Tuesday, May 18, 2010

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!

Monday, May 17, 2010

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?

Sunday, May 16, 2010

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.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Still on the Planet


...and still painting.

RELEASED

Black and White Series # 5

30 X 36


Monday, May 3, 2010

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.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

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.....