It's almost here!!!

On my way into town today I saw a wonderful thing ... forsythias starting to bloom! So close to Spring you can almost taste it. To celebrate, let's look at a happy forsythia bush ...

Namaste, y'all ...

Obviously, I'm not one to leave well enough alone.

The abstract triptych I was working on has been bothering me. I hung it on the wall and studied it for several days. It felt unfinished. Then again, I'm also not so crazy about the way it looks against the khaki color of the walls. Problem. I like, but don't like, the painting. It feels muddy and heavy. The copper doesn't shine the way it should because it's hanging on a somewhat shadowed wall.

I even tried adding some "brightness" to it by coating string in paint and laying it across the canvas to make lines. Also some flicking and spotting of the same paint in a bit of a burst pattern. Let that dry. Hung it back on the wall. Still, not quite there.

I thought it possibly needed a touch of a mossy green on the bottom half. I thought about that all day and well into the evening. I decided to just go to bed and sleep on it. As I was lying there in the dark, snuggled up with my cats, I started thinking about the color purple. Not just any purple. Pale, icy lavender. I think I even dreamed about it.

When I woke up this morning I went through my usual routine. Shower, get dressed, start a pot of coffee (green tea today), clean litter boxes, go for my walk. All the while thinking about the abstract. Why did it not feel right? What could I do to fix it? I stood in the living room and stared at it for a long while. The purple kept creepy into my head.

Then I had one of those "ah ha!" moments. It wasn't exactly a good moment, I must admit. What I realized is I created the triptych while I was angry and frustrated. It was an expression of resentment, bucking opinions, pushing against caving to another persons ideas ... all the things I'm struggling against in my work. Plain and simple, I was mad and that's what I saw every time I looked at the painting. It was evoking negative feelings when what I want to create is calm.

Well. Damn.

I've talked about how, in the work I'm doing for the house, I want to create a relaxed, watery, peaceful, zen-like space with the art and overall decor of my home. It was the motivation behind the White Lotus painting. This triptych is the antithesis of my desire. This morning I put a nice fresh coat of white paint over the entire thing. Magic swipe of my brush and it's history. I always get a rush when I do that.

I believe that's why the purple is dancing around in my head. I need calm. I need soft and light and peaceful. I need lavender flowers, fields of lavender flowers. Hmmmm. With that thought, I'm off to the studio.

Namaste, y'all ...

Sometimes it's time for a makeover!

Some people go to a salon to get their new groove on.

I am not one of those people.

I, on the other hand, get a big ol' bunch of feelin' fine when I paint over something I've done and am feelin' no love for. Oh yeah, a few swipes of a brush and I get goose-bumps galore! Like the shoe-crack high we women get when we find a great pair of shoes, in our size, on sale. Yeah, I'm not much on lounging around a beauty salon getting my nails done but I'm girly enough to admit to my love of shoes.

A few days ago I posted about the triptych I'm working on. I was loving the background. The cherry blossom branch was 'okay'. Somewhere between branch and adding blossoms I realized I didn't want to paint it anymore. It had become one of those paintings which looked great in my head ... on canvas, not so much. I tinkered with it, mooshed paint around, a bit of detail here and there, more twigs on the branch, a whole day of putzing around and getting more irritated by the minute.

Painting isn't supposed to be irritating.

Fortunately, there is that marvelous cure ... the makeover!

Allow me to demonstrate a painting makeover ...
 
Last place I was when I posted ... tree branch okay but still needed detailing ...

Little blobs of color for blossom placement ... this is when I started getting that seriously irritated thing going on but I was willing to keep working ...

Started detailing the blossoms ...

More detail on the blossoms and branch developed ...

The next day it became this ...

Now it's a nice abstract that I really, really like ...

"Putting My Stamp On It", acrylic on 10" x 30" canvases

Stamp detail ... that is my thumbprint in the box...

I think part of the problem began when I didn't go with my first instinct and do an abstract to start with. I want to but wasn't sure of what to do with one. I couldn't get a solid "idea" formed so I caved to indecision and went with the cherry blossom thing instead.

Some folks might think that abstracts are just a matter of slinging paint at the canvas and voila', it's an abstract painting! There are probably a lot of artists out there who do exactly that. Kudos to them. Not my style. I like to have a basic idea, theme, feeling, or purpose when I do my abstracts. There needs to be a reason behind the work, even if it isn't obvious to the viewers who look at it. I prefer to let them (you) find their own interpretation to a piece of art because that, for me, is how art should be. I may have my own story to tell through the paint, but someone else may see something I never even thought of ... and I like that.

With this abstract my personal story, as is with all my abstract paintings, is explained in the title. For many years my paintings were greatly influenced by others' suggestions, thoughts or opinions. Over time I felt I was losing touch with who I was as an artist and a person. I didn't paint what was in my heart to paint. It got so bad I actually stopped painting. I had lost my enjoyment and satisfaction, lost my love of doing the one thing that means most to me in this world.

Between the painting the branch and painting the blossoms, it hit me I wasn't painting something because I truly wanted to ... I was painting it to hang in a particular place in the house, with a consideration for what the husband might like to have hanging there, too. The longer I worked on it the more I realized I was thinking far more about his reactions to the work and not my own. I was painting from the head and not the heart. The blossom painting felt sort of like stepping back into those cheap, ill-fitting shoes. The abstract is like a mini-salon treatment ... I washed away that mode of thinking and got a groovy new hairstyle.

Namaste', y'all ...

Sneak peek of Spring!

When I stepped outside yesterday morning to start my walk I was thrilled to see one of these guys ...

Bluebird Totem: Bluebird is about your happiness within and without. He signifies a contentment and fulfillment that is happening or is about to happen. Bluebird shows how to find those joyful gems in everyday life with an appreciation anew. He teaches a balance of work and play and reminds us to reinstate the fun back into life. Listen to the song of Bluebird in order to sing your own of joy with an awakened confidence and internal peace. It is time to look for chances to touch joy in your life. Dance and sing with every step, Bluebird will show you the way.

I also spied this tiny little fellow on the porch railing ...

Got him on a stick and put him over in the ivy so he could go along on his merry way, doing whatever it is Inchworms do. Not sure what Inchworm Totem Medicine is (probably that I need to get started with some serious Yoga!), but here's a bit of info y'all might enjoy about seeing and understanding Animal Symbolism in your life.

I love to see the bluebirds here at the house. Let's me know that Spring isn't too far away. Every year the Winter seems colder, longer, and harder to tolerate. Of course, if it weren't for cold weather, I wouldn't get to wear sweaters and thick, fuzzy socks! Got to find the positive in every situation.

Namaste, y'all ...

Mondays are for painting and snuggling a fat cat!

Monday of last week saw the beginning of a triptych. I've been wanting to do one for awhile. Okay, years. For reasons unknown I've never gotten around to it. I'm 'round to it now. Three panels of 1.5" gallery wrapped canvas, 10" x 30" each. Working in acrylic again on this one. Here's the start ...

Base coating of soft white, aqua, blue ...

Building up the aqua with glazes of deep green umber and a touch of burnt carmine ...

More aqua glazing, more green with a hint of black ...

Added some bright blue between the aqua and green, tamped in some moss green with a sponge on the green to look like, well, moss ...

Mix of black, greens, aqua, and a midge of a pastel shade of the aqua to make a tree branch and twigs ...

Hopefully this evening I'll get the blossoms painted. This is a rendition of a cherry tree, but my blossoms will be varying shades of pale peach, apricot, orange, terra cotta and burnt sienna instead of the traditional shades of pink. I want the complementary color play of "orange" against "blue". I think it will really make the blossoms pop and give the triptych depth and dimension.

This is my assistant, Tuck Butt Martinez ...

The husband caught me and the fur-boy snuggling at the computer and snapped the photos. Tuck loves to rub the top of his head against my head. He's a strange, but sweet fat cat.

Namaste, y'all ...