Come On Over...

Come on over to my new blog. We are having a good time over there! You will be glad you took the leap....

A Surprise For You and Me!

Yes, you have seen this one several times before, but it was a good choice for asking you to dance on the jewelry of life with me today. I have a surprise for us. Today, I am asking you to take a chance and trust me when I ask you to click on this link to see the special treat! I am excited and I hope it is exciting for you as well.

Okay, my friends...old and new...let's hold hands and jump! I will see you on the flip side!

New Beginnings

Hello Everyone!

I appreciate you giving me some time here to evaluate and get some thinking time about what I need and want to do. I have been working on quite a few projects...some in their infancy others slowly coming to their fullness. I will be letting you in on what is happening as they become ready to share. As for now, it is this blog I want to talk about.

As many of you know I have place a great deal of emphasis on my blog and love this part of my work. Blogging is a great way to share with other artist and those who love art. I have made some decisions about Creating Space, though. One thing is I am going to be pulling back a bit as far as the number of posts I create. I have started some new work which is very time consuming. I am loving the time I spend in the studio more and more with this, or maybe I should say these, project(s), so my time is limited. As many of you know because you are doing the same kinds of things, my online presence goes beyond blogging. You can find me on my web site (which should be featuring some of my new work soon), facebook, twitter, art bistro and several venues on ning. I have also been asked to do an interview with whohub and found that to be an excellent experience. I also have some other online projects in the works which I will let you know about when they are ready. Needless to say, the computer takes more time, already, than I would like it to take, but I am really enjoying meeting all of you.

So what does it mean for Creating Space? It means my actual paintings are going to be reserved for my web site, but you will be able to find some of my preliminary work and detail shots here from time to time. I am going to be using this venue to explore the work of other artist and other venues which are an important part of my day to day life. I will be talking about things like the books I am reading, writing, art of all kinds, travel, and all the parts of my life which help bring my paintings to their final form.

The photograph above was taken during a travel earlier this year. I thought it was a lovely representation of finding the subtleties this wonderful world has to share with us and trying to learn where to place the emphasis.

I hope you will join me as I begin this new adventure. It feels right for me right now. I am looking forward to hearing from each of you. For now, I plan on the first of many exciting posts to be up later this week!

Thank You All For Your Friendship and Your Patience!

Kim

Bear With Me

Since I have not posted for nearly a month you are probably wondering what in the world is happening here. I am taking a bit of a blogging break for now. A lot of personal things are going on...which are good...and I am making some changes with the presentation of my art. I promise you I will return to this blog with a lot to share in the future. Bear with me because I will also get around to visiting you as soon as I can.

I hope all is well and you are enjoying this lovely season!

Going to New York City - Meeting Andrea

What an exciting day. I hardly slept a wink in anticipation of this trip to New York City. I was not only going to meet Andrea who had become a wonderful cyber friend, but I was going to get to see my daughter who was coming from LA.

I am taking Amtrak's Acela train at 7 am from Washington, DC's Union Station. Oh my, that means I have to be on the Metro early, early, early!
If you have the chance, I highly recommend you visit Union Station in Washington, DC. It has been refurbished and is as grand as it was when it was first built. Do you see those double doors over there? Remember them, we will see those again.

Okay, so let me see...yes, my train is till on time (nothing to worry about with Acela). So from this vantage point, if I turn around...
...I find those double doors, I told you to remember. These are the front doors to the station and if you look hard...okay let's step through them.
Okay, so just beyond the flag pole and the monument...see it there just above the trees? Yes, that is the United States Capital. We are that close.

I am going to New York City, though...gotta run to catch my train!
I have taken many trips on Amtrak, but I have to say this is the first time I have ever taken the Acela, and I am glad I did. It is fast, it is comfortable and it is clean! What is this? An electronic message saying, 'Mind the Gap'! What? Am I in England? Oh, I wish... I spend time reading, writing.

I get to Penn Station in a very short time. Ohh, New York City! I have not been here for so long. The day is beautiful, so I decide to walk to my hotel since my luggage is minimal. Before I get to the corner at Madison Square Garden, my phone rings. "Hi Mom, I am just about ready to board at LAX. I will call you when I get there. I love you!"

"I love you, too, Honey! Have a safe flight."

I make my way up The Avenue of The Americas (6th avenue) to my hotel at 54th Street! I am early, but they have my room ready. I decide to give Andrea a call once I throw my things down. I take a deep breath and make the call feeling kind of nervous. What if we do not get along as well in person? Her beautiful voice soothed my worries right away. (If you are wondering, her English with slight German and French accents is more American than British. I know I wondered.) Andrea tells me she and her husband are walking toward a place where they can take a helicopter ride and she will phone me when they get back to their room. That works out great for me, too. I can relax a bit and get my bearings here. I decide I should be okay, since I am only a block off of 5th Ave.

While I am at it, I peer out the window...here is the view:

Did I say I wanted to relax? That did not last long. I realized I was only one block away from one of my favorite stores! I have to go all the way to Georgetown in DC to get to a Zara! So I am off...

I talk to my son and my husband. I touch almost everything in Zara :-), then I get a text. Andrea and her husband are back in their room. I can't call her from my cell as I do not have international service. So I head back to my room and call her at her hotel. We agree I will walk to meet her at the Edison. As I walk, I am so nervous, again! Whew, the butterflies are amazing. I walk into the hotel and pick up a phone.

"Hello, I am here. Yes! I am by the phone bank in the lobby. Mmm, I am round and not too tall. I am wearing a black skirt, a teal shirt, red sandals and have sunglasses on the top of my head. Yes, dark brown hair! See you in a few."

I recognize their loveliness as they step out of the elevator! Oh, how great it is to finally meet Sweet Andrea! Now for those of you who are wondering - she is even more delightful in person than on the blog. She has a beautiful smile, a friendly face so full of wonder and delight. She is truly a beautiful person in every way. With Andrea is her kind, handsome and very French husband! Within moments, I feel as though I have known them for years. Bye-bye butterflies!

We decide to find somewhere to go. Andrea decides the German girl is ready for a beer. I think a glass of wine sounds good. Our lovely French escort says he has to keep us both straight and has a Diet Coke...most likely he knows it isn't the beer or the wine which means he might need to keep us straight, but probably the fact we are not paying any attention to anything else at the moment. At Jake's we find a nice quiet table to talk and talk and talk and talk. I tell Andrea's husband she is a blog celebrity. He thinks she should be as she works all the time with some part of her art or the other. We talk away a few hours before my phone vibrates - a text!

My daughter has landed at JFK and will be making her way on the subway to our hotel. "I'll meet you at the hotel, Mom."

Andrea, her husband and I talk more on the walk towards our hotels. We go our separate ways on the street with kisses on each cheek saying we will connect tomorrow.

I arrive back in my room and five minutes later, my daughter knocks at the door. The sight of her brings tears to my eyes - five months is just too long and Los Angeles is so far! She used to live in the city, so her knowledge base is going to get me to places I have never been before.

First of all, we need to find dinner since neither of us have had a meal and only a small snack all day. Ohh, there are people waiting here...darn, it looks good, too. What? You can seat two? Great! We are so hungry, but take our time and enjoy a long meal together while we catch up on all things girly!

After dinner, we decide to walk. We are near Columbus Circle, so we head up there. We find an underground Whole Foods and think we might get a few snacks for the room. We change our mind, but before we left, we found this and I had to share it with you:
No, I don't like eggs at all, so we will not get these. Those are chicken eggs there beside them! Cool, uh? I guess they would make an omelet to feed a few!

The night is lovely, so we decide to walk down 5th Avenue to near where my daughter worked at Norton Publishing (beside the New York City Library). It is nice to walk.

On our way back towards the hotel, we decide to stop at Rockefeller Center. These tulips were beautiful:
Here is my lovely daughter who is so knowledgeable about the city.
Oh, I couldn't resist sharing this beauty, too.
Of course, I couldn't go to New York without grabbing a shot of a shop window, right? Who could resist Teuscher Chocolate...just for you. It seemed to be the perfect spring window.
This is the end of my first day in New York City. We were very tired so headed back to our hotel for a good night's rest. Tomorrow is going to be a busy and exciting day!

Unfurling Two Bits Today!

Unfurled
acrylic on 40 x 30 inch gallery wrapped canvas

I unfurl my life for you to see. I lay my soul open, you take what you want, then walk away. I still have more for you.

I want to share something with you about one of our fellow artist. Julianne Richards has had some health issues which have had her hospitalized for three months. As you can imagine this is a tough time for Julianne, and she will be dealing with this issue now. If you have a moment, she explains on her blog and maybe a quick comment would encourage her strengthening.

US readers, I wish you to have a very nice Memorial Day Weekend. Non-US readers, I also wish for you a wonderful weekend...even if it is a bit shorter.

Another Frottage Bit!

This is a frottage piece of acrylic on rice paper. I have found, if I do not use the plastic for the cover sheet, the rice paper makes a good alternative. Okay, so one of the reasons I like to use the rice paper is it is strong enough to be used again for something else or stand alone. What do you like to use when you do this technique?

I rather like the way this turned out with the swoops and swirls. I also like the balance of light and dark which is sometimes a challenge for me. Of course, it is one of those pieces I have no idea what I am going to do with it....so it will hang out with me a bit or for a long time trying to decide.

As I look at this piece, I like to think of it as a trail of playing in a pool. Several people are interacting, then swim away from each other only to come back together to talk or play again. It is about interactions.

Are you making time to create?

'Dancing With Pearls'

'Dancing with Pearls'
shares the truth of all pain which ultimately brings so much joy and beauty to life.

This work is acrylic on 20 x16 inches 300lb (640gsm) Fabriano Watercolor Paper. Recently, I have been forced into thinking about how challenging it can be to reach those pearls in life, and how important it is to have those challenges in order to appreciate the pearls when they arrive. It seems to me, if we dwell on the challenges they play a major roll in the day-to-day and we end up missing all of the good parts life hands us. With this series, I hope to reflect on how there is really so much more positive than negative in life and how reflecting on the good parts helps us to learn from the challenges. Now, have I completely confused everyone?

Here I am again doing some work on paper. I think I am attracted to the way the paper is interacting with the paint/inks. I know I am going to have to mount these pieces, and I think ultimately frame them, too. ARGH The issue is I cannot help myself! Well, it is a challenge, but I am focusing on it becoming something exceptionally good! :)

Happy Monday Everyone!

A Little Teaser

I returned from New York City just a few hours ago. It was truly a whirlwind trip which I completely enjoyed. Here is the thing...I am not talking about it until Andrea can get back to Paris! We decided we would post about our experiences on the same day.

Here is what I will tell you...Andrea is even more delightful than you can imagine and her husband is very dear and engaging. So until later... :)

I will make a few other non-NYC/non-Andrea posts next week. In the meantime, Have a Great Weekend!

Happy Mother's Day!

I wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day! That means if you are a mother, have been a mother, have a mother or have ever had a mother! You know, it means Everyone Have An Extra Beautiful Day!

It Is True!

Have you been to Andrea's blog today? She is sharing some amazing accomplishments achieved with her art over the last month or so. She is so deserving of kudos, so please pop over there and leave her yours, if you have not already.

One of the things she talks about is having one of her Metroheads (people she sketches as she travels to her safetyjob each day) published in the literary magazine The Truth About The Fact. The Metrohead was a perfect fit as the magazine was focusing on the urban environment. It was also perfect because Andrea is such a wonderful artist and really captures the spirit of those people riding the Paris Metro beside her each day.

Since she brought it up, I will also acknowledge she is correct in saying I also had a photograph accepted for publication in the same magazine. I am really excited to have this happen for me and excited to be sharing in the same magazine as Andrea. The magazine has two launch parties. One was in Los Angeles in April on the campus of Loyola Marymount University. The other party is in Manhattan next week at the publisher's offices. Now here is another Truth About A Fact, I am going to be meeting Andrea, face-to-face, along with her very kind husband next week in New York City. Isn't that exciting?
This is my photograph which was accepted for publication - A Peek at Prague. This was taken from the castle on the hill above Prague, CZ looking through one of those arrow slits where soldiers would defend the castle by shooting arrows at the enemy through one of these slits in the castle wall. Now in modern times, I used it to capture a glimpse of the city and get the photo published in a magazine. Not too bad for a slit in a stone wall, uh? All photos and images of artwork had to be in black and white for the publication, so I am showing it to you as it was sent for publication. We will be picking up our copies of the magazine next week, so I will share more later.

While I do not have as many art successes to share with you, I can assure you I have been keeping busy with lots of work and lots of prep time for hopeful, future successes.

Everyone have a beautiful and lovely day!

Breaking Glass

I want to thank those of you who left me a comment on Kim's Visions when I thought it may be taking a bit of a chance to post here after the spammer hit. At first I had problems getting blogger to function, so I was not sure what was going on. All seems fine now, so let me try this again. Of course, I have no problem with you going ahead and leaving me a comment on the post I did on 'Glacier Colors'. :)

I am sure any regular readers here remember this image:

and this one

which I posted recently to show you the bits and pieces I had used of dried acrylic ink. I have gotten some super suggestions about working with these bits and am now trying to work out those suggestions to pass along to you.

In the meantime, I thought you might like to see the piece I took these crops from:

'Breaking Glass' is when the beauty crumbles and cuts you and when life seems as though it cannot exist in this struggle for much longer. You understand the beauty of the shards and how important it was for the glass to renew itself in a different form. This is a reflection of you. Acrylic on 20 x 16 inches cradled hardboard.

Have a Great Day!

Be Warned

This blog was spammed earlier today. I hope 'ed' did not find you. I am in the process of trying to clear this all out, however you might want to comment on anything over at my other blog, in the meantime. What a mess! I hope I can make this work.

'Glacier Colors'

I have started a new series I am calling Reflection. This series deals with the challenges of moving forward while taking the time to reflect. I decided the idea of clarity was important in life's lessons, so I hold the image of ice and glass as I work with these pieces.

This painting, which I am calling Glacier Colors is reflective of a special place on earth which touches everyone's soul. You know where it is for you. It brings you to that place deep inside you where life is ancient, time belongs only to you and you are quite sure we live forever here. There is so much clarity and so much reflection in this special place you cannot stop going to it in your mind. This is acrylic on 40 x 30 inches staple-less, gallery wrapped 1.5 inch deep cotton canvas.

So now you see one of the things which has been keeping me from showing you some of these things. Don't worry, my life has been wonderful, however I have been thinking about how difficult it is sometimes to get through the mud to find your center, but when you do weather the challenges how clear life can become. If you are interested, I have uploaded a few of this series to my other blog (the holding place for paintings waiting to be placed on my web site), Kim's Visions.

I wish for each of you a delightful weekend.

It Just Happened...

You may be wondering what in the world I am up to here today with these two images. Mind you, they are just cropped corners of some work I have been focusing on lately. At any rate, do you see the darker purple on the lighter in the above photo? Those are dried ink flecks. I use pre-stretched canvases a lot for a variety of reasons. These come wrapped in plastic which both makes me crazy and makes me glad. I hate the waste of the plastic, but I appreciate the protection, too. Recently, I have been carefully removing this plastic along the heat sealed seams. When I do this right, I can get a nice wide piece of sheet plastic which is double the length of the canvas (plus the depth). I like it because the plastic is strong and not as clingy as plastic kitchen wrap.

So what, you say? Well, I have also been squirting acrylic ink on acrylic painted canvases and then mushing it under the plastic sheeting. This allows me to see the ink moving on the surface of the canvas and have some kind of control - sometimes. I found if I continue to do this the layers of ink will build up on the plastic sheeting. I mainly just leave it around to get the most use of it I can.

One day, I was moving a piece of this plastic and some flecks fell off. What? This is beautiful...it was all irridescent and beautifully caught the light. So I scrunched the plastic with the heavy, flaking, dry ink over wet ink and paint...beautiful. I just let it fall where it might. Then, I decided to see if I could peel it off in sheets. Yes, I could!


Here you can see where I have applied some of the sheets to this painting. If you look closely, near the top, just to the left of center there is a piece of this dried ink which is not lying flat. Do you see it? There are others, too.

Now I can't toss out these sheets. I wonder how long I can get away with using them over and over...saving the dry ink...reusing the plastic? Now the ideas are flowing.

Do you have a good way to reuse plastic? I wonder if I painted thick enough, in reverse order, if I could pull entire paintings off this plastic and adhere it to another support? Do you think this might be messing up the archival qualities of the work...using this plastic like this?

As always I am interested in your thoughts.

Have a Great Day!

Knowing and Not Knowing

This is something which came about purely by accident. I was working on a canvas and wanted to lift some of the paint I had placed there directly from the bottle. I had this piece of 300lb/640gsm watercolor paper which was the exact same size as the canvas, so I grabbed it and did a frottage. This is what came out on the paper. I have been so mesmerized with it I have not done another thing. It is not as though I think it is complete, but I cannot get past the way it appears now. There is so much to look and see on this piece.

This brings me to the work Andrea is doing at the moment with cropping and seeing her work in a new light. You need to go to her blog and read the last several entries to understand fully what has been happening in her studio lately.

I think I love this so much because there is so much to see here. I have an issue, though. I don't want to cut up this piece. I can work with the image on the computer to do some cropping and become inspired by the various parts, but what to do with this piece? It is far too busy, I am thinking, to stand alone. At the same time, I am not eager to touch it. Maybe it needs to go onto the wall of possibilities until I grow tired of looking at it for whatever reason...or go blind...which ever comes first! :) It makes me think of a line I read in the book, 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women by Gail McMeekin:

There is no way to push the river; equally you cannot hasten the harvest.

I thought this said a great deal about needing to be patient with this bit. So what do you do when you have created something you cannot stop looking at, but you know it also is not complete? What do you think I should do here? As you can imagine, I am eager for advice!

I wish for everyone a Delightful Monday!

Inspiration

Thank you to Meek Gallery for this image.

I have been thinking about how much inspiration I gain from my interaction with other creative types. Recently I had a great conversation with Bill Meek, glass artist extraordinaire! My husband and I recently visited Bill and found him to be full of conversation about how he finds inspiration in his every day experiences including dealing with a house re-build along the Texas Gulf Coast after last years Hurricane Ike (where his glass sculptures were the only pieces of art to survive the flattening of a gallery). He talked about how he is inspired when hiking the Pacific Coast Trail with his son. Each of these times, he couldn't wait to get back to begin pieces which were playing in his brain.

Several of you know I have a glass sculpture by Bill called Mariposa. My husband and I recently celebrated a wedding anniversary and decided we would mark the occasion with one of Bill Meek's pieces. We choose Antler of which you can see a similarity in the photograph above. Bill talked with us about the process he went through to produce this piece and the process of finding glass this thick to work with and how the veins and subtle impressions happen which is sometimes by happenstance. It was fascinating to listen to him talk and to hear about how his adventures influenced him to create these pieces.

This has made me think about how I find inspiration for my work. Clearly, I know, travel is a HUGE inspiration for me. I learned something else, though, I am also inspired by other artists and their work. My mind cannot stop racing with ideas since talking with Bill and seeing all of that beautiful, lovely glass. How about you...do you find inspiration from the work of other artists?

So please visit the Meek Gallery web site. I think you will be delighted. If you ever have a chance to see his work in person, you will be glad you made the effort. He has many fabulous architectural installations which might be near you or near a place you might be visiting. Bill also can be found in various 'shows' throughout the year. I hope you can see his work sometime.

By-the-way, the bowl is called Antler because he shapes those veins with an antler.

Fool the Nay-Sayers

Do you ever find there are those who are very fast to judge you? Do you allow them to influence you? Depending on my mood, I can let those people get to me or I can let them know it is their loss. We cannot always meet the needs of others, and as creative people it becomes important to stay true to ourselves in order to achieve our best work. I keep trying to remind myself how important it is to keep my focus and believe all happens when the time is right. I work hard to stay positive about all aspects of my life. How about you? Are you naturally a positive person who believes all happens as it should when the time is right? Do you think there may come a time when your life might make a sharp turn into your dreams? Do you believe?



Here is a story you are not going to want to miss. Please see what happened to 47 year old Susan Boyle from Scotland when she appeared on Britain's Got Talent television show. (My apologies for making this a link, however I have no idea how to deal with a video.) Please watch this, if you have not seen it already. Catch the smug reactions to people when she walks out on the stage.



Have you watched it? Yes? Do you now feel the world is right and good? I can't tell you how this uplifted me. I feel as though I can conquer the world single-handed. Of course the moral of the story is be careful how you treat people you come across each day...being kind never hurt a soul.

Have a Beautiful and Kind Day!

Reviewing The Basics

Do you ever feel it is sometimes important to review the basics of the work you do? I feel as though it has been important to me over the last few weeks. One of the reasons I think I have wanted to do this is because I am exploring new processes and new mediums, too. As I have said before, I am enjoying the use of FW Pearlescent Inks along with liquid and regular acrylics. No, no I have not given up on the glazing, but it seems as though I have to keep myself interested in other things while I also enjoy that very time consuming process of clear glazing. This is a little bit of one of the pieces I am currently working on. I know I should be documenting the process, however I just can't seem to take myself out of the flow of work to prepare that linear type document. There is more to do with this and you are not seeing the entire piece, I thought you might like to see how the inks are responding.

Now getting back to the idea of re-exploring the basics I have found a wonderful book called Painting Abstracts by Rolina van Vliet. While I am not one to follow a program, I am finding picking and choosing some of the exercises are quite helpful. It is helping me to think about the working methods which work well for me and reminding me to evaluate my work with the elements and principles of art in mind. While they sit back there constantly poking at my intuition, I think it is helpful to bring them to the front of my evaluation process from time to time.

If you enjoy abstract painting, I think you will find this book useful. If you are interested in exploring abstraction, I think this book is very useful in helping to understand what it is all about and what actually goes into the work of abstract painting.

Thanks to Amazon for the use of this image.

Do you find you have to make yourself step back from your work or does it come naturally? Have you ever felt as though it is important to return to basic ideas to begin to build again? How does the process work for you?

I hope all is well where you are and spring or fall is finding a way into your days!

I will be back with you soon!

Process

Over the last few weeks I have been trying to trust the process of my work and life. Sometimes this is difficult, however I have found how important it truly is to do this from time to time. As an American I have been raised to believe the more time I put in, the more productive I will be. All of these years I have failed to recognize just what it is that encompasses "time put into my work". Lately I have concluded there are many aspects of this art making which involves putting in that time and it is not always in my studio producing the next painting. Sometimes I have to step back and evaluate what I have done, read things which have an influence on the direction I am heading or where I have been, sometimes it means I have to explore other art forms and how they impact my own work...or allow them to impact it.

Recently I heard about a company in the US northeast who felt they had to cut back their work force since they were not getting the clients in this economic climate. They did not really want to lay people off, so they decided they were going to try the basic French model of working. Their employees were all cut back to a 35 hour work week (yes, I know the French have recently increased that back to 40 hours), required to take a month off (without pay at this point) in addition to their regular paid vacation. Do you know what happened? The productivity and creativity of the employees increased, their client list began to grow again and they are doing well now and have happy employees and clients. I thought this said a great deal about not only this company, but about how we sometimes have to take more time to effectively produce.

No, I have not stopped painting, I remain true to my mark a day (at minimum), but I have started to evaluate what it truly takes to do this work. So now you know what I have been doing over the last little bit. Yes, I have been painting, but in a different way and with a different attitude. It feels fresh and exciting, so I think that is a good thing.

I also appreciate you being so patient with me throughout this process. I hope to be a more regular blog poster and reader...not every day, but with more substance, too.

Oh, and this little photo at the top...just another crop from some recent "play".

How about your process? Do you sometimes have to step away and take stock in your work and your work process?

Have a Great Weekend!

For Two Lovely Ladies

This beautiful chocolate fountain is for us all to share as we celebrate the birthdays of two lovely, lovely ladies. They both are artists interested in watercolor paint and one also paints with acrylic and the other one paints with plants. They share the same birthday...along with moi. Do you know who I am talking about?

Please join me in wishing Andrea and Wurzerl Very Happy Birthdays!

Happy Birthday!

A Few Awards to Share!

So I was given a few awards recently. This one came from Soulbrush who writes ever so lovingly from London. She was right on the money...I do have a passion for painting without a doubt. Thank you, Soul, for all of your inspiration and kindnesses.



This Kreativ Blogger award was presented to me by Michele who writes Artistic Buffet from Texas. Believe me when Michele says buffet, she means it. With this award, I am supposed to share seven things I love with you. Now many of you have read lists like this from me before, so here is an abbreviated version. I love:

1. My family and friends
2. Painting on canvas, although I am enjoying some seriously heavy paper at the moment.
3. Reading novels and art books.
4. Traveling
5. Time alone
6. Mugs of hot English tea on cold days as I sit by a wood fire
7. Icy drinks on hot summer days

I feel very honored to have been chosen by two wonderful bloggers for these awards. I am not so sure I am feeling all that deserving, since lately I have not been blogging all that much, nor do I feel as though I have been all that creative. Never-the-less, I am truly touched by your generosity and kindnesses.

Now with both of these awards, I am supposed to send them on to other people. This is the part of awards which really bothers me. I have so many blogs I absolutely adore, and I am finding it impossible to make the choice. So here is what I am going to do. If you are listed on my blog list (in the right-hand column) and would like either or both of these awards, please consider yourself chosen to receive them. If you would like the awards and are not listed on my blog list, by all means leave me a comment and enjoy the award! How does that sound?

I wish for you all lots of creativity and a true passion for the work you do.

Have a Delightful Day!

Creating Away Here

This is a small little piece I did a while back. I think it is like 3" x 5". I sometimes buy these little canvases to experiment with and sometimes they are worth showing you. It is acrylic with the pearl powder. It is fun and I enjoy the process of these little bits.

I believe things are really busy for everyone. I know they are for me to be sure. I am enjoying time in the studio creating some new pieces and that is absolutely so much fun. I keep wondering if there is a way to source FW Pearlescent Inks by the gallon. :)

Once I get the newly created watermark to merge with the photo of my paintings, I will have some new things to share with you! Until then, you are going to keep getting these bits. I am crap with the computer and feel proud of myself for getting the watermark created...now, to work out getting the darn thing to apply! If anyone is a wiz (I use a PC, not Mac) with Photoshop Elements, I would love to pick your brain.

I hope everyone has a great, creative weekend!

Thinking vs Not

So I have a feeling some of you were saying, 'Why is she showing that painting again? We saw it just recently and I know it was a test run playing with some paint on paper.'

Well Fiona had me thinking about cropping when she suggested I might find something fun in the painting I did in the post just before this one. Fiona always makes me think through lots of options, in case you haven't noticed.

Okay, so I was thinking about what I might find if I did some cropping on some of these test papers I have done over time. The little painting I use on my profile is a crop. I wish it was not as tons of people have thought I did it as a large painting...it is tiny. So I was looking at this on my computer and using the crop tool to look at it in a variety of ways and this is what I came up with:
Now I wish I had this as a large painting! Pooh! Well, what can I say? Sometimes you get what you get. Do you find yourself cropping things and wishing they were larger, uncropped works? Do you ever try to "reproduce" the treasure you have found?

Now this reminds me of an article I was reading this morning about how setting goals can really backfire, so maybe this cropping thing kind of keeps me free. Of course, this idea is clearly not news to those of us who spend time in the studio each day. We know what goal setting in the studio can do to a work. This apparently is some kind of revelation to business types. Yes, we know goals can be powerful tools, but often it is how those tools are used that makes the difference, right? Anyway, go read the article, I think you might find yourself chuckling to yourself. Are you a goal setter, in general? Or do you really fly through your life by the seat of your pants? In case anyone is new here, I am absolutely the "fly through" kind of person.

As always, I am eager to hear your thoughts. I hope you find a lot of lovely studio time this week. I know I am searching for some of that!

Now, I am off for a few blog visits. Please be patient with me as my list grows by the moment!

Something A Little Different

I have no idea what to call this. I do not know how to present it, really. I have not actually decided it works, so I am sticking my neck out here to share it with you.

As you know I have been working on all kinds of things lately, in and out of the studio. Some of those things make me crazy, some frighten me (like creating a watermark) and some are pure joy. With this painting, you are looking at all three of these. It makes me crazy because it is on paper and you all know how I feel about framing, but I just could not help myself. It was fun to work on this large paper (maybe 18" x 24"). I also worked with something new which was a little scary. This has pearlized ink included in several layers. I was not sure how it would react, but it was fun to kind of squirt on, watch it move, squish it around or just let it sit there. The thing is, I also really lost myself working on this piece. It truly felt as though I was moving on air with it. I loved that feeling of being.

Now it comes down to this... what do you think of my experience? I hesitate to call it an experiment, it was truly an experience. Should I try to go this route again...if I can? Should I give up and leave the paper and ink alone? Is this worthy of a frame? What do you think?

I hope the world is treating you all beautifully here in almost Mid-March! I hope you are finding the time to be creative.

Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing with me your thoughts...I honestly appreciate each and every single one.

Have a Fantastic Day!

I Need Your Help...

As some of you know, I have entered An Art Showdown at the Saatchi Gallery. I am humbly coming here to ask you to click on the link below to vote for me. The more stars you can find in your heat to give me or that you think this painting deserves, I would appreciate it.Click here to vote. "10" stars is the best and "1" is the least deserving (it is true some of my more logical friends questioned this fact). The details of this painting appear at the site.

The competition is a rather long term deal...I was not clear about it until this morning, actually. Apparently this week is open to voting, then the top two are chosen. Those two go head-to-head and the winner then is in a group of other winners later in the year.

I thank everyone who has already voted and thank everyone who will vote. If you do not feel moved to vote, then I thank you for taking the time to at least read this. I know your days are very busy.

Now, speaking of days...I am continuing to paint and take care of other issues, too. Things are going well and I look forward to talking here again soon.

Have a Beautiful Day wherever you are in the world.

I Really Have Had A Little Studio Time

While things have been crazy around here, I have been able to get into the studio a little bit. You all have been so patient with me and I thank you. Hopefully by the end of the weekend, I will have visited you and left a comment on your blog. At least that is one of my weekend goals.

As I have shared before most of my paintings are very time consuming and this one is no different. I used acrylics and a frottage technique with rice paper to get some of this texture. I applied layers clear glaze. Then for several layers I used an eye dropper and squirted acrylic ink over the clear glazing, sprinkled that with pearl powder and placed waxed paper over it...and squished everything together and pressed it all down with my hands. When I was ready, I lifted the waxed paper. This is 12" x 16".

You will still have to bear with me for a little while, but I promise I will get there. I hope all is well with everyone and I do plan on visiting you very soon.

Have a Beautiful Day! Now, back to the studio!

The Creative Life is Great!

I have lots of choices to make here and it seems I am trying to find the time to make them. I truly am not ignoring you, my blog friends. I keep reminding myself how good "busy" can be, and how fantastic it is to live a creative life!

Have a Great Day!

Engaging the Muse

I have been working on this one for quite some time, but there is still more to do. The thing is, this one is already spoken for...you just never know about these things as I have had many doubts about this one. I have several large pieces going on right now, I can't work on all of them in my tiny room at the same time. (Yes, that was a big moan you just heard.) I am trying to work on some methods to keep myself from getting into this spot again, though...trying to develop some different ways of working. We will see how it turns out.

I have been re-reading parts of Trust the Process by Shaun McNiff. I have loaned this book to some friends and they have graciously added comments and underlined parts which really is lovely (I highly recommend this if you are not distracted by notes and underlinings in your books.) I came across this statement:

When we play alone with art materials, we are enshrouded in an intimate and quiet relationship with the imagination, which acts as a silent partner.

Of course this made me think of working with the muse which has also become an important part of what I have been doing lately...really engaging with my muse through my journal. No, that was not my idea alone, read Elis Cooke's post to see what I have been doing. Andrea has been engaging with some special spirit over at her blog...could it be her muse which is making itself known by coming out of the end of her brush?

My muse sure has given me a creative punch here without a doubt. Of course she would have me go into debt, but we work things out. I have to say I have fallen in love with her and am always happy when she taps me on the shoulder or needs to be coaxed out. How about you? Do you find your muse a good resource for moving your art forward? Is your muse difficult or easy to work with?

Have a Beautifully Creative Day!

A State of Mind...

You know how some days you just do not have much to say. I am there. :) So I thought I would show you this photo of a work in progress. Does it look like a jumbled mess to you? Maybe it is my state of mind. Have a Great Day!

Creating With Heart

You may recognize some or all of this doodle.
I was only playing around with acrylic paint on rice paper.
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Last week, Dianne wrote about an encounter with a man while she was working a show. The man wondered about what the artists put into the paintings. If you have not read this wonderful story, please go now and read it. The man has such valid points to make.

This week, I came across this article after seeing one of this man's paintings which drew me into it in one of the most profound ways. I quiver to think of my response if I were to see one of these in real life. I may be like an Elvis groupie and literally faint from awe. I know James Nares puts a bit of himself into each painting he creates! While you are at it visit his web site. I get the same feelings when I see a Mark Rothko painting. I know there are many others, however this came off the top of my head...Rothko is always on the top of my head.

It is the aspect of placing a part of your soul on the surface or into the work which becomes so meaningful. This is true across the board with art, but I believe it is true with any profession. Consider the nurse who gives that little bit more, the teacher who gives that little extra care and the scientist who spends the extra time to be very sure his project will be safe. People who give more of themselves because it is all they know how to do. They, indeed, are paying it forward and not knowing it while it happens.

How about you...do you put your all into your creative work (I think I know the answer for many of you)? Are you aware of art which is full of the artist's heart and soul? Who does this in your opinion?

Asking Permission and Being Careful...

Phases of Life
Acrylic five 12 x 4
staple-less gallery wrapped canvas

You have seen this before, that is true, but it kind of fits with what I wanted to talk about today.

Do you remember when you were in school and the teacher would say to keep your eyes on your paper and do your own work? Then when you were in high school you were told you had to not copy because it was plagiarizing and that was illegal? In college, I had to write a pledge on every paper and exam I turned in. If there was any problem, then you had to appear before a court to resolve it. As an adult, writers get sued all the time for plagiarism of ideas and to have copyright laws upheld. So what is my point?

Recently I have been advised some of my blog work has been used by other people, and they have not asked permission to do so. Now I do have a copyright message on here for all artists who's work appears here. The thing is not only have I had an issue, but I have heard from some other blogging/artist friends who have a similar issue. I have a big problem with anyone who will blatantly copy/paste my blog posts. I have a much bigger problem when they take advantage of artists who share on this blog. If you are a person who has a propensity to go this route, I am checking each day for anything which comes up... If you would like permission to use something, ask, I am not that mean! Here is the question I have to the few of you who do this, do you want to be a victim of a thief, too? If you are blatant about taking whole posts or if you choose to copy an image of an painting without the writer/artist's permission, you are performing an illegal act! Now is the time to think twice, be respectful. Whatever you do give clear and thoughtful appreciation to the source when you post it, but try to obtain permission if you can.

For those of you who need to protect yourself, if it is important to you, I advise you to do some web searches to see what comes up. One thing which seems to be going around right now is another kind of scheme all together. I was alerted by a new site which is aiding artists in selling their art (so many seem to be doing that these days). This site is called Zibbet. They give some good advice for protecting yourself from those who will take advantage of artists. Visit them here to see what they had to say.

These are kind of crazy things and I never thought I would be writing a post like this, but here you have it. How do you feel about work being used without your permission? Do you think I am way off base?

Have a Good Day, despite my rant here.

Still Painting

I have been telling you I have been painting lately, but I haven't shown you anything new for a while. I am still painting and actually have too many things going on now in my crowded little studio room.I have been working on this one for quite some time as there needed to be a lot of drying going on between some of the steps. Using orange really made me step outside my box here, I have to say. I am still pulling back from that one :) I have to say, though, the emotions expressed here are very true to what I feel as I gaze forward onto the horizon. So this is 40" high x 30" wide and a very deep 2.5" staple-less canvas and painted in all acrylic. The light line through the center and some splashes are silver along with some white and some pearl paint (I just wanted you to know it is not all white). At the moment, I am contemplating it while I add some glaze layers. I am thinking it is complete and just needs the glazing, but time will tell, I suppose.

I have a few others to share with you and one other large one I can't even get a shot of at the moment. I am also doing some experimenting...we will see how that turns out, too.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. If anyone tried to get to my web site last week, I apologize for the problems. It is back up and running now, though! I am ever so grateful, too.

Have A Great Day!

The Tag of Two (or Three) Men...

I have been tagged by Cynthia over at Oasis Writing Link. I am to show you the sixth photo in my sixth file, then I am supposed to tell you a story about it. Are you ready? Here we go...No, this is not the sixth photo in the sixth file on my computer. I do not collect photographs of handsome men. I got over that some years back...about 35 to be exact. This is a photo of my friend, Michael Brenker. Michael is a model based in Hamburg, Germany. He has modeled for some impressive companies like Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bahn, Lufthansa, Nintendo, Olympus, Ravensburger and Volkswagen to name a very few. You can visit his web site to see some great photos and a very long list of companies. Aside from the work Michael does, he is such a sensitive, caring person and a good friend to my family. What does this have to do with the sixth photo in my sixth file?

In the autumn of 2008, Michael was on a two week photo shoot in Mexico. While he was there, he not only had his photo taken about a million times, but he was able to take some photos, as well. So Michael emailed me some of those he took while in Mexico. They were amazing, so I put them in a file on my computer. Voila, the sixth photo in my sixth file is:
Isn't he adorable? When I saw this I wanted to get into this photo, sit and (not) speak with this little one - I do not speak Spanish at all. I wished I could hold him on my lap, and we could look at a picture book together. I just have not been able to get this dear little boy out of my mind since Michael sent me the photo. I just love the expression on his face. Michael said he asked this little boy if he could take the photo and this little guy was more than happy to sit patiently while he got the shot.

So when this came up as the sixth photo, I was very pleased. Of course, I needed to ask Michael as this belongs to him, not me. While I was at it, I thought you just might like to see a photo of the photographer, too. Why not, right? Since Michael's photo is plastered all over, why not on this blog? It also makes a fun story...and a very true one, too!

Visit Michael's web site. He has some really super, fun photos there and you just might get a glimpse of his adorable little boy, too.

So is this a good way to begin your weekend? I am off to the studio here. I hope you find time to be creative where you are. Thanks Cynthia for this fun tag. Anyone who wishes to do this, feel free. Go ahead, see what is in your photo file. Yes, I was supposed to tag people, but making those kinds of choices right now seems a bit overwhelming.

Happy Weekend Everyone!