look a little closer blog

I like the idea of creepy things in pretty surroundings, like swamp monsters in seas of curling ribbon.

I’ve had this painting in mind since I lived in Iowa City, but I am finally getting around to finishing it. I’m almost finished, but wanted to share. I still need to sew in more ribbon and draw in the little girl that will be walking through the forest, following the ribbon to her birthday present ~ a huge swamp monster!

Here are some photos~

It’s hard to believe it started off as just a swamp..

Now there are blooming trees…

with falling leaves…

and curling ribbon leading to a spiky (but friendly) present…

What would you do if you were given a ribbon and told to follow it through these woods?

Would you enjoy your birthday present?

I know I would!

The center I volunteer at asked if I could help brighten the walls of one of the rooms. They wanted the students to be encouraged to hang out in a creative space.

I didn’t do my typical sketched out-”paint by color” system for the volunteers. Instead it was a collaborative design by everyone that attended. Everyone found their inner artist and worked together. I think the results definitely brighten the room!

A few walls had circle painting (thanks Dandy for the idea!)
And they looked AWESOME!

And some people worked on their own projects – including a nature scene with a tree, rose garden, and sunset.
Sadly, I don’t have a full photo of this at the time!

When I wasn’t running around, I painted some abstract birds and shapes.

These connected to square painting and an imaginary world in the sky…

The teens claimed their wall with splatter painting, smiley faces, and hand prints.

and they definitely left their mark!

According to the teens, this is the “talking” room. I think the mural has plenty of things to talk about. I hope that everyone is proud of their work and that the teens can take ownership of this new, creative space!

The mural isn’t complete yet, but we’ll be adding the finishing touches sometime in the next couple of weeks!
Thank you all so much for participating today!!!!

I love it!

I took the day off to do some art -

And it’s hotter than heck…which means hair is going up! You can’t tell, but this is a seriously crazy hair do!

Oh painting makes me happy!

I took a break from painting, and learned something new about this apartment –

Apparently, we have a rooster!

I don’t think he liked me…

But he didn’t want to go where the cleaning supplies were!

Oh, did I mention we have a backyard?
Well, my neighbors do…

I’ll be moving out in September, but I think I’ll miss Mr. Rooster!
**
anyway, back to my painting!

this weekend i…

…had some dinner with friends.

…walked through the meat packing district.

and saw many interesting things in Tompkins square park in the east village~

…pretty trees…

…bushy tails.

…squirrels carrying bagels half their size!

…birds in flight…

…and these guys posing.

on my way home the sun set through the streets.

and fireflies hung out on these blue flowers…

i came home and looked at another painting in progress.

hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

I love color~ my paintings are usually full of color.
This is one of my favorite colorful pieces – it’s now proudly owned by a couple in Queens.

In this week’s Art Explorers class, we’re going to talk about color. I have found so many awesome art blogs for inspiration and project ideas – like this edible color wheel. We’ll be doing this project tomorrow, I think it will be fun and a little crazy!

Wish me luck!

Once a week, I volunteer with the blind creating art projects and I’m constantly amazed at their talent! We set these projects up so mostly everything is done by the student. The point is to make them feel successful in the art that they are making and let their creativity speak. Last semester we worked on a mural and it turned out great. I still have to post the final photos!

This semester we’ve been working in clay, basket making (kind of hard~actually), and decorating hats.

I am working with a new student and she is amazing! We sing Italian arias to each other, she teaches me words in the five languages she knows, and I watch in awe as she skillfully molds clay into birds.

This is actually our second bird. The first bird was too wet, the wings broke, and we had to start over. I think this bird is even prettier than the first, as we’re really working together to create patterns for the feathers (made from beads). She creates the pattern on one side and I mirror it — all while singing.

She inspired me to set up a singing program for the Greenwich Village Singers to come in and do some volunteer singing. I told her we’d be performing this summer and she was thrilled!

**
Do you ever have those moments where you realize how BIG the world is?
And how each person has their own story?

I do, and I love hearing other people’s!
And of course, sharing my experience from their stories.

I’m almost done with a new set of work and I’m really excited about them! This series is about little worlds to escape to from my shoebox.

Here’s another new piece..

I think the sunshine has inspired me to think YELLOW.

It’s now added to the wall of work – which means it will go through some revisions!

Either way, my goal is to have a series of 5-6 pieces done by the end of the summer!

Once I’m done with those, expect to see more “social issue” pieces!

I finally developed the film that had been waiting for me, and I remembered why I shouldn’t neglect my film camera!
It takes beautiful shots…and was the first camera I learned on!

this is one of my favorite photos..

**

Last fall I went to Montauk.
The sky was gray and it rained the entire time…

…but I did a lot of painting.

thinking of 11:11…

and healing…

The sea seemed so infinite…

but the actual view was much grander…

I imagined a stampede of unicorns running to shore…
like my favorite childhood movie, The Last Unicorn

**
It did clear up enough to take a walk…
Have I ever told you that I love ditches?

I think there are so many pretty colors…

Sometimes it takes a gray day to notice them..

The beach was filled with ocean treasures!

I decided hang out on this big stick…

Looked at the sea through a different lens..

I was annoyed with all of the cars just leaving their mark…

So I found my own patch of sand…

And decided to leave a little piece of me…

xo

I recently became a team leader for the New York Cares Art Explorers project. My project is on Saturday mornings at the Ravenswood Community Center.

I’m excited about my lesson plan for tomorrow! We’re going to make pop up Mother’s Day cards. These are some quick phone pics, but I had to share.

I’ve been making art out of all of my office’s leftover materials.

Kristen asked me to create a visual piece for this event tonight. The event itself will be interesting. It’s a combination of meditation, dance, music, movement, and art. She asked me to visually represent the color “Green” , it’s relation to love, and the heart chakra.

After a few weeks of struggling, my final “piece” is actually about my creative process in making it.

It’s a reflection of my thoughts on love, self-love, healing, green, and in the end it’s just bigger and happier exploding book.

The actual installation is difficult to describe, but it will be a heart hanging from a tree…

*the heart*

…Which will be filled with thoughts and flower petals…

*thoughts*

…And underneath it, the petals and notes will fall into a basket and a bouquet of live flowers with be ribbons coming out in six points (the six points of the heart chakra). The idea is that you have to find “self love” before anything else can work.

As I get ready for the installation, it makes me wonder if this is art and how it will relate to the “audience” of this event? Since it’s really just my “self expression”, I may be the only one that can understand it. I suppose we’ll see!

At least it was fun to make!

And I had some great help.

Until she was too tired.

Happy Friday!