I am headed to Hobby Lobby to buy some black gesso. I am thinking I may like the outlines left behind from the black gesso. I've also started a tandem bike, some funky lollipop flowers and some more back yard birds. I bought this great Georgia Backyard bird field guide which is where the inspiration for all the little tweets have come from. Off I go!!
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.
I really like painting with the waxes. I do. And like I said in an earlier post the waxes were staring me down in a jar on the art desk (like $100's worth of staring). But although I love the textures, the smell and the end results of encaustics, I really miss my little mixed media paintings. I am ready to dig out the paper, glue and acrylics. The 3 paintings I finished up though I am really proud of. And intend to list them in Etsy by Monday. So check back to see when. They are all 8x10" framed in salvage wood.
Such a sweet little tweet. She's nurturing her little babies in the nest. The word Nurture was painted using a masking technique.
So the birds are coming back and this time they are playing with time, gears, movement and the idea that living life to the fullest means taking time to be ourselves. Our truest selves.
"Oh Happy Field" 18" x 18"
"Orange Bike" 19" x 24"
Last night I told my husband that I was going to stay up late and try to get some painting done. With all the changes in my life over the past month, I have to say that getting a regular routine going has been difficult. I don't know how I balanced everything when I worked full-time, honestly! And my inspirations have been a bit off kilter too. A funk you could say. I am not a last minute person. Nor do I work well under short deadlines. I like to plan ahead, make lists, check things off, and go to bed early the night before a big event. I never crammed for tests the night before...never. So this art show is throwing me for a loop. Dead line drawing near, get a tent, need a credit card machine, do I have what will sell made, getting the stuff loaded and to Norcross, hotel reservations, and the list just piles and swims in my head. Especially at night. Last night however, I'd finished up my run of paintings (I like to draw a series, then paint them all at once) and went to bed on a creative high you could say. Visions of the bike painting were coming together, I theme I've wanted to try for awhile now. So I went to sleep peacefully instead of my head swimming.
I woke, I jumped out of bed, got the kids to school and went for my morning walk/run with Lily. Usually I run about two mailboxes worth. Then walk the rest. But today, by golly I ran and ran until I ran out of neighborhood. Not sure exactly how far, but I'd say about 3 miles. I was in the "zone". Feels good. Now I'm ready to tackle that bike painting. I'll let you know how it goes. For now here are two newbies. The top one is called "Fall is Coming", the bottom one is "Triplets in the Fall". I let my daughter Mailey help me with the names of my paintings, she gets a total kick out of it. When she saw the three birds she said, "Mommy you've got to call this one the triplets, like our friends at church." We have not one but two sets of triplet friends at our church by the way! Have a creative day!
Shoe on right is my regulation Jenni shoe, the fitflop. So far, the backside is not slimmer, but I keep holding out hope! As I've stared at this sexy shoe, and placed it on my foot a couple of times, I wonder, just wonder how Carrie Bradshaw did it in those heels...all over New York City! I will say this shoe has quite a cushion system. It is a $150 shoe, it better have cushion!
So here's my final piece. I think Kim will be pleased! This shoe sitting on my art desk this past month has inspired a series of shoe paintings! Since sitting here I've created Mailey and Mattie in their orange crocs and the Mattie wanting to be an Anthropologie girl. Let's see, next month maybe I'll put a yummy cupcake on my desk to inspire me. I'd have to replace it everyday though!
"In the Winter Bloom"
