I guess you could say I have been in a fowl mood lately, and have headed back to the barn yard! Every year I do a series of small bird paintings to bring to the art fairs as an option to my larger paintings. This year I thought I might try my hand at funky hens and roosters which I have dubbed my "Fancy Fowl" Series.
Summer is a time for weddings and romance! I painted this image with those thoughts running through my mind. While creating this piece I imagined that this couple was having a summer fling that could possibly lead to more!
Lately I have had indulgence on my mind, probably because I have been curbing my enthusiasm for my favorite goodies in an attempt to take a few... more like 20 pounds off. When I get home from a long day at the studio and an evening of carting kids here and there, I want my comfort foods. Usually my go to comfort foods are ice cream, chips and wine... Not necessarily together but usually in the same evening. In an attempt to change my habits I went on weight watchers, started exercising more and added more fruit into my life to get my sweet fix. The weight came off and I found that I could still indulge in some of my favorite things... I am so against deprivation! This image isn't a self portrait but more of a story about any girl who has had to curb her enthusiasm for her favorite comfort foods in the hopes of getting back into her skinny jeans!
I am always amazed at how fast time goes by. It seems like yesterday that I had four little kids under 5 years old and was doing my best not to go crazy. Two of those babies are now teenagers and two are tween-agers(10 &12 year olds). Does that mean I'm getting old too? Can't be! I love their ages now, but I do miss the curious babies that they once were... minus the diapers and tantrums. That said, I am posting my latest pastel for all you moms out there that have grown kids and are wondering where the time went.
I wish I had more opportunity to travel and draw inspiration from other places and cultures, but alas I am destined to be homebound until my children are out of the house and I have more money. So to get my travel fix, I like to watch Anthony Bourdain's show No Reservations. He goes to the most interesting places, and because I am a fan of food of any kind, I like to see what people eat as well. My inspiration came from one of the episodes that focused on Columbia. I made up a faux market place stall complete with a shop girl in those bright colors that I love so much.
Ever have a day, a week or a month when inspiration is non-existent? I start banging my head against the wall around this time every year. Stuck inside, with no place to go and nothing to see all I have is my imagination. I decided to paint over one of my older paintings that I wasn't happy with to get out of my rut. It had many incarnations, abstract, green, red and then it finally morphed into this painting inspired by my pot rack... who knew? I added the mother and baby toward the end... the kitchen felt empty with nobody in it. Since my life is full with kids and food it seemed fitting. The only thing remaining from the original painting is the bird in the middle and even that morphed just a bit.
Painting can be the most fun and the most frustrating experience for an artist. I have been toiling away on a piece for a few weeks. In fact it was in a previous post about my circus act images. I liked the piece but didn't love it and I couldn't figure out why. So I decided to give it another facelift which completely changed the look of the painting. I was feeling a bit yellow so I decided to overpaint the whole piece in yellows. I didn't think about screwing the painting up,I just went with it and put a little tape over my inner critics mouth. The yellow mixed with previous colors for the green and orang tints. I am pretty happy with the outcome!
Lately my artwork has had this ongoing circus theme. I think it has something to do with this juggling act that I call my life. My kids are all getting older which means more activities for the taxi service to cart them around to. I have also been trying to walk the line between abstraction and representation with this autobiographical circus story line. I'm starting to wonder if in another life I was a contortionist in a Cirque du Soleil show. You never know....
This last picture is still in progress. I'm not sure if it will end up with a the circus theme.
I am no different then most mothers trying to balance work and home. I had a nice break over the holidays and got a vacation from driving my brood to their many after school activities but now that the holidays are over the taxi service is back in business and going full throttle ahead. All the craziness made made me think of how it all is really a balancing act and at any moment it could all come tumbling down. This piece was inspired by the circus like atmosphere that can sometimes be my life. I was also inspired by art journals and wanted to incorporate the title into the piece somehow. This is how the image stands thus far. I may make a few more adjustments, but I think it captures what I was going for.
Last year I added fiber to the list of things that I do aside from painting. I have been wanting to create bags for a long time but couldn't quite figure out the direction that I wanted to go until I discovered how to upcycle felt. I have been repurposing wool sweaters, leather jackets and remnant scraps of leather into handbags. I love playing with color and texture and going on a treasure hunt for materials. I decided to open an etsy shop called Urban Gypsy Design to sell them to the public. I have even started to make hand painted totes as an extension to my canvas work.
