My Love

You would think that if I love this man so much, I should be able to paint him in my sleep, being an artist of moderate skill.

Here is a nice piture. He is smiling, not a big "Howdy!" smile, but more like, "I'm happy in this moment" kinda smile.

So...I begin with a sketch....that looks like T.D. Jakes! I should have known right then, this would not go well.

So, instead of correcting the sketch, I forge ahead. I remember thinking something like, "I like those paintings that use broad strokes and are a little wonky, but still capture a feeling. I'll just do that!"

 But I can't do that. If I could I would have stopped right here.

But his eyes are HUGE. and crooked.

still crooked.

Here I stopped for longer than a week. It sat in a chair in the breakfast nook, creepily staring everyone down that dared to eat a granola bar without permission.

Gerald was creeped out the most and kept turning himself around in the chair, like a TimeOut for bad paintings.

Well, it's already terrible, so let me swish colors onto it. Green, blue, red,orange and a little dab o' yellow.

He looks like he suffers from Bells Palsey now, but colorfully so.....

Let's fix that. He is black, so lets just even his face out with a little black. (also that might cover some of those crazy colors)

........hmm

 

Oh Jeez. I am just done. It kinda looks like him, doesn't look like an ax murderer, and doesn't look like he had a stroke. Yep, done.

ps. I don't mind sharing that not every painting is a masterpiece.

sat·is·fac·tion

sat·is·fac·tion

/ˌsætɪsˈfækʃən/ Show Spelled [sat-is-fak-shuhn]    

noun

1. an act of satisfying; fulfillment; gratification.

2. the state of being satisfied; contentment.

3. the cause or means of being satisfied.

4. confident acceptance of something as satisfactory, dependable, true, etc.

5. reparation or compensation, as for a wrong or injury.

6. the opportunity to redress or right a wrong, as by a duel.

7. payment or discharge, as of a debt or obligation.

8. Ecclesiastical .

a. an act of doing penance or making reparation for venial sin.

b. the penance or reparation made.

I'll take Number 2, please.

For right now...don't know how long it will last...

But when you have a state of contentment, it's not really important to ponder how long it might last. What is important is to enjoy it as much as possible, treasure it, harvest every last kernel of it.

Here is what I did today:

Old sheet music from Mom's stuff, I chose "Wind Beneath My Wings". I don't remember her ever playing that, but it seemed the appropriate choice for this piece. I sketched her out with a #2 pencil, then did some outlining with a very fine tip marker. Jessie's prettiest features are her eyes and her lips. The lips are the tiniest bit wrong, but you wouldn't know that unless I told you.

I am fairly new to watercolors, I have only dabbled. But I have studied and questioned what I like so much about the medium. My friend, TL, had to point out to me that the watercolors I like most were layered. Many layers of colors add the depth that I like.

Layers, however, take patience. You have to wait for some layers to dry before adding others on top. Also, this is not watercolor paper, it's very old, yellowed sheet music. I had a couple of spots that the paint reacted to the paper differently than everywhere else. I thought I was finished here, but look at the base of Jessie's neck....looks like a fingerprint.  

Okay, for fear of really screwing this up, it is finished. I 'fixed' the neck, I think it looks better.

Jessie and I both like it. Do you?

Temptation

I got an email that the theater was accepting art submissions to hang during the showing of God's Favorite. The theme was temptation.The deadline was 2 days away. I decided to go for it.

There is a thin red line between a win and a loss...
Between right and wrong...
Between good and evil... Between resisting temptation and succumbing to its cunning ways...
Then, just like that, the course of the entire world is changed.

I actually finished it, submitted it and hung it during the showing (3 weeks). I got some good feedback, but it didn't sell. I don't know what the success rate is for hanging art at this venue, but it was fun.

quilts and paintings

Ten of my favorite pieces, not in any particular order.

 1. "A Bird's Nest"

The title refers to the back of the quilt. When free motion quilting, if you don't carefully tie off your beginning thread, it knots up on the back. This is called a bird's nest. The bird is painted and quilted seperately from the quilt, then sewn on, but floats nicely above the quilt background.

2. "Country Gator"

This alligator gets up close and personal. I would hate to really be that close.

3. "Quietude"

Quiet and solitude are nice when I'm on the water.

4. This was a watercolor study done for the next quilt, but I liked it so much I framed it and hung it on my wall.

5. "Road 9, Crandall Pasture"

Crandall Pasture, where I grew up, was and is a magical place to me. Accepted into a Summer exhibit at The Florida Museum of Natural History at UF in Gainseville.

6. Sunset Tree

Obviously I like trees. :)

7. "Hannah at the Beach"

Acrylic on canvas for a friend.

8. "Soul Windows"

I like painting people too! This is an early art quilt. I like the clean lines and the emotion.

9. "Precious"

Speaking of emotion, this little girl just melts hearts everywhere she goes.

10. "Tales at the Gate"

Dad doesn't melt hearts, except mine. He is a wonderful storyteller and has a style all his own. I think this quilt captures some of that style.

10 things I love about my sunroom

1. The transition from the house to the sunroom is framed in 200 year old timbers. Holes and All.

2. This tiny lamp that was given to my Mom by my Granddaddy's girlfriend a long time ago.

3. This cabinet that is new but looks old, and has safari animals on it.

These tiles that Noreen handpainted on the floor.

5. These gorgeous skylights.

6. The view of the creek and the marsh and beyond.

7. This big green vase.

8.My garage sale loveseat ($20), Trunk (free) and table ($25)

9. My bar. I made it myself.

10. The big ledge in front of the windows.

Observation

People who stick their fingers in everybody else's pie should not complain about having dirty hands.

How do you feel about Hip Hop?

Back story: My daughter is a wonderful, creative and talented young lady. She likes theater. She likes to perform and sing, not necessarily always on a stage. She is good at it. Always draws a crowd, she's witty and clever and quick. Her teen idol is not a hip hop artist you hear on the Pop radio station, nor is it a young, hot movie star. It's a theater kid. He is part of a group that originated in Michigan University Fine Arts department. They perform parodies on the internet and go on tour around the country. He is not an adonis. He is a normal looking fella. But she is gonna marry him someday! Oh my!


Turns out he is coming to Jacsonville as a featured singer for a hip hop artist, George Watski. Not your normal kind of hip hop artist, you know, saggy pants, gold teeth, ugly language? No, this artist does "spoken word" poetry and hip hop, a little clean cut white kid who defies stereotyping with his mad rap skills. I agree, in a moment of weakness, that this may be the only chance she gets to see Dylan Saunders LIVE, and I purchase the tickets.

I went to a hip hop concert. I enjoyed myself. These kids were extremely talented, not only was the material all original, it was thoughtful and in many cases meaningful. Then they sang the boobie song, but hey, sometimes ya gotta get silly. They played harmonica, french horn, trumpet, keyboard and organ (!), drums and (of course it's hip hop) heavy base.

 Jessie met, talked to and swooned over her future husband. He sang wonderfully and even interacted with her from on stage. We were right at the stage, so her view was unobstucted the entire concert.

She declared me the best Mother in all the Universe for ALL time, from beginning to end.

I don't know about all that, but for this day everything is good.