day 27

90% finished i think.
the top is pretty washed out from too much light shining on it, but you get the idea :)
i'm considering darkening some of the top, maybe along the edges, to tie it in with the bottom. i love how darkening the bottom improved the piece. i used a few layers of glaze. it started light blue, then i glazed with quad nickel, then raw umber.
I also glazed over her dress, wiping some off before it dried.

little lila sat by me painting too. i was in charge of washing her brush between color changes, which was like every two brush strokes. oh well, she was so happy not to have muddy colors all over her piece, it was worth it.

day 26

more work in progress

it's funny how many emotions a person can go through in the course of one painting

i love it

i hate it

finally a breakthrough

what was i thinking?!

it's not so bad

and finally when peace is brokered, I can call it finished.

still negotiating with this one

connection

on ebay HERE

day 24

this poor painting, it's been through the ringer. i can just hear it complaining.
it was painted over at least twice and has since become a two-headed enigma

maybe it's a self portrait of me fighting with myself over which direction to take
hmmmm, i quite like that idea

i could

on ebay HERE

day 21

on ebay HERE

ANOTHER snow day, but really I don't mind. We had a good morning, the kids and I.
Bread co for pastries, Trader Joes for groceries, Red Box for movies, and Build a Bear for new dresses. Are you guys familiar with Build a Bear? It's a company that started in St. Louis, but I think they have gone national. Well they sent a coupon, and i'm a sucker for a coupon. $10 off $30. Lila got her bear 'Berry' and an outfit in september for her birthday. Since then Berry has become her one of her prized possessions. She sleeps with her and Berry is always the guest of honor at frequent tea parties. So it was time to expand her wardrobe. Let me tell you, if you haven't been, this store is fun. Dresses, shoes, accessories, all really creative and well made. Most importantly, Lila can easily dress and undress her bear. Really fun, really cute.

day 20

finished.

today was another snow day. paul built a little snow man named gus. gus was built in the cul-de-sac then paul realized that the snow plow might come and demolish him. so paul rebuilt his body in a toy wheelbarrow and moved gus's head to the new body, then wheeled him over to our front yard.

gus is safe and sound in paul's snow fort now. apparently for quite awhile, temperatures are predicted to stay low for several days.

day 19

fought with this one, still fighting actually...
we'll see where it goes tomorrow

day 18

quite different from yesterday, may go through even more changes yet...

Day 17

Very early and very rough work.
Lot's of decisions left to make...







































a scanned image of my latest painting, 'vessel' now available on ebay HERE

day 16

finished piece, I don't have a title yet...
too tired to think, or write.
I watched the Kings Speech last night, the late show, so didn't get to bed till after midnight...
w a y past my bedtime.

so till tomorrow

Day 15

this painting on ebay HERE

why is it when you're feeling run down is when you eat crappy food that makes you feel worse!?
dinner tonight was pistachios, a spicy v-8 and two packs of raspberry pez.
now i'm full and don't want to eat anything that might make me feel better, like fruit or yogurt or pasta.

anyway

the derby is over and a good time was had by all. Paul ran his car in four races and he placed second in all four. his overall times had him finishing 5th out of the 12 tiger scouts. a respectable showing if i say so myself. obviously i was never in scouts and my husband never was either so we were truly first timers.

also!

i sent my slides over to an art fair i'm interested in. i find out if i was accepted on feb. 20.

so my two deadlines are met and now i can busy myself with other things, like MORE PAINTING :)

Day 14

'Unbroken' the finished piece

day 13

i think this will be slide number two for the fair. there is a couple more things I may do to it, but haven't decided yet.

today was a strange day. i felt kind of tense, on edge.
i'm sure it's the two deadlines i have approaching.

I need to get the art fair slides emailed tomorrow, and Saturday is the pine wood derby.

i'm surprised how anxious that event is making me. There is so many components to doing the car and we've never done it it. We had to polish axles and balance wheels and carve and add weights and use graphite powder to reduce friction. Can't say I really enjoyed it much.
HOWEVER, i do believe that once we make it through this year, next year should be better.

day 12

on ebay now... click HERE

I guess I've got snow on the brain. It looks like we're going to have snow on the ground for a while now.

I've had a good attitude this winter, until my sister reminded me it's only been officially winter for a few weeks. Talk to me at the end of February, she said.

Hmph.

I was awfully cold this afternoon. I have a hard time functioning if I'm cold. I start slowing down, and seeking out heat through hot baths or my electric blanket. I also have been known to bake potatoes just so I can have the oven on for an hour and afterwords I will leave the door open to let the warmth circulate out.

I did turn up the thermostat, twice, so it was running at 75.
Finally I was comfortable.

Tomorrow I think I'll layer more clothes on, and not be so reluctant to turn up the heat a degree or two. If it's the difference from being productive, or being uncomfortable and unmotivated, I choose productive.

day 11

workS in progress
today was a snow day for us all
schools and work were closed
sledding, hot cocoa and a scooby-doo movie was the order for the day
i managed to break away for just a bit.
just long enough to start some smaller pieces

i don't know how little children can handle the snow and the cold and still enjoy themselves.
the second time today they were out, the temp was dropping and the winds were picking up
a neighbor boy was with my two and they were laughing, climbing, falling as if it were a perfect 75 degrees out.
eventually Paul asked for his play tent, which they promptly put underneath their playground and all huddled in together.
like the inuit in alaska no doubt
sharing warmth and secrets
protected from the bitter north wind

day 10 - resolution

woo woo it's finished!!
so proud of this painting. everything is making me happy right now, the quilt, the little white flowers, the yellow stamp house...
I think this will be one of my slides for entry to an art fair I have my eye on

I have gorgeous 8 x 10 prints available for $18 here on etsy

Day 9

work in progress ... the collage with the 'shadow box'
i'm thinking encaustics for the collage. to knock it back and make the box more of a focal point. so that means a trip to dick blick for more art supplies. wheeee

even though i got some studio time in, i really should be posting pics of my son's pine wood derby car. This is the first time we have created a car and I really mean WE. the whole family is involved in this project. Grandpa used the bandsaw to cut out the shape Paul drew. We all took turns sanding. Today we managed the tricky business of adding weights. Paul will be painting the car tomorrow.
I guess the point of this experience is to have everyone involved and working together, but it seems like there is very little for the actual scout to do. Paul is only seven, so besides his crude car shape and sure to be interesting paint job, the rest is up to the adults. I will be very curious to see how well the other cars are done.

Day 8

Work in progress continued...

today was a very successful day. i managed to stay home in my pj's without running a single errand!
i also made progress on a couple of art pieces. I really like working on several pieces at once. I also like my decision to paint everyday, NOT complete a painting a day. I never feel overwhelmed. I know I can squeeze in at least one hour and sometimes that hour turns into even more. The paintings are developing slowly and thoughtfully. I am finally finding my rhythm.

Day 7

I had my blog post ready, but I forget to upload!
This is a photo of something a little different I'm trying. Again, it's a work in progress. I want to cut out a shadow box in the center and drop a little mini frame in it with the bird and that clock piece in it. So what you're looking at is kind of an elaborate frame for a small sculptural type work.
Confused? Me too :)
I'm winging it.
I just love dimensional art though. Not necessarily sculpture, more assemblage.
Yes. Assemblage. That's exactly the word I was searching for.
I've tried a couple things over the years, never to great success. I have envisioned in my mind's eye how fabulous this will look when complete, but so far I've never accomplished one I was proud of.
Stay tuned...

Day 6

today I got to put into practice my new years resolution of listening to myself
i'm under the weather with some sort of head cold/flu type thing.
i was s o t i r e d yesterday and instead of drinking a coffee and pushing thru,
i took a nap.
afterwards i was able to take care of the kids after school, bake some easy bake cakes,
play a little hi-ho-cheerio and cook a yummy dinner.

it was a good lesson for me

day 5

After picking lila up,

We sat at our little kitchen table and ate crackers and cheese

She told me about a disagreement she had at school

Mack told her she had brown eyes,

Lila told him that her eyes were NOT brown, but a very beautiful and unusual shade of HAZEL. (in her own way of course, she is only four)

I’m happy she likes her eyes. My whole life I have received compliments on my light, sometimes sea blue, sometimes grey eyes.

I like my eyes too.

Winter break has broken me

Tomorrow back to our routine. Our blessed routine. I love routine. Vacation with the kids has left me breathless, needing a vacation. Today we packed in as much fun as possible and I even got a painting started. I have an art fair deadline approaching so when this one is done it may become one of my entry slides.

quiet

A new year, and things abruptly go back to normal.

But I’ve forgotten what normal is.

So many weeks of anticipation and purpose kept me, my mind busy.

Now it’s all over, and the emptiness is waiting to get replaced, but by what?

drift

It's January so it means long, cold days, stuck inside, with nothing to do but paint - paint - paint
well, not really, but January is usually a very productive month for me.
To kick off the new year I want to challenge myself to create every day. I will try to post daily updates of works in progress.

Here is a dreamy painting I just listed on ebay, the title is 'drift'