PAIN

This piece was created for a gallery exhibit entitled " PAIN" and is currently on Exhibit at the Hoyt Gallery- USC - Los Angeles, CA.  Opening October 4, 2017.  This piece is postcard size and was created with ink and watercolor.

Through The View Finder...

...Can you pass by a ViewMaster, an old Stereoscope, ViewFinders without taking a peek inside? I can't!! I have to peek!  I especially love finding an antique photo viewer, I have to pick it up.  Moving pictures? Even better!!  Those machine that you pay a nickel to watch moving pictures...get me my change purse!
These little Zendoodles/Zentangles Girls are done in red ink & watercolor. I darken the edges to make them appear as though they are futuristic antiques as seen through a ViewFinder.  All are up for auction, just click on the above page link to place a bid.  I am working on a larger piece like the hollyhocks. I'm having fun with these! When I start I never know how they are going to turn out.

 "She Dreamed of Growing Cupcakes"

 "Sprouting Ideas"

"Hidden in the Bayou"

 

"Visions of the Perfect Tea Party"

"Hollyhocks in Okinawa"

What is happening?!...

...this year is already 1/2 over already! How did that happen?! I haven't forgotten about you... I have taken pictures of all the things I've been up to and will start posting them!

I haven't been painting much this year while trying to heal my painters/tennis elbow, carpal tunnel and other issues. My doctor has figured out what is wrong with me, so it's upward and onward from here after the next round of tests next week!! I am feeling better and it's uphill from here!  It has become really difficult for me to paint on canvas as I use an easel, then paint for hours on end with my arm up without notice because I'm totally in my right brain. So.... now I am trying to work with watercolors and paper. Its a huge challenge for me and I may give up and go back to acrylic on paper but for now I'm trying!  Watercolors are so different in that you paint light to dark and at times very frustrating. A piece can be ruined in an instant at the end when it's almost finished. I also normally paint on black often just adding color and where the black is there is no paint other than the initial black (or sometimes yellow).  Here is my current work-in-progress...

I hope I don't ruin it because I like her !

I will post the final picture soon...

Peace & Blessings

Destination Inspiration...

... Half Moon Bay...

We took a little birthday/de-stress 2 day trip to Half Moon Bay in April.  The stress didn't stop so I could use another little trip again!  This year it's been one traumatic horrible thing after another, but hopefully the tide is changing. I feel like it is; and I am beginning to paint again. I need to paint again. Painting is healing and I have missed it.  Well tucked away in "the vault"  was our trip and thoughts of this huge carnivorous plant place that we went to. It was so cool.  Our cameras died almost the minute we got in there so I don't have any pictures of the awesome displays. 

 

 

 

 

My Beach Angel. View from the top of the cliff...

I did it with my feet!

World's Rare Plants

http://www.worldsrareplants.com/

Looking into the glass globes or potted plants it was like looking into another world. A Jurassic world or Underworld or Fairy world.  The owner was full of information about the plants as well. One carnivorous plant he showed me was 40 years old. He said if you have one you will never have any knats or a fly in your house. hahaha  Fasinating with a little creep factor.

The building was full of fairy & gnome gardens & really unusual things. A large selection of little ceramics to make your own tiny world too.

So begins my new series.... which I'm trying to name... Help is appreciated, just leave me a comment!

"Lovely to Eat You"...

"Full Moon in Half Moon Bay"...

LOL

 

 

I did 2 paintings on pieces of wood...but I think they are so whimsical, weird & wonderful, I am keeping those for myself & hanging them on my patio, but there will be more ...

Coming to a Ebay or Etsy Shop or Spoonflower shop soon!

 

So be on the lookout! You never will know where you might find a little inspiration!

 

Blessings!

 

I Folded...

...and folded and folded. Who knew I could have one day made a living at folding paper like Sipho Mabona !??  When I moved to Japan I fell in love & couldn't have enough origami paper.  If my parents gave me money I would spend it on origami paper.  There was always a silver page or gold page, or both at the bottom of the stack and I always had a hard time folding those. I would save them for last because they were pretty. I would get so upset if I messed up on those pieces. haha Looking back it was sort of a comfort having that paper to play with being in such a new environment & culture. I love the Japanese people, Japanese art, food.  My mom jokes (but it's true)  that she was still finding paper of mine long after I moved out. (I won't say how long. haha)

A nice package of origami paper can still stop me in my tracks. 

After all these years I can still make these in my sleep! I also make one upside down with a little flare...

My son's wedding is July 3rd.  The rehearsal party is at my house. Maybe I should start now and cover the backyard in white cranes!  hum.... I think I'd need some volunteer paper folders my yard is pretty big!  Did you know according to Japanese legend that 1000 folded cranes makes a wish come true? Who's in? Who's folding with me?

 

Today I plan to work listing some new art & paint some more.

So folding my hands in prayer is the only folding I'm going to get done today!

Create a great day!

Blessings!

 

 

P.H.D. completed? ....

...Project Half Done that is.  I love zipper bags. My zipper bags have zipper bags. I use them for everything.  I have my make-up in 3 or 4 zipper bags, (yes organized, eyes, lips, etc ...) however,  most of that I don't use everyday but I pull out my make-up bags & they sometimes end up on my counter  for a day even though it takes 2 seconds to put them back in the cabinet.  I don't like that.  If you are a Follower of my blog you might already know about my "Hidey Holes", they are places I put things in so things are out of sight, just one tiny example is a antique large green bell pepper cookie jar filled with vitamins, aspirin, cough syrup, etc... in my kitchen, that jar would be classified as a "Hidey Hole", a medicinal hidey hole. hahaha   Basically they save me, I can have lots of crap but not look like it. haha   True story. When I was a kid my Mom had us shove clutter from the coffee table under a couch cushion when company came calling. hahaha  In her defense, she was married to Dad who doesn't like his clutter touched & had 4 kids, personally I thought it was brilliant at the time.

3 years ago (I know, craft hoarder) I saw this ugly worn jewelry box at the thrift store for $5. (The picture doesn't do it's homeliness justice, I thought $5 was a lot for it.) I also thought it might be perfect to put my everyday make-up/facial things in and a few pieces of costume jewelry or what nots - basically a new Hidey Hole for my dressing area.  

When I got it home & started painting. First primed it with white.

I drew out flowers, and painted it black.I didn't like the flowers.  

 

So I changed the flowers to Hydrangeas, which I love.

 

 

Then I decided I didn't want that for make-up. I like my zipper bags, they take up less space and swore off leaving them on the counter.  So I just put it in it's own hidey hole and left it. Well I pulled it back out a few weeks ago and decided I finish it and if I didn't want it I would just re-donate  it or give it away. But as I was finishing it I thought I would use it to house lots of sewing notions that I grab often, bobbins, rippers, stuff that .  

 

I liked it black and may turn it back to black...  

 

 

 

...but for now I am leaving the pop of red color on it.

 

 

 

I still have to varnish it or wax it...one day...

I hope this inspires you to make something new again!

Blessings

Squirrel ! ...

.... and I'm off!  That didn't take long did it? Today I was "squirreled" after viewing an online artist friend's new video.  Mystele Kirkeeng.   She is a Mixed Media Diva!  She makes it look so easy & not messy at all.  I love to watch her process and I am happy that I have some of her art.  Well right there on the side bar was a video by Betty Franks, Mystic Tulip Art, (click on their names to view their videos)  and her colorful doodle painting caught my eye so I watched Betty and I then painted & doodled all day.  I love mixed media pieces. I try, I make a mess, I have fun for awhile then I start thinking too hard, I get stuck, or I ruin it somehow, anyway I'm not ever super happy with the end result ...  then I clean up the mess & vow not to do it again for a long while...  But these were fun! It's just paint & ink. No stamping, poking, scraping, coloring, spraying (well I didn't spray. I dabbed ;)  I actually did some paintings like this in 2008 or 2009. I even resorted to my white lines like my ol' folky folk art I used to do.  

I took pictures of my process today so you could see that too.

 A great tip that Betty has for doodling is what I am gonna call the "double doodle".

Going over your lines twice and not perfectly does look really good!

 

 I already have some ideas for more and will probably think of a few more when I'm trying to get to sleep.

I did these little spontaneous pieces yesterday.

All 3 of the latter are ACEOs. 

Now I'm off to bed with paint in my head! 

Blessings!

Spores are Flying...

... to Twitter Art Exhibit. I hope none of my cooties go with it.  Hey a girl can change her mind.  This piece is going.  It's happier and more fun than the other I had planned. Now all the pieces I painted yesterday look sad. Boo.  I think I am taking this one to the printer and going to put it in my kitchen. 
"Oh what a night!" 

Lord knows I have some coffee grounds!! and I love upcycling :)  hum.....

Create a great day!

Blessings

 

 

Not Good, Bad & Ugly...

...that was my day.  I rarely vent or complain publically but this is my place, sort of my diary... Today I was told my best friend is no longer able to speak, she is nearly non-responsive and her days are very few. She has suffered so much as well as those who love her. As if my life wasn't changed already, it really is changed now. I realized that day before yesterday was the last time I would talk to her and if I had known that would I have said other things?  I wasn't sure she really understood everything I said but she knew it was me and didn't want me to get off the phone when I tried.  She said very little.  The last thing I said to her & she to me was I love you, so that is comforting. Today they put her on a morphine pump. I already miss her and she isn't really gone.  I'm sick right now too, a horrible sore throat, body aches, so the news & realization that I can't talk to her anymore just added to my ailments, my chest literally hurt and I would find tears falling off my cheeks when I didn't realize I was crying.  Unless we were on vacation or out of the country there has hardly been a day without either being with her or talking to her in 30 years. She is a sister to me, one of the longest relationships of my life and I can't imagine it without her right now.  So instead of yarn, I consoled myself with paint and paper. Painting one after another. Then pictures, scanning... blogging.  I'm still going but I'm ready to crash.

I finished and listed this piece in my Etsy shop. Its my favorite of the day. I'm going call these Little Totems.
She sat gracefully silent in the trees...

"Bohemian Hunter"

I'm working on my drawings, so in order not to ruin my drawings, I am playing with thin washes like watercolor which is really hard for me, I have to see backwards sort of.  Too much color working like this can ruin the piece in an instant.  I have several as evidence.

I am sending this one to Norway because it's my husband's favorite, my son named it, and it's more my normal style. Painting on black willy nilly nothing drawn out.

"White Water Woman"

 

Just miles from my home is the little town of Coloma. Famous for the gold discovery that started The Gold Rush, but also famous for white water rafting.   I'm mailing it tomorrow & crossing my fingers it arrives on time.

Tell someone special how much you love them today.

Blessings

 

I Live On the Edge...

...   of a Miwok Indian reservation,  the American River, "Gold Country",  the Sierras, hilly country sides dotted here & there with rambling vineyards, tall pines, redwoods, scrub oaks and apple orchards.  Lately,  I have been so drawn to native American Indian designs, especially if it's campy ala vintage summer camp.  (BTW I am a proud daughter of a  Potawatomi Indian. ) I started a board on Pinterest called Pow Wow and started some little paintings  (below) reflecting my home now and my family.   I am working on a piece for this year's Twitter Art Exhibit in Norway. I may send one of these.  It sure feels good to paint again, to lose all my worries in paint. Hours melt into hours. 

Some of these little ones remind me of deer hunters who sit in the trees for hours.  A few have river water with river rock. One not shown has a sweet bird on a branch I can't wait to paint.  I'm not sure how many I have drawn but it's a lot as well as a large canvas so I have lots of painting to do.  I am still working on some little pieces from the Love is a Blanket series too with vintage fabrics. 

 Pieces In Progress

Yarn is like comfort food to me. Whenever I am going through a stressful time I always end up with a bag of yarn & needles in my hand.  I learned to crochet when I was 7 yrs old and I still love it. (I used to fashion my own Troll Doll clothes.)  So I have been crocheting away, making some of these "pow wow" slippers using up my shameful stash of new & vintage yarn.  You can find a pair at "Camp Shenanagans"!  haha  I have an expert cross stitcher/needleworker ready to work with me so order away!   They are so happy on your feet and warm too!  

 

 

I don't know what happened to January. Happy belated New Year. :)

I promise to post more this year.

Create a great day!