September Art Opening

Have been really busy getting ready for this show. That is why I did not do much posting for the last two months.  This show was at the “Emporium’ in downtown Knoxville, TN. It opened last night, September 3rd.  The venue is huge and featured 5 different artists. The show runs through September. There were about 800-1000 people who came through and sales were made, ( I love it when my work is displayed in someone’s home👍). My next show is scheduled for November in Athens, TN. Ya’ll come ….

 

Saturday Night in Cartoonville

 

A frivolous piece on paper (11x14). It just happened, do not know what to tell you…I just had a major birthday and I think I have lost my mind. But it is cute so I will share it for now. ❤️Di

In The Garden

 

Newest piece. Thanks to COVID I have not had a show in over a year BUT now I have two big shows scheduled for this fall. Since, I could not socialize last year, I had plenty of time to work! Now the dilemma is to choose which paintings I want to show not the usual ‘do I have enough,’ conundrum.

Last year was very hard on artists. Yet the sun is shining and life, as we knew it sort of , returns….❤️

No title yet.....

 

Heaven only knows what was going through my head with this one BUT I like it! Am working on more complexity in my work and continually pushing myself-somewhat frustrating at times. I think the blood, sweat, and tears will be worth it eventually. I am counting on it!

ACEOs

These are artists trading cards (original) that I create for EBay. It is all part of my marketing plan which has not gone overly well. But I am trying and they are pretty.  You can bid on them and buy them for a song.

Can not get this page to behave ( ie the underling), forgive me....di

“The Fish Monger”

 

This is my newest painting. The fish monger has a pinch of salt in his hand and the fresh catch of the day. Just a continuation of my ‘village characters’.  For some obscure reason this piece took me a long time. I think it is 24x36, so not a huge piece. I like it, so that is all that matters.  Hope you do too! Di

Portrait Challenge

 Have been participating in a challenge- #anodetowomen.  Thirty portraits, one a day for thirty days. We are only suppose to spend 30 minutes on each one but I must admit that some have taken a little longer. Here are my four favorite so far. We are only 9 days into the challenge.

“Tell Me Your Secrets”

 In my head I see a dialogue going on about confidences. The houses symbolize life, journey, families, and a myriad of happenings that are being shared. Birds for me are wisdom. 

This painting is magical and lets the mind wonder. IMHO

It has been a while...

 

Sorry-did not realize I hadn’t posted in so long! Sold a house, bought a house, and am renovating said house. And of course blogger has changed some of the ways of doing things in the meantime!

Have started a series on Delphi/Strong Women. Among other things. Have gotten studio set up and pretty much a ‘go’ from now on.

These are 11x14, so reasonable size  and on sale in my ETSY shop which of course is called DiFergi’s...

Artwork Chosen for Cover...

 Honored for my artwork to have been chosen for the cover of this literary magazine!

Imagine...

 This is my latest painting and I am calling it, “Imagine”.  People always ask me, “Where do you get your imagination?” See the book sitting on the chair? As a child I read constantly and still do. I once read and I paraphrase-An average person lives but one life while a reader lives hundreds.  In our imaginations anything can exist and new realities are created. This painting is an homage to endless ideas and to images  we can travel. And yes, I wanted to be a gypsy when I grew up but painting is the next best thing. LOL

Keeper of the Stars...

 

He is “The Keeper of the Stars”.  Taking his job very seriously, he fills the heavens with the twinkling of the stars for us mere mortals to wish upon.  His duty is to protect and cherish the beauty of the night.

This piece is 24x24, acrylic on canvas.

Sunday painting...

Sometimes between big paintings I just feel like painting with no plan, no expectations, and to just go for it! This is one of  those paintings. I still love to do faces and love my ‘spirit orbs’, but I challenge myself to stretch my artistic muscles and Old habits. No title for this one yet...but I like it👍.

 

The Bird Ladies

 Don and I have three bird feeders around our screened in porch.  One of our favorite things to do in the early evening is to go on the porch and watch the birds feed.  This is my homage to all the birds that entertain us so beautifully! More of my beautiful misfits series.

“Joyful Spirit”

 A piece expressing joy and praise. 18x24”, acrylic on paper

Stairway to Heaven

 Just a small piece (9x12) -but a little jewel.  This is with my ‘ beautiful misfits’ series. I am loving the jewel tones. I have about 5 or 6 small canvases that I need to paint on. Usually prefer larger canvases but was given the smaller ones, so I will be painting small for a bit. 👍

“Searching”

 

Sometimes you just love a piece and I love this one. I think it is the mood of the piece That appeals to me. That and the rawness of it.  This is collage and acrylic on paper. It is 18x24”.  I am in the mood to do something large-as in really large.  We shall see what is in my future👍.

Story Time”

Story Time...is the title of this new piece. I hope that when you stop and look at this piece, that it connects you to a time of fairy tales and wonder.

Right now, life is far from magical for most of the world. Perhaps this is when we should stop and let our minds laugh and be joyful. This painting, I hope, gives you cause to smile.

This piece and others are for sale in my Etsy shop
www.difergi.etsy.com

The River Flows...

This is 18x24, acrylic and inks, on paper. When I look at it, I see the rhythm of lines and the path of the spheres, thus to me it says, “the river flows”.  Sometimes, I hate to name pieces because when they are purchased I feel that the owner should name the piece as he/she relates to it. But this one just named itself!

In the village...

This one took a while, for some reason there was a lot of problem solving involved.  I am going to take a small break from this series for a week or two and work on some journaling and on the neutral series I have started.  As with everyone,  this pandemic and political  climate is ‘stressing me out’. That is probably why this painting is a bit tighter than normal! At least I have a studio in which to retreat, heal and hide🥴.

Beautiful Misfits 2

Newest in my “square” series.  number five in what I hope will be 12.  Took the photo outside and the colors really show beautifully.  Love painting these as they start out as scribbles. In the scribbles I find the heads and I go from there.  Not taking myself seriously allows for play.  Play is so good for the soul.👍Yes Ma’m!

Village of Beautiful Misfits

I really enjoyed painting this piece!  I like the layered images, the color, and the expressions.  This piece took me a while but it was worth it! It is acrylic and 20x20 on canvas.

Art Journaling...

Third painting in the soft colors...

There is something so pleasing to the eye of a soft palette.  Most of my work is about bold color but lately I have been enjoying using neutral and soft color.  This is my third 11x17 of this style and that makes it a ‘series’. I am calling this “Acknowledge Me”.  The middle figure seemed to be searching for some sort of connection.  I think the quarantine is finally getting to me! Enjoy...

“My World”

I feel  connected to this piece. It combines some of my spiritual symbols with one of my ‘warrior’ women.  For some reason I am Very strongly connected to it.  The feeling of connection and provoked thought is what art is all about.  That is what we artist paint for-connection. In a nutshell, man is uplifted through relating to the whole gamut of life. In special ‘aha’ moments.

Enough philosophy from me🤨. In a couple weeks I will distance from it but until then, I will enjoy looking at it.👍

“Community”

When I look at this, I see “Community”.  Individuals, all different, but creating our  mini worlds.  The blocks with spheres, for me, represent that which we do not know or can not perceive.  We exist on a level created by self concepts but there is so much more-or so I imagine.....

New piece and reworked piece...

 Two sister pieces.  One is brand new and the other one is an older piece that I reworked.  Not sure what their  titles are but suspect they are a start of a longer series!

I see a sweetness and kindness in them. Putting the animals in them is fun! So- be on the lookout for more👍.

Art journaling obsession...

 Having fun working on my art journal.  Have become fascinated with adding three dimensional aspects.  So here are the newest spreads.  I think the book will be quite entertaining!

Today is the day...

 Today is the day..Monday, March 10, 2020..you could say that my new mantle is ‘retired artist’, though I do not know if an artist ever really retires.  For me it means that I am turning a corner-no more shows, no more hustling- I am just going to paint for fun, smaller, and explore just for the heck of the experience.

Right now I am doing an art journal, really like making the little books. These are the first 3 spreads of a 15 spread book.  Enjoying the process.  Thanks for letting me share with you because I will always create and want to share.

 This is an exercise that I did for a class and though it was dubious at times whether it would work, I found that I really like the end result.  No title....just done.  Thanks for looking👍.

“The Gathering”

Sometimes you paint an image on the canvas, and it just sits on your shelf. Something is just not right and you don’t know what it is but you keep not choosing it for shows. That is what was going on with this image.  Finally, I faced the realization I needed to push it further. I knew I had to go for it. I think now it is finished. And I really can’t wait to show it. The title is “the gathering“.  It is a big piece about 3‘ x 4‘ and has quite an impact when seen.....will be in my next show.  I think I love it now...awwww

Smaller Project...

This is a hand made art book/journal and my plan was to finish it by the first of this year.  Oh well...I have three more spreads, some tweaking and then it will be done!  Maybe by my birthday, as in June...😏

“The Puppeteer”

Finally finished this piece and am onward to finishing up some smaller projects.  This work is layered with a lot of innuendos which I will not point out to you! They are yours to find...basically very pleased with the piece -enjoy

Working On Smalls

 I have been working on smalls-2 1/2 x 3 1/2”- ACEOs and selling them on Ebay.  This is probably not a good idea because I have a show I need to be painting for in August.  However, human nature being what is is...I am doing what I want to be doing!

The greatest pleasure I have as an older adult ( dare I say senior) is that I get to pick and choose what I want to do.  And I can always rationalize these small pieces as ‘practice’ for larger works.

so...That is my story and I am sticking to it....

Work in progress...

Usually I don’t post on this site unfinished work but time in the studio has been sparse as it always is this time of year and I wanted to check in with everyone!

This piece is titled, ‘the puppeteer’. Not all pieces have a name this early in the game but this one knew its’ name immediately.  Will post the finished piece probably in January.  How I long for dismal days when I hunker down in my studio,  but for now...I have to go bake some holiday cookies.

I have been busy....

As you know, I love to take online classes so that I do not get stale.  Quite a few of the online projects would utilize photos or magazine images in collage projects.  I never felt comfortable using someone else's work.  Sooo...I decided to do a small series (9) of monochromatic collage pieces using pieces from my own works.  An arm might be used from one image and a body from another-and this created new images and gave me the freedom to experiment with a lot of different processes.  Here are three of the nine pieces. You will note that a little color did creep in! Could not help myself.

The holidays are upon us and little to nothing gets done in my studio.  As an artist I love dreary days, cold weather, and any excuse not to go out.  Studio time is precious....But it is known that we find joy if we live in the moment.. so I remind myself daily to embrace the craziness of the season... may the end of this year bring you many blessings...love from my heart to you....di