Bottle Babe #5

I have gone with a purple and grey color scheme on this one. Her backside isn't completed as yet, so I only photoed the front. In my Mixed Media Class I describe the processes that I use for the pieces in this series.

Bottle Babe #4

This one is made from different materials than the first three. PLUS she is preggers. Thought this might make for an interesting look.

I have added some gold leaf to the surface to add just a spark of shimmer.

Bottle Babe #3

Here are the first three pieces in this series. The closest one is my third. My fourth is in progress and today it is in the hideous stage because I am trying something different from the first time.

Ah the joys of being an experimental mixed media artist! The teeth gnashing and cursing is part of the creative process. The good news is that working this way has taught me about patience, which had always been in short supply in my world. I have benefited greatly from improving my patience and persistence.

Jimi Hendrix

This morning I felt like a member of The Walking Dead, so I needed something to get the blood pumping and the creative juices flowing. Nothing like a little Jimi Hendrix...put his CD in and have him screaming in my ears and in no time at all I am dancing like I'm possessed. A lot of memories come flooding back from that time period of my life when we worshiped the Rock Gods like Jimi. Free Love was all the rage due to the birth control pill (and prior to AIDS) so we were all like a bunch of heathens and barbarians. Man it was fun!!!!!

This shot is of Bottle Babe #3, which is in progress but not completely finished yet. She was supposed to be covered in Primitive designs, however when I began putting them onto her body it quickly went into Burlesque so that is the evolution of this one. She fits beautifully with this Jimi Hendrix music...some of his songs even had a Burlesque beat to them. I adored this man and his music. It was a horrible loss to all of us when he took his last breath. I'm glad that he left his music behind for us to enjoy. Even the movie Rainbow Bridge that featured footage of him and his music after his death was quite a tribute to the man. Jimi wherever you are....thank you!!!

Bottle Babe #2

This particular sculpture was made from a jar. When I was molding her I was thinking about the Kim Kardashian voluptuous figures of paintings from the old Masters. This one is so exaggerated that it's difficult to tell that it is even based upon the human form.

In the background you can see two more of the Bottle Babes that are being prepped for their next step of evolution.

Bottle Babe #1

Although I started this series a couple months ago, it wasn't until today that I finally completed the first one. I have 8 or 9 of these in progress at the moment, using different materials and mediums. Still in the Research and Discovery phase...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Christmas Angel

This is one of the Small Faces pieces that I am reworking.

Revisiting and reworking my previous artworks is something of an occupation in itself. I am constantly changing my mind about what I like and this is why I enjoy mixed media so much. It is very forgiving for those of us with restless hearts and souls.

A Surprise Gift from Moriah

I was not expecting this! Moriah had asked for my mailing address, so I thought there would be a Christmas Card in the mail and look what I got!! I am gobsmacked because I have been toying with doll type thingies lately, but NONE of them compare to the detailing that has gone into Mr. Snowman (as I call him).

A little suit like this would need to be patterned, cut, sewn, stuffed and assembled. I am quite sure that I would be pulling hair from my head by the handfuls. His little face and hat are handpainted in great detail with oils or acrylics. He's priceless!!!

Sassy Kats #2

Taking yesterday's doodle piece and using the Paint Out method, I transformed it into this one to add to my Sassy Kats series. I had to collage a couple extra pieces onto the surface, but he looks pretty good. I see a lot of character in this all too familiar body stance. That's one of my favorite things about cats...their body language says everything.

Once again I have used the Colorado theme in this one. The star-studded sky that you see when you are up in the mountains is unlike any night sky that I have ever seen. Well, perhaps when I was out to sea...that was very special, too.

Feeling Insecure

Today I spent time perusing a wide variety of mediums and art pieces online. I saw architectural pieces, 3D, paintings, collages, fabrics, drawings...you get the idea. There is a plethora of images available to us at any moment with a few mouse clicks. I am a member of multiple art groups online and I often get inspired when I look at other peoples' work.

And then there are days when I feel utterly insecure. I compare my work to the professionalism of some others and cannot help but feel woefully inadequate. I am reading a book about Maxfield Parrish at the moment, who was extremely detail oriented. I recently finished reading a book about the Impressionists and Post Impressionists, their lives and techniques. How hard they worked to gain the abilities that they had.

I have had an epiphany today while inspecting my feelings of insecurity. It's totally okay to feel insecure....to have doubts about your work and your work ethic. This can act as inspiration to keep you motivated to improve. So it's a good thing! Why not compare yourself and your work to other people....how else can you learn? This is all part of our process as artists, no matter where we are on our cycle of evolution.

This little doodle piece is one that I finally completed last night while watching one of the worst Monday Night Football games ever. I had started this piece some time ago with the sole intention of using the Painting Out technique to make it into something else once I had this background completed. I have it slated to be added to my Sassy Kats series at this point, but who knows if that will be the final destination.

Experiments with Textures

I am trying a myriad of mediums, colors, and such like to see what results I can get with my Small Faces series. I never really know what is going to happen, but I am studying my results carefully.

This piece is not finished yet, nor is it affixed to the substrate in the photo. I merely placed it on this board so as to photograph it. I really like the stone like qualities that I am getting with the mediums that I am currently using.

Hunting for Dolls

I have recently rummaged and scrounged thru half a dozen thrift stores in search of doll faces that I can use to make molds/moulds. This is not as easy as I had thought. Some of the faces do not have good definition and the faces are more painted on than sculpted. Porcelain dolls seem to have the best faces, but they are usually Collector Items and have a price tag to match. I'm not interested in collecting dolls...just making molds.

I'm now learning how to make molds myself since I have had limited success searching for molds online that look like what I want. I also have a block of air dry clay that has gotten hard on the bottom, so I might try my hand at sculpting some faces. I have visions of sugar plum whimsical dolls dancing in my head these days. More ideas are popping up weekly as to how I want to present them. I might even get into some little bodies at some point, too.

I am delighted that at long last I have begun to move into the doll making arena because this is something that I have wanted to do for years. Not only that, but I am envisioning some characters (aside from the Bottle Babes) being made from bottles and jars. Fantasy, elfin, fae type characters.

Scribbling

I like to pull out my Sharpie colored markers and do some scribbling while I watch tv. I'm using a Mackenzie-Childs catalogue as my inspiration for this one. Once I have the surface of the canvas panel fully covered, I will do a paint out technique and add another Sassy Kat to my series.

Believe in Yourself

I made this video 3 years ago to show friends and artists that we all experience uncertainty at some point in time. This is something that is learned as we make our way along the pathway in Artland. The point that I tried to make in this video is that you must practice believing in yourself and respecting yourself as much as possible. There will always be critics around that will diss you, mock you, and some will even hate you. You cannot escape this part of life. Cut those people from your life when you can, but still stay strong in the face of it all.

I believe in you.......

Driving with My Parents

In the months before my parents died a decade ago, I was fortunate enough to spend months with both of them. Dad and I drove around the countryside on our way to and from hospitals and doctor appointments for three months. On one special occasion, he took me with him when he went on his sales route for an entire day and that was a journey that I can laugh about to this very moment.

After Dad died, I took Mom for several drives around the area where she had grown up. She had been bed bound for the last 8 years of her life, so it was a lovely experience for her to be out and about again. We saw her childhood neighborhood where their home had once stood, visited one of her aunts that she hadn't seen in a decade or more, and drove by her high school and other places where she spent time as a teenager. We also visited cemeteries and put flowers on the grave sites of her parents. I can still remember how emotional Mom was while we were there; quietly grieving for her lost relatives in that cemetery.

Both Mom and Dad told me stories during these drives. Stories of the various adventures they had during their lives that had been revived for them while we drove around in those areas. This gave me an opportunity to ask them questions and find out more about these two people that had been so influential in my life. The hopes and dreams that they had created. Stories that I had never heard before.

We also enjoyed some quiet moments together with the car windows rolled down and the fresh country air swirling around us and enveloping us with the sweet scents of the land. Each of us looking at the play of light upon the morning fog, or the glint of a ray of sunlight as it beamed through a cloud to the earth below. During those quiet moments, I don't know what Mom or Dad were thinking, but I enjoyed having those peaceful experiences with them. A special bonding took place as we relaxed in the space that we shared. I will forever cherish my time with Mom and Dad while driving.

Small Faces Online Class

This summer I began a new series that I call Small Faces. This video shows you the first 15 or so pieces that I created. I have since added another 5 pieces to this series and also began a new series that I call Bottle Babes.

This is a photo of some of the Bottle Babes prior to decorating and finishing them. I have 9 pieces in progress for this series.

Last night I came up with another idea for a new series called Book Worms. When am I going to get that one started? No clue. I work very slowly, unfortunately, so like most artists I cannot keep up with the ideas that I have. When I try to pour the coal on and work longer and faster, I don't enjoy myself because it feels like a J-O-B. Now there is nothing wrong with having a job, but at this point in my life I want to enjoy my art and not feel like I am working hard. Does that make sense? I don't consider myself to be a professional artist because I am a dabbler and I get bored too easily.

For my seesta

I am embarrassed by how long it took me to complete this jean jacket for my sister, but at long last I consider it to be a success. All that is left to do now is to package it up and ship it out. Can I beat the rush??

Well, there is one detail left to do...and that is to compose a letter to her to thank her for being my sister. After all our years of being together and sharing adventures from one coast to another, we have taken to living in separate states and that took me some little while to accept. Years, in fact. I had come to expect that we would always live near one another, but then she went in another direction.

Now that we are both older and crankier, this is a good thing. We certainly had many differences of opinion and disagreements over the first 40+ years of our lives. Even screaming matches. They were rare, but today I am not so sure this would hold true? She will always hold a very special place in my heart and I would do anything for her.

A Christmas Present

I needed a small gift for someone for Christmas, so I pulled out all of my Small Faces to see which one might be appropriate. I chose this one because of the playful girlish colors and I also know that she loves purple.

By adding the black and white checks to the sides, and putting her name onto the surface, it became much more personalized and whimsical. I think she might like this.

Still Life Turnip Painting

I created this 9 x 12" painting using water soluble oil pastels. From time to time I get on a still life kick because they are so much fun to do.

Ann's Collage

This piece began as part of a collage series that I was working on last summer. I was going in the direction of storytelling as art or a scrapbooking style of collage. When I began making this piece I smooshed some various colors onto a canvas panel surface. These colors were leftover colors that I had in my paint box and I was trying to get them used up so that I could close the lid on my paint box. Sometimes you simply get too many colors in your inventory and at that time it becomes crazy...at least for me it does.

I was using up some greens, golds, and pinks and after smooshing them around, I had to pick out a theme of some sort. So I started basing it upon art and creating, and while I was collaging pieces onto the surface and building a story I found myself being transported back in time by about 30 years. That's when I pulled out a black marker and began writing what I was thinking about and the whole direction of the piece changed. I had to paint over some of the things about art that I had added, but this piece was really speaking to me and guiding me in this direction so I knew it was the right thing to do.

This is the story of 4 friends that became very close and shared many adventures together in Colorado in the 80's. We laughed, loved, shopped, played, ate, and grew together during those years. Only 2 of us are still living today, so I made this for my sweet friend, Ann.

Newest Florida Paintings and Collages

I experimented with painting out techniques, collaging, and beeswax in some of my latest pieces from my Florida Series. I now have 60+ pieces in this series.

Kelvin's Baby Dragon

I was hired to do a commission for someone who was having a baby this summer and in China this is the year of the Dragon. So I developed this little cartoon character using Ceramic Stucco from Liquitex for the texture on the surface of the canvas. In the video the background looks less purple than it does in real life. But my favorite part of this is the music that goes so well with the little guy! It's a perfect match.