Reposting POINTED FINGER

I redid the hair as it seemed very monotone to me and not a nice mix of the auburn alizaron crimson as in the other paintings.

Still Happenin'

WRAP

24 X 24

Acrylic, Paneton pen, pencil crayon

Here we are - the third in this reverse series....and I'm getting, um, bored with it.

This might have a lot to do with the fact I just recieved 100 new (well, actually they are old but they are new to me) photos.

And there are some real treasures in there!

I shall be working on a new theme tomorrow, I think.

ps...Jams has now decided that this chair I'm sitting on is just the best blessed place for a cat to be. This means that my decidedly not so blessed butt has approximatly 2 inches to perch on. It sucks, as it seems to cause my ass to fall asleep.

Honestly the cat rules me.

Detritus - the other paint

I noticed the other day that my paintings have a fair amount of 'other' in them. My 'other' seems to be mainly cat hair.....courtesy of the Jams, of course.
And this got me wondering about the well, bits, that paintings invariably manage to gather because, unless you are phenomenally anal and work in an sterile environment , you will get. I did a Google on it but failed to find anything, however I suspect it comes from me not knowing how to search for what this topic is. I do remember reading somewhere that they can now authenticate paintings from trace DNA left behind in a painting. Wild. Makes my mind go to a visual of sneezing. EEWwww......
Ok, this is kinda silly as a topic but it is something I bet most of you haven't considered, huh? I know for a fact a fellow artist that 'spits' into their watercolor. And it's well known that the old masters used their own urine to mix into oil paint...(True! Look it up)
TMI, hey?
Anywhatagrossthingway, here is where my mind is venturing today. In my defense, may I say it's a rather grey and rainy day. Good for painting, though.
I feel a sneeze coming on.

mORE mORE mORE...

OOPS...forgot I had the 'caps' lock on and got the funny reverse title font.....however, I like it visually so it stays.

Allrighty here's the next of the 'reversed black and white' series:

POINTING FINGER'

24 X 24

Acrylic, Panetone pen and pencil crayon

The background went through a few changes. Originally, I had a whole different foreground along with some Matrushka Dolls but changed that as it seemed contrived. The 'reversing' just came from my "in bed" critique method where I came upon that idea. Lot of fiddly-diddly, let me tell you! But I do love the jump around effect it gives. My fav part is her feet....go figure.

My apologies for a kind of 'yellowy' cast to the photo - my batteries are running low....again.

Still waiting for my 200 photos.......

OOO! Grandma! What Big TATS You Have!

For that last painting I did some research for a tattoo image that would work for the figure and was swept up in the wildly weird and twisty world that tattooing encompasses.
Holy putreallyawfulthingsonmybody Batman!
There are some phenomenally gobsmacking choices made by folks out there! Really beautiful ones too, but what in godsandgoddesses names makes someone think 'psycho' across the forehead is ....um... a good decision. (and it was spelt wrong)
Ok, besides questionable personal choice, what I'm wondering about is what is all this body accoutrement going to look like when said wearer is 60 and older? As those of us who are rapidly heading down this particular life passage knows, your skin changes. It gets wrinkly. It loses elasticity. It is not the tightly wrapped package it once was.
And that's not even considering the fact that as you age, your body tends towards the 'wider' shores of appearance. And tattoos fade and blur with age as well.
Consequently, in my strange imagination, I'm seeing the future 'care home' peopled by these old dears covered in blurry faded images as they nod vacantly in their wheelchairs. I'm not sure if this is funny or sad.....or creepy.
Or is it only me that has a mind even slightly fascinated by thinking about such a bizarre thing?

'Till next time!

I think he likes it! Hey, Mikey!

Ok, this isn't about cereal...ahaha...but I post my paintings on Facebook when I finish them as the connections there offer a more immediate feedback. Anywhatasurpriseway, "FIST" has to date, garnered more positive comments etc than any other piece of work. To the point that one friend asked to use it as her 'photo' and is talking to gallery owners to get something to happen.
One smallishy problem is that she lives in New Zealand......never mind, we'll cross that bridge if and when!

Trying another way...

FIST

Reversed Black & White # 1

24 X 24

I thought I would try something different with this black and white series, making the figure the colorful part and the background in the black and white instead.

What do you think?

Back in the Saddle Again

First, apologies to all who actually follow along here. I will promise in future to deal with the topic at hand.

'Nuff said.

Thought I'd entertain you with a pic of what the old homestead looks like right now with all the paintings stacking up for next month's full slate. I kinda like the strange (and very tiny) gallery feel surrounding me.

Makes me think about artists all through time who have had work stacked up around them, growing dusty because, basically, we are lousy housekeepers and that lead me to musing about artists and their 'keepers'. Now this is mainly a male artist history as they seem to have the female counterpart willing to take on the chore of keeping the space 'tidy' (and I'd expect that would be hands off all art detritus), handling the daily effluvia while the genius creates and cooking and putting food on the table.

And, lets be honest, some releasing sex along with the above.

So my thing is, how come the guys get this and the women artists get.....mainly buttkus. (buttkis..? buttkits..?? sorry, spellcheck doesn't do Jewish idioms) Emily Carr certainly didn't have a sugar daddy...oops, male muse vacuuming in the background. And, God knows, Georgia O'Keeffe certainly wouldn't have stood for any of that domestic idiocy from Stieglitz. But did he ever do the laundry?

I think not.

No, we women artists usually soldier on with the whole enchilada. (and a vibrator, *snort*)

I want to know why. Seriously, what is it that makes this Art life so bloody unbalanced in gender? (I can feel my bloodpressure heating up...better go pat Jams for a bit)

* Ok, just a small insert here. WHY do I wonder about these things and WHY should I care...as if my brain wasn't feverish enough...gah.

Anyfeministpaintbrushway, it's either a sign, once again, of the strange unbalanced world of male vs female and most decidedly, the wierd world of Art, period.

Still on the Planet

...and still painting.

RELEASED

Black and White Series # 5

30 X 36

Just finished.... and we need your input.....

ENIGMA

Black and White Series # 4

30 X 36

Here's the thing; I've posted all 4 of the Black and White Series here and now would like to get some input. I am submitting 3 (three) works to the Sooke Fine Arts Show coming up and as it's a juried show, would like to put in the best of these new series.

So, what's your thoughts? All help, hints or suggestions, votes etc, gratefully accepted.

Oh and Here's the Pic for the Last Post

..ok, not really a pic but it underlines the sentiment.......from One Cool Word Mag.

Pain! Crisis! Mayhem! ART

Woke up around 2 am this morning and after tending to the early hour ablutions then tried to get back to sleep when Jams decided to do some Kitty Olympics with trampolining from the bed to the window to the bed to the floor and back again until I was going to do my own Olympic manoeuvre - the high kick - when she came over all sweet and purry and the best darn friend I ever had, thereby winning a reprieve. And then I couldn't sleep and lay there until 4 mulling obsessively about:
My Life.
*sigh* (dramatically done of course)
Anyratsarechewingmybuttway, Life is particularly 'swampish' at the moment - part of the reason I'm so not blogging with cheerful tales of this artistic life (insert dramatic snort here) and all that, but what has me musing is how the art I am creating is some of the best I've done to date.
So, what is it about creating great Art and having a really butt kicking personal life that seems to work? This is a generalization, obviously, but in the majority of artistic lives it seems to hold true. Do we need the torture of chaos to make us channel that bleakness into powerful artwork? Does happiness and smooth sailing blunt the artistic feeling? Is it some kind of 'peeling' to a basic point of feeling there is nothing left but to create?
I have no answer.
All I know right now is that I'm just hanging on by the paintbrush.....