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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

On A Mission

It's a beautiful day by my standards. I even have a sweatshirt on! It's chilly & gray. I hope it rains. I've been working in the backyard every morning & getting a lot done. No plantings just clean up. I started a small rock retaining wall around the patio in the circle of trees. It's almost finished. Really it's not a big wall, more like a big rock edging. I've been doing a little bit at a time so that I don't throw my back out. It was a nice weekend. Hope yours was too.

Last night I had the house to myself. Hubby was working. Son had band practice. I curled up in my Hubby's chair & sketched on a new freshly prepared canvas while a previously recorded "Pawn Stars" show played. I am hooked on that show. After I had it sketched out, which is something I don't do when I paint my Angels, I headed up to my tiny studio. Forgetting to turn some lights on. As I finished putting the 1st coat of paint on my new piece "Drama Queen" the phone rang. I scrambled around in the dark to find the phone, my son tells me he is spending the night out, then I make my way back to the studio. When I walked in room, the "Drama Queen" was waiting for me. I'm not kidding. Working up close to the piece I thought it was fun, from afar it was scary. I actually got the heebie geebies. So I went back downstairs, flipping on lights & kind of looking over my shoulder all the way. I haven't gone in there again yet & it's already noon. haha So my mission for today is to sweet'n this "Drama Queen" up a bit without losing it's personality.

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Thursday, September 24, 2009

Finally Finished!

I love this one. I wish I could get a better picture but it's too big for me to scan at home. This sweet one has sort of a double meaning for me. Concessions, as in Concession Stand, and concessions as in putting on a happy face when making concessions in our life that we don't always want to make. Hope you like it too!
Be happy!

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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

I'm So Tempted...

...bury myself into this chair in front of the computer & feast my eyes on art, and some clown art, but I won't do it. I don't want to see anything that may influence the pieces that I have swirling around in my head. Do not fear, I will get back to painting angels but I am having so much fun right now. I'm loving what I'm doing. After many oil pastel pieces, I finally picked up my brushes to put some clowns on canvas. Funny, I don't feel like these are "clowns". To me they seem to be just odd whimsical colorful characters whose sole job is to make people happy & to delight. This piece took me 3 days to complete. It's on 12"x12"x1.5" gallery wrapped canvas. I started on another late last night which I am calling "Concessions". It may take 3 days as well. Do you ever start a piece then think to yourself; "is this going to be worth the time?" "should I quit now or keep going?" I do, however, this is not the case for these pieces. I love these characters & enjoyed every moment spent creating them.

"North Wind"
Following the wind without any plans... that's me & I have a wonderful time wherever I end up. There is a little sadness on one side of the face & happiness on the other, depicting the emotions you often feel when it's time to move on.

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Thursday, September 17, 2009

Still Clowning Around...

I know that "clown art" is not the most marketable thing to do. Red Skelton didn't do too bad but he was a clown. I also know the goal of a full-time artist is to make a comfortable living. I'm trying to reach that goal. And I know that these take considerable time to create, perhaps I should spend that time more wisely. However, lack of marketability & time isn't stopping me. Just painting & creating things that may be profitable would crush my creative spirit. I can't do it. I bore too easily. I paint & create things I like. If you like it too that makes it even more awesome & rewarding. I can make a chicken last for at least 3 dinners! LOL

These little clown people are a little freedom for me to do something silly, get some" lowbrow" juices flowing, make something crazy, something out of the ordinary, unexpected and at the same time I am getting comfortable with a new medium, oil pastels. I think I'm getting better at using them. Learning to work color from light to dark. These little clowns are beginning not to scare me but make me happy. Life is a Circus enough, channel your inner clown!

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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

On My Easel


Cirques Acts are now listed on Ebay. Click here to bid!

Little Swimmer's are now listed on Etsy. Click here to purchase!


Dreamy Angels are now listed on Ebay. Click here to bid!

I can't put the oil pastels down! I'm having so much fun with them. Here's a few ACEOs I've been working on. The "Little Swimmers" are currently listed in my Etsy Shop. I've had the circus in my head this summer & going to the Cirques du Soleil show only made it worse. I guess I am facing my fears of Clowns in my Cirques collection which is fun and a little creepy! Clowns scare me. I'm scaring myself! LOL

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Friday, September 11, 2009

I've Got A...Pencil Full of Lead

And nothin's gonna bring me down!





Have a great weekend!

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Haiku Hello


Waiting for your call
Minutes pass by like raindrops
I am immo
bilephoto by radiofreesealab's

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Thursday, September 10, 2009

Back To Business!

Back from Las Vegas & So Cal. We got in late Tuesday night and I did absolutely nothing yesterday! We got on the road about 4am (not 3am) on Friday & pulled into Henderson about 2:45pm. We had a slow down because of heavy rain. Oh yeah! You know me and rain. It was great. I didn't mind a bit. Apparently in Nevada around Las Vegas they take planes up to salt the clouds to make the rain to cool it down some. California should do the same thing especially over big fire areas & on top of my house :) We got into our room, freshened up then met up with our friends. We drove downtown to meet with our friend's sister & brother-in-law & went then to Margaritaville. We had to wait to get in and people watching was as much fun as the dinner & volcano show! We met some usual characters that were walking by on the boulevard. I was so tired after dinner that when I got into the room & hit the bed I was out like a light in seconds.

The next morning we went to the Joker's Wild, a small casino down the street, for a bite to eat. We split a club sandwich & my hubby played a couple of Keno tickets while we ate & won $3. Like I said we aren't big gamblers and we kept so busy there was no time to gamble. Afterwards we of met up with our friends & went out to Lake Las Vegas. We hung around there for several hours visiting & window shopping. It was so hot. We spent longer than we thought there & had to rush back to the hotel to get ready for the big show.

In a couple of hours we all met at the Mirage. Let me just say that no matter where you live the travel & tickets would be worth it to go to the Cirque Du Soleil LoVe show! It was the most fantastic show I have ever seen. Even if you are not a Beatles fan you would enjoy this show. The first thing I said when it was over was "I want to see it again!" There are speakers in the head rest of your seat & on the seat in front of you, that combined with the acts on stage was amazing. Total sensory overload! At some points in the show it is impossible to see everything that is going on, which is why I would love to see it again and I wish all my friends & family could see it. It's truly an unforgettable experience!

The next day we took off for Murietta. We stayed there that night & the next day. I did all the cooking which was fun for me, hopefully fun for them & on Monday saw Julie & Julia the movie. We were escaping the heat. I read this book several years ago & I think they did a great job on the movie. I think Meryl Streep did Julia Child justice and the movie is worth a ticket to see in the theater. I hate going to the movie only to leave thinking I should have waited for it to be $1 in the video store. The guys liked it even though it could be labeled as a "chick flick".
I said back to business but I'm not exactly back to business, but I am back. I am working on a collage with our Cirques Soliel tickets and the different confetti that fell during the show, yep I put that right in my purse. Tomorrow I am watching my little JJ. He's spending the night. Then Saturday we are going to a jazz concert featuring Mindy Aber & Peter White. Busy busy lately. So come Monday I will really be back in business. I can't wait to paint!

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Thursday, September 3, 2009

What?! Wow!


Yes Wow! A blog award created to recognize me!! Can you think of anything sweeter than that? I can't right now!!! Please go to TJ's blog to read all about it and what she wrote. It's so beautiful. You will love TJ & her art too. She loves color as much as I do. Her pieces are whimsical eye candy. I will definitely be passing this along as soon as I get back next week.
We leave for Vegas at 3am in the morning. I very excited to spend time with friends that I dearly love. We don't really gamble but it's gonna be awfully tempting now after spending $600 at the Toyota dealership yesterday, just to see if we could re-coop that money. haha But ya know that saying What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas? Well I think what really happens is your money stays there & is the price you pay for your secrets to stay there too! LOL We took my car in for it's regular checkup (had a $100 off coupon for it too) & hubby wanted to get it checked out after my recent cross country trip. They said they found other things that needed fixing. Don't they always? I love my little Matrix though and will keep it until it is completely unfixable. Even though it's small, it's roomy, my 6 ft+ guys can sit in the back w/o their knees touching the back of the front seats, an entire drum kit fits in the back & it's fun to drive.

I've been working on this large painting all week. I still have lots of work to do on it. So far she's not an Angel. Maybe if I turn her into an Angel she'll come together? haha She started off like a Japanese Geisha, then morphed into a Spanish Senorita. A Bullfighter's bride? Her face has changed at least 5 times and I am in the process of changing it again. The shape, the eyes... Painting large canvases is a real challenge for me unless they are super large, those are fun. I prefer painting smaller pieces but I had the canvas so I thought I'd use it. I keep plugging along but really I'm getting to the point of giving up and starting something new instead of spending anymore time & paint on her.

Have a great holiday weekend! Peace & Love ;)

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