a hodge podge of this and that .... my 288th blog post ... yoinks!

how did i get so very far behind? good grief!

but ... two entire weeks ago, i had a contest ... and never announced a winner .... but ... since i've been thinking about making itty bitty fishy canvases ever since 3rd eye muse suggested such, i'm sure she should be the winner .... so ..... 3, send me your snail mail and i'll send you a prize any day now .... ok ... any week now .... once i figure out what it is ... or make it .... or something .... 

and here's my studio from today .....

if you dash over to my flickr site here, you'll be able to push your mouse all over the pic and see little notes about the various this and thats in the picture .... 

mr.e.beck.artist? out of town .... 

boy.beck.artist? out of town....

girl.beck.artist? out of town .... 

the kids are actually on a middle school retreat .... leaving me with little.e.beck.artist ... mini me ..... we've had a grand time ....i  let her stay up way too late .... played wii for way to0 long .... let her have mnm's for dessert (desert is one of her spelling words so i knew just how to spell dessert) ..... 

tomorrow, i hope to do art much of the day .... with some dog walking and mystery reader duties at school thrown in just to make me well balanced ..... and then everyone else comes home from their trips .... rah .... 

come back tomorrow for finished works ...not sure what they'll be ... but i can surely get a couple finished with so many canvases started and ready to become something .... definitely, tomorrow will be a happy day ..... 

tra la la .... what happy thing are you planning ...

ps..... happy birthday brother.2.beck.artist ..... i don't think he reads my blog... but his sweet wife does .....

yes, no, yes, no, yes, no, yes, no, maybe.......

yes, i've been doing a bit of art each day

no, i've not been doing as much as i'd like

yes, i've been a bit overwhelmed by the rest of my life

no, it surely won't last forever

yes, i've been looking for that missing canvas

no, i haven't found it

yes, i understand that tells you just how messy my studio, my life is at the moment

no, it doesn't really bug me at all usually

yes, it's just how i am

no, i don't have to prove anything to you 

yes, i do have a book backing me up on my theories of just how important that messiness is to my creative process

no, i'm not planning on cleaning the studio tomorrow

yes, i will find my photo card reader tomorrow and show you some pics ..... 

maybe?

was your day today a yes or a no .... mine was a titch more no than yes .... i'm working on having a yes day tomorrow .... a yes day and photos of art ..... yes? 

mosaic monday ......

i've done four more for my branch series ... and now it is done .... i think i did fourteen canvases originally... to be this new series ... but one of them i put orange poppies on .... and the other ... well ... it's just missing ... who knows where it is .... allison's house? under the seat in the car? stowed in some bag or basket or bin? lost in the abyss that is my art room? the dog ate it? alas .... just missing .... oh well .... i'm not heartbroken or anything .....

the biggest big deal? my 100 set now has 108 completed canvases in it ... how's that for groovy .... and of the last four completed (that i haven't shown on this blog) this one below is (in my wee mind) the grooviest .... you can get a close up of all 12 in this set on flickr ......

the grooviest bit of my day? i played tennis twice .... once first thing this morning ....once at almost dinner time ..... and had a couple hours in my art space ..... rah for that!  ... plus .... 

six loads of laundry (how can that be?) ... a trip to the bank ... a trip to target ..... four dog walks ..... one was about two miles (and i only had to carry her for about 100 yards!...progress!) ......all kinds of homeworking helping and quizzing for tests ... grill cheese for dinner .... and watermelon, grapes and strawberries ......lovely day, all in all... quite productive..... how 'bout you? what were your nice bits?

coolness for moi....

hey, look! what's that down there ..... that big turquoiseyness down there on the wall in the roswell cultural arts center? ...oh ... now i see .... it's my painting .... my el grande humongo painting in situ .... it's such a big ole room, that the painting doesn't look so big ... but it's six feet tall! .....
oh ... wait ... here it is .... with my pink purse in the pic for some perspective ... wait! did you say, surely e doesn't carry a pink purse ( i don't ...i'm neither a pink purse girl, nor, really, a purse girl at all!) .... so what is that purse .... oh! it's her dog's purse ... wait! her dog is in the purse ... um ... yes .... how weird is that ... have dog will travel .... and when you need to go inside somewhere that dogs aren't exactly meant to be ... well, you need a dog purse ..... 

ah .... and here's another photo ... at the far end of the roswell cultural arts center ... another e.beck.artist el grande painting ... look at that happy fish .... directing people to the stairwell .... do fish use stairs? 

and finally ... my art installment for the day .... a ten inch by thirty inch canvas .... an installment in the heartstring series ..... 

i didn't actually paint this over the weekend ... it is one of the ones i painted at allison's on friday ..... 

i have had a fabulous weekend .... mr.e.beck.artist got home from a far flung long trip .... girl.beck.artist had a tennis match and won ... little.e.beck.artist was thrilled to score a goal at soccer (they won)..... both girl and boy beck artist had guitar lessons ... always fun to hear them .. they really love it .... an indigo girls concert with pals ..... and i had my first sunday school class today, teaching an art and journaling class using 37 days as a curriculum ..... 

this week .... my fun? three days of tennis ... two days of art with allison .... a trip to target (i hardly ever go and always love it when i do!) .... a trip to michael's or binder's for some art stuff for my sunday school class ..... and who knows what other unknown joys? 

have a grand week ......

back to being an art blog .....

my moment of fame, being a stop on patti digh's blog tour, has now come and gone ... my stat counter is still clicking triple time, but it is back to art stuff as usual... that ok with you? ...and you? ....and you?just a catch up ..... the canvas above is one of a series .... i prepped 15 (i think) canvases ... and decided to branches on all of them.... a branch series ... i have three art shows coming up ....and my newest notion is that i'm going to work on small canvases to fill my space ..... so i'm making a grand effort to do loads and loads of small canvases and see what happens .... if they don't sell, everyone i've ever met will get one for christmas ..... ha! 

this pic above, is in fact, part of the branch series backgrounds ... and yet ... is not a branch .... i got grooving on the orange poppy thing, and decided to do a small one too ..... so... six by six orange poppy loveliness .... officially withdrawing from the branch series, i suppose .... 

and another branch .... this with three heartstrings ..... happy and anticipatory .... 

and this next one is NOT my art ... it is my pal allison's ..... 

it's a nice story .... she's so good to me ....

when we were painting together this past wednesday, she asked what i'd done over the weekend .... one of the things i'd done was bake a bunch of banana breads .... two of them i delivered to girlfriends who are having hard family times with illnesses and what not ..... now, i'm not much of a cook .... or a baker .... so when the friend loop opened up and asked who could do meals for the two families, i kinda cringed ......total performance anxiety .... and i WISHED that i had some special art memento to give them ... but didn't ... so they got banana bread ... 

so.... when i told allison this story, i told her i wished that she had a pendant to give to girlfriends who needed a little lift .... i have a guardian angel pendant ... and i wanted something like that ... so... right there, on the spot ... on wednesday ... she made this guardian angel ..... and when i went to her house of friday? she had TWO made into pendants ... wrapped up like little gifties, i put them in girlfriend mailboxes that same afternoon! how groovy cool is that? how groovy cool is allison? 

here's the angel in white .... 

you can read allison's blog posts about it here ... and also here .... tra la la .......

i also painted at allison's yesterday ... and went on an artsy field trip ..... i'll have to blog about that tomorrow ... rah! 

what are you doing to make your weekend fun filled? 

life is a verb ... it's a blog tour ... hop on the blog express .....

i know, i know .... you dear ones who read my blog regularly have been sent over to 37 days so, so many times to read something mind blowing or heart changing, right? ....but .... i'm just gonna say it again .... patti

 digh, the groovy author at 37 days? she rocks .... she's oh so far up on the groovy meter ......  

patti's on a blog tour now ... stopping right here, right now .... welcome to all of you 37 days tourists who are new to my art blog ..... so ... here's my story of patti's story .... 

patti's stepfather was diagnosedwith lung cancer .... and died 37 days later .... that's a mean reminder of just how hard life can be .... just how suddenly things can change ..... just how fleeting life can be .....her response was to start writing, to leave a written legacy of written goodness for her children .....  i became obsessed with patti's blog when i had a friend diagnosed with lung cancer ..... live better ... live bigger .... really? to me? live smarter! live the way you are supposed to be living ... not on auto pilot .... i have little notes to myself around my house "live intentionally" "love more" "laugh lots" .... but when they stop being nice notions and become words to live by, then we're really living, right? 

so .... this groovy chick, patti digh, writes  blog posts that make me cry (yes, honey, i know you think we're watching tv together ... but i'm web surfing ....i'm 

reading a blog .... wah! i'm reading the most heart wrenching, tear enducing, lesson learning STORY ever .... wah!) ......patti writes from her heart, spot on, right into your heart ..... i'm not sure that i'm physically able to live the kind of life that her blog, and her book, make me want to live .... i might be a little to A.D.D. to really remember to be that person that i think we should all strive to be ... but ... that's just it ... i think we're all supposed to strive for it ..... maybe not be it, get it, live it, do it .... but in the journey of just trying, aren't we living more intentionally ....being better ... living more....loving bigger?

  

so here's the next bit of my story ....once upon a time, i was reading archived posts of patti's 

blog ... and i read one called carry a small grape .... and it spoke to me ... it spoke to my inner three year old ... the one who likes colorful bandaids, tiny bells, superballs, little boxes, rubber bands, old keys, bottle caps, game pieces and all the other groovy things that end up in my junk drawer... just because i like them ...they aren't actually junk... they are treasures ....  and that same me who knows to cherish and hold the little things , also does art that glorifies the little things ... art that is all about finding, knowing, caring for the small bits ... cause it's all the small bits of things that make up the important big bits ......i have an entire set of art on flickr that celebrates the small things ...the little joyful this and thats ......the happy bits that make up the larger lives ..... 

so ....i commented on patti's blog about the post that touched me so .... and she emailed me back RIGHT away .... saying she had been having a fretful time and thank you because she had needed a positive comment ... and could she see the art .... i sent patti a link to this picture on flickr .... an assemblage that i said was, to me, the exact same story as hers ..... i told her how touched i was by her words and her work ... she told me that she was collecting art to go with her blog stories in a book .... would i submit this one ... 

lots of artists were participating and everyone was doing two INCH by three INCH artist trading cards .... um ...patti, didja notice mine is square? not two by three ... oh, that's ok ....... um .... patti, did i tell you that this piece is three FEET square ..... that's one monstro artist trading card! 

..... but .... it was ok ... and it is in her book ..... before i'd even flipped through the book to see my art with the story, i noticed it FIRST on the inside front cover! ....in the top corner.... FIRST ... right there!  i'm certain that it is intentional and she loves me best .....it's in there first, ya know ..... (la, la, la .... i'm singing with my fingers in my ears so that no one can tell me otherwise... it is so INTENTIONALLY first ... i'm sure) .... she loves me and MY grape metaphor best of all the hund

reds of fabo pieces of art in the book ... yup ... i know it ..... i'm the confident type .....

in august, i was preparing to teach a sunday school class for this school year ... i had my plan (art journals, paints, discussions) but i didn't have my curriculum ... and then ... kismet, serendipity, total joy! i get life is a verb in the mail .... and all through the book, there are challenges ... action challenges to do now ... discuss now ... write about now ... and movement challenges .... long term (37 whole days) challenges ..... my friend that i've never met, patti digh, graciously had mailed me the long sought after artsy sunday school curriculum that i needed .... i am SO lucky ..... 

this sunday, my sunday school class starts .... i'll sit at a table with a group of groovy seeking women .... and we'll talk ... and learn ... and listen .... and explore .... and we'll live intentionally ... or at least a bit more intentionally .... as we try to become what we are meant to be ....

so .... i emailed patti recently and said ...oh, my procrastinating self hasn't gotten around to 

emailing you about a blog tour date .... so, if you have a day free, any day, i'll do it .... so .... what does she email me back .... september 11th .... um ... oh ... but that's a hard day ..... a really hard day ... a sad day ... but .... actually ..... what a perfect remembering kind of day to think about liveing intentionally ...... so .... as i post this on september 11th, remembering, and as you read it ..... ask yourself about being mindful, about living intentionally, about having 37 days to live and love and exist ...... who are you and what do you want to be ......

patti says: Say Yes, Be Generous, Speak Up, Love More, Trust Yourself, and Slow Down ..... don't you think that sounds about right? let's work on it, ok? 

103rd completed canvas for this year! yippee, huh?

i had the MOST fabulous day .... 

my dearest art pal came over early this morning and stayed all day ..... 

we got some art chores done ... but we also did a TON of painting ..... 

the highlights: 

-i picked out pics to put on a disk to send off to be in an artsy book .... rah for that! .... the way that works? just when we all forget about it? that's when the book comes out ..... and it's all a happy surprise .... 

-i told allison that i had two girlfriends i was worried about ... both are taking care of very, very sick parents .... and that i wished she had a sweet guardian angel pendant .... so what did she do? made a guardian angel canvas .... and told me i'd have the pendants by friday ... how groovy toovy amazing is that .... an e inspired angel!! ..... 

-allison and i decided to write a book together ... we came up with about ten ideas .... none of them great ... but we talked and dreamed and wished .... we'll see if we can keep the momentum and actually do a book .... and if we don't? it sure was fun brainstorming all of the possibilities ...... 

- i painted poppies ... orange poppies ... just like my blog panel of helpful souls said i should! ... thanks darla ... thanks roberta! 

..... i had a happy day ..... what made your day happy? 

101,102

here are my next two paintings .... 101 and 102 .... 

they are each six inches square ... part of the fifteen canvases that i prepped with papers and glazes and stenciling .... and am calling my branch series ... all in preparation for an art show i am doing at the beginning of november ..... 

i was reading someone's blog ... i just looked so i could give them credit...but can't find it .... and she said she felt like she had a blog burqua .... that she didn't give personal details .... that her blog was "veiled" as it were .... i have an "art blog" ... i mostly tell you about my art and artlife ...with just titches of other stuff ... cause i don't do art in isolation ... i do art in the midst of my big messy life ..... i don't really feel "burqua'd" ....but .... maybe i'm not personal enough (though, i wonder how interesting the personal stuff actually is!)

so ... here it is .... 

mr.e.beck.artist is on a business trip ... i miss him, and everything seems just a little bit harder!

 .... i lost my tennis match this morning .... wah! my learning curve is just not steep enough ... i SO want to be better than i am! 

..the.e.beck.artist.twins are in middle school now and it is killing me! it is hard ... they both seem to be managing better than i am! 

but ... 

on the bright side .... 

a lovely friend invited us to dinner tonight (rah! no cooking for moi)

the dog is going to the groomer tomorrow ... her matted stinky self was making it harder to fully love her! 

i'm taking my car to the big deal car cleaner tomorrow ... i think if they could pick it up and shake it out, they'd get pounds and pounds of crumbs ...a summer's worth of sand and snacks ..... alas, a vacuum will have to do ..... 

i have tennis practice tomorrow ... practice is good ... i rock at practice .... just don't rock at real matches! 

and i started some ORANGE poppies ... just lovely .... hooray for orange ... hooray for poppies ...

so ... my burqua is off for the moment ... and i am going to go to bed and read about vampires .... the best book i've read in quite a while! 

what are you reading ... what have you left out, in our blog dialogue? 

still resting on my laurels ....

hooray! 

i have a blog contest .... on the entry before this one .... and it is rocking! i didn't even have a good plan for it, so it is working beyond my wildest ideas ... it is giving me grand ideas and i am so happy! 

so here's what i know so far .... (these are the contenders for the blog contest prizes, thus far)

sharon said, other fruits? veggies? ..... and yes .... other fruits and veggies ... i can absolutely get myself into that! 

3rd eye muse ... rah! you are right, i DO need to do a series of little fishies!! 

darla .... yes .... i should do poppies ... they always sell fast .....

but darla, roberta did you one better ... she said ORANGE poppies ...how can i adore orange so, and not have ever done an orange poppy ... scandalous .... yes, roberta, i am absolutely going to do an orange poppy ....or ten .... soon

and jeannie ... fruit in unconventional colors .... yup ... that sounds right!! 

so .... it is not to late to peruse my 100 canvases that i've done and offer observations and advice and critiques and points of note ..... then of the most helpful insights, i'm picking one for a grand prize .... rah! hooray for prizes .... 

oh ... p.s...... i have finished two more canvases .... but not snapped pics of them yet .... so come back tomorrow .... i'll probably have more than two canvases for you to see .. and maybe even an orange poppy .... 

100 contest .....

oh!!!!

no art today ....

not a single tiny titch of art! 

i am totally resting on my laurels of finishing those hundred canvases for the year ..... plus i had tennis in the morning ..... which made me busy ... but my partner and i won .... so i'll rest on those laurels too! 

so.... do me a favor ... go read this old blog post ..... i read it and can hear me talking and thinking ... and now i know what i didn't know then ....like i know about nests .... and i know six inch small canvases don't torment me anymore! ..... 

now, go study those 100 canvases in this flickr set ..... tell me your favorite ... tell me the one that you think is out there and not cohesive in the group .... tell me which one you wish was hanging in your kitchen ... bedroom ... bathroom .... um..... garage? really, tell me anything you want about those 100 ... oh .... and tell me what i should reprise in my next big piece .... clearly i haven't thought this out ... give me advice .....help me know what to do artsy wise for the rest of the year .... tell me whatever you want and i will enter you in a contest for a piece of art ..... ok ... a contest .... make sure i have a way to contact you ..... or check back , huh? 

i'll just be happy 100 girl til tomorrow ... and then i'll move on to 101 .... 

100

i did not even REALIZE it ... til i started loading my newest art pics onto flickr ... but my 100 set? now has 100 paintings .... yesterday? i did the 95th canvas of 2008 .... today? 96, 97, 98, 99 and 100! yippee for that, huh? 
all of these are part of a new series i am doing ... branches ..... 
each one is on a small, six inch  square, canvas ..... 
i started 15 canvases with maps and glazes and acrylics ..... these are five of them ...i've done six all together ...
...and i've done fewer than half of them .... so i should be in the hundreds in no time .... or at least 109 in just a few days .... imagine that! 

teeny tiny disclaimer, complaint and apology ... ack! i couldn't get my links to work ... bummer there, huh? sorry! 

moon lit night

one project ends and mere SECONDS later the next one generally begins! 

my large paintings were delivered to kristy at lola's gallery ... and she, today, was hanging them at the roswell cultural arts center ..... but days ago, i started my next big thing ... and my next big thing? is little ..... little canvases, that is .... 

here's the first one: 

it is my 95th canvas of 2008 ... i've named it heartstring on a full moon night .... i decided that for the fifteen small canvases that i've started, i am going to do branches ... all sorts of branches, i suppose ... heart string branches and nest branches and i dunno what branches ..... but a branch series ...of 15 small canvases .... why? well... let me tell you why ... my next big thing is the marist art show .... so i need to think about what i plan to be selling in my booth ... i could do four or five more six foot canvases and my booth would be full .... but i'm going with small .... i think last year, at this same show, my smallest piece was 12 inches square ... so small will be fresh and different for me ....i'll still do some of my usual sized pieces, but i thought i'd have a wall of these petite ones ... whaddaya think ..... do you remember i did this series of small ones ... that's where i got my first notion of what i was going to try and accomplish for this sale ..... and then, if they don't sell? i could do a blog give away every day for a month or two with the fifty or sixty tiny paintings i plan to have ... ha .... that's a load of giveaway .....

but actually ... speaking of blog giveaways ... i'm almost to my 400th blog post .... about 25 away i think .... whaddaya do to celebrate that? i'll take any and all suggestions .... 

tomorrow i have tennis early and then art the rest of the day ..... with my pal al ...... how many of these branch paintings do you think i'll get done? ...mostly it will depend on the dog walking, the lunch eating, and the artists gabbing ... those are the three things that make us less that stellarly studious in the studio .... 

cheers! here's wishing you a happy moon lit night ......