Stepping into Frida's Mind - Part 1

I'm the mom of a high school football player. As such I find myself watching a sport that I'd never in a million years intentionally lay eyes on. Mind you I only watch the game when he's on the field. And by watch, I mean peer through my fingers, wince, and cross my fingers and toes that he doesn't get hurt, all the while aware that I am utterly and completely clueless about any rules of the game.

I talked with my little guy after his last game.


Me: "I was watching you play and I realized that all of you on the field actually want to play."

Little guy: "Uh, yeah, mom."

Me: "Whenever I got on the field when I was a kid I spent my whole time hoping that the ball (or whatever) never, ever headed my way. You're not like that at all."

Little guy: "When were you on the field?"

Me: "In P.E. class."

Little guy: "That wasn't a choice, mom. Everyone on the football team is choosing to be there because we all want to play."

Me: "Oh...."


I think I get it, sort of. I guess it's like how I absolutely love creating art each and every day and my kid hated creating art in the art class he had to take at school. Choice is an awesome thing.


I started a new painting. In the class I'm taking we're now studying Frida Kahlo. I am so excited! I find her absolutely fascinating. Excited to make an attempt at stepping into her painting mind.

I quickly sketched "Thinking About Death".

I added more details and worked on lowering
her left eye so they'd be more even as they
were in the original painting.

I roughed in the background. I'm so excited
to start painting this!

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At Times I Wait - Part 4

I often put things in my phone that I don't want to forget. I'm always on the lookout for something blog worthy that life (mostly with my family) provides. Last night Dave and I were driving to our little guy's football game and one such worthy thing came up. I quickly typed it in and then went about my evening. So tonight I pulled up the note and I can't for the life of me remember the context of the quote. This happens to me a lot. Here's what was in my note.


Me: "Oh, do you know something?"

Dave: "I've forgotten more things than you've ever known."


Well, I'm thinking I may have just topped my lovely husband in the forgotten department...though somehow I suspect there was a tad bit of an insult in what he'd said. Hooray for selective memory!


And I finished this painting! And I titled it! Here is "At Times I Wait" and below it are the last few stages.  Up close she looks all textured and "blotchy" but at a distance she looks clear and precise. I love that!

"At Times I Wait"

Yup, I decided that her face was all wrong and
I painted over it. I love when that happens!

I'd decided that her face/head had been too small
before so I worked on creating a larger head.

I worked on the details and the shadows.

I added some hair color and some tone to her
face. I wasn't going for precision with this one.
I wanted it to be a bit rough looking. Near the
end I got so absorbed in the painting that I forgot
to take additional photos. 

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Untitled - Part 3

I think I must be pretty happy to please. Oh, and maybe a bit easy to displease as well. Today I called our dentist, the one we've used for over fifteen years, hoping to get an teeth cleaning appointment sometime before the end of the year. Well, gosh, nope. Nothing till February at the earliest. Yes, I was disappointed. But after I got home I remembered that a dentist, who has been receiving rave reviews from neighbors, had moved into the hood right near my house. Well, I called them and they fit me in early next month. I was so, so excited!

Course now I'm remembering that I have a dentist phobia...but I'm planning on having my excitement last all the way through to the end of the appointment. It's my plan and I'm sticking to it.


I continued working on this painting. I'm so glad I wasn't using a live model. It would have been way too many days sitting prim and proper. And she remains nameless. Hmmmmmmmm....

I added a layer of flesh tone.

I went back in with charcoal and added some details
to get me started with the next part of painting.

I blended the paint with the charcoal to make
darker tones. I worked a bit on the chair that
she's sitting on. I also tried a color for her
hair...I'm not digging it. I think it needs to be darker.

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Untitled - Part 2

I'm always trying to talk with my kid. It likely drives him nuts.


Me: "You hardly ever respond when I'm trying to have a conversation with you."

Little guy: "There's just not much of a response that's needed."

Me: "Yes, there is, I'm usually asking a question."

Little guy: "And that only requires one of four answers."

Me: "Gee, so much for positivity."

Little guy: "Well, half of the answers are positive...yes, no, OK, or maybe...yes and OK are completely positive."


So my new thing is learning how to see the positives. One sweet little word at the time. I adore my kiddo!



I continued working on this painting. I'm really enjoying using thicker layers of paint and creating a lot of texture.

I painted a layer of white. The paint blended
beautifully with the charcoal to create gray.

I sketched with charcoal again and added
another layer of white.

I painted the background around the figure
to make sure I had clean lines.

I mixed a lovely yellow and painted over the
green background letting just a bit peek through.
I painted in a crosshatch pattern.

Here's a close-up. I'm loving the texture!

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Untitled - Part 1

I picked my little guy up from school early today for an orthodontist appointment. I walked into the huge high school, approached the big main staircase, and suddenly had a thought...what if the bell rings and a rush of students appears and I get sucked into their flow and end up stuck in a class?!?! I picked up my pace, hurrying up the last few steps to the safety of the office. Whew!

And thankfully I had my kid to get me outa that scary place. :-)


I started a new painting. I'm not sure what the title will be, so for now it will stay "Untitled".

I started with a three-tone messy background.

I used charcoal to begin sketching out the figure.

I'm doing my best to learn from the recent
face drawing tips I've been given.

I'm excited to keep working on her!

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Van Gogh's Postman - Part 3

When I got home from work today I sat on the couch and chatted with Dave and the kiddo. Hazel, our awesome, 85 pounds of pure love dog, stared at me from my little guy's lap. They were both on the recliner about six feet away. Hazel could contain herself no longer and leapt off of the chair and ran over to say, "hi". I pet her, rubbed her ears, scratched her back, gave her hugs, and told my little guy that she'd had her fill and he could call her back to his lap.

Little guy: "Hazel, come here!"

She started to walk over there, turned around, came back to me, jumped on the couch, and lay down all snuggled up beside me. I guess my one minute doggy love session was simply not enough. 

And so one minute turned into five minutes which turned into a trip to the bedroom for a twenty minute snuggly power nap. Love that big girl of mine!

I finished this painting. What fun it was to paint in Van Gogh's style (or at least my version of his amazing style).  I learned so, so much.

"Van Gogh's Postman"

I used white paint to lay out where I wanted
the flowers on the wallpaper to be.
I also lowered his shoulders. Did ya notice?

I started adding color to the flowers.

I finished the flowers, added stems, and
added a bit of brown in the parts between the
flowers. I worked on his eyes a bit between
this picture and the final photo of the finished piece.

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Van Gogh's Postman - Part 2

I'm absolutely convinced that the electricity usage in Austin, Texas could be cut by at least a quarter if grocery stores didn't keep their thermostats so darn low. I'm also somehow convinced that someday I'll remember that this is always the case and I should, by now, always be prepared. Yet....


Me (after having shopped at Randall's and then at Costco in cut-offs and a tank top...including going in the sub-zero produce room): "Oh, my gosh, I'm so cold. I can't wait to get outside again."

Costco receipt checking lady: "I know. I have to take a light jacket with me wherever I go."

Me: "Yeah, I'm forty-eight and I still haven't learned that."

Costco receipt checking lady: "You're young. You still have plenty of time."

Well, that's good, because I'm clearly not a quick study in this area.

I continued working on this painting. It was so exciting getting to start the layering of patterns!

I painted the background with a mix
of green and turquoise. (Sorry, I think
I didn't use flash with this one.)

I added details to his hat and jacket.

I started the first layers of patterning on his
face. He reminds me of a tiger at this point. :-)

I continued adding layers. I used five different
colors on his face. I added color to his lips and
details to his eyes and eyebrows.

I added more of a reddish color to his face
and started the first couple of pattern
layers on his fabulous beard. 

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