doodley day

had an awesome art day with allison today! ..... she got here early.....the dog and i were both thrilled to see her......spent the day in the basement doing the art thing......i had SIX backgrounds done already....one large, five 12x12 squares.....and i collaged ALL of them...yippeeeee......and now, one is done (i think)....one is done because i've doodled it up......the other five are awaiting their doodlefilled future......
so whatcha think? doodlicious? or doodle dud?

ace of hearts

i have been doodling my little heart out in a happy doodle journal......it is fun and freeing......it is no pressure artistic freedom.....i've signed up on chrysti's website for a doodle swap......a "get your doodle on" bonanze, fiesta, grand whooooooha.......so i have now braved my way out of my doodle journal ...i went to my studio to slice some appropriate sized cards for doodling on.....and in all my fuzzy brained-ness, never did! ....i did put away some paint from last week, file some painted dictionary pages away into the right spot so that i can find them when i need them....i wrapped a gift.......i rearranged my mess.....so then when i got back upstairs and realized i hadn't done what i'd gone down to do.....i wished i just had some cards already...and well, whaddaya know? i do have cards.......so that's why this doodle is an ace.....i've done about ten...some worthy of being photographed, some...not so much.....i have some others on my flickr site......go peek.......

who are you reading this? i have loads of HITS...people peeking in....i'm keeping track! ....but a lot of you do not tell me you are reading my blog.....i wish you would....but it is ok if you don't......but so now i'm talking to you....you, who read me and don't tell me you read me.......i'm talking to you...and i would like to ask....do you doodle? you should......it is a very easy past time.....soothing for the artistic soul......

get your doodle on!

go.....and joy

i am not a very introspective person...i try to be....i sometimes wish i were...but i'm not.....i don't spend a lot of time thinking, wondering or worrying about things.....i just happily go about the business at hand......writing makes you more introspective.....otherwise the writing turns into a laundry list of what you did today......i've always liked writing, journalling, documenting...but my writing is more observations of others...and life...than of what's in my soul......

in contrast to how i am, trying to be a full time artist makes one more introspective....but my brain, unaccustomed to introspection, runs the same thought loop......create something for the joy....oh that turned out lovely.....i wonder if anyone else will like it......can i sell this......does it count if i just give it away......sure it counts if you give it away......no, the affirmation is from someone saying they like it, want it, are willing to pay for it......that can't be right....are you just creating for the money, to sell it.....of course not, my being an artist has nothing to do with finances.....why are you doing art.....for the joy......and then i create something for joy and the whole process starts over again....oh, that turned out well.....

each and every time i make something, it is displayed in my family room....this is where i spend much of my time....so if it is in the family room i can study it, fret about it, make a decision to go back to the drawing board, literally and figuratively.....

stay with me here, i'm going somewhere.....

all that said, i was having a book club at my house, and i kind of just had art strewn about my family room...not really a rhyme or reason to what was propped where......on my side table i had paintings three deep....and my least favorite was in the front.....so, i redecorated....evaluated all of my OWN art in the room.....self critiqued......what should stay out....what was worthwhile....what still gave me joy after the passage of time.......i took that whole stack of canvases downstairs.....at least one of them will be painted over...... i rearranged, refigured, thought about some collages that seemed to have grown permanent spots in my family room......

one favorite, that has hung on a long narrow piece of wall next to the window, is these GO flowers......go, because i just used the go from bingo ...... when i made this painting i LOVED it....i still love it......but during my art wondering and redecorating the family room, i wondered why this particular piece, more than a year old, hadn't sold.....hadn't been chosen by the gallery to show......why no one ever mentioned it any more..... visitors to my house kind of can't help but noticing all the art......i guage some of my arts 'goodness' based on what people might say about it... do they notice and comment? ignore it? ......
so, these sweet go flowers......what's wrong with them? i loved them but was trying to wrap my head around why no one else maybe was......even if no one is buying it, let's not hurt little go flowers feelings and not talk about it....i considered taking it down......but decided not to, until i had another long, thin piece to put there...note to self: long thin painting soon......so.....

we had book club.....lovely time.....and two girlfriends were left at midnight....helping with dishes and clean up and whatnot......we were standing in the family room and one pal said "wow, is that new, i LOVE it....she was talking about GO flowers! ....how odd i thought...or is it cosmically interesting that she was interested in the piece giving me angst....and then she kept talking about it.....and the other friend answered and they had a little chit chat about this picture that i had been losing faith in....hmmm.......i hadn't thought about this collage in MONTHS even though it was in a prominent place in my home......and as soon as i start wondering about its worth (my worth? as an artist? oh no! introspection!!) ...the day i was fretting about this GO collage, dear pal comes along and professes her undying love for it? ....... so, i gave it to her....took it off the wall and said, you should have it.......little arguments ensued..... that's quite a party favor! ....... and off she went with her new art.......and i went to my basement and got another flower piece and put it on the wall...at midnight....it's the second one showing,here ...so that maybe no one would notice that the go flowers were gone! released into the world just for the joy......the joy of giving away...the joy of spontaneity.....the joy of losing the doubt....the joy of being nice to a friend......so, if you make a piece of art just for the joy of it.....it's kind of groovy, cool just to give it away just for the joy of it.....

ps....now i'm going to stop being introspective .... does that mean i'm not going to just give away art anymore? ....hmmmmm

OH! and you thought the last post was happy!

yippeeeeeeeee!! happy, happy, happy, happy......it is such a charge to sell a piece.... i wonder if i'll ever outgrow the happy dance i do when a piece is sold..... someone i don't even know went to lola's gallery and saw these four hearts with the groovy doodads and loved it enough to pay money for it......happy, happy, happy!! ....so there you go.....i'm walking on sunshine and doing the happy dance....yippee......

happy, happy, happy

i had THE happiest day at pottery today.......right when i got there, my teacher, carol, the grooviest teacher EVER, said "OH, i have something that you will LOVE" ...... she knows i like letters...have random letterness in much of my art...and she had these nice chunky stamps that are perfect for clay....so....i skipped the stars and the moons and the soccer balls and just took words and letters and such..and then i cut them all up.......i used a happy stamp ALL OVER my pottery today...making happy, happy, happy stuff......some of it is just happy....some of it is happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy ...tee hee..... anyway....in two or three weeks, depending on how long i procrastinate the glazing, i'll have some happpppppy pottery to show for my happy day......

uh oh.....allison, if you read this, you'll know my secret.......i have a happy bowl just for you.....yes!

chinese calligraphy always comes in handy

how is it that i can THINK i will blog every day....and here, not even two weeks into it, i've just NOT blogged for three days in a row!! life interupts, that's all there is to it....i've been artsy busy with artist bios for two different things....and write ups for two more different things....and for some written tasks, i am just me...i write what i think and feel without much thought to who will be reading it and what they will be thinking...i am what i am....but for other writing, artist bios and art descriptions need to be "right" ..they need to sound professional or serious or something.......something that does not come naturally to me......so...i have been furthering my art career, though not wielding a paint brush as much......WAIT ....i have been gessoing EVER day for five days or so......

here's an odd side story...my extraordinarily lovely dog ATE the cord to my computer.....i did not love her for a whole three minutes, then i got over it.....i went to the apple store (i wish all of life operated as efficiently as an apple store...i could be a spokesperson for that company, i love them so much) .....i digress....making that a double digress...i went to the apple store (two weeks ago?) and bought a new power cord...and it came in this impressive box...strong, sturdy, folding together in such a way that it was just a lovely box engineering marvel....i once knew a guy who designed boxes for a LIVING....he was an engineer......anyway, awesome box...so i just left it out on my coffee table to admire.....hmmmm, what should i do with this groovy box? .....i'm sure my family couldn't even see it because it was just one more bit of mess in the mess......but i loved the box, admired the box, appreciated the heft and shape of the box......and then i covered it nearly 400 feet of masking tape......ok...maybe 300 feet....... before i wrapped it , i had to think long and hard about whether i'd put anything in this box before taping it up FOREVER .......or write in it....or tape something in so there's no shake noise....hmmmmmm......so.....taped that box beauty up like there's no such thing as earth day and pretending that tape is NOT a precious commodity in this house (tape is SO precious a rescource!) .....so.....every day for nearly a week now, i've been applying gesso to that dandy box......it's getting ready to be art...you can't love a box that much and then not make it spectacular.....my greatest fear now, is that i'll make bad art out of that box and then just throw it away after all this glorious daydreaming aobut what a box can become......so...that's where i digressed from......i've been wielding a paint brush daily in order to gesso that box into artistic submission.......

back to where i was.....i've finished my write ups for the three art cards that ray at lark books has given me the go ahead for...yippee.....now i just have to bundle up the cards, the spare ephemera, the contract, the tax form...and mail it off....that'll probably happen thursday...and my deadline isn't til may 1....so i'm doing great!! yippee again!

here, i have two pics, of two cards, that were not taken by the book people.....these were actually my favorites.....mona lisa is a fave for obvious reasons...i adore HER....she certainly looks perkier in her new necklace...she, like i, has a may birthday, no doubt.....so emeralds, even faux emeralds, are a fave.....

...and the chinese symbol card, i think is very lovely...thank heavens that second language has finally come into good use, even if it is just on my art!........the book people wanted simple....so, though these two pieces aren't quite as arted up as my usual, i still dig 'em.......ah well......they picked three other groovy ones...that'll have to do...mona doesn't mind that she wasn't chosen.......

pair of pears

i had two pears commissioned in january......a blue one and a green one......at the same time, i also did this red one and this yellow one...because, once you are doing a pear, the more the merrier.....i tend to like to do things in groups or sets...even if the collages or paintings have nothing to do with each other, i tend to work on many at once....while one is drying you work on the others.....or, once you have a blob of yellow paint you have to put it somewhere, even if you don't need it on THIS canvas, some canvas needs it......

so....i had two extra pears...a pair of pairs.....i am donating them to the garden gala that is an auction fund raiser for emmaus house......my church hosts children from emmaus house for summertime activities ....last year i was the storyteller and taught a journalling class......so...... emmaus house is a fabulous place where good works are done...... and, i'm going to the garden gala too......nice, all the way around......

the person in charge of acquisitions for the auction at the gala asked me for an artist's statement, which always makes my heart flutter......my real artist statement " i like to paint and cut and glue....i like it best when i am doing it with a pal or my children......i am very messy and am always getting paint on something that shouldn't be painted....that messy bit especially gives me joy" ........but......that's not really so great....honest! but not what an artist statment is meant to be.....so, i was reading up on artist statements last summer? sometime long ago? and there are many schools of thought on the subject.....
my school of thought is the statement should match the artist......if you are doing serious, somber, traditional work, by all means, got with the serious statement.......i, on the other hand, have chosen to go with quirky... this is the statement that is up in the gallery where some of my work hangs....i just added the church stuff at the end for this particular donation:



Elizabeth Beck has lived in Atlanta for more than 20 years.  She is intrigued by letters and numbers and the secrets that can be hidden in collage work.  Her work is usually colorful and exuberant.  Elizabeth does art for the sheer joy of it and wants her work to reflect that happiness. She likes to explore the oddball and quirky, using unusual bits and pieces of this and that’s to make traditional compositions.  Elizabeth loves Mona Lisa, Diet Coke, reading, orange shoes, dictionaries, maps, the beach, reality TV, road trips, museums, messy paint days, good friends, her husband Andy, and her sweet children, Drew, Julia, and Sophie Sunshine. Elizabeth has been a member of St. Martin in the Fields Episcopal church for ten years.  She is currently on the vestry there.  Elizabeth has enjoyed participating as an artist and a storyteller in summer programs with the Emmaus House children.

I walked four or so miles with Dana this morning....and now i'm off to paint in the basement....i have a large doodle canvas in my head.....hooray......

baby jesus is an inch

i made this small nativity at pottery class...brought it home yesterday....and actually yesterday, started two more sets......i love these little sets SO much....i made eight or so last fall and gave them all away at christmas time....people asked to buy them, but i didn't have the time to get more done before christmas...so, i'm planning early now......i should just make twenty and have all our teacher gifts done......between the three kids, they have loads of teachers...maybe not twenty, but nearly so......
this nativity is made out of gray speck clay..... the others i've made are out of chocolate clay and turn out a rich brown...i'll probably experiment with a few more clay types before christmas creeps up on us!

art joy

art joy! i wish i could finish a piece of art every day....is there any better feeling? i have a deadline painting group....deadline today! ......assignment: a landscape....and i'd been working on it very hard.....i've had two false starts, and then a grand effort with allison, first at my house...and then at hers.....i was all set to keep working hard on it...and then life happened.....and when life is a little hard, it is tough to find the time to do art...and then when life is really hard.....what art? landscapes just fall by the wayside......so......yesterday, as i regrouped, i was in my studio, staring at this mammoth painting that was meant to be my landscape and just couldn't do it! i needed happy, fun, easy, joyful, whimsical.....i did not need hard work! so.......ditch the difficult, brain-taxing landscape.....this doodley landscape is what i did instead.......it was happy and fun and joyful to do it.....i loved the process, start to finish..... i NEED to do some more pieces like this just for the JOY factor...but also to figure out some bits that aren't quite right yet.......so...tra la la...happy art....finsihed art....joyful, doodle-filled art.....yippee

so.....months ago, in a fit of painting exuberance, i did loads and loads of backgrounds.....have to capture that exuberance when you have it! ....... one of the backgrounds was dictionary papers with a turquoise wash and a light blue letter printing across the whole thing........i chose that.......put on a three inch border of interesting papers: bingo cards, letters with stamps, maps, dictionary pages, novel pages, play money.......and glazed them all different colors.....i then did a transparent landscape green grass, too tall trees, cattywhompus house out of dictionary papers........it was bold and bright and maybe missing some continuity....i wasn't sure that just doodling over it would give me the oneness felt it needed...so i doused the whole thing in liberal quantities of ivory glaze.......toned it all down (dana, dearest pal, wonders if i over did the glaze and made it too pale and UN-me...oh no, she might be right!) .....i then, impatiently, blow dried the whole thing ......i whipped out my black markers (confession: i have a new black marker addiction) and doodled that canvas all up.......i had my doodle journal at my side looking for little favorite snibblets of doodlisms......and there you have it.....doodle joy......

from this, i have a new, deeper appreciation for black markers, doodles, and pen on acrylics and canvas....i am anxious to do another piece with this wide, full, fun, busy, doodled border......i won't be putting a landscape in there....but i think i have a plan......tra la la......gotta love an art plan......

so? what do you think? doodle good? doodle bad? too light? perfect colors? cool border? too much border? nice notion? gives you a headache? compositionally speaking, it is weak....but i know that.....which is why i have a plan for the next one! .......

art joy....what a concept.....

self realization

ack....i am not anxious to better myself, apparently......if it is hard, i don't want to do it.....nope, no personal growth for me, thank you very much.....ha! .....my deadline painting group deadline is TOMORROW......and i had three uninterupted art hours today....did i work on that pesky landscape...no sirreeeeee......i went for something new, light, whimsical, doodley........because i am a procrastinator! i have turned my notions from my doodle journal into a canvas....oh my...that sounds fabulous.....and i made it a landscape so that i don't even have to finish the landscape that was my original intention.......
in summary, i am seldom introspective.....and in my weak moment of introspection, saw a doodle-girl procrastinator who wasn't so interested in that difficult artistic growth....good reason to not be introspective too often!
...but....bright side.....i mean, BRIGHT side: i have a groovy cool doodley something or other that makes me ever so happy...and it isn't even done! ......the tricky part now, is just now wrecking it!!
yippee....i love the prospect of a fresh new finished piece......yippee.....oh, i already said that....hooooooray.......

zippy, yippee, hooray!

a blog friend, cheryl , set me up with an editor, ray, looking for artsits.....dare i say, he was looking for groovy toovy artists....and what do you know....i submitted some art to him....he accepted some of them.....and he's putting them in a book.....zippy, yippee, hooray! can't say that too many times....zippy, yippee, hooray!

and now, i must whip out my art journal or my doodle journal because i have not arted a single snibblet today....instead, i have had unexpected cousins, progeny of an unexpected, travelling brother and his wife....and rather than the planned art (oh no, my landscape!) ...we went to the zoo.....tra la la......i called the attendance hotline and said that my littlest needed to take a personal day...ha.....is that ok?

it is a zippy, yippee, hooray kind of day.......

right brain artsiness

i had an art day date at allison's today....i worked hard on my landscape painting......at this point, it is anyone's guess whether or not i'll be done by the 18th.....that's the deadline...eek! .......though i worked well on it, and i like what it's looking like, it is not photo worthy again......
i also did a drawing at church....and til just this moment i didn't remember it as an art endeavor of the day...but it most certainly was....the first through fifth graders do rotation learning.....over a couple weeks they rotate through centers.....one of the centers is art......so one art teacher does the same lesson til all the classes have had a turn at it.....the theme of this rotation is creation......and the art lesson is a panel picture of creation......so i made one as the example......
the paper was about 6 inches by 18.....so long and thin like a panel......and i drew in black sharpie.....like making a stain glass window......and did a vague dark and light and a sun and moon and stars and a rain drop and an ocean and fish and birds and plants and animals and ......the far edge was god in a hammock......you could just see his nose and hair poking out of the hammock......so it is an interpretation of the creation story all overlapping and meshing into each other.......then you color in with crayons.....sophie helped me...and voila.....a very nice sunday school time learning about, and appreciating that first chapter of the bible....
and.....i was going to do this yesterday.......since that is when i got it......a link, a test, an interesting moment of self examiniation....
are you left brained or right brained? try it out.....what are you? the score is out of 18 .......if you are 9 and 9 ...you are balanced....neither side of your brain is dominant......my artsy pal, allison, was 17 and 1 to right brained....about as artsy as you can possible be...... she is SO right brained....not that i can be a finger pointer! i was 16 of 18 for right brain.....so what are you....take the test! ...then comment or email me....i want to know!!! what are you?
....i just administered the test to my long suffering husband......heretofore referred to as balanced boy.....he is 10 on left brain...and 8 for right brain.......i thought he'd be MORE left brained than that even.....but i guess when you are this right brained...even a little left brained looks straight and narrow.......but thinking about it.....i bet a totally right brained soul might have a TON of trouble living with a totally left brained soul.......just for the clutter vs control issues.......
now, i know that when i go to the flickr craft room sites, and someone has a gorgeous organized fabu art studio that is free of clutter.....that they are some peculiar form of left brained arist! ........and it is ok that i choose to embrace the art mess, rather than clean it! i'm just being my right brained self.......

sometimes art is cool even when it isn't close to finished

i had a happy art day today......(after playing early tennis with two other pals....and i think i know how to serve now!) ......
carol and allison came over to have a playdate in my art studio (glorified words for my well endowed basement!) ..... we sat and chit chatted and did our various this and thats, then finally, allison looked at me.....exasperated! and said.....are you ever going to tell me what those ARE?
well...they are feet!
carol knew why i was making feet...carol had, herself, made a foot.....
the spruill art center, where i take pottery, is having a student show .....called the foot show.....the intention was for the art works to all be small, less than a foot....so, of course, all the potters i hang out with discussed footed bowls.....and actually putting feet with toes on our bowls....and we went off on tangents...til my instructor got us to the place where we are all making feet for her...and she's going to attach them ALL to a creature....at this point i can't even imagine what it might look like....but, here is my six foot contribution.....
cute, huh?
i did the people feet, because i like letters..and wanted to put the right left on something....and then i did the tall ones cause i wanted some cave man toes (really, cave man toes popped into my head) then once you do toes, you think about toe nails...and i decided i wanted some big sharp claws......when i made them, i did not know they'd be turquoise claws......
so, allison, that's what i'm doing!!


then....i got down to the real art!! i painted this four foot canvas YELLOW LOVELINESS yesterday......because, in a crunch, a clean white canvas kind of freaks me out...so....cover it anything, just so long as it isn't white.....

now i'm goint to jump to the end of the story (i'll come back to the middle)
tonight, i was photographing this canvas.....the whole family was kind of around......julia (always interested in my art) said she loved it.....because it has a bit of all my stuff in it...stencils in the blue....dictionaries in the green.....bingo in the gold......she had a lot to say......
then andy said, is it done?.......so i asked opinions...do you THINK it is done....j was sure it was done.....no one else would commit....they might have been afraid to hurt my feelings.....NO sillies...it isn't done.....in fact.....it is sideways.....cause it is easier to photograph this way......
and i stood it up....


that's how it goes?
now it's done?
i don't get it?
no, it isn't done....it isn't even close to done ....
how do you know it isn't done?
cause i know what it is going to become....
you know? you never really know, i thought.....
ta dum.....drum roll please......i am doing a landscape....and the light bulbs turned on...and every one got it....
OH...the sky and a field and a beach...close......
a sky and some trees and a field..........and then the big discussion of what is left to do......and my little silent prayer that i can actually DO what i plan and want to do.....

you see, when allison was with me, i explained to her that i was doing a landscape for my deadline painting group...no, that's the wrong name...the DEADLINE painting group......and that i had actually been well under way with a painting....and flopped...i hated it...and i covered it up in its entirety...which is ok...cause at least the canvas isn't white! ......
so.....she talked me down off my artistic ledge, and there you have it......i'm on my way to stretching my artistic self.....doing something new or different....just know, if i never bring this up again.....it didn't work! but at least i had fun trying.....


here is my inspiration photo for my landscape.......isn't it lovely? now, to make it me......i've changed some of it already.....more sky, less field in the foreground.....narrower..pretend i lopped off the left edge of the photo......and the house....i just haven't made that yet......i'd never cut out the red house...that's what makes the photo so groovy......so......that's where i'm heading...we'll see how it goes.....

tra la la......a happy art day with pals today....and tomorrow dixie and i are going to allison's to do art.....dixie won't actually do art...she's a dog....but she's coming along for the fun........

pottery day

it was a rainy, gray day today...but i woke up, ever the optimist, and put on shorts..... and, as i suppose frequently happens to eternal optimists, i had cold legs most of the day! serves me right for wishing spring here when it is decidedly not here....or, maybe this is spring, and i'm wishing for summer....regardless....i had a fabulous day FULL of art...yippee....i had the kind of day MADE for being an art blogger......

i stayed up LATE last night doing some art on deadline that i'm not going to speak about ...hush....for fear i will be jinxed....not that i really believe in jinxes...i just don't want to talk about it.....
so, i went to bed all artsy energized and had trouble sleeping......

my dear husband was out of town , but i did not wake up to an empty side of the bed....i woke up with not one, but TWO children in my bed......thank heavens julia stayed in her own bed or we would have had to sleep stacked up.......we were squashed.....

then, got the kids off to school...
me off to pottery....

i picked up TWO glorious platters that i am SO very happy with....last week i picked up two platters that i HATED...the glaze had gone all gross and blechy....but today...loveliness......relief...... i also picked up six feet (that will be tomorrow's blog, i believe) and i got a tiny nativity in for its high firing.......
then, i played with clay.....

i used chocolate clay and made another small nativity....for a friend who asked for one before christmas ...and i had to say no, i was out of time for making them...so, now i'm getting ahead! ......planning for christmas in 8 months......

i used gray speck clay and made two alphabet platters.....

and best of all.....i chit chatted and giggled and guffawed with martha and carolyn at pottery...they are actually largely the reason i GO to pottery sometimes...it is the best way to keep up with them.......

so.....i came home and cleaned up my art studio...it looked like my bead drawers had been exploded onto the tables......and paper and fourteen pairs of scissors.......
i've finally faced up to my attention deficit scissor disorder.....i put scissors down and then can't find where i put them....my solution (rather than medication or tying them to my wrist) ....my solution is to have LOADS of scissors on the table.....i'll count sometime...but i bet i have more than a dozen......so they are scattered all over the table ...except on days like today when i fill up cups with them......and they look all organized.....really they aren't organized, they are pre-lost....

so, upon cleaning up my art room, i rearranged about 20 canvases that are ALL started......just the backgrounds...just the easy part is done......oh well! one day they'll become something more than just backgrounds!! they are on my flickr site if you want to see them! (i'm still SO proud when i actually get a hotlink in my blog...yippee) ....so.....i decided to photograph them in the hopes that one day i would learn to use photoshop ...my pal allison is a photoshop kinda girl.....and she said i'd appreciate the backgrounds one day.....so.....i'll just wait patiently for my one day! in the meanwhile, my backgrounds could pass for minimalist art.....not that my art has ever been anything remotely minimalist!!

then, with a clean studio, what's left to do? did you guess? yes, if your studio is clean, the only thing to do is make it messy again......and i globbed a boat load of paint on a four foot canvas.......in preparation for my art date tomorrow with allison and carol...i couldn't wait til tomorrow to start painting...i had to start early.....the more art in a day, the better.....hooray....i'm waking up to an art date!! ...

actually....i'm waking up to a tennis date with dana and tricia.....i'm not a great tennis player...and we usually laugh so hard while playing tennis that i really think i'll end up wetting my pants one of these times......i'm pretty sure that is NOT standard tennis protocol......it's also why the three of us will certainly never be allowed in a league! ......
so...after a cold and damp tennis lesson, an art day for me.......

tomorrow will be my fourth day in a row of MAJOR art time...not just squeaking out a few minutes to doodle or sketch or whatnot.......tomorrow will be my fouth day in a row of full blown art bliss.....ahhhhhhhhhhhh
stay tuned!

OH! and now i'm doing an edit.....and addition....a bit more......this is an add on....i just went to check on
allison's flickr site and OH! i saw my name right there.....she's about the sweetest friend in the whole entire world....tra la la......and did i tell you? i've got an art date with her tomorrow.....yippeeeeeee

yes!!

hooray! it is monday...my kids didnt' have school.....i had a vacation load of laundry to do...and yet....i did art ALL DAY! ...well, all day until 2 when drew said, "hey! we haven't had lunch!" ....... bad mommy......so, lunch...and then...more art! .....yippeeee..... but, no photos to show for it! ha! you'll just have to take my word on it for now......

art with my girls

i have been working on an art journal with my girls, jula and sophie.......we read a book about an artist ...julia usually reads to sophie and me.......then we draw a picture that is our own interpretation of the artist.......we usually do them on vacation.....we've been filling it gradually over the last year.......here are some...not all...of our pages......

this, below, is our warhol interpretation.......

and here are our picasso pages......you can double click it to get a better view.......

....and roy lichtenstein....one of my favorites since college....
and a crowd favorite....van gogh.....

we have loads more.....i'll save them for another day......(eek, another day when i did NO art and feel the need to post something! .... happy easter......

saturday's meek art efforts

...i am not at home.....i'm away for easter weekend.....so my art is my little journal......and activities with the kids....we are working on a journal together .....for about a year now.....a study of artists.......i think three more artists and we'll have a full journal.....we did jackson pollock today......we've studied davicnci, mary cassatt, matisse, warhol, piccasso......so....no grand photos of fresh art to post.......but, when we drive back tomorrow i'm gonna have to hit the ground painting cause i have a bunch of deadlines coming up...none huge.....all interesting......
--emmaus house is having a benefit......i'm donating a piece for that...perhaps something i've already done......
--opp is having a benefit....i'm donating a piece for that....perhaps something i've done......or new pottery, we'll see what comes out of the kiln this week.....
--lola's, the gallery where my art hangs, is doing a benefit...theme is:hopes and dreams.....need to make something
--deadline painting group has a deadline for a landscape at the end of this month......i LOVE that ....need to get on it.....
--and i'm doing my first swap....a doodle swap at chrysti's blog.......
tra la la...i better get busy!

flickr fun.....

i keep photos of much of my art on flickr......i've been doing flickr for six months about...a week or two more than six months i think....and just yesterday, i reached 5 THOUSAND hits.....so.....five thousand times, people have gone to my flickr sight and looked at my art...that really just blows my tiny little mind!!! i wonder if my mom has been just hundreds of those? i was with melinda yesterday, and we wondered if ashley had been a lot of those views......melinda's words: " do you think about half of those were ashley?"

anyway...here i am to tell you why i have loved flickr.....it has been very good for me!

when you are on flickr, you can join groups.....you join a collage group and post your collages to it....folks look and comment..oh, lovely collage.......or, you post to the orange group all your orangey art....and people with profound appreciation for orange praise your phenomenal use of the color.....really! ......i've actually gotten to know quite a few artists this way, in a cyber speak kind of "know" ........artists whose art i really appreciate or relate to.......it's been good......great even, to chat about art stuff with other artists in such a free wheeling forum......

but there's one group....it is small (some groups have jillionkabillion members)....this totally groovy group is called the deadline painting group .....the guy in charge, shakespeare monkey, thinks up a topic, gives us a deadline....and there you have it......a must do painting......the first one i did was for the theme "celebration" ...and it was just before christmas.....sophie, what do you want for christmas.....your art, mommy.....oh,what art do you want....that one... she points to a HUMONGATOID four foot canvas with poppies.....honey, that's too big, what will you do with it......just keep it in my room.......so my husband says later, sophie, what do you want for christmas....art, mommy's art, can you get that for me? .........like she isn't sure he has the pull to get a painting for her! .....
so.....i did my deadline painting for celebration, with sophie sunshine in mind....and this is what i gave her for christmas......

success! so i tried again....
the next deadline challenge was "flickr inspired" ....so i found a photo on flickr that i adored.....asked the photographer if they minded me using it for inspiration......and then did my interpretation of it....took the subject matter and then interpreted it in an eeeeee way.....
here is the LARGE collage i did as my interpretation:

these pears are mongoHUMONGO....four feet wide....three feet tall.....i love them! if i deconstructed this and told you all the bits that went into it...you know, told you its story, it would be forever long.......my favorite element is the maps i used for the actual pears.......i got them at a welcome center on a road trip....north carolina, i think.......

and...lastly....the whole reason i posted ALL that......i have another deadling coming up SOOOOOON...... the theme is spring landscape.......ack!!! i don't really do landscapes! ......i've been working it hard......started twice and painted over (obliterated) my efforts......that's ok....it just adds character to the canvas.......but i think it is an interesting conundrum to have an assignment and do it like me....i could just draw or paint a landscape....one that doesn't look like my current style...my me-ness....... so....i'm trying hard to do a landscape that incorporates text and print and letter texturing and stencils......not leaving a lot of room for trees and such!!! .....so......be on the lookout......something to look forward to in e's blogland!

now i'm crossing my fingers to see if my pictures showed up in the right spots.....and if my links work.......abracadabra!

i am trying to learn hot links....and have JUST found out that my problem is my mac!!! woe is ME ....i absolutlely adore my mac .....but this is the first time my mac has done me wrong! ...
so....here's my attempt.....
please, oh please, go look at all my art on my flickr site ....yippeee....i do believe i've had my first success at java script...whoooooonew?

tra la la...i am royalty

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Reverend Countess Elizabeth the Evanescent of Wimblish upon Frognaze Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

thursday....really!

it is just a bit past midnight......so, though it still feels like thursday to me.....i beleive my blog here is going to say i'm writing on friday......aw man, i missed a day already! bummer........i'm not sure if i should change my settings so that it (his blogginess) thinks i live on the west coast..and it IS stil thursday.....or if i should just call it a day and go to bed .....and save my art words for tomorrow.....hmmmmmmmm...what to do....oh, oh, i know....i'll tell you what i've been reading......and being inspired by!

The Creative License: Giving Yourself Permission to be the Artist You Truly Are (Paperback)
by Danny Gregory

so..... giving yourself permission to be the artist you truly are.......and actually, i think i am close to being me artistically! ..... but this book was bought on an amazon binge....i've bought a handful of books on journalling and such recently......as research for a journalling class i am hoping/planning to teach at my church next fall......doesn't that seem like it has grand potential to be a groovy class......journalling and spirituality......talking to god in your journal......how to make a fabu journal while discussing sunday school topics......clearly, i'm not yet CLEAR on what exactly the class will be...but hopefully with all these books i've bought and am reading that i'll be able to clearly define my curriculum in the next month or two or three......so ...tra la la.....my artiness today was doodliness, journalling, and reading this inspirational book.....

okey dokey.....pretend this is my thursday post to humor me....and i'll post a real friday post after i've slept, woken up, had a full day, and squeezed in some artsiness......

tra la la....
oh wait, i have one more thing to say......i think it is interesting that i am talking and writing to YOU....do YOU think i am writing to really YOU...or a general YOU....cause some of YOU are really in my head as "oh, she'll read this".....and sometimes maybe you are the YOU that i'm typing to......whew.......note to self.....no more blogging rambles after midnight.....


HA HA! this is an editted in line!!!! the blogginess DID think it was still thursday....hooray.......

journey journal

i'm a journaler....i have quite a few journals going at all times......i have some that have been going slowly for years....others that i have completed in two days.......our last trip was spring break to my parents' house.....we did a groovy journey journal......
sophie (six yo) did quite a bit of the doodling, sketching, drawing in it....not actually on purpose......you see, i was the solo driver on this road trip...andy was not travelling with us.....we were FIVE minutes into our 8+ hour drive.....and sophie said: where's my pencil? where's my journal? .....well....didja pack them in your go bag? nope! so.....she couldn't fathom driving on a trip and not doodling away the hours.....so what to do....i gave her my precious, heavy weight watercolor paper, large journal that i had earmarked as our journey journal.......i'd painted the cover....i had grand plans......but, have at it, sophie......and it turned out great.......she did pencil doodles here and there and everywhere.......i went back later and sharpied over them and used twinkle paints......so i have gorgeous colors and precious baby doodling........all in all a fabulous journalling endeavor from that trip....

oh wait......best part.....i have a GREAT kodak camera that has its own printer...i take that handy dandy darling printer on trips and can print out grand and glorious photos to stick in as i journal.....yippeeee.......since i'm horrid about actually getting prints of my pictures, that wee printer has made me a changed woman!
interesting side note: i recently converted from a dell laptop to a mac laptop......and the apple store dude was politely ASTONISHED at the 12 THOUSAND photos that he transferred from one computer to the next...... there's a good reason i don't print them out! my house just wouldn't be big enough for all the photos AND all the kids.....so, for now, i choose the kids.......


i also am keeping a game journal this year.....my 2007 new year's resolution is to play 500 games this year! i love games....my kids love games...my extended family always plays games when we are together.... and yet...whenever my son, drew, asked me to play a game, it was time to make dinner, time to eat dinner, time to bathe, time to brush teeth, time to got to bed......you get the idea.......so, by making the resolution, i am clearly playing LOADS more games with the kids...... we just make the time to do it.... i was going to do 100 games for the year...but that didnt' seem like enough.......and 365 games made it feel like a chore and you can't take a day off.....so....500.....some days we play no games...some days we play loads.....for instance, yesterday we played game 157: rat a tat cat, game 158: scrambled states of america, game 159: blokus, and game 160: whoonu........we are averaging 50 games a month.....so we'll be to 500 by halloween....it will be interesting to see if the kids are sick of playing games with me....or if we get way past 500....time will tell!

and one last bit to include here.....i've been getting my doodle on....as challenged to by chrysti.......here are a few of my nicer attempts.....

sketchiness

back from pottery and had my first comment on my blog....yippee...thanks cheryl......
and....and email from doodle girl chrysti......her blog is http://chrysti.wordpress.com/ .....i've signed up for her swap.....she's the lovely soul who got me going in my sketch book again.......well, she and julia, actually....julia, oldest child, recently started a new sketch book......and is very committed to filling it up ......yesterday she was finding photos of flowers on flickr and drawing the.......and drawing them well....i'm proud......interesting side note: andy was looking through j's sketch book and was impressed by drawings that i thought were ok...and the ones that i thought were fabulous, he did not see the fab.......

ok...note to self.....how do i stick a hotlink in my text.....there's that learning curve again.....or the learning bump in my road!

new day

i finally worked in my sketch pad last night...rather than just being on the computer! ..... i did quite a few pages actually.....once i get going it is easy....the getting going part is apparently difficult........ i am going to pottery this morning (an artistic endeavor...hooray!) ...... i'lll try to take pics of my recent journals....but the sun is not out....making it harder to take decent shots......oh happy day, i've been blogging for two whole days! ....now to ask someone to come see my blog....in the hopes that there is a counter or something....tra la la......on with wednesday......

query

this is just a hypothetical query, since i've not let anyone in the world know that i'm blogging....except i told melinda on the phone.....but.....here's the query.....if i am going to keep a blog, when will i have time to do this art that i'm supposed to be blogging about? i haven't even done a single doodle today......and just now...instead of thinking, oh i should get out a sketch book, doodle journal, writing journal.....or go paint....instead i thought i should take photos of the journal i just finished.....or the other journal i embellished yesterday (buttons, beads, bells, bows and grommets.....grommet is not an attractive word..but i digress.....) alas....chronicling art does take some time away from actual art, huh?

ok....and one more bloggy soggy issue.......how come it says i posted at 12.20...when it is 3:20.......is blog central in california and unaware that i am here..though.....in the long run it won't matter.......becaue it will look like i get up early to post.....and it will look like i do not stay up til all hours.......why is it that early to bed, early to rise seems so much more attractive than the sleep habits i actually practice?

bingo flowers

I am trying valliantly to figure out blogger. I wonder if it is different on my mac than it would be otherwise. So far, it doesn't seem intuitive, though, i think i have successfully added a photo....of some bingo flowers.....i wanted to put them in the header or the left margin...but for now, i'll just be happy that they are HERE at all....ta dum!

yippeeeeeeeee

....i have been reading blogs for years.....have been reading art blogs passionately (obsessively?) for a few months......and have decided to have a go at it.......i'm hoping for a quick learning curve!! ....and perhaps a bit of accountability ......i'll need to make things to post, right?

e.beck.artist

ok...i'm starting now