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.
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!!!
In the background you can see two more of the Bottle Babes that are being prepped for their next step of evolution.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
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 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!!!
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.
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.
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.
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.
I believe in you.......
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
