OLD CRONIES....

I am taking an online class, "Let's Face It 2017", in which for 52 weeks we will be doing a face a week.  This week was introduced by a guest instructor and we did glazing on top of a monochromatic painting.  I have always wanted to try this technique as it is what the old masters did. I had a really great time trying this procedure out.  The process is slow but if you build up slowly over time, you will have a really stellar piece. (Which I will do in the near future). ...So-  most everyone else in the class is doing pretty faces but I want to do 'mature' faces.  I have put out a call to friends, old in friendship and a little old in timeline, and hope to do most of them during this year.  I see a show coming up titled--"Old Cronies"....stay tuned....

Back on the right road again....

Just finished this piece for my "Village" series.  The title is A Walk in the Village, am I clever or what?  So that is all the discourse for today, just sharing....Di

Reworking, tweaking....

Not my usual style but what I am working towards ...BUT  (note to self) I have to get the present stuff together and looking right so it looks like a  cohesive body of work.  This face is done over a piece that I never liked and I am glad I 'went for it'....it is much more interesting now.   Back to work....

My World....

As I have mentioned, I have a solo show coming up in April and have been assembling the pieces I want to put in it.  This picture is a recently completed work (as in today) and I consider it my intro into the show.  I titled it, "Welcome, to my World", and it represents me in color and some of my imaginary characters being created in black and white.  The orbs as always represent the 'gift of Life' and for me will never be black and white.  Life is real and such a joyous gift.  Though the face is somewhat realistic, I just can not go without excessive color and brushwork.

Now I have to do drudge work as in painting the edges black on all the pieces, photographing, etc....blah, blah, blah, oh well- such is life.

PS  yes, I do look this old and I am embracing it....do not mind at all...

Hibernating and Working....

This is the first piece I have sewn in a very long time....about a year I think.  It is for a group activity and it only took me 3times before I got a square I liked!  I had to take a break from the textiles but now I am invigorated and ready to go again.

I am so glad that the Holiday season is over, although I did enjoy the festivities.  BUT NOW...I can get back to a schedule and be creative.
Which is what I like to do best.  I am still painting and have two solo shows coming up in the spring and summer so that in itself takes some time and preparation work.  

Hopefully, I will be posting lots of stuff in the near future.  Have two unfinished paintings waiting in line and a lot of ideas swirling in my head.  So,  I AM BACK.....see ya

New Show Scheduled

Just scheduled my first show of 2017.  I will be doing a solo show at the Etowah Art Center from April thru July of 2017.  The show will feature my 'Village" series, so I think it will be awesome!!

This is my newest piece and though it looks large it is really only 9x12".  I think it is a fun piece and hopefully people will like it.

This is the time of year that things go crazy so I am having to clear activities out of the way so that I have enough studio time.  Get cranky if I do not have my studio time.  I think artists are better off as hermits so that they can devote time to their craft.   Having said that, I am going to get back to work....ta, ta----

Play Days...

Went on a mixed media frenzy!  These are 4"x6" on paper little drawings.  Wanted a few free days before I committed to a larger piece and small little studies always bring out the creative side of one's self. This was two days work and I actually have one more but that made me not have a pretty presentation so you only get to see nine.  Tomorrow is a movie day and then Tuesday a meeting day BUT Wednesday I paint again.

 See ya..... Di

Inner Cities...

This is a 24"x 36" painting in the smokestack series..(maybe by the end of it, I will be able to paint smoke better...argh)...the idea behind the piece is how the city affects the city youth and the mentoring needed, solutions to the crime, crowding, biases, etc..in the cities.  I think my soul has been wretched watching all the killings in Chicago and other big towns.  It is a reactive piece to what is going on in our own backyards.  Have to admit I am figuring out my own thoughts, as I go along with these paintings.  Thanks for sharing the journey with me....di

Working on loosening up....

The title of this piece is, "I See You", and I am working on painting intuitively and going crazy.  It is all in hopes of getting looser and out of my lines.  Several people have gasped when I told them I thought I needed to loosen up but I really do.  I love shapes and kind of want to stay in the lines. However, that is really not a good thing....so here is to letting things fly--

We are Spirit....

This is my newest piece and it is titled, "We Are Spirit".  The blue/turquoise orbs are my symbol for our spirit, life force, soul, or core, and are my constant reminder to revere our being and our temporary walks upon this planet.  The floating bars are portals and represent the path we take by making choices and decisions.  This is part of the series I have been working on called- "The Village".
 

You can see from the group picture that 'The Village' is a happy, mystical place.
Hopefully, these paintings make you smile and want to make you visit.

The imagination is a powerful place......

Doing some smalls....

Doing a couple of smalls (9x12, 8x10) before I start a large piece.  Smalls are fun because they are pure play...This particular one has the most beautiful colors in it.  Hard to tell from a photo but it is really rich looking....Scrumptious...

Back to work.....oh, this is titled, "Geisha in the Garden"

Hmmmmm....

Not sure why I have a fascination with smoke stacks at the moment. But apparently, I am in the the process of a smokestack series.   My concern is that they are not current or a reflection of our times. Perhaps, in  the unfolding of the series, it will begin to relate with today.  Every current thing I think of is filled with anger, crisis, and conflict.  That, in my opinion, is not a good thing.....

 My main objective is just to keep painting and hopefully, by they time I have painted a thousand, I will be a master....and left my voice.

On to my next canvas and trying to figure out what to paint that connects to our time.

No title yet....

New piece which  I am really liking!  Haven't signed yet because may still do a couple of tweaks.  Working very hard to loosen up and I am getting there....No title yet but will think of something...enjoy and follow your passion-smiley face...

So......

So....I am taking this online class and I have promised myself that I will do as instructed.  Which, I might add, is not always easy for me.  This last challenge was to 'deconstruct and construct' within your piece.  Basically that meant that I need (as a painter) to paint, over paint in sections, texturize, and let things happen.  These are my first two attempts.  I have to admit that I am learning some new techniques and approaches.  My work was beginning to be too illustrative and I really want to get away from that, as much as I loved the pure color, etc.  So this is a start down a new road and we shall see....as long as I am learning, growing, and stretching....I am ahead of the game....I think!!!! DO NOT TELL ME DIFFERENT!!!!! or I will be sad...di

This week's challenge.....

In the online class I am taking, the weekly challenge was (1)contrast and (2)doing something outside of your norm.  I am one who loves color so I decided to do a basically monochromatic painting with empty space.  'Empty space,' being somewhat of a foreign concept for me.  This piece is called "The Enlightened One".  And I have to admit that I do like it.

Calling the Inner Child...

This was suppose to be a weekly drawing for a class that I am taking.  But the theme and a bigger canvas decided differently.  The class's theme for the week was, ' letting out your inner child when you are being creative'  (and the rest of the time is good too as per my opinion)...and instantly I had an image of the herald calling out our inner children.

My 'blue orb' that I use so much is the spirit-the heart of us all.  My children are calling for their creative spirit to fly and be honored.

Have a few tweaks and it will be considered done. It was a fun one to do.

Online class started....

 So...signed up on the internet for a year long class!  That means that I will be painting and sketching pretty regular for 365 days.  Really enjoying the stimulation and interchange with the 59 other participants.  The focus on the class so far has been 'our marks' and connecting with our own creativity/voice.  I have no theme or set goal for this work so it is very freeing to just fly with what images that come to mind.   The sketchbook is the most fun part because the drawings are one day affairs.  Life is good...however, I think/know I have a big black skink in my studio!  Hoping it will starve..or escape.

Have been visiting Middle Earth lately....

So...a neighbor's son asked me if I would do a game board for  him and his friends.  Of course, I said yes.  Two days later he arrives at my doorstep with a 4'x4' piece of plywood!  Oh my.  He and his friends have been busy building a life size hobbit house this summer and have created a board game.  How cool is that????

I have been having a blast doing this project and it takes me 'out of my box', which is a very good thing.
This is not done yet, but I am working my way to the top.  The right hand corner will have a dragon curled around the perimeter of the board.

This and wonderful visitors have keep me rather busy for the last 3 weeks.  Hope to finish this in the next 5-6 days.  Then onward to other projects.....

"The Gossips" is done!!

It has been a while since I started this but at last I am done.  Life got in the way but now I am back!

This piece is called "The Gossips", and as you can see they are two faced.  They run about town with enhanced ears to catch whatever gems of info that are floating in the air.  They have hands that can attach to corners, buildings, or crevices so that they can remain hidden while on the job.  Of course, the job does not entail getting their information truthful and correct.

My village and its' characters, is basically a very happy and uplifting town but you can not escape the inevitable word mongers.  How would a town function without the gossips?  ....Run for your lives.....they live....

Design Wall...this week

Working on three projects currently, albeit at a non rushed pace.  For my personal quilt for the year, I am doing 100 6" blocks.  I am working with a project in which two blocks are revealed a week, so the quilt will literally take a year.  My interpretation of the blocks is not always literal...so I just do not post them on the FB site...do not want to upset the masses!

The second project is a 20" square to be entered in an exhibition.  That will be all I can say about that one at the moment.  Other than I can only use solid fabrics which is insane!

Third project is doing a variation of a block presented to me every week.  We shall see how this goes as there is a good probability that my blocks may not be what they are expecting.  Such is the life of an independent thinker.  Crazy is never understood.....