Ready, Set, Nutcracker

I now have six 13 foot flats in my basement, in various stages of painting. They will be the flats at the wings of the stage. I am painting them to look like curtains.  The trickiest thing is to paint them quickly enough to still have time for other parts of the set, but carefully enough to get the effect I'm looking for.  I think I have gotten the technique figured out, so hopefully it will go quicker from now on. The process also got slowed down by my first cold of the season, which occurred, coincidentally, the day after we were out in the rain trying to tie down the flats in the back of a pickup (thanks Stan and Crissy) to transport them from the high school stage to my house. It was kind of a "how many people can you fit in a VW bug" kind of experience, but the flats made it in one piece. Or rather, in six pieces.  

A fantasy world of imagination is so much less gloomy than "reality"

1. 
   I now have artwork hanging in the Heron's Nest on Vashon Island, just in time for holiday shoppers.  It is my "Who's Counting" series, eggs that have been painted onto a collage of medium and fabric.  The folk art reference is 100% intentional. And if you are someone who feels that oil paint is so superior to acrylic, I defy you to guess which is which.  And if I sound defensive and like I have a chip on my shoulder about how snobbery is usually ignorance in disguise, and about how arbitrary I think these distinctions are anyway, well that too is completely intentional.  Oh, and p.s., I will henceforth only refer to galleries as "consignment shops." Hey, just calling it what it is. (I thought I would throw an arbitrary rant in there to match the tenor of this election season. And now I must go shower.)  The title of each piece is written on the back.  Chicken #1, Chicken #2, and so on.  
   
   
   I like to count my chickens before they hatch. like to believe that a lottery ticket will make me a millionaire.  I like to see a dirty driveway as a good place for a wedding, given a little imagination and a whole bunch of confetti to hide the oil stains.  I like to believe that teaching kids will make a difference in the world, or at least in someone's life.  I like to believe that the Democratic candidate is going to win, every time.  It can be so disappointing when things don't quite work out, but it's like what Zora Neale Hurston wrote, "Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to 'jump at de sun.' We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground." Okay people, I think now would be a good time to get off the ground.  I'll go first. Chicken #1, chicken #2, chicken #3...
   
   

Four chickens

 

I am making these little objects as part of a series I am calling "Who's Counting?"  It is a continuation of the idea of counting your chickens before they are hatched, about daring to dream and being able to see beauty and potential in unexpected places.  The eggs are oil painting, but much of the work  comes from doing this very precise collage work on the front and sides, so that the pieces become more object than painting.  My hope is for each one to be a precious little thing, kind of rich and sumptuous with the combination of fabrics.  They will eventually be hung together in a geometric pattern (more on that to come).

   

 

I love the smell of tempera paint in the morning

Just about ready for the new school year.  This will be my first year as an art teacher.  I have been teaching elementary school for 13 years, including many an art lesson.  But this will be different.  Five periods a day of art classes coming and going, kindergarten through fifth grade. I can't wait.

I put a mural at the entrance to the room, and continued it onto the back wall.  It feels like stepping into a painting.  My hope is that it will creat a slight shift in awareness as we enter the room, readying us for artmaking.

Some of My Favorite People Are Sheep

The Two-wall Gallery on Vashon Island is now the site of a September art show called “The Value and Beauty of Farm Life” which was juried by Vashon Sheepdog Classic.  So come on down and vote for your favorite piece and some lucky dog will get a $250 prize (woof!).  I will be there September 7th for the First Friday Art Walk, proselytizing for myself.

I have to say, I had such a feeling of satisfaction to have paintings selected for a show put on by a sheepdog group.  My new-found peeps!  It makes that monthly student loan payment feel worthwhile.  No joke.

I redid my sheep painting at 4 times its original size.  I thought it would take just as long but really, it took 4 times longer to paint (I believe I actually painted every hair on Zilla's face.  She is now my BFF.) Fortunately I did flip the image which tricked my brain into thinking it was a brand new painting.  The right side of my brain is so gullible!

(Not that it should make any difference, but these chickens are also nude and gay.)

The World Is My Canvas

After painting a set, I thought "I could get used to this."  It's fun to paint big.  Really big.  I have hopes of doing mural paintings with students at my school this year.  I decided to practice on the bedroom of an imaginative boy I know.  He had wanted one wall of forest, one with a pink sunset, one with a desert, and one of sealife. I got as far as the first two.  Somehow, the mood cast by these walls makes you want to whisper.  Next step is painting one of these trees at the entrance to my school's art room.

Visualize Bacon

And when pigs fly, I will realize my every dream and have a farm.  We have big plans to start flying lessons SOON.  BIG PLANS.  In the meantime, I am left to wonder what flying pig bacon tastes like.  Mmmm...

Unabashed Optimism

They say not to count your chickens before they've hatched. Well, I say you should count them and eat them before they hatch. Some people might call that foolish. I like to think of it as an omelet.

His Favorite Prank

"His favorite prank was to use pebbles to spell out curse words and ominous messages. (Humans are so gullible.)"

You think these animals are really cute with really small brains, but we all know they are secretly plotting to overthrow the human race. Birds are experts at espionage and other covert operations (they are everywhere...).

Why Would You Typecast a Duck?!

If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, do not assume it's a duck. And quit stereotyping ducks!  That is the message of this painting. 

Don't let anyone else tell you what you should and shouldn't like, how you should and shouldn't be. Forget about being cool. Forget about arbitrary rules. We all have to march to the beat of our own brass band. Unless it's your mother talking, in which case you should do exactly what she says. (Okay, that last one was a side note to my son.)

I Love Menial Labor

am finding that these pieces are surprisingly labor intensive. In fact, the painting of the images is really the least of it. I find I spend a lot of time meticulously painting in letters and borders. I actually love to do it. I find it super relaxing. I also find it is best done while listening to embarrassing folk music or old episodes of Law and Order Criminal Intent. The result is that I am now secretly in love with Detective Bobby Goren. He is so weird, but so smart.

Sometimes you win...sometimes you polish a turd



This is not the turd

What was meant to be a small, quick, experiment of a painting turned into a time consuming turd polishing experience.  Perhaps I exaggerate.  It was a painting of a cup.  I was trying out using white washes to create the cup so that the areas of shadow showed through as fabric.  It turned out not to have an interesting enough effect to make up for the boring subject.  Oh well.  After spending WAY too much time trying to figure what I could add to save it from mediocrity, I finally decided I just needed to paint something that would be beautiful to look at.  I do love waxwings.  They already look deceptively like a painting.  So there you have it.  Look, its' a bird.

This is the turd.