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.