10 Hours Later

I finished my painting, My Inner Reptile, this morning, 10 hours later than when I told myself the first time it was done. I'm really pleased I continued writing the story with paint as now it is so very complete, without any doubt or nagging idea tapping the back of my mind telling me otherwise.

Now comes the cover to the story to present it to the world in.... Stay tuned to see what frame profile I choose......

Skeletons in the Garden

Isn't this a great title for a painting? It conjures up such interesting images! When combined together they would make a really good story (who knows-- there might be someday such a painting of mine whose title this is!).....

I came across, in the New York Times the other week, a visually yummy paragraph within an interesting article: "If you make a four season garden you have to learn to accept decay and see the beauty of it. It's about the texture and shape, the seed heads and the skeletons....."

The skeletons in my garden became more apparent last week as the weather broke 50 degrees. However, they are now again mostly buried due to the recent weekend snowfall (24"!).  So I have had to temporarily put my spring fever bug back on the back burner and again derive pleasure from the simplistic forms protruding from the snow....

Unexpected eye-candy

My grandparents were avid birders and I, at a young age, connected birding with the retired and/or the elderly! Oh dear, I now stand corrected!
As I don't consider myself elderly and I certainly haven't retired, I have, over the recent years, found unexpected inspiration in these fine feathered friends outside of my studio and home windows. The layering of feathers and the miniature texture and details throughout their little bodies... are all so inspiring to me. Not to mention they exhibit such personalities!

The picture above is one my husband took on our recent trip to Ecuador. I absolutely love his eye! and find his work (in addition to the subject matter) very inspiring....

Miniature crazy detail!

This is a small gourd that we purchased in Quito, Ecuador, with a story wood-burned in. I fell in love with the miniature detail throughout it's three-dimensional being. It's quite crazy when you look closely at it -- as the imagery flows perfectly together from one turn to the next. I can't imagine how it is done with a wood-burning tool.....

So many layers!

My husband and I returned recently from an amazing trip to Ecuador. The first half of our trip was spent in the rain forest near a tributary to the Amazon. It was here especially I marveled at what it is that I'm not able to see, but that is able to see me. Above is a picture I took where this is summed up perfectly. Perhaps you can see him/her? It is slightly to the left of center.....

The magnitude of the layers that where all around me no matter where I looked was so very inspiring. I could have easily sat in one spot for a very long time to just observe all that was in front of me - that in a glance wouldn't have been captured in my gaze (and then maybe not even!) unless it hopped, crawled, leapt or swung.....

Stay tuned. I'm working on organizing my photographs from this trip and am looking forward to sharing more....

I can hardly wait!

This last week I received notification I am officially enrolled in a 4 day workshop coming up in June. I can hardly wait! There are pre-conference workshops and post-conference workshops, seminars, guest speakers, exhibitions, along with so much more! All are a part of Confluence, a bi-annual Conference through the Surface Design Association. The Textile Center in Minneapolis is hosting this 2 week event.

My instructor for Mix It Up! Mixed Media Collage is Wen Redmond. I'm delighted and so very excited to see what I walk away with. I feel I'm already dabbling in mixed media and would love some insight on how I could better tie all of my (or at least a fair number of them) various interests and different materials together. This seems like a perfect fit!

The description for my workshop is: "Make your mark! Mixed media embraces the unknown and the unexpected. Participants will use created fabrics and cloth collage. They will experiment with mediums and textures. Get inspired! Be open to serendipity! Investigate layering techniques, unique stamping, image transfer, easy monoprinting and more exciting collage secrets. Embrace the unexpected! Mistakes are opportunities to let go of prearranged outcomes and listen to the inner muse. Experimentation is key!"

Sounds pretty neat, doesn't it? :)

I had an idea and it involved gold leaf....

As much as I wanted to say this painting was finished, I  knew deep down it wasn't. How did I know? Because I had an idea that I kept shooting down and trying to forget - all to no avail as it kept hounding me. So I gave in and am thrilled I did so! You can see the latest detail/addition to my painting, My Inner Reptile. I still have a few more layers to do, but that is all, and then for sure it will be done  :)  As always, do stay tuned....