Failure - Of the good kind.

Failure. My latest painting that is. And, ya know what, that's OK with me. I've been in a frame of mind to experiment with taking my art in different direction(s). That leads to some wonderful successes, and some spectacular failures; and without the failures I'd be certain I wasn't really taking any chances or achieving any growth. So, I'm pleased with my latest failure. And, I know where I want to go with it now, at least for it's next "trial".

Another piece of breaking news: I just bought a painting! Aranga Firstman's Sector 33.3_19.7. I absolutely love it and can't wait to frame it and hang it. I know exactly where it's going. You can see it at: http://arangafirstman.wordpress.com which is Aranga's blog. Aranga does the type of work that just draws me in. This piece is deceptively simple; way more complex the longer I look at it. So, thanks my friend!

Summer Lightning

New Painting
Summer Lightning

This one was great FUN to do! It has 2 Fibonacci Series hidden beneath the top. There are two series of circles, one very light, one medium light, running diagonally; then very dark underpainting in the areas not covered by the circles. All of this was done before any of the top painting - Oh, I did mask the lightning itself. Over the top went all the rest of the layers upon layers of watercolor. (I love using watercolor in a manner that looks not so much like watercolor.) And, I allowed the paint to determine where "trees" would be, where "rock" would be, etc. Well, I had a general idea of where stuff should end up and put the colors there, but the paint decided how to flow, where to pool, etc. At times the whole thing was so wet the paper was buckling and looking pretty iffy. But, it would dry flat, and suddenly there would be trees or rock or fire.

And, I like the "feel" of this one. I love lightning and storms, especially how they feel so powerful. Quite cool, huh? It's 12 x 16, watercolor on paper, unframed. $250

The Weather Series - Painting HEAT

Unlike a storm scene as portrayed in the featured painting, Foothill Storm, HEAT never feels expansive to me. Perhaps like the various desert dwellers of the world, I feel the need to seek shelter from the sun and the heat it carries. (Did you know that in most countries where desert heat and lack of water typifies their landscape darkness and shadow are not metaphors for evil, etc., but rather for shelter?)

I digress. I've struggled with how to convey a sense of heat in a painting. My brain was stuck on "scene", and I just couldn't come up with one that worked for me. Finally, I put it out of my mind; and as usual, that gave the Muse of the Universe room to work. We've had at least two weeks of terrible, horrible, awful heat, giving me the feel of what I've been searching to find. Then, my ongoing health issues were caused to flare by the unremitting heat, causing me to stay in and find time to paint. Then, while sorting through old photos of New Mexico to show a friend, I stumbled upon some I'd taken of cattle including a massive bull resting alone. I already had a photo from here with the long shadows cast by an off-stage old oak. All of this caused me to pull my vision in for a more close up view, giving me the image I wanted:



I've also been playing a bit with underpainting that is unrelated to the scene itself. I elected to do a Fibonacci series of bands of shades of browns running top to bottom and left to right. The bands don't show in the final painting, yet they somehow give some extra dimension and depth to the watercolor. I stuck with a very limited palette to maintain the washed-out feel that summer brings to our part of the world.

So, he's called Resting in Shadow. At 12 X 16 inches, not a large painting. Watercolor on paper. Priced at $200.

Hard at work!

I've been very, very busy getting shops up and running on Etsy, 1000markets, Imagekind, and Cafepress. Each has a focus, and I have work left to do on all.
Etsy has many handmade items. I'm not sure how well original art sells there.
1000markets is a great place for original art. Let's hope buyers find me!
Imagekind is a great place to buy prints, framed or not.
And, Cafepress is really good for "stuff" - t-shirts, cards, etc. - and only has the beginnings of a Fiona shop so far.

Check out "other places you'll find me" to the right for each!

The other side of me

Aside from Art with a capital A I like to do fun things. Sometimes it's garden art; sometimes it's something recycled; and sometimes it's Fiona.


I've done a series of Fiona's Fairy Filosofy full of little sayings from the uplifting to the silly; and, if I can ever master Cafepress, she will soon appear in all her glory in a "store".

Fiona appeared about a year and a half ago from nowhere. I think I was going through a bit of depression and she popped up from my unconscious or the universe or a god of one form or another to remind me that life can be easy if I let it. Once she made her appearance, I couldn't turn her off! She continues to send me little blurbs to be turned into cartoons - an art form I've never, ever had an interest in!

Once I have Fiona's store up and running, I plan to work on her counterpart. He doesn't have a name yet, and I'm open to suggestion on that; but he will have sarcastic little sayings like "it's always darkest right before it turns pitch black." That, by the way, is courtesy of my husband who tends to supply me with all the sarcasm one could want! And, what to do with all that - paint it of course!

Pondering, pondering. . . .

This photo, taken out my kitchen window (and, yes, I know it needs to be washed) shows maybe a third of the quail who visited our yard yesterday evening. They like to come in for a drink out of the little fountain before disappearing for the night.

So, do I paint this despite having "finished" the quail series? Do I paint it as a single, or as the start of another series? But, what about the weather series that I'm in the middle of? Too many things that call out to be painted & not enough time (or talent) to paint them all!



And this is my new wreath. After a gift of a big bunch of lavender from a friend I went out to my own garden today for cuttings of rosemary, oregano, majorum, dill & probably a couple of things I've forgotten. A few years ago my patient husband took up the challenge of making a form for me to use in making the type of wreaths that are not built on a pre-made base. It works.


So, did I hang it in the kitchen? No, silly, it's in the master bath where it's nice to have a sense of perfume in the air. And, it looks marvy against the very pale sage walls that appear white in the photo. Enough lavender blooms, just the tiny, tiny tips, fell off in the process to fill a good sized clam shell & sit by my bed. Mmmmmmm.

So, still pondering, when will I get to the living room and dining room rugs that I just bought a carpet shampooer for? Not today.

Inspiration

Dormant grasses the color of ripe wheat; deep shadows cast by ancient oaks; moss on rocks turned brown; buckeye trees shedding their leaves - it's summer in the foothills of the Sierra.


Next in the weather series will be HEAT. I think I'll take a drive up to Mineral King (by the way, did you see the mention in Sunset magazine of this local wonder?) and take a few more photos.

Capturing the feel of Foothill Storm was an interesting challenge; capturing HEAT will be at least as tough. Perhaps having grown up on a farm and lived the effects of weather - hail destroying a wheat crop, too much rain flooding out a field, too little rain leaving no crop - is why I've always had the fascination with weather.

And, isn't inspiration a funny thing? We take it where we find it. For some it's in beautiful flowers; for others in music or dance. Mine often is pulled from good ol' Mom Nature. Yep, Mom, not Mother. We're close enough to be pretty casual with each other.