Saturday Morning in the Park.

I went out yesterday to the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch in Gilbert, AZ with the Jerry's Artarama Plein Air Club. I'm not much of a landscape artist as the others there were but, I do enjoy painting plants and flowers close up and abstracted with very thick paint. Definitely not the style of most my other works but  very fun. I am excited to try more of these.

Good bye Dining Room, Hello Art Studio!

So, I went to and Art League meeting a couple weeks ago and the guest artist was talking about her early experiences as an artist. She told us that when she started out she and her husband were living in a three bedroom apartment; one bedroom belonged to them, one was an art studio, and the other belonged to their four children. She also said that she was creating at least one painting a week. Feeling quite pitiful at how long it takes me to finish paintings and never feeling like I have enough room to work, I came right home and told my husband that we were getting rid of the dining room and turning it into an art studio. Dining rooms are so over rated anyways. We hardly use it for all the space it takes up.

 All the furniture and stuff got moved over to one side.

 I rolled out plastic on the floor to protect the nice apartment carpet that I don't want to have to pay for when I drip paint and medium on it.

 And also on the table and chairs and wall. That way I can use it as work space and not have to worry about messing anything up!

 And now it looks so awesome!

And I have lots of room to work!

Tricked You!!! I just had to do one more Ballerina.

Abusua Pa (The Good Family: Family Unity)

I finished the Ballerina series but felt that I needed to do one more. This turned out to be a very special project as it was a commission for a sweet couple who first saw my work at the Shemer Art Show. They liked my piece titled "Seeking the Higher Light" and wanted to buy it but it sold just as I called to the gallery to have them put it on hold. I then told the couple that I had had an idea for a piece that had never come to fruition that also had elephants and was about family as elephants are very family centered animals. They loved the idea so I began work on the piece. Before it could be finished though, there was a tragic death in their family. I understood if they did not have an interest in the piece anymore but it became a special piece for them as it spoke about family unity and elephants were the favorite animal of the family member who passed away. I felt incredibly touched by the event as my idea for a piece of art work became a comfort and connection to to the missing family member. I had also included an African symbol called Abusua Pa in the signature which means just that; The Good Family: Family Unity.

And thus ends a series. Now I may include a ballerina in an upcoming painting but it will be in a little different mode than I have thus far been working.

The LFPA Fall Student Art Show

This was an unplanned art show. This year I only taught the Junior High and High School Art class. In passed years I always had the elementary and they always comprised the mail body of our art shows. Only a hand full of Junior High and High School students would enter art work. They also had been struggling in technical skill and so the number of show worthy pieces was always low although, we never excluded anyone from participating. Because I didn't have the elementary to participate in the show I decided that we would only have an end of the year art show to give the students enough time to put enough work together. However, to my surprise, the art that the students produced was of a much higher quality and I they began asking me for an art show instead of me just telling them that they were going to participate in an art show. The ceramics students were also asking for an art show so, we had an art show. I am quite proud of their progress and am excited to see what they will create this next semester.

Tempting Narcissus and The End of a Series

My ballerina series comes to an end. This is the last of them. It is officially time to move on to other ideas. This has been a very fun series but I am ready for new adventures

Drawing of the Week

Many of the drawings I do, I use me as a model. It's so interesting how they all look like me yet all turn out so different. I think it's the features that I choose to emphasize in each one.

The Shemer Museum Art Show: Part 2

I thought that the poems that the poets wrote to go with my paintings were so good that I would post them for any who would like to read them. Poetry is so amazing; like a painting in words.

The Shemer Museum Art Show: Part 1

What a great night. The Show at the Shemer Museum was awesome! I was one of the winners as well. They made posters of four of the artists paintings and the poems that went with them. And, as you can see, mine was one of them! They are going to frame them and hand them around Phoenix. So cool! The poems that went with each of my three paintings where also really great. I will put those on here for all who would like to read them in another post.

Sketch of the week: I'm a bird

So I guess I sometimes make this noise that makes my husband imagine me as a bird. He described the beak and hair to me so I made a drawing of it. Although he imagined my limbs to be spindlier as he put it. Well, sweetie, pucker up. This bird is coming for you.

The return of Sketch of the Week