AUDIBLE SHADOWS

6x8"

oil on canvas

$125

Himself recently hooked me up with GarageBand on our Mac and I couldn't be happier. Used to be, I'd have to wait until the mood to jam overtook his distaste for setting up assorted  microphones, digital recorder, drum machine etc, sometimes only to have a great session missed because of a simple misstep. Now I've got a jam band at my fingertips and keep everything at the ready, including these headphones that are within easy reach at all times. I loved the way the shadows played on the wall, but again grew impatient and critical of myself. It's not going away, I just need to ignore it. Maybe I should regard my impatience as a sign from my higher self that I'm finished with the painting!

Alas, the magic interval of time has passed for yet another year. The day before, the day of and the day after, those are the magical days. After that it's business as usual, except that we get to do a repeat this coming weekend. But, then the stark reality of another shiny new year, another chance to start anew has arrived, hasn't it? The wondering whether or not you're going to stick to your promised goals and planned achievements begins and the inevitable darkness of doubt descends. Thinking I'm far too cool to write a list of New Year's resolutions I'll never keep, I begin making one almost immediately after that thought leaves my awareness. The usual and first for most of us...lose weight, work out regularly, then, for me, stay on schedule in the studio, keep easy to find and decipher records, be more patient with myself and everyone around me and blah, blah, blah.

It all comes down to foolishly expecting I'll wake up on January 2nd a completely different person! A person who, finally, after all these years of making lists one day and ignoring them the next, woke up, looked in the mirror and saw a combination of Martha Stewart, John Singer Sargent, Angelina Jolie, Cesar Millan and George St. Pierre. These folks are germane only to my particular list of personality defects that I'd like to miraculously change the day after New Years. Feel free to insert your own.

Basically, I think I'll decide on 3 very manageable changes I'd like to make in the areas that vex the most, commit to keeping them, be compassionate, require a tad more of myself than I usually do and move on. We'll see.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Turkish Pistachio Nuts and Tanqueray Rangpur Gin and Tonics. I'll say no more.

Audible Shadows
8" x 6" (20.4cm x 15.3cm)
oil on canvas
$125 plus $12.95 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND A HEART FELT THANK YOU!

Blu and Raz Berry, Christmas Eve - 2009

NFDP

Thank you from the bottom of my little angst-ridden heart for following my work and my whining this year. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement, support and advice. They have helped me more than you'll ever know. I've learned so much and look forward to sharing my work and my progress with you all in the New Year.

The fact that you do in fact follow my work is one of the most incredible gifts I've ever received. I remember a time when I excitedly ran downstairs with a completed painting to show a relative what I'd done. I was met with... "You know, we are not here to serve as an audience for your art!" Turns out I don't need them!

It's that time of year again. Happiness is expected. And somehow it always arrives. The sheer excitement of the Christmas Season has stayed with me since I was a little girl, practicing the Christmas morning stair descent with my big bro, weeks before the big day. We thought Christmas was magical and I guess I still do.

This year I've learned so much and I'm so grateful for every lesson. Learning lessons isn't always fun but what would life be without them? Blissful ignorance only works for infants. It's been quite a ride, but in the last decade:

1. I’ve found my spiritual path—or it found me, or it’s always been there and I didn’t remember it, or all of the above—and as a result, every daunting, overwhelming, lingering question I’ve ever had about life, the universe and reality has been, for me, most satisfactorily  answered. Yeah...I know....a bold statement. Nevertheless.

2. More often than not, I veer off that path because I think I know better. Happily, the capacity for pain in human beings is high, but it does have its limits. When I’m ready, that path is right there for me and guilt for turning away isn't the price of admission.

3. Liquin is my closest friend right now. After himself and the kids that is.

4. Beginning work on a black canvas is the most significant change I’ve made to date. I’d read it so many places, heard if from so many artists, but never tried it. Obviously, I’m a tad stubborn.

5. The support and generosity of everyone I’ve met online is staggering to me. I’m an isolator. Even more so now that I’m working from home. I will admit to consecutive days in jammies, although not the same pair. That said, in the last five years I have met more people, made more new friends and produced more work than I have in my entire life.

6. Even though we can’t be who our families need us to be or they can’t be who we need them to be, I believe there is a love that prevails and survives everything. Even not interacting.

7. There’s always room in your heart for more love, no matter what you say after your 12-year old Chocolate Lab focused only on the non-physical.

8. I’ve finally accepted that it really isn’t himself’s responsibility to make me happy, successful, safe and secure. That’s my job. Ironically, believing that has enabled him to make me happier than I ever thought possible.

9. I’m hoping something incredibly clever will spring to mind for number nine, but so far it hasn’t.

10. If I don’t respect my work, my work ethic, myself or my environment, nothing much is gonna happen. I am who I believe I am. I accomplish what I believe I can. I’m as successful as I allow myself to be. My reaction to everything I experience is my responsibility and blaming what’s outside for what’s happening inside is an exhaustive waste of time.

Peace, Happy Holidays and again thank you all.

LIEZEN

12 X 16"
oil on canvas
sold

Another Christmas commission done! Whew. Hope this makes it safely through the coming storm. We actually have blizzard warnings for tomorrow. Love these storms when himself is home and we're all cozy and warm. Back to work.

MOSES-BOTKIN CHALLENGE - December

9.5 x 7.5"
oil on board
SOLD

I was going to forgo the usual "I cannot believe how quickly the time is passing," but... too late! I feel like I just posted the last challenge painting! This is so good for me on so many levels. If I work on a somewhat daily basis, the fear portion of the program begins to diminish. No so much hemming and hawing, just sit down at the easel and have at it. Not enough time to procrastinate. This is a good thing.

The Challenge this month is hot and cold or fire and ice. I had the idea to position an ice cube near a candle but no go. I used a black board for the background and the cube just disappeared into the darkness. So I put several cubes in a wine glass and snapped away. I liked the shots but they looked really slick, like a product shot. Plus, the cubes were all warm and glowing hot. No fire and ice, just fire. Enter Photoshop. I played with the color balance bringing in more blue and cyan and ended up with some wonderful mauves, limes, olives, pinks and white hots. I think the finished piece is a tad too cool, but I'm happy with it. Who said that?

We all had very different concepts and that's what makes it exciting! I love what everyone did and am again very grateful for being included.



I inadvertently deleted the other participant work when I tried to delete the PayPal button. Ooops! I'll put them back in a bit, sorry Challenge members.

TANK

 10x10"

oil on canvas

sold

Another Christmas commission. Seem as though... there will be dogs. At least for the next few posts anyway. Can I get an amen for Liquin?

Simply cannot believe this year is coming to an end! It feels as though I just decided to make '09 go slower and all that seemed to do was speed it up.

Another Moses-Botkin Challenge is coming around again. Wow, that was quick! I'm behind, as usual, however it's not due any partying in the pity-pot on my part. I've been working!! Woo-hoo!

PUGS

I thought it appropriate to re-post these two paintings o' pugs as we are now raising two of them. It's been a interesting process. I'm a classic, majestic lines kinda gal...did I just say gal? I love Labs, Shepherds. Himself is the pug guy. I was against the Lab but seein as how that turned out to be the second best decision he ever made I figured I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and see what happened.  I never thought I'd fall as deeply in love with these faces as I have but it's a fact. Himself was right again. I think they are the most beautiful faces ever. Next to Devlin the Wonder Dog of course.

PERSIMMONS

6x8"

oil on canvas

SOLD

I know nothing about these fruits?, veggies?, except they have one of the most vibrant shades of orange skin I've ever seen. It just occurred to me that I might have investigated them further after using them but I got lost in details and the next time I touched them was to dispatch them to the trash. What a waste. Shame too because I could be saying so much more about them right now.

Persimmons
8" x 6" (20.4cm x 15.3cm)
oil on canvas
$125 plus $12.95 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

LULU, Again

11x14"

oil on canvas

nfs

I posted this yesterday and had to delete it. There was a surprise factor involved I wasn't sure about. So here again is that post.

This is the adorable pup that will be featured on Fox TV’s Good Day New York on Wednesday, December 9th at 9:20am EST. It was a timely and well needed opportunity that forced me out of my funk and into focused painting mode. A real tight deadline, I actually began painting on Thursday last. Without artist Linda Apple’s suggestion that I try Liquin I would have been in it up to my knees. Still can’t believe it never occurred to me to research a speed-drying medium. Oh well.

GRRRRRR!

11x14"

graphite on paper

$75

I had a cat once. I was in my twenties and living in my very first apartment. Her name would reveal a lot more than I think necessary about myself, so, suffice it to say she was a tad erratic but at the same time very, very mellow. She didn't like people...at all. She was fiercely loyal and completely a one person feline. She loved to play fetch with the little plastic top that adorned her open can of cat food for hours. She delighted in allowing me to hold her like an infant while she nursed on my finger and would even pull it back to her mouth with her paws when I pulled it away. Strange cat. And, in her defense, I guess the argument could be made that she had a strange owner.

I had a party once, soon after I'd discovered the delightful euphoria one experienced from downing a few shots of tequila. I decided I wanted to duplicate that feeling and proceeded to dig deeply into a bottle of Jose...far too deeply. Euphoria quickly turned to nausea, and while I was in the process of being violently ill for an extended period of time, she took up residence at the door of the loo and literally growled at anyone wanting to check on my progress.

Her growl was formidable. She would attack if provoked. But her hiss, now there was something very special. She'd eye her intended prey for a minute or two, bring her lean body into itself, hunch her shoulders, draw in a breath, straighten up, hesitate and then... hissssssss. I always thought she looked alarmingly like Bette Davis in Jezabelle. Lots of shoulders, very 40's film femme fatale. Classic.

Grrrr!
11" x 14" (28.0cm x 35.6cm)
graphite on paper
$75 plus $12.95 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

EXPRESSIVE TEES

They say that a dry creative period is usually followed by torrents of ideas and inspiration. Today, I've decided that is going to be true. Sitting in the studio staring out the window over a hot cup of tea last week, I again was in dire need of some sweet inspiration. I haven't really done anything to break out of my creative funk—no museums, shows, classes, although I have been spotted lurking around my favorite art blogs.  I let out the usual heavy sigh and decided to check my email for that $20,000 commission that still hasn't arrived and found something almost a good!

Barbara Peterson, an artist whose work I greatly admire, had taken time to write me an email suggesting I market my artwork in alternative forms. She gave me a few websites to visit and shared some information about each. I'd been thinking about doing something like that, I'd even received more than a few suggestions in that direction from other artists and the a few of the wonderfully kind people who follow my blog—and thank you all so very much for doing so. I thought the bugs and floating faces might lend themselves to tee shirts, greeting cards etc. Barbara's email was the spark I needed.

Himself and I have had quite the day working out just how to create my storefront. And I must admit all of it wasn't fun, geeks can be such snobs sometimes. Anyway, we pushed through with the help of few glasses of wine and some great music. So far I've got two items in my store and plan to incorporate the Bug Series and the Floating Faces or Expressions in Graphite, depending on how sophisticated I'm feeling at the time, into whatever I think might suit them. I'm very excited.

Things always seem to pick up just when you're ready to carry them. I got a call from Lisa Ferraro, whose working with Micah Condon to give DailyPainters some visibility in the marketplace. She told me she had a great opportunity for me. And so it was! Turns out I'm doing a portrait of a pup that belongs to a local news reporter that's going to be featured in a TV spot for pet gifts!

I'm in the middle of a few Christmas commissions and certificate paintings, but the buzz of being busy, even with the pups as a distraction, really feels wonderful. I also think that committing to an actual painting a day, again, is on order. I've gotten timid, again. "Canvas Dread" I call it. When I first started at DP it was like making a speech every day. You were nauseous before you did it, nervous during the deed and thrilled when it was over. I need that again. 

I'm very excited about all this and very grateful for the kind words and suggestions. The community online, if one could call it that, has been so incredibly supportive, helpful, illuminating and inspiring. The mind fairly boggles at the thought of...horrors... the loss of electricity!