almost there
In process pic…new spirit girl soon to take her first breath.
spray inks : collage : stamps : acrylics : charcoal pencil
Entries Tagged as 'paintings'
faces…
they are reflections of our experience, emotions and character – so says artist Beth Billups.
i totally agree. which is why i choose to paint them. women’s faces in particular intrigue me.
in her you can see and feel the strength, the tenacity, the resilience, the commitment, the glow, the empathetic listener, the dreamer, the seeker, the soother, the mother, the survivor. i love all these things and more about who we are as women.
“Untapped Possibilities”
i was, however, so very scared of painting eyes because, you see, the eyes express everything, if you look close enough. and my first attempts were…..ehhh…..
poor thing looks beyond scared
i tried a couple more times and then decided, instead of painting them open, i chose to show the spiritual side of women (my spirit girls) with eyes closed, almost in a meditative state, and loved how they were turning out.
but at some point i knew that i would have to venture down that path. i’ve made a few more attempts recently and, with a little more practice, who knows…..my girls will either be life long soul searchers (eyes closed) or expressive seekers (eyes wide open).
and the story continues…
toodles all,
G
me : here : now
~ original sold...prints available on etsy ~
i’ve been trying to think of reasons why i am drawn to mixed media and painting in particular and, after some thought, this is what came to mind (plus a sprinkling of recent paintings)…
~ i feel at home with this medium…..i feel so comfortable and connected with acrylic paints and the papers i work with
~ i like that the result of any session in my studio is almost immediate gratification….whether 10 minutes or 2 hrs
~ i feel that my true self is being expressed…….especially thru my spirit girl paintings
~ i get to play AND get messy (i mean that literally…..all in the guise of work…ha!
toodles all,
G
wear RED sHoeS
this morning after checking out at the grocery store i saw a woman wearing a very bright and colourful shirt that i liked, so i tapped her on the shoulder to let her know (love doing that…telling someone they look nice today). she just happened to be standing in line at the grocery coffee shop so i thought – what the hay – i’ll treat myself to one as well.
as she ordered her drink i heard her ask for extra pumps in her chai tea latte…my drink of choice. i usually keep to myself but, remembering my effort to be more myself, more open (all the time, every day), i asked her about what she had just ordered. we struck up a conversation about how sometimes the chai is a bit weak and she told me about how she regularly takes her drink now – 2 extra pumps of chai (she’s up to 6 now) with non fat milk and no hot water.
so this stranger/new friend, seeing that i was a newbie at customizing drinks, told me to “go for it” and that she was gonna stick around until i had a sip of my zipped up drink.
growing up i had always been one of those cautious individuals but, having come into my own and knowing that i was now choosing to live life to the full, i went whole hog! you might think this is a small feat but i cannot telll you how i’ve dithered over the years (still do sometimes) about making the teeny tiniest of decisions.
OMG…..can i tell you……that tea was exactly how i always thought it should taste! she and i chatted and laughed as we walked out of the store then parted ways.
when i began painting a few years ago this was one of my first pieces. still have no idea why i painted it but i did and hung it up in my studio nonetheless.
as i drove back home this morn, going over my this encounter with my new friend jill, this painting came to mind. even though this time i took a small risk, it reminded me that i must jump more at the chances i encounter, even those that push me the tiniest little bit.
I believe we should all take more chances and wear red shoes more often. patti digh, author of “life is a verb” tells us in her book to ‘rent the red convertible” instead of the ho-hum 4-door all the time. She says that “being practical, safe and logical is way overrated”
so go forth my friends and
wear the damn RED shoes ( as Dani would say)!
show em off….feel your sassy…..be a risk taker!
take the bull by the horns!
and let me know….what have you risked lately?
toodles all,
G
Another Successful Pandora Day!
this was a good one. yesterday michele, susan and i gathered at delane’s house for a cool technique. we painted shoes! (a la Lyric)
once a month, the pandoras, as we call ourselves, get together to do something art related and learn a new technique. this time we all voted to use lyric kinard’s painted shoes technique to create some sweet togs for our feet.
first we painted each shoe with gesso to give the leather some tooth then went at it with colour and design. here’s some before and prep pics of my shoes.
before pic tapes up edges painting w/ gesso
one of the wonderful things about getting together is that there is business part to get through so the chatting and laughter abounds as we each put our own lovely twist on the technique we’re trying out.
michele tip-toeing through the flower patch
delane getting serious with her swirls
susan bringing out the feathers
and here are the fantastic results. i think we did a might fine job, even if i say so myself!
of course i have to show you some close ups:
delane’s shoes (sprayed with a gloss sealer)
michele’s shoes (simple and sweet)
susan’s shoes
(remember this peacock feather from the Quilting Arts cover a couple months back?)
my bright as sunshine shoes (will definitely see me coming huh?)
susan and i still have some finishing up to do. i love the curl of the red into the orange on mine.
my plan is to do some more zentangles all over and then maybe paint in select areas. might have to tone down the orange a bit tho…..eh, who knows what i’ll end up with.
here’s a funny pic….we put our shoes on the floor then clamoured over each other taking turns to get pics of everyone’s shoes. i had to jump back to take of pic of us taking pics…..ha ha.
take care all,
Sneek Peak…Twice!
Last night, busy in my studio, I decided to take a computer break. As usual, I got caught up and before you know it, I had spent almost 25 minutes online (considering I just went there to refresh my memory on a photo I had taken…mmmph!).
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I stretch, after having sat there for so long, look over and see this red blob on my floor,
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and realize that there’s a barely perceptible whizzing noise coming from the blob as well.\’a0 Now what do you think this can be?
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Of course the first thing any sane person does in this type of situation is….grab\’a0 the camera, of course (duh!).
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First things first, earlier in the afternoon I was helping my son with his homework. We finished and he left the room to repack his book bag. I then began to wonder what little gift he set up for me.
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So with camera in hand I step closer to reveal my gift (can you see it yet??????).
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And what to her wondering eyes should appear (yeh I know, must still be in the mind for Christmas)…
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…but a little boy – fast asleep.\’a0 Awww shucks…isn’t that the best gift?
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BTW, the big round thing under the blanket is my exercise ball.
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Don’t ask.
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ART BREAK:
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In a few weeks, the art group I belong to (fiberartoptions.blogspot.com)\’a0 will have a fiber art orchid exhibition at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont, NC. We are so excited. So for the past few weeks I have been hard at work finishing all my pieces. Here’s a sneak peak at another one of them.
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I’ve tried something totally new for me and have hand painted this one using acrylic paint on Pimatex cotton, with Gac 900 as the textile medium (yah me!)
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Using Golden Gac 900 with their line of fluid acrylics (instead of regular textile medium) gives the fabric a softer hand than even using Jacquard textile paint, which is what I started with.\’a0 The area at the bottom right (painted with Jacquard and medium) is much harder, almost like paper, than the rest of the piece.
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I think I’m in love…with Golden products that is.
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Taking Risks
I love quotes, especially those that have a healing, retrospective or look-on-the-bright-side quality to them.
Sometime last year I came up with 5o or so of what I like to call “Life Affirmations”. I printed them out and now have them hanging on the wall in my studio. They’re just little pick-me-up sayings to either perk me up, keep me going or just make me smile at the thought. Here’s a sampling.
…laugh till it hurts…
……frolic with your inner girl…
…………QUIET the inner critic….
………………..skip to your own music…
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I’ve been so busy recently and decided last week to take a small break from art quilting. I got out a 4 x 6 canvas, gesso-ed it, picked one saying and had fun painting. I punched 2 holes in the upper corners, strung some twine and now it’s hanging in my studio.
I’m thinking I might make a few more using the ones above and add them to my esty shop. We all need a small reminder every now and then to move beyond the ordinary and do something different, even daring.
For all those of you who sometimes live in fear with your artwork and choose not to take risks (me included)….this one’s for you.You’re bound to stand out when you wear these shoes and don’t you think it’s time you (and your art) took a risk?
So go on….wear them RED shoes girl!
(thanks to Mystele for getting me started with my canvas paintings… i just love her work).
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See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,
