The First Snow
This is an ACEO that I did today. It actually hasn’t snowed yet but I am anticipating it. It should happen any day now and lasts for … oh, ten months …OK eight …OK, OK six. Tomorrow is supposed to go as high 19 (that is nearly 70 for you Americans)! Maybe, for the kids’ sake it will hold off until after Halloween.
SOLD
The Albino Girl
Another circus image. Step right up and see THE ALBINO GIRL! I thought her ghost like appearance was fitting giving that it is almost Halloween. I think she is beautiful, even if she is a little bit spooky.
SOLD
The Painted Lady
The painted lady. My fascination with the circus continues.
This is a 8″x10″ mixed media painting on a wood stretcher.
Don’t Stray From The Path
Little red riding hood knew she shouldn’t have strayed from the path. Her mother had told her not to. It was just that she wanted her grandmother to feel better and knew that the sight of wild flowers would put a smile on her face. But now, it was getting dark and she had the strangest feeling. You know that feeling. Like she was no longer alone. Like someone was watching her.
Little red riding hood stopped picking flowers and stood up straight. Standing silently she listened for movement in the dark woods surrounding her. She moved the freshly picked flowers up toward her face. ‘Maybe their sweet smell would calm her’, she thought to herself, but this feeble gesture did nothing to ease her increasing feeling of dread. The harder she tried to listen, the louder her heartbeat pounded in her ears. She was all at once being taken over by a horrible sense of foreboding. Like she was being devoured, body and soul, by fear itself.
SOLD
The Green Corduroy Coat
I love this coat so much. I just took it out of Scarlett’s closet so I could pass it on. Most items of clothes go through this process with out much thought but this outfit (there are matching pants) was worn by both of my girls and is a reminder that they are growing up way too fast!
This is a 8″x10″ mixed media painting on a Paulowina Wood profile strecher frame.
Eating Watermelon In The Backyard
I eat my watermelon slice sitting under the apple tree
Sorry birdie
No seeds
The watermelon is so good
Sweet and cold
Juice dribbles down my chin
I squeal with delight
This an original mixed media piece on 100% rag paper.
SOLD
Wishful
This is a 2.5″x3.5″ original mixed media painting on 100% rag paper.
We had to make a hard choice today. We’ve decided to not go to Victoria for Christmas. I know it is the smart choice but it makes me a little sad. This painting is of Imogen who is already thinking about what she wants for Christmas and even warned Scarlett (the two year old) about Santa’s ever watchful gaze during a melt down she had today about getting dressed!
What is Imogen she wishing for? A basket for the front of her bike. Decorative and practical.
It is only mid summer so I am sure there will be plenty more wishes by December. Geesh.
The Bearded Lady
Continuing the Circus theme. This is an ACEO of a bearded lady. I actually don’t know if this woman (?) was in the Circus. I found this photo online and thought I’d do a little painting of it. I just don’t know … she really does not look like a woman. But then again, what would I look like with a big bushy beard?
New Mini Canvas of Circus Girl
This is an original 2.5″x2.5″ mixed media painting of Circus Girl ( I think she is going to have an actual name very soon!) I am working on this character for a children’s book. Every now and then, I just have to paint her to get myself all inspired about this story again. She really is beautiful and I love painting her. After the disaster painting day yesterday I thought I should ease myself into painting by doing something that I know I love. The story is slowly coming together. I am trying not to rush it but maybe it is time for a little more of a tough love approach. My husband thinks so. I don’t know.
Supportive Blogging
So, isn’t it nice when someone you don’t even know, out of the blue, gives you the greatest of compliments? I just discovered this blog about my art: http://witezine.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/amazing-art/.
What can I say? It feels good to be validated. Some days I wonder what I am doing or if I should even bother. When someone is moved enough to comment on your art or write a whole blog it means a lot.
Check out this other supportive blogger and artist:
Thank you!
Another Circus Girl Painting…
This is a new Circus Girl painting that I just finished today. It is a mixed media piece on a 4″x8″ profile (3″deep) canvas.
Shopping In My Sleep (or The Phantom Wardrobe)
“Lace Coat” 8″x12″, mixed media painting on canvas, 2007
So this morning when I was getting dressed I wondered to myself where that perfect little black cardigan I just bought was. Then I realized I had only dreamt about buying that cardigan.
I was so bummed.
It all came flooding back to me.
I had dreamt about shopping for clothes and I’d found quite a few cute little numbers. I felt so jipped, I mean, a lot of these pieces that I acquired were classics that would have filled a lot of gaps in my wardrobe quite nicely . I felt like I’d got them for a good price too but that, I can’t be sure of. I know I’d tried on a lot of stuff so, to wake up and realize that it was all for nought, was just so unfair! (Now I sound like my five year old).
I still feel kind of robbed and I can’t help but think, that maybe, all the clothes that I purchased in the dream are actually hanging in my closet but are somehow, mysteriously INVISIBLE. Like a “phantom wardrobe”.
I am sure that it is going to make it even harder for me to decide what to wear ever day and kind of makes the expression, “I have nothing to wear”, even that much more literal.
Matthew- Two
I did this ACEO of my nephew Matthew. He is the cutest. Two and a half and so smart. He can count to 20 in english and to 10 in french. He really is adorable. The way he looks at you. He really looks at you. It is kind of unnerving, like he can see right into your soul.
I must add that although his cuteness is undeniable, he truely is a two year old in every way. Not unlike my two year old, Scarlett.
I remember when Imogen,my five year old was two, I was amazed at the blossoming of her personality. I just found it so amazing and as exasperating as she could be, I was so taken with getting to know her that I can honestly say it was my favorite age.
Two year olds are just so cute and it is a good thing because when they kick you, hit you or bite you it makes it easier to keep your cool. I guess there is a reason for everything.
A Still Moment
This is a painting that I just completed of Scarlett sitting at the dining room table. She is so still and at peace, not at all like her normal two year old self. There was just a beautiful stillness at that moment that I wanted to try to capture.
Wishing
There is nothing wrong with a little wish now and then. There is the star wish, the fountain wish, the birthday wish and of course, we can’t forget the wishbone wish. I’ve wished for plenty of things in my life. The only problem with wishing is that we are always to the future, which kind of implies that we aren’t enjoying the right now. I think that my next wish will be that I don’t wish anymore because I am just enjoying right now too much to even care.
Singing The Blue Pencil Blues
OK, I admit it. My attachment to my blue pencil is a bit on the fanatical side. It could be even considered a crutch that I should just let go of. Perhaps, but I want to let go of it at my own pace, not be forced into it. OK, OK, I have had this pencil for several years… OK, more than several, probably about twenty. Did I hear a gasp? Yes, I have had this pencil for over twenty years, but let me explain.
When I was about twenty I found this amazing set of coloured indelible pencils, in the box at a second hand store. They were so beautiful! They were old when I bought them. I’d say from the 50’s. I used them a little then. Once in awhile. I was in college and University during this time and was more into ink, conte and charcoal for my drawing class and acrylics for painting, so they just sat in my old tin box of art stuff. Over the years I did occasionally use the light blue for preliminary sketches but the rest just sat untouched for the last twenty years.
Flash forward twenty years and I’ve been doing this mixed media stuff like crazy and using this blue pencil in every single piece. A couple of weeks ago I was sharpening it and I forced myself to face the fact that I was going to need to find a replacement pencil, knowing full well that it was going to be pretty much impossible.
Did I tell you about the colour blue that this pencil is? The most beautiful peacock blue you have ever seen. When I was sixteen I had a friend that dyed her hair this colour. Amazing while it lasted. (Not unlike my pencil). When I wet it, it becomes the perfect shadow on skin. I looks so beautiful as a line drawing. It doesn’t even need anything else. It is perfect in the nude. And Because it is indelible it comes through when you paint over it. It is Perfect. It is perfection. Why, oh why do they not make it anymore?
I did look on the web and I found these vintage pencils for sale at $2.50 each (not including shipping). ACT NOW! LIMITED STOCK! So, of course I bought 12! I know. Freak. I couldn’t draw every day for the rest of my life and use up all 12 of these pencils. What was I thinking? They came the other day and they are not the same blue. Not even close. I am so sad. I guess I better suck it up and figure out some new technique to try to get the effect that I like but I don’t think I will be able to walk into another second hand store or pass a garage sale sign without my heart fluttering with the hope of finding replacement for my beloved blue pencil.
The Orange Peeler
My orange peeler.
One day I handed Scarlett a bowl of tiny oranges and was surprised to see how long it kept her busy. As I watched her I had this weird vision in my head of rows of toddlers peeling oranges. An orange peeling factory. I am still working on a large 2’x5′ canvas of six Scarletts, all peeling away. Meanwhile, I have painted two other versions of just a single Scarlett.
Anyway, all that aside, this is a great way to keep a two year old busy when you are working in the kitchen.
Circus Images Dance In My Head
Circus images are swirling around my head. This story is slowly writing it self and I am being very cautious and very attentive, trying to listen carefully to the direction it wants to go. It is an exciting process. What is going to happen next?
Imogen Harlequin
I did this painting of Imogen. Like the larger version, I can’t seem to part with it. I put it up on Etsy and then took it off. It is hard to part with your paintings. Especially ones of your children. I really regret selling a few already but that is why you do them isn’t it? To send them out in the world. They can really become a huge weight when they are hanging around the house staring at you. You always remember the ones you sell a little more fondly than the ones you see everyday. I wonder if our recollection of them is better than the actual painting? I hope not. That could be pretty disappointing during a retrospective. YIKES!
Pink Frosting
Come on, admit it, the frosting is the best part. As we get older we eat the cake part as well. It is all part of good cupcake etiquette. It just wouldn’t be acceptable to do what all three year olds do and lick that puppy until it is a wet and shiny globe resembling the top of Daddy Warbuck’s head.
