Celebrate Catastrophe!



Thorn Flowers~2010

What a catastrophe!  This canvas has so many things I love, and so many things that I hate.  Ultimately, I would label this as a catastrophe....at the very least, this falls within the realm of "bad art".

Why?

Well, everything to the left of the thorn flowers is an absolute travesty.   I wish that I could say that I love the entire canvas, but the fact of the matter is, I only care for the right side of the canvas.

Sad to say, but that's the truth!

I have resigned myself to creating some very, very bad art over the next few months.  That's ok with me.  How else shall I learn?

So, what you see here is merely a beginning.  The beginning of greatness!   ....or so I am inclined to believe! 

God willing, better things are to come!





What the Bleepetty-Bleep?

Thorny Flowers in process....

I am in a seriously sad kind of place with my art.  Nothing is working. Everything sucks.   And it really pisses me off.

I think the main problem is that I've decided to try to create "real" art.  Not the crappy crafty art that any random Greta or Betty could produce; no, I want to make gallery worthy art. 

That decision seems to have sucked the marrow out of my creative life.  I'm not a gallery worthy artist.  At least, not yet.  Maybe one day.  Right now, I think I just need to play and explore.  Leave all the pressure behind and allow myself to simply enjoy the creative process.

If I can let go of the negative self-judgement long enough to splatter paint with wild abandon, who knows?  I might just enjoy myself again.  Better yet, I might create something that contents me.

Yeah, that sounds good.  Really good.

Stay tuned!  Surely something wonderful is about to happen next!

Healing...

I have spent the past two days in and out of the hospital supporting a dear friend as her sister, (also a friend) has had 90% of her stomach removed due to cancer.  It's been an exhausting time both for myself and for my friend's family.

Cancer sucks.  I wish I could wave a magic wand and make it go away, but I can't.  God help me, but I might just be tempted to forsake all that I know is good to make cancer obsolete.  Sometimes I wonder if my own damnation might be worth freeing us all from the stronghold that cancer claims upon the lives of so many......

Anyhow, this morning as I fluffed and puffed my hair and painted my face to visit the hospital I was struck with the idea of creating a healing doll.  So, I immediately texted my friend sitting vigil at her sister's side, and asked her, "Hey, what do you think about creating a healing doll for Angie!"

My friend of course, being the creative soul that she is, texted, "Oh yes!!!!  I even have fabric, thread and batting to stuff the doll form.  I can make it while I sit with Angie!"

So, here I sit with this beautiful little stuffed doll form.  We made it out of white wool and it is begging to be adorned with beads.  Below you shall find a photo of the doll form that Annie created.  It's about 6 inches tall.  I'm just meditating on the face....what should I sculpt?    Anyhow, I don't know why the darn picture wouldn't  upload upright, but you get the idea right?



Crazy-assed horizontal healing doll photo!



Kroma Crackle~A Grand Experiment!



Example of Kroma Crackle, crackled!



Today, I purchased a new product called Kroma Crackle, to use in my acrylic painting.  As you can see from the sample above, the effect is quite lovely.  I could hardly wait to drive myself home to begin using this fascinating tube of goo.

The first thing I did upon arriving home is mix up a little Kroma Crackle with some deep Indian yellow paint and a dab of gold mica powder for that extra bit of sparkle.  Then I applied the tinted Kroma Crackle to the upper right and lower portion of the canvas.

As you can see from the pictures below, I also dotted the areas of the Kroma Crackle with some cranberry alcohol ink.  It takes 1-3 days for the Crackle to dry.  The photos below show us two hours into the process.

Thorny flower canvas with Kroma Crackle application.



Close-up of Crackle in the corner!

My only concerns are as follows: 

1)  I did not apply the Kroma Crackle thickly enough to achieve the crackle texture I desire.

2)  The yellow top coat is too freaking yellow!  (I am hoping this can be corrected with a future color wash!)

Overall, I think I am going to love this product and I can't wait to play some more!

Flowers with Thorns!

Here's a photo I snapped this evening of my latest acrylic painting. 

It's seriously rocking my soul in a groovy kind of way.

Check back!

I'll have more photos soon!



A Pirate's Valentine!

Michele Goldstein!

What can I say?

She's brilliant. She's creative. She's generous....

....and I love her latest collaborative piece called, "A Pirate's Valentine" !

Truth be told, I love the "Pirate's Brooch" even more!

Michele collaborated with the ever talented, Stephanie Sersich.

All I can say is, "Brava Ladies! Brava!"

My inner bot

This afternoon, my five year old daughter asked me to sit with her and draw robots.

I drew two robots: "Love bot #9" and "Color bot #7".

I think "Love bot #9" is my inner bot come to life.

Notice the confused smile?

Notice the weary/worried/wary eyes?

Notice the outstretched arms?

Yes, this is my inner bot-child, reaching out the world in love, only to be confused by the fact that the world is largely unimpressed by, unresponsive to, and so glaringly unneedful of my abounding love.

I'm not one to over analyze, but truly, "Love bot #9" captures how I so often feel in my deepest moments of discouragement.

On a brighter note, my daughter drew some lovely bots of her own.

Check them out!



As you can see, our styles heavily influenced one another.

She chose to name her bots, "Cry", "Care" and "Funky".

I rather like her "Funky Bot", she has such a delicious, bouffant turquoise doo!

I wonder what it would be like to have such a sassy turquoise flip for a doo?

Do I dare to find out?

Barbie Body Part Art!

Click here to see some seriously awesome jewelry!

Cherished friends

Taaa daaa!

Here's my last two page spread for the Christian Mixed Media Summer Paper Bag Book Round Robin! (Phew, was that a mouth full, or what?)



...and here's a quick close-up photo of the left page.



This was an amazing Round Robin. The participating artists all did incredible work!

It was my sincere privilege to be a part of this endeavor and I can hardly wait until my book returns home to me!

Coming soon!

A new paper bag book spread is almost finished!

It's full of felt, acrylic paint, chipboard tags and beads!

I'll post photos soon!

Check back, won't you?

Pitter Pat!

two page spread for P.B. rr~j. N-L

Oh my!

What can I say?

I love this spread!

It makes my heart go pitter pat!

......more photos follow!

and....

and one more.....

Pretty cool, huh?

I hope Amber likes the pages!

New spread coming soon!

I've just finished a new two page spread for the Paper Bag Book Round Robin.

I'll be posting some photos of the completed pages soon!

These two pictures show the spread in the early design phase.



Oh my!

Just wait until you see the finished pages!

They are drop dead spectacular!

(Even if I do say so myself!)

Keeping things simple

Are you passionate?

Christ was/is.



Do you love?

Christ does/did.



Do you love the color, red?

I do!

Ok, so enough of my silliness already.

This is the two page spread I've recently finished for a paper bag round robin I was allowed to join.

I painted the face of Christ using acrylic and watercolors, which I then collaged onto the page and stamped and painted some more.

I made the little hearts using felt and beads.

All in all, the pages are rather simple; but then, I like keeping things simple.

Simple suits me.

I think "simple" suited Christ as well.

These pages are for Sunee. I hope she likes "simple" too!

Collage Components

This weekend, I've been working on a two page spread for the Paper Bag Book Round Robin that is being hosted over at the Christian Mixed Media Artists Yahoo Group.

Friday and Saturday I tried to paint a portrait of Jesus using watercolor and acrylic. I wasn't faring too well.

I had a few problems. You see, I'm better with abstracts....I'm horrible doing real life stuff.

Why in the world I even attempted painting the face of Jesus is beyond me; but try I did, over and over and over.

I must have painted seven different faces before settling upon the one you see pictured above.

The eyes aren't quite right, but oh well, it's all good!

I'm using this as a collage element, so lots of layering is going to happen and I am fairly confidant that the wonky eyes won't be a problem.

Here's a photo of the collage as it moves through the next step.



I've adhered a piece of this really cool open weave red paper stuff over Christ's face and I've embossed the Jesus fish and the dove in opposite corners.

This is the first time I've tried embossing....it's kind of a pain, but I sure see lots of creative potential with this technique.

Anyhow, stay tuned!

More photos to follow soon!

Blog Plug!

Every now and then, people cruise through the blog and they leave their comments.

I love it when that happens!

Recently, Kristin stopped by, left a comment here and since I was curious to know more about her, I took the time to pull up her "complete blogger profile".

Kristin keeps two blogs. One is called "Life Stories" and the other is called "Playful Art Journal".

Check her out!

If you are in the market for a new journal or sketchbook, be sure to check out Kristin's Etsy shop. Her shop features some gorgeous hand bound books that are very reasonably priced!

Well my friends, that's it from me.

Stay tuned, new Paper Bag Book pages coming soon!

One Good Life!

Fabric ATC by j. N-L

If there's one thing I love, it's coffee!

Oh, how I love my coffee!

I also love my friends.

When I combine these two loves, well then, I think that I have hit upon the perfect recipe for a very good life indeed!

Anyhow, this is just your garden variety ATC. I made it with fabric, beads and double stick peltex. (Although I did dye the fabric I printed the words on with a little of the morning's left over coffee...I thought that was somewhat creative, if not apropo!)

This ATC is relatively simple as you can see, but oh the colors and the texture are so much richer in person! I'm going to play a bit more with fabric ATC's! They really are a hoot to make and they have so much creative potential and possibility!

Well, this ATC is heading off in tomorrow's mail to a new friend! I hope she likes it!

Miniature works

This is so cool!

You all just have to go and see!

Miniature books!

Miniature books!

Glorious, tiny, two inch works of art!

What are you waiting for, hmmmm?

Just click the phrase, "Miniature books!"

Paper Bag Book...

Here is a photo of a two page spread I recently finished for a summer paper bag book round robin.

The theme for this book is "Friends".

I wish the photo were a tad better, but you get the general idea, don't you?

Here's a close-up of the left side....




The little placard under the "friends" picture says, "Cherish Friends".

Here's a close-up photo of the right side of the spread.



The little charm on the recipe card is a cook book and the tag at the top of the photo fits into a little pocket built into the bottom of the left page.

I wish you could see this in person! It's really quite lovely and it is my hope that Beth will enjoy this page when the RR is finally finished and her book returns to her!

Inspiration!

Alas, I have no new art to share.

Adjusting to summer has robbed me of what little creative zip and zing I possess!

Oh, but rest assured, all is not lost!

Here's a cool link to some great art at Inspire Me Thursday!

Why not check it out?

It's truly inspirational!

Mystery girl?

I'm not a big fan of porcelain dolls.

Ordinarily, I like my dolls to be strange and abstract.

This cutie patooty however, interests me.

I'm not sure if it's her wacky hairdo, or those odd little eyes, or the crocheted dress, but something about this little doll is oddly compelling.

My grandfather gave this doll to me. Although she appears to be more than a few decades old, she is in excellent shape. She's about six to eight inches tall. Her entire body is porcelain and the legs and arms move.

I'd sure like to know more about her.

If you recognize her, or think that you might know more about her, would you kindly let me know?