I found it - portrait of Eric - takes a minute to load

Here it is , the portrait of Eric (oil on canvas 8" x 10") I am working on and the photo I am working from. It is not quite finished, and not as finished as I thought it was now that I see them posted side by side here. There is something about posting my paintings that removes my subjectivity and gives me a fresh look at them - and makes it easier to see what needs to be corrected or changed. Again - not too bad a start, but a ways to go I see.

Daily Painting....and, oh yeah - Happy Thanksgiving

Well - Ok - Not so daily. But I am NOT giving up on it. I am still trying. Why is it so hard for me to set a schedule and STICK to it? I seem to have no self-discipline at all. I used to have at least a little. I will not quit. I will not quit. I will not quit...So enough of that. I DID manage to paint during Thanksgiving in spite of the fact that we had family from Toledo and Rica came home from LA and it was a very busy time, and I am not feeling so great. I did this while the rest of the girls in the family were "bonding" on a shopping trip. I hate shopping - but I probably should have gone with them just to be with them, which would have been nice - but I didn't think of that until it was too late. I am a dummy sometimes, well - actually often. But I am feeling great about getting some painting done. I did a portrait of Eric - Nathalie's guy who is in Iraq - I can't find where I saved it on my computer, so I will have to post it later. I did finish this somewhat whimsical painting of a view of Cuernavaca, MX (Acrylic on canvas, 24" x 30" )for Rica's house. That was a fun painting and it went well. Cuernavaca is Rica's favorite place on Earth I think - she went to school there and loves it, and talks about it a lot. I thought it would make her happy - and it did I think. It will look great in her place and she seems happy. My assessment of this painting is that it is too middle of the road. The colors are good - especially for Rica and her house, they are perfect for that. However it started out a bit more whimsical, but I found myself "straightening" lines and "fixing" things until it sort of lost it's whimsy. It is neither "whimsical" nor "realistic" - it needs to be more one or the other. Other than that I am very happy with it and not complaining. It serves it's purpose well. Now I have to get to work on the BIG one (4' X 6')for Ricks office. I started it but I really am sort of stumped on it. Guess I'll just start fooling around with it and see what happens. I am also starting on the annual Christmas ornaments - which is fun. I often think I enjoy making things more than painting - I am a thing-maker more than a painter. Now to find that portrait of Eric...

A Few More Journal Pages

Here are some more pages from the journal that I mailed out today. I think they are very boring and dull and mundane. Redundant you say? Yes. The only one I really like here is the self portrait with the mouths and eyes. That was really fun and a surprise for me too. I wish all of my work would develop like that one did. I may write more about this tomorrow.

Sampling of Journal Pages

I signed up for a Journal Collaboration and a Journal Swap...so I have been working on journal pages. I've done most of them in front of the TV in near darkness at night. This is a bit of a new adventure for me. I have been toying with the journal thing on and off for the past year and Tuesday night I dove in. I may even get involved with mail art and ATC's, they just seem like a fun thing - more on those later. So here is how it works: The SWAP is more like a round-robin or circle journal. There is a group of about 15 artist/journalists. Each one buys a journal, works in it for 2 weeks then sends it to the next person. Eventually, everyone should get their original journal back filled with other artist's thoughts and work. Fun huh? The COLLABORATION is similar, except the owner sends out her journals to people to work in, then they go back to her. This will be her 50th one I believe, and she is hoping to put a book together of them I think. The thing I like about this is that it is random, doesn't take a lot of time or energy, it can be anything, no pressure to be good, just to have fun and share. So here are a couple of scans from what I've been playing with. I blurred out some personal information on a couple of them - that's the mess in the corners, but this is just to give you an idea anyway - not great works of art, that's for sure. Just fun!


Oh yeah, the two doodle layouts with the messy corners and my name and info on them are the insides on the front and back of the cover. I purposely made it so my book has no real front or back or right side up, - I wanted complete freedom for the artist/journalists to work in it any which way - that is why I put my name in so many corners - if I had just put it in one corner or on one page it would have acted as an indicator of how the book "should" go. Didn't want that.

For Fun -- What Stone Are You?

Try this little quiz just for the fun of it. Turns out I am Lapis Lazuli, otherwise know as a big mouth :)

What Stone Are You?

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Sophia Resting 12" x 16" Oil on canvas

I did this portrait of Sophia a couple of weeks ago. I feel like I am making some good progress in handling the oils. At some point I want to merge the fun, stream of consciousness, experimental acrylic and collage with the more classical and disciplined oil painting. I don't know what that looks like just yet but it's coming. I love working both ways. I will just keep painting and creating and see what evolves I guess. Working in two such diverse ways makes me appear and feel a little bit like I have a multi-personality disorder, but I assure you I don't. It does make me unappealing to galleries right now - at least until I get a consistency developed. If ever...

Star 8" x10" Acrylic/Collage

This is not a part of the card series, but more a part of the mask series I did earlier this year. I shot this image of a friend wearing a mask, for some reason I like it and have used it a couple of times.

Hearts of Three 8" x 10" Acrylic/Collage

Not much to say about this that hasn't already been said. I love these blue and red colors. See? I have been busy!

3 Hearts 6" x 8" Acrylic/Collage

Here is another in the cards series. Mostly about color and texture, but the 3 hearts reference relationships.

Club of Two 8" x 10" Acrylic/Collage

As a group the Experimental Water Media Class decided to do some projects based on playing cards, and then mounting a group show in a few months at a gallery in Fallbrook. We each chose 4 random cards from two over sized decks. One of the cards I pulled was the 2 of clubs. As I began to play around with the cards, figures and relationships began to form in my mind. This one is about being "left out" or a being a "third wheel." One of the things I really enjoy about working this way is that it is a stream of consciousness thing. When I was finished it was just so obvious..."two's a club and three's a crowd." Duh. Again on my monitor this looks a little washed out - it tends to be a darker image.
OK -I am laughing out loud as is Rick. He just informed me it is "Two's a couple, three's a crowd" NOT "two's a club." Double DUH : )

No Gain Without Pain 8" x 10" Mixed Media

I named this "No Gain Without Pains" because the Benjamin Franklin quote ended up being collaged into the piece. This piece went through a ton of stages and changes. So many I can't remember how it started out - but I know it wasn't anything like this at all. Again this ended up being a darker piece, with lots of collage and texture, including matches. It is very difficult to get the color right on my monitor, it looks a bit washed out to me right now. Here are three details from it.