Sun and radishes, bye-bye January

I'm just dropping by to say HI and to show you the wonderful weather we had this weekend. After a lot of rain, sun decided to smile on us again. I 'harvested' radishes from my garden. Notice how normal they look on the top photo, and then see how tiny they really are. Funny! Good thing we don't depend on my little garden to feed us...

Bye bye January, you went too fast....

How I painted the journal page from the previous post

Trying to learn how to make videos, figure out the program... not going really well.... it took me many hours to get the 3.5 minutes shown here. But I'm getting there. I tried (successfully) adding words that explain what am I doing. Moving forward, there's so much more to learn. xo

Journaling without words

Soooo..... I sat in front of my journal without an idea of what I wanted to paint. I added several pieces of masking tape and thin paper scraps left from a transfer from a previous painting. Then I though about the weather and how it is making everything very gray. I picked up some raw umber and payne's gray, mixed them with white and started pulling the brush over the spread. A funny "Friends" rerun was playing on the laptop beside me.

Then these two showed up.

It didn't take me long to understand that I painted myself and my daughter... Not that we look anything like the painted girls; it was more about the closeness between them and the sad faces. Probably my wish to still see her with pigtails and pink flowers and not as a teenager that is sweet but sometimes wears me out  completely (like just before I painted this).

"I'll do it later." "Why do I have to do it now?" "Why can't you wait 10 minutes?"

Looooong discussions about why things should be done before we get lost in the computer fun or something similar.... very loooooong discussions, a million and one 'fact' why she is right and I'm unreasonable. Exhausting. Can't she just "do it" and make my life easier?

It's a phase, right? Part of growing up? For both of us, I think.

Painting exercises in my journal

Another one

I might be hooked to making videos now... I think I stopped being shy very fast :-)

Thank you for the encouraging comments. They really helped.
Here's another one.

My first video

I sent an email to my friend Sharon just minutes ago. This is what I wrote:

"OK. I did it.

I can't believe I did it.

I don't know how I feel about it.

......................................................

Me showing the world my messy table and how I paint. yikes.

Did I tell you I didn't have good grades in art in school? And wanted to hide my paintings from everyone....

-----------------------

I think I'll reward myself with coffee now.

Me on youtube.

Weird."

That's exactly how I feel. Out of my comfort zone. That is good.... it's good to open up.

The painting is available here.

You are filled with promise

Am I? Are you?

We are. We are filled with promise.

I love getting lost in textures and colors...

I also love playing with a pencils... but the results are nothing like I'd want them to be. The characters might be interesting, but I painted them from photos and there is no trace of resemblance... Can that change with practice? I'll try.

Speaking of promises, are you taking any online classes? Like Misty's portrait class? Or a class that I'm sure will be extra informative - Chris Cozen and Julie Prichard's Project deConstruction? And how about someone that I've been pestering for over a year to offer a class... I've had a chance to watch her paint and learn from her several times and wished that I can tape it so that I can see over and over again what is it that she does that makes her paintings sing. Detail's of Sharon's workshop are here. We are so lucky to live in a time where we can use the internet to learn from so many great artists without leaving even our home...

 - promise available in my etsy shop -

Shine

This piece painted itself. Even the words were there, within my reach... I didn't have to search for them.
It's on wood, but it might as well have been a page in my journal.It is obvious that my thoughts and feelings translated to the page.

How many angels are needed for people in Haiti?
It's unimaginable and sits heavy on my soul, as I know does on yours.

Three days.... or was it four? that I didn't paint. It's driving me crazy.... so I drew these little ones just now (at work...shhhhh, don't let anyone know).
I wish I could open up and spill out in Mystele's gut art way right now. Splash paint on paper and just jump in it.

If you could do anything - what would you be doing right now?

Observer #2

Thank you for all the sweet comments. I can't reply to some of you personally because I don't have your email. Please know that it always brightens my day and that every comment is very meaningful.

Here is observer number two.

Did I mention that this is the year that I'm trying to get over my fear of cameras and looking at my face? Sometimes it's sad when I notice how rarely I am on family photos (because I try to sneak out and take the pictures always). To prove it I'm sharing pictures that my dear one took just hours ago. Not our dogs, but I really, really love them because they are fluffy, cuddly and extra cute.

Observer #1

I have been observing people for 45 years now and by my latest experiences it doesn't seem that I learned much from observing. Or - maybe observing is easy, interaction is something that I have a problem with...

Thankfully, there is always art to escape to. I combined oil and acrylic paints on this piece. I noticed that I have more control over oil paints (the bird), can blend easier, make tiny details and stuff like that. On the other side - acrylics give me freedom to be messy, to paint quick layers, play with all the fun additions (transfers, stamps, templates...).

Three more observers to come. Have a happy weekend!

True

"It's so hard when I have to and so easy when I want to."
Annie Gottlier

It's so true. I guess most people feel the same. I don't like the feeling that I'm boxed in, that I don't have a choice, that I HAVE to do something. I then dream of escape, green fields and flowers and want to go there. Not that there are any green fields on this painting.... but there are some flowers and he is going to reach them at one point or another. So am I...

Happy 2010!!!!!

I love the beginning of every year. I like noticing the everything "first" - first time washing dishes in 2010, first movie watched, first step out of bed... I had tons of first 2010 things, but not a first painting. I didn't lift a brush this year at all! The painting I'm showing is actually the last I did in 2009. There is a first about it - first time I painted a face with oil paints. Didn't know if it would work on a journal page, but I guess it did. Oil paints are one of the things I want to explore this year.

I spent the three days doing the good stuff. I read books (my old - newly found love), mostly in the early morning hours when everyone is asleep and our cat is extra happy to sneak some quiet time with me. Went for walks. You can see how the beach was calm and gray, but fluttering with life. There is a picture of my first drink (very green, of course), my surprised face when I found out about my etsy sales on January 1st, two completely different trees (oh, the texture!). My dear one and I were exploring music that's completely new to us... fado.... Portuguese music that makes you feel deeply even though you don't understand a word. This song is beautiful. So is this one. And this one made me cry. Oh, this one too... it gives me goosebumps...

I don't have a word for this year. Or real resolutions. Like so many, I want to be better, thinner, smarter, more organized, relaxed, creative, active... I also want to start fresh with the art I have at home, so my plan is to list one painting every day on ebay, starting (and maybe ending) with a $0.99 price. I will not blog about it any more, but wanted to let you know that if there was a painting that you liked this is a great opportunity to get it. And with that - Happy New Year! Looking forward to all the new things in BlogLand in 2010! xo