The garage that holds the lawn mowers, extra fridge and right now so much junk you can barely step foot inside it. See here what my original little inspirational half of the garage looked like. Now I have this room. And I love it. Oh I really do. One day I'd like to have an entire basement for the kids and I, but for now this room inspires me everyday. This is actually an older picture of the studio. I've managed to pack the room with more functioning furniture and lost the brown chair, but you still get the sunny idea!

Slow Down Ernestine!

So either I am getting slap happy from all the paint fumes, or this painting seriously looks like little Sally is saying, "Ernestine slow down or you're gonna mess up my hair. And I just got back from the beauty shop!" Yep. It's the fumes. Lovin' this truck painting. I've been wanting to try one, and my buddy Laura said, "Hey I've got pictures of my Ernestine." She sent them my way, and here she is. I've always wanted a Mattie Blue truck. May not be able to sell this one.....

She's 24"x24", a little bigger than my regular paintings. And of course she'll have an old peely paint white barn wood frame. Hope you had a great weekend!!

Ooey Gooey Heaven

Last night Billy and I had a quiet evening to ourselves. Kiddos both had sleep overs. It is a very rare occasion that we have the house to ourselves. Now, we go out all the time just the two of us, especially during session, but the house, alone? It was creepy quiet. And we had no idea what to do with ourselves. It was pretty funny.

Around 8:30 this morning when I finally awoke from my beauty sleep, Billy was up and at 'em getting ready. And this was our little conversation with my eyes half opened: "Where are you going?" "To run a few errands. and then go get William." "Oooooo will you go to the grocery and get some cat food, turtle food and lunch stuff? Oh, and I'd really love a doughnut." (Doughnuts were a staple in my house growing up, but in this house they are like freakin' caviar. A delectable treat only to be consumed on very special occasions.) "Ok" he said and off he disappeared into the cold air. I figured I better crawl out of bed before he got back and decided the couch was as good a place as any to enjoy coffee and conversation with sweet Lily, plus I needed to catch up on few shows I'd taped during the week. After that chore was done I headed off to the art room where the piles of paintings were waiting for me to grace them with my presence. While painting the blue truck, Billy came home from errands, HUGE smile on his face, hands behind his back and said, "gotcha something" . I really love my man. One yummy dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts just for me. Some poor saps were selling them in the median on his way to the grocery. On a side note, I seriously think I would rather give my child $100 cold cash than stand in the median on HWY 154 selling doughnuts on a very cold, wet Saturday am. But, I am so grateful that these tasty items made it to my kitchen. 10 secs in the microwave and I was in gooey warm doughnut heaven. (I've now gone to heaven 5 times today btw. Crap. Gonna have to run 5 extra miles on Monday. And I hope to goodness Kathleen doesn't read this post!!)
But in all seriousness, despite the lazy TV watching, cuddling with Lily, watching Americas Next Top Model with Mailey (who I finally got at 3PM), I was able to get some paint on 3 of the larger textured pieces. So very tickled with the way they are progressing.

Next on the agenda, well there are 9 more textured boards waiting to be painted. Right now though, I am nursing a woozy doughnut tummy and am seriously thinking that a movie and fire are in order. Now that William and Mailey are home and asking for the craziest things, I feel like life is back to normal. For example, Mailey is asking to do laundry in the kitchen sink, like the old days. I have a funny feeling in my stomach that a flood is approaching my kitchen floor. (Or maybe it was the 5 trips to heaven?)

Trucking on a Journey

I've been wanting to add to my "wanderlust" series. And here it is: A truck AND a bike. An orange bike to be exact. Since it is my super fav color, I just had too. The words have been added in photoshop for a new card series I'm making. This is definitely a mixed media piece....a little map, a little paper, a little paint. It's on the small size too, 8x10" on gallery wrapped deep canvas. So, this weekend, take life a little slower and enjoy the journey.

So, wanderlust on your mind now? Did you know that is a real word? Vero over at Naked Art had wanted to use it in my solo show title and I was like "heck no!". I am a good little southern gal who does not talk about lust in public. Much less have it blaring in the title for my solo show. (I'm also a little sheltered I suppose since that word made me totally blush.) And then I looked it up, and there it was in Webster. It says, "strong or unconquerable longing for or impulse toward wandering." Yep. And since this little art journey of mine could be on the verge of wandering without an end in site, I am thinking that maybe wanderlust is the perfect word to sum it all up.

My Turn to Share

So yesterday I mentioned sharing, since it was the title of my newest painting. Someone commented on the post that they loved the way it looked as though it was peeling. Thus a symbol of peeling away the layers as we share our most authentic self. Which brings this to mind. Here on the blog we share....paintings, our creative process, growth of our children, happy times, sometimes not so happy times, etc. We peel away layers and expose ourselves right here for the world to read and see. I try to be very true to myself here for you. It's not all unicorns and rainbows, as I have certainly revealed this week. Today I opened my email to find that a friend had blogged about me and Valerie here. This sweet artsy friend is CINDY. Her blog is Lottie Bird.....love that name. And if you read along her blog enough you'll find that she has a very authentic voice. I love to read her posts. Here is some of what her creative hand makes: She's half of the Tallulah Girls. Amazing jewelry that you have to have. I have 2 necklaces and a pair of earrings from these ladies. And they are a favorite. In fact, I wore it all in the BIG family portrait session this summer.....that's how much I love it.

So her sharing a piece of me on her blog was a little blushing moment for me. I've never had anyone do that, that I know of. It was flattering to see from an outside point of view my layers. So head on over and check CINDY out. She has a new kitten named Jenny btw. I like that name, don't you?? hehehehe

Share

Sharing. Sometimes it' really easy, sometimes it's not. But it always feels better after you do. I stamped the sentiment on my blog banner into this waxy painting. It reads, "It's the things we share that remind us we are not alone." So share something today with someone you cherish. Even a silly tid bit. And see just how good it feels.

I love the texture created with this medium...really. It's just yummy. I was about to clean up the skillet and hated to waste all the wax left. So I painted this last one. At first I didn't like it. Once I added the oil stick though, all this amazing texture crept into the foreground. And now it's my favorite.

My sponge and acrylic paper are taking their soaking bath, and the new wood is on the table. I found a bunch of amazing orange, yellow and red paints on sale at Michael's this week. So I have a feeling that my paintings are about to get really warm. I hope to have some new collages to show off tomorrow so check back!

Listen to Your Heart

Have you ever noticed that when you listen to your heart to make a decision it makes your tummy do somersaults? Mine sure does. Lately I've been doing a lot of listening and decision making about life, family, finances, my business and relationships with friends. And boy you'd think there was a circus going on inside me! But seriously, when you make decisions based purely on what your head says is right, sometimes it's a little too black and white. When you listen to your heart to make a decision, it's a bit more painful. And almost always is a longer lasting decision. One that can potentially affect your path from that moment on. Because when you throw in a dash of passion with any decision making, someone always gets hurt....always. So, I guess I've been laying a new path this past week with my hearty decisions. And although I never meant to hurt anyone along the way, sometimes it just happens. And I guess this emotion is coming out in my work. As I sat back last night and studied the new paintings laying out in the studio, and my jewelry, I noticed a common thread. Words are everywhere. And I never put words in my artwork like this. Maybe a cute quote or a little word cut from an old book, but not like this. Large words are masked into the paintings......listen.....nurture....play.....embrace..... inspire... Maybe, just maybe my creative heart has a new voice that really wants to be heard.

Or maybe it's my way of saying something to myself that I wasn't really hearing until right now.