Supporting Characters

How do I know that David and I are perfect for each other?


Appliance repair guy commenting on our fridge's coils: "Your bottom looks good."

David and me: "Thank you."


Oy, you can't take us anywhere...even our own kitchen.



Today I worked on some "supporting characters" for my future whimsical paintings (as part of this class).

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment

The Many Layers of Frida - Part 4

It's been a lovely rainy morning in Austin, Texas. I opened the windows, made some tea (over and over), and painted to my heart's delight. Just outside the window by my easel, a sweet little squirrel was on a mission. He ran to right below the window sill, grabbed something, an then dashed out in the rain to a bush. He did it over and over and over. I suspect that precious little guy is fully stocked up for winter by now. Hope he remembers where he buried his goodies when the time comes.


I was able to finish this painting this morning. I think I finally found the whimsy I was looking for when I started this project. It dove into a deeper level than I'd expected, but this morning I found myself returning to the bright colors and fantastical land that I find so appealing. And having completed this wonderful taster for the year-long class I was considering, I've decided that I will definitely be signing up for it. I'm so excited to start in January!

Here is the finished painting and below are a number of stages leading up to it.

"The Many Layers of Frida"

I painted the hanging ornaments and added
white accents to the thorns.

I added a reflection to the ornaments, darkened
the canvas on the left of her cape, and added
some whimsical dots to the side of her neck and head.

This shows the dots, the writing on her chest/neck
and that she is, in fact, smiling. When I look at the
photos of the painting as a whole it's hard for me
to see that expression on her face...but there it is!

I added more whimsical dots and some flowers
at the bottom of her cape. The flowers and dots
are reminiscent of my early art work. Fun!
I also added more yellow here and there.

I outlined the flowers and leaves with white.

I added stars. I kept staring at this piece knowing
it was missing something and the stars were it!

 Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

The Many Layers of Frida - Part 3

Our silly big cat, Pug, has been unfaithful. Yes, he's been seeing other neighbors. Not in his usual way where he walks up to people strolling down the street and begs to be petted. Nope. He's been sleeping on a neighbor's porch and begging for their love, attention, and food.

Lucky for us they're friends of ours and they came over to make sure all was well here and let us know about our sweet big boy. My theory? Pug is mad at us because we've been keeping him and Tommy locked in at night to protect them from the roaming coyotes. Can't exactly explain that to Pug, so he's made himself comfortable elsewhere. "That'll show 'em!"

Tonight I had my little guy go retrieve Pug from our neighbor's porch and when they arrived I gave Pug canned cat food. Yes, my plan is to spoil him rotten to compensate for the nightly lock-ins. And maybe, just maybe, he'll get back to his old faithful self.


I continued working on my Frida collage. My goodness this is thought provoking and wonderful! I love that it's got a self portrait vibe with a fabulous Frida twist.

I added white to parts of the canvas and
then I spread it thin with the edge of
a small piece of watercolor paper.

I decided I wanted her neck thinner. Frida
portrayed herself with a long thin neck
and I wanted to emulate that. I also added
a crown of flowers in her hair and added
white accents to her hair.

After I'd taken some of the brightness away
with the white I decided I wanted some
brightness back. I also embellished the cape
with a heart as I thought when it's exposed
on the outside it shows vulnerability.
I gave her buttons connected by cord
that echoed Frida's spine.

The thorned vines are both protection
and clear boundaries. They show an exterior
that is hard to penetrate, but it is decorated
perhaps to show a softening of the edges,
perhaps to honor the purpose of the vines.

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

The Many Layers of Frida - Part 2

I had a bit of time to continue working on this painting tonight. I'm loving how she's still Frida, but a new version. Part of this project is working through some feelings. My own, not Frida's, though she's a part of it as well. I don't know this for sure, but I think of Frida as being someone who was alone a lot (I should research this). She certainly explored her feelings and conveyed them through her art and she also explored her physical being and laid that down on canvas as well. As I was working on her face and thinking of this piece I thought of my own feelings, too. My introvertedness that dictates so much of my life, my passion for alone time to recharge, and my challenges when faced with things and events out of my comfort zone. Painting is my solace as I imagine it was hers. I think this is my favorite quote of hers.

“I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it's true I'm here, and I'm just as strange as you.”

Yup!

I started with her face and hair. I sketched out
how I wanted her face to be (different than the
original photograph). I wanted her eyes perhaps
a bit brighter and her smile a bit upturned. I
absolutely wanted to keep her intensity.

I added splashes of color to the background and
began defining what will be her dress or
whatever she will be wearing.

I added some writing. A quote of Frida's and
some of my own thoughts.

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

The Many Layers of Frida - Part 1

I received a tutorial in my email a couple of days ago. It was a taste of a year-long class I'm strongly considering taking next year. The tutorial is for a collage and painting piece. After doing my Van Gogh and Kahlo paintings I felt I was up for a bit of a break. But what did I end up deciding to use as my focus? Yup, Frida Kahlo. As I was going through images I found flowers that reminded me of her. I found a fence that made me think of her spine. Even the flowers in some of Van Gogh's paintings reminded me of her as she wore them so beautifully in her hair. So, Frida it is. I hope to make this more of a whimsical piece than my last one. I understand that Frida had a wicked sense of humor and loved to laugh. That's what I want to portray. I'm super excited!


Here's my start. I got the collaging done and I'm hopeful that the next thing on the tutorial is painting...we'll see!

Note: I'm using other artists and photographers' work, but it is only for inspiration as I will be painting over all of it.

A canvas I'd dripped with leftover paint from a
previous painting called out to me. Yes, it said,
"Pick me! Pick me! Paint me! Paint me!"
I found a number of pieces to compose my
collage. Some from the web and some from a
1963 plant encyclopedia I'd gotten several years
ago to use for just such projects.

I lay the pieces out on the canvas. I love the
gathering of Van Gogh, Kahlo, Matisse, and
lovely garden photos.

I used matte medium to stick it to a canvas.
It's on my easel and ready for the next step!!!

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

Inspired by Matisse and Hafiz - Part 1

I completed this painting...with only one major flub along the way. One. That's not too bad, right? Here's the finished painting and below are several images on its way to its final stage (including the flub one, of course).

"Inspired by Matisse and Hafiz"

Once the positioning of the figures had been decided upon
I painted a quick rendition of them.

I gave the figures bodies.

I darkened their tones and left their bodies featureless
because my goal was to keep them racially and gender neutral.

I painted the words to the poem...and...Doh!
I found out I'd left out one line.

So I painted over the lines above where I'd missed a line
and repainted the poem. And done!

What a truly wonderful painting to work on. I love doing commissioned pieces. I feel like I grow with each one.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Inspired by Matisse and Hafiz - Part 1

I was commissioned to do a piece that is in a different category than the other commissions I've had. Rather than being given a photo to base the painting on, I was given a poem and a couple of concept ideas. And it has been so much fun getting out of what was more of a comfort zone for me and into abstract interpretation. Seriously...fun!!!

The lovely person who wanted this piece thought that perhaps Matisse style figures and a house would make a lovely background for the poem. So after loading a page of Matisse paintings on my computer and reading the poem by Hafiz a number of times for inspiration, I got started.

My first step was to paint a horizon and then add a house
in the background and some trees in the foreground.

I added details to the house and the ground.
Are you seeing Matisse in this yet?

I added more details...trees (I added one in the background, too),
the house, a walkway, and a stone pathway. I added some figures
as well and sent it to my client to see if I was on the right track.

She wanted the figures to be bigger, so before I painted them
I created a bunch of mockups to check on positioning.
This is one of the mockups.

This is another mockup. There were nine total.

I should have the finished piece ready to post tomorrow. I'm so grateful for my client's fabulous eye and ideas with this project! I think she's been totally right on. Loving how it's progressing!

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Just Outside the Door

It's where our chickens have taken up residency. It took them about three months to come up with a group plan, but they seem to have realized that if they hover outside our back door to our deck, look terrifically cute, one of the humans who resides here is likely to go outside with something for them to eat.

Our girls are brilliant...and well fed.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Love in our House

What love is...


Me: "I just came in to tell you I love you." And I gave him a hug.

My big guy: "I love you, too, mom."


Me: "I just came in to tell you I love you." And I gave him a hug.

My little guy: "Making me a sandwich would mean you love me."


Well, reciprocal love is clearly hunger dependent.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Houses of Love

I make mom threats. It's true. And a lot of them are empty. You know how it goes. And here is one of my biggest ones.


Me: "You need to put all your clean clothes in drawers, not on the floor or in a pile on top of the chest, or I'm going to stop doing your laundry!!!"


And their clean clothes just kept right on not being in their drawers and I kept right on cleaning 'em.


But something has happened lately. My big guy has started doing all of his own laundry. And it's not like he's just throwing it in the washer and leaving it there (instead of not in his drawers) for days on end. Nope, he's staying on top of it, switching it to the dryer, and then taking it to his room. It's awesome!

Now just when I'm starting to think, "Hey, responsible wonderful kid, stay a while longer," he's getting set to move out.

And the words, "I'm not going to come home to do my laundry because I'll have machines in my apartment," make me just a bit misty.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Silence

This morning as I drove through our still pitch black neighborhood I spied a dog. An amazing dog. Only it wasn't an ordinary dog at all.  It was a coyote.  And it was simply magnificent.  The kid and I followed it for a bit in silent awe until it dodged up a driveway, disappeared, and we were left staring at where it had been. 

I love that my kid understands the value of silence.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Chicken Coop

Yes, I was bringing them scrambled eggs again.  No, it's not weird.  Yes, it's OK...and they love it.

Anyway, Dave was already out there hangin' with the ladies as I began my approach. 


Dave:  "Did you just fart?"

Me:  "Eggs!  It's the scrambled eggs!"  (this time, anyway...gee)

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Driven by Distraction

We seem to constantly be nagging our little guy. 


Us:  "Do your homework!"

Little guy:  "As soon as this episode is over."


Us:  "Clean your room!"

Little guy:  "After I get back from playing basketball."


Us:  "It's your turn to empty the dishwasher."

Little guy:  "I'm about to take a shower."


So today when I was driving him home from football practice and he commenced picking his toenails and pretending to flick them at me...I yelled because, well, obvious!


Me:  "Don't do that in my car!  Do it when we get home and use a toenail clipper instead of ripping them off!"

Little guy:  "Hey," he said as he continued picking at his toenails.  "At least I'm not putting off doing it."


The kid had a point...but I still told him I wasn't going to make him food for a week if he kept doing it.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Love in da House

One of my favorite things about summer is that I'm around to see so much more.  And one super sweet moment just happened.  Tommy, our kitten cuten was asleep on our bed.  Hazel, our 85 pounds of pure love dog was, too.  My little guy came in, carefully picked up Tommy and lay him atop Hazel, and then leaned into them giving them both a big hug.

Little guy:  "So much adorable packed into one hug!"

Love!

Click here to purchase this piece.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

My Hallway Mural is Finished!

Yup, I finished it. 

The family has been so great.  Dave thinks it's awesome.  My little guy thinks it's a bit "kiddish" and that I "should have started it a few years ago," but he also thinks it's pretty darn neat.  My big guy says, "That's really cool, mom."  And his girlfriend, the only other human girl that hangs out at my house these days says, "I love the cat.  It's my favorite part."

So there ya go!  The reviews are in.  And I'm giving myself five stars...see 'em?  They're right there at the top.

Oh, and when the light is low, the owls and stars appear to glow.  And now I think I need a black light!

Stop by any time.  The mural loves visitors.


P.S. The actual mural is more of a square shape.  My wonderful husband took a bunch of photos of its parts and seamed them together to create this image.  Thanks, Dave!!!!

 

 This is my Hallway Project.

Click here to check out my gallery.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Who dunnit?

My big guy is outa here for about three weeks.  I look at this as an amazing opportunity for my little guy to shine.  Bet you're thinking I'm talking about how he'll have the chance to get all the adult time, energy, and love.  Well, he'll get that, too, of course.  But what I'm talking about is this.


He'll have the chance to prove the following, leaving us no choice but to solely blame his brother:

- he always flushes after using the toilet.

- he consistently turns lights off when he leaves rooms.

- he never leaves dishes strewn about the living room.


Let the absolutely, positively, loving mom data collection begin.

This is part of my Hallway Project.

Click here to check out my gallery.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

In Need of a Manual

So I found a shirt on the side of the road.  A bunch of shirts, actually.  And I've been wearing them off and on for a while now.  All but one, that is. 

Now, I like the shirt.  At least I think I like the shirt.  But really I can't quite figure it out.  I think I know which is the neck hole and which is the waist hole...but truth be told, I'm not 100% sure.  So it sits in my drawer waiting for some stroke of genius to come over me.

I'm pretty sure the shirt must have originally come with a manual.


Suggestions and wisdom are welcome.

This is part of my Hallway Project.

Click here to check out my gallery.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

An Early Morning Scare

Sometimes when you think you're not alone, but it turns out you are, that ends up being a good thing.

Case in point:  This morning I got in my car.  I closed my door and saw something out of the corner of my eye.  I turned my head, saw nothing, turned my head...AND THERE IT WAS AGAIN!  My heartbeat accelerated.  I started to perspire just a tad.  I even reached over to lock all of the car doors.  But being me, I accidentally opened my window instead, which nearly gave me a heart attack. 

I got the window back up, managed to lock all the doors, held my breath, and turned my head.  I saw nothing, then turned my head back...and then I figured it out. 

Yes, I was scared of my own reflection. 

My little guy often manages to hit my driver's side mirror as he walks his bike to the back yard through the carport. 


And then slightly sweaty and much relieved me headed off to work.

This is part of my Hallway Project.

Click here to check out my gallery.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

A Good Day

Conversation in the car today:


Little guy:  "Today just feels like a really good day."

Me:  "Did something special happen."

Little guy:  "No, it just feels like a good day."

Me:  "I know that feeling."


I love that he tunes in like that!

This is part of my Hallway Project.

Click here to check out my gallery.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Examining the Data

I have to say that I find something very interesting.  I live with three fellas and the microwave at our house is a serious disaster.  Despite the fact that we have two microwave dome covers that live on top of our microwave, the inside of our microwave looks like a gruesome scene from "Dexter"...splatters everywhere...ceiling, sides, door, circular tray...disgusting. 

Now, the microwave in my classroom is used by me and the lovely woman with whom I'm lucky enough to work.  We use it each and every school day, all school year long, and on the last day of school we don't every have to clean it because it is pristine.  Note:  we do not have a microwave dome cover.

Hmmmm...I'm not quite sure what to conclude from this. 

This is part of my Hallway Project.  More little friends keep showing up!

Click here to check out my gallery.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!