So as soon as I walked into the room last night, I felt comfortable. I was at ease.

But feeling challenged is also good and I want to grow as an artist.

What does this mean? That for the next few weeks I draw.

I’m very nervous about drawing. 

I admit that I hide in my blurry color swirls, but I think  (know) that brushing up on these fundamentals will ultimately help me create even better paintings.

As one guy put it, “it’s like taking two sticks and making a fire. Once you do that, you can do anything.”

So here’s to trying new things.

These are some snaps of my new painting. Let’s see what happens after a few weeks of drawing and when I return to painting. It will be an interesting experiment!

Caesar (the black kitty) loves sitting on lumps. He never likes to sit on soft things, he prefers piles of books; shoes or anything that looks like it would be uncomfortable. His sister just likes to get into everything and runs around like a mini tornado. 

Aren’t they adorable?

The new project is something in the works, more to come.

oh and he also likes to wear shoes.

btw, these pink chairs are a lovely street find from my first year in new york. aren’t they fabulous?

**

To be perfectly honest, I don’t love this piece right now. I think I ruined it with the horse addition – but I think/hope it can be fixed! It was challenging because I’ve been trying to push my “style” of paintings and wanted to make this a whimsical piece, but it may have been better left abstract. That’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned in this class – when to stop and just LOOK at a piece.

Oh well! Either way, I love painting and am just so happy to be making art.

would love your thoughts/feedback!

“Krull” is something Hayden started calling me – I have no idea why – but for some reason it stuck – so much that I almost signed a painting Krull in my last painting class.

Now the “shop” part comes from asking my friends to help me finish a project and me sort of making fun of sweat shops…

Remember the Visions tactile mural that I started last year?

Well, I finally finished it — thanks to my friends – THANK YOU!!!

At my birthday brunch last week I asked me friends to help re-glue some pieces of this tactile mural. This was a much easier task than previous birthday requests of tree planting and gardening…

**

Thanks again everyone! I presented the mural the students last night and they loved it! It will be hung in Visions over the next few weeks.

Warm fuzzies all around

Happy hump day folks!

Here’s a new painting in progress. Color drips and strange shapes. I can’t tell if it’s hideous or pretty. I think it’s somewhere in the middle – and I like that.

It’s 30×30 inches – I’m starting to work with larger canvas, which I really enjoy! By the end of the class I hope to finish a piece that’s taller than me – perhaps 4×6 feet. The only problem is I’m not sure where I’d put it.

These phone photos don’t depict the color very well. They are actually much brighter and less “yellowy”, but I’ll re-shoot all of the photos from this class and my new work with my camera soon.

I love the way mixing colors looks! I hope to do something with all of my dried paints!

Have a wonderful week!

According to Melanie, this new piece is “spicy”, “saucy”, and “has spunk”!

Thanks dear! Your comments make me happy

Here’s some of the new work from class – from the phone.

Xo

Wouldn’t it be fun to visit this place?

**

btw, I am really digging these tunes by Alex Winston.

Happy March!

Bring on the Spring!

xo

When I was a kid, I hated Sunday nights. It was an awful reminder that Monday was around the corner. Monday meant school and homework and whatever else scared me at that age…the thing is, they don’t tell you that they are equally dreadful when you are an adult.

If only we had three day weekends:

day 1: recuperate from the week
day 2: play!
day 3: relax and prepare for the next week

sounds heavenly, doesn’t it?

Since three day weekends are not in my short term future, I decided to find something to love about Mondays. Actually, it didn’t happen like that — it just so happened that I signed up for a painting class that is on Mondays.

And it just so happens that the class has been everything I need.
And what a perfect start to the week.

It’s allowing me to work on some pieces that have been hanging on my wall for over a year…
(this is ALMOST done…)

Play (literally – sometimes i throw it) with paint…

and try something completely new –

yes.

I was terrified of this class, but it has been so inspiring, I’m creating, and it feels so good!

Thank you Julian for pushing me to do it.

<3!