A Commission And Then Off Again!
This is a new portrait I just finished. It is mixed media, 11.5″x15.5″ on rag paper.
I have been so crazy busy, unpacking only to repack again. We were in Grande Prairie for my art show ‘Moving Life’ ( I sold 11 paintings!) and now I am trying to get ready to go to Victoria. Poor Imogen is missing a lot of kindergarten but she had a wonderful time in GP and always loves her trips to Victoria so…..it is worth it to me. I guess that this will have to change next year, we can’t be missing too much of grade one.
Anyway, this portrait is what I have been up to painting wise. I am also working on another doggy portrait. (Another cutie … but you’ll just have to wait to see that one.)
Cat Dancing
This is a new 8.5″x11′ mixed media painting on rag paper.
I once had a book on cats that paint. It was pretty hilarious. So, if cats paint, surely it is not that much of a stretch to think that they could dance as well. If Beijing did dance, Imogen would definitely be his partner.
Heidi Hair and Polka Dots- SOLD
16″x20″ mixed media painting on canvas.
When I was a little girl my favorite hairstyle was ‘Heidi hair’. I remember a book I had by Judy Blume (I think?) with a girl on the front, who had dark hair (like me) donned in a ‘Heidi doo’ with a big red gladiola on the side. I loved this paining, I think because I thought it looked like me. I remember I loved the book too but I just can’t remember the title … ???*** Boy haven’t thought about that in awhile.
Well here I go again, living vicarioulsy through my kids. I love putting Imogen’s hair up this way. She thinks she looks like a princess but hates all the pins it requires. It does takes a lot of pins! Boy does that kid have thick hair!
**** It was “Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself”
Friends
This is a new mixed media painting I did on paper. It is 11.5″x15.5″.
Funny enough, well, not funny at all, Beijing tried to jump on top of the fridge today and fell and hurt his leg. He is at the vet right now, under observation. Ching, ching (that is the sound of money …booooooo hooooo).
SOLD
Striped Socks, Yellow Hat and An Orange Cat …Finished
This is a 3’x5′ mixed media painting on canvas.
SOLD
IF ‘Poise’ Balanced
I did ‘Balanced’ a little while ago but couldn’t help but think how perfect it was for this topic!
SOLD
Free As A bird ( I Wish I Could Make It All Better)
This is a 18″x24″ mixed media painting on wood from My Too Small series.
The image of a bird cage just keeps popping into my head and on to the pages of my sketchbook but, I until now, I have not included it in an actual painting.
I love the see-through quality, and delicate wire bars of this Victorian birdcage. As a sculpture, a birdcage is rather beautiful and decorative. (Indeed, many people collect birdcages just for that reason.) However, I can’t help looking at an empty birdcage without feeling a little sad. Like something is missing. (Well, a bird obviously!) Perhaps I just need to try thinking about it differently; that the bird has escaped its captures and is free. This would make me happy if I was not so sure that a bird that was once caged would most likely not fair so well out in the wild.
I worry about being over protective with my children. How will they fair if I never let them fail? I constantly try to protect them from any hurt or nastiness that this world may bring them. Will they be able to make it all better for themselves? Comfort their own hurt? How can I teach them these skills? And, indeed, is it already to late? If I keep them caged up now, what chance do they have? At the same time, I want their childhood to be magic, innocence and joy. Childhood should be paradise. It should be free of worry and sadness. It is the only time that we are truly allowed the freedom of those feeling. When I see children that are deprived of those things my heart aches.
It is such a balance isn’t it? Just finding that perfect balance is a life’s work. A mother’s work. (And father’s too, of course).
Girl With Orange Cat On Red Chair
This is a new 8″x10″ mixed media painting on canvas.
This painting is from my too small series. It shows my daughter Imogen wearing my party dress from when I was five.
I see myself as a little girl in her. I know when she wears it, she is pretending to be a grown up.
Already she is living in the future, while her mother’s memories are so easily triggered by the ghost of a dress.
SOLD.
ACEO Easter Bonnet
This a new painting I did today. It is a 2.5″x3.5″ mixed media painting on 100% archival rag paper.
SOLD
Scarlett and The Blue Hydrangeas
This is a new painting of Scarlett in Nanny and Grandpa’s backyard. Kind of reminds me of ‘Alice in Wonderland’, which really, when you think about it, describes Victoria perfectly. It truly is a wonderland.
This is a 16″x16″ mixed media painting on a 1″ deep wood stretcher. The sides are painted red.
Garbo Deco Harlequin
This is an original 16″x16″ mixed media painting on wood of Greta Garbo in the classic silent movie ‘Torrent’. I love painting from black and whites stills! The sky is the limit (colour wise).
SOLD
Zasu Pitts
This is a new 24″x24″ mixed media painting on wood of the silent film star Zasu Pitts from the movie ‘Greed’.
I took this image with Chris’ iphone. I have always wanted to paint stills off of the TV but until now have never been happy with the results. This was such a great still, such a powerful image. I just had to paint it.
I will admit, I had no idea who this woman was or what movie the still was from while I was painting. Perhaps this is a good thing. I think if I had know, I would have used a darker palette. I was able to paint without any prejudice.
Comments are always appreciated.
A limited edition art reproduction is available of this painting.
Original SOLD
ACEO The Girl With The Sequined Hat
I love this gold sequined hat. It is a vintage piece that I bought for myself but I must admit, it looks way better on my five year old.
This mixed media painting is 2.5″x3.5″ and is available on Etsy.
ACEO Joy 2
This is a new ACEO I did recently. I have been challenging myself trying to capture extreme expressions without having them look distorted or unatural. It is hard. I think I managed to do it. I love the way children really feel the joy with their whole body. Head back, mouth open. Just pure pleasure in the moment.
This one is available in my etsy shop.
Also, this painting was included in a new treasury on etsy called It’s A Dog’s Life
This one is called ‘My Red Guitar’ and is available on Etsy
Leopard Print and Tiger Lilies
Another new mixed media painting. I have to admit, leopard print is one of my guilty pleasures. I know to some it is condisdered tacky but I just can’t help it! I kind of shy away from wearing it myself (most but not all of the time) but I have no problem dressing my kids up in it. No problem at all!
Oh, and is it ever FUN to paint!
SOLD
Balanced
A new painting, ‘Balanced’, 18″x24″, mixed media on wood stretcher.
I found this amazing photo on http://clancysclassics.blogspot.com/, actually in her etsy shop. Check out her beautiful work. She graciously let me use this image for a print of the final painting. Thanks Marianne!
Undecided
Another painting from my new series “Too Small, Too Young”.
Undecided, 15.5 “x 20”, mixed media painting on wood stretcher.
This series is about being a child now, looking back and/or remembering being a child and also about being an adult/parent watching your child grow up. It is bitter sweet to say the least.
Sometimes I find myself looking at my children and feeling unbearably sad. I know that this sounds crazy but it is because I am not really looking at them right now, instead I am thinking about how much smaller they were not so long ago or how soon they are going to be all grown and leaving me. Awful I know, but it is the truth. I think about how far away my own childhood seems now, how foggy my memories are. How young my parents were.
In many ways, these are timeless paintings. They live neither in or out doors but exist simultaneously in both. If as though, our memories can be in some other plain all together, existing in our mind but also in this place that shifts back and forth, in and out of focus. Often hard for us to grasp completely, save a snippet here, a smidgen there.
I guess in these works I am trying to capture childhood, mine and my children’s and to somehow hold onto it for a little bit longer. If I can’t manage it in real life, perhaps painting it will help me remember to think less and be more.
IF “Rambuntcious”-The Sword Swallower
Everyone said that she was rambunctious as a child.
Even so, no one expected her to grow up to be a sword swallower.
This is a mixed media ACEO on paper.
Circus Girl And Strongman
This is a 11.5″x15.5″ mixed media painting of Circus girl having her toes painted by the strongman.
