A Sweet Christmas

hand-carved Santa's by Wylie Worthington

Ahhh... the sweetness of Christmas. This one, for me, is only slightly bitter-sweet. This time last year my Dad was strong and healthy, playing golf three times a week, carving Santas for his kids. In February, he had a massive stroke, which he survived, but it has left him almost completely left-side paralyzed. Short of a miracle, there will be no more carved Santas by my sweet Dad. But I'm lucky that I have a nice collection.
And they remind me of how special he is and how important our time is together.

This is sweet, I think. I decorated my chairs with a little white tulle and burlap rope.
Speaking of sweet- look at my lovely, little Labradoodle- Gurdy. Hasn't she grown? She's a gem of a pet and is learning tricks almost daily. LOVE HER!!
She has made Christmas decorating a little challenging this year, however.

My Christmas tree forest will have to be on the sofa table this year. Gurdy might not recognize that my decorations are NOT her toys- and man, does she love her toys!

 I'm pleased with my dining room chandeleir and it's cascading snowflakes!

This is a cross-stich hand-crafted by my Mom. Tiny little stitches. We moved her to an assisted living place in October of this year. Our family home was dismantled as my Dad is in a full-care facility. They can't be together because there is no facility in their area that has both full-care and assisted care. Precious items were spread among myself, my brothers and all our children. Maybe that's why my decorating reflects a softer side of myself- a little vintage sweetness of family heirlooms, and pretty things to remind me of what is dear. 

 

 

I love this little pillow. I made it myself to sell, but couldn't part with it.

I love little vignettes of collected items set together to tell a story.

I put this together with lighted LED branches in the hopes it would be an arrangements that I can keep through January above my entertainment center.

 

I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday season. It really is about the goodness of love and family, of giving and sharing. May sweetness spread like raspberry jam on warm toast in your heart this season.

 

 

 

Bubbles of Bliss

20x30 Gallery Wrapped Original with Acrylic by Peggy Krantz and Joli McCombs

This is what happens when you get Crazy Consuela and Odd Chick together! It's a passionate, crazy world with a Bliss Fairy blowing bliss bubbles all over a colorful flower-garden world.

My daughter came down and we painted together and it is such a blast. It's a strange, synergy that happens between like-minded souls when we paint. Like a dance, we go in and out of each other's way adding to and taking from and spray painting and detailing, until we both say it's done. And then we just sit back, drink some crazy juice and enjoy it. Our hope is that this little Bliss fairy finds a happy home and blesses the owner with wild, passionate dreams that come true...every day. I know Joli is one of my greatest blessings. She blisses my world!



Gurdy and Joli

20X30 gallery wrapped canvas with acrylic  Original SOLD

We also painted this delightful little owl painting and Joli posted it on Facebook and sold it within 15 minutes but prints are still available.

 

Find someone fun to collaborate with in your art because you can't get stuck in a rut.  You can feed off each other's energy and ideas and mixing the styles adds interest and mystery to the direction the art will take.

Also, you have twice as many customers to share it with.

 

 Check out my Etsy store when you have time. I thought I would open it up for Christmas. THanks, chick-an-oddees!

 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/chappedchick

 

 

Gypsy Wagon

I'm pretty sure my daughter and my Sweet Farmer thinks I'm going through a mid-life crisis. I just bought myself a 1963 Shasta trailer. She is mint condition and ready for the road. There was something about her that called to me, deep in my gypsy soul and so I brought her home to Krantz Farms. I have big plans for her during the winter - maybe some words painted on her, like "Passions of an Odd chick" or "Adventures of an Odd Chick" in a cute funky font with a flying chick here and there, or maybe I'll leave her plain and buff her up like a shiny tin can. Either way, I'll prepare her for an adventure soon.

She reminds me of a cozy little play house or gypsy wagon or a quiet, zen place to refresh.

 She needs very little really. She looks like a happy place, doesn't she?

 

I added some art that speaks to me. And to my critics. :)

I added some of my own art. Who knows? Maybe I'll sell my art on the road.

It's not fancy but it's good enough for me.

I like little compact, efficient spaces.

My new little puppy, Gurdy, will be ready to travel with me by Spring.

 

I think there will be some good living coming from this space.

And some good stories to share on my blog. If you have any good ideas for my little Shasta, please share!

 

 

 

Brave and Bold with a Sista on your Side.

This is a new animal painting. Yes, I said animal, as in COWs gone wild. You know me, I get stuck on something and I can't let it go. (I call them PASSIONS) I have to paint it this way and that way and I had these great photographs that I had taken of dairy cows and I wondered.... can I convey the energy and tension and curiosity of these animals that I felt when I was kneeling in that cow pen and they were coming forward intense and curious about the camera. It's not an easy thing to convey emotion, I found. Somewhere I read that you can use "fighting colors" to convey tension or energy. And of course, eyes and stance can convey feelings and erratic line and form can be emotive, but without instruction a new artist just simply has to experiment and so I was exploring this process through this cow painting.

24X36 acrylic on canvas "Brave & Bold with A Sista on your Side" SOLD

I'm in this amazing closed facebook art community through Flora Bowley's class and this group of women just continually inspire me with their best art and push me with gentle nudges for more. Sometimes when I get stuck on a painting I can post it there first, and for some reason, I feel encouraged to bring it home for them- like a waiting audience that is cheering you on toward a finish line. My setting is fairly isolated like I'm sure a lot of people feel in rural environments. I hope you can find a community some way that has some expectation of you and encourages you to succeed. (thank you girlfriends- you know who you are!) These cows remind me of how we push forward, curious and bold and brave, and a little scared, but determined to learn something new.

AND The other animal that I'm passionate about in my life (and slightly sleep-deprived):
MEET GURDY - the 6 week labradoodle that has made a home at Krantz farms and in our hearts! More stories to come.

Autumn Scene

mixed-media collage on large canvas
 

Autumn Scene

Upon the hills the giant trees with color were ablaze,
Like smoke from smouldering embers rose the late September haze.
All silent and magnificent I fancied I could see
The Master Artist touching up some solitary tree,
But the glory of the landscape was a flash of crimson flame
At the bottom of the picture where the painter signs his name.

Now I cannot speak the language of the men who paint and draw.
And with technical precision can't describe the scene I saw.
All I know is that a picture was unrolled for me to see,
And the high lights and the shadows just what they ought to be,
But that gorgeous burst of color
in the foreground caught my eye
And I knew it made the landscape,
though I couldn't say just why.

It struck me as peculiar, where an earthly painter signs;
The Master Artist signed His name in tangled shrubs and vines.
And as I stepped up closer
I discovered and was glad
He had given that touch of splendor to the poorest stuff He had.
To the common things in summer
Which man scarecely sees at all
He had given the place of honor and the glory of the fall.
                                                                                - edgar a. guest

The Glorious Giraffe.

"The Glorious Giraffe" Original Acrylic on wrapped canvas 30x40
prints and cards available upon request.

Oh good and glorious giraffe,
I'd like to speak in your behalf.
It's clear that there are very few
Who decorate the world like you.
                             - Johannes Eff, 1969

It seems I am working my way through the animal kingdom. I have to admit that giraffes are a favorite of mine. Their inexplicable oddness and their sweetness combine to win you over completely, along with their kind gentleness and sweeping eyelashes. You never hear of anyone being killed by a giraffe. They have huge hearts to raise and lower that neck so quickly. And they are graceful and dignified despite the fact that their build is so strangely unbalanced. 

"It was as if his hide had been in two layers, one creamy and pale, the other crisp and reddish brown. Maybe the dark upper layer had been to fragile for the equatorial heat. It had cracked into blocks, like the glaze on the Chinese pottery."   -Gladys Schmitt in "Consider the Giraffe"

I was forever changed once I saw a free giraffe move across the landscape in Africa in 2007. I've sketched them for years.
It was important to me to get this painting right and it owns a piece of my soul.

"It was really rather eerie; one got the same sense of unreality one would get- the same shock- if one suddenly saw a tree uproot itself and drift across the landscape."  -Gerald Durrell, zoo keeper

 

Sharing some bull today.

"Lyles' Hereford Bull", Acrylic on canvas 16X20

I don't know why I especially love Hereford cattle. Maybe it's because of their white faces, curly hair, the deep contrast of the auburn red, and that perfect combo against the green grass.  Their faces are soft, but their stance is strong and powerful. They are a bit more docile than most beef cattle. Their baby calves are adorable. Maybe I fell in love with them when I was a young married girl, living on a ranch outside of Van Horn, Texas watching while they peacefully grazed on the mountainside outside my kitchen window. I always wanted to paint a Hereford bull for as long as I can remember. It was only a distant dream then. It feels good to bring this bull to life on canvas.

It feels good to make your dreams come true.

You realize you must keep on dreaming.

Dreaming plants thoughts, and thoughts plant actions into your life.

It may take years for the dream to manifest.

But it will if we persist.

Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art.

Sometimes the best things are right in front of you.

 

I went to The Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art in Roswell, New Mexico. They told me I could take pictures as long as I didn't use a flash and that I could post them to my blog. Isn't that cool?

We have an artist by the name of Don Anderson (yes, the museum is named after him) who paints the most fantastic, majestic paintings and many of his works can be seen at this museum. I've seen them many times but I can never get enough.

 

Mr. Anderson, who is also a businessman, an engineer and an artist conceived a program called the Roswell Artist-in-Residence program. His vision was to enhance the cultural environment of Roswell and southeastern New Mexico by bringing artists of national importance to live and work in the tranquility of the high plains. They are given the gift of time to create art while the Anderson museum provides ample living space, a studio, and a monthly stipend for a year to the artist!

Their works make up more than 300 diverse works seen in the 7 galleries, including Mr. Anderson's.

 

 

 

He is the most humble and quiet, unassuming brilliant man you would ever hope to meet.

 

Oh, and for all those who think you have to use watercolors or oils to make really incredible pricey art- this man only uses acrylics!! That gives me hope.

These are huge canvases. For instance, those you see right above go from ceiling to floor and those are probably 16 foot ceilings or more, and cover an entire wall for about 40 feet.

They are stark and precise, yet the colors (which I could do not do them justice) are soft, and strangely luminous, some are even sparkly.

 

LIKE it on Face Book.

Come to See It. Read the reviews. Everyone gives it 5♥, STARs!

Enjoy!

 

☺ 

 

 

 

Things Are Looking Up!

"Things are Looking Up"
Original Acrylic on canvas 24x36

I love this piece. It was one of the first paintings I finished after trying new techniques I learned in Flora Bowley's class.
This painting was absolute intuition and gut reading. If I felt like doing it, I did it with no fear. I only told myself, if I didn't like it I could paint over it and that it wasn't the last canvas in the world.
Those simple mantras kept the critic silent and let me just enjoy adding shapes, colors, and drawing. Tying it all together was sheer joy.
I am still the baby bird looking up to so many of you for inspiration!

This has been an amazing summer. We got a new airplane and have been taking traveling adventures to exciting places. Sweet Farmer wants me to start another blog about our airplane trips. Stay tuned for that

Fredricksburg, Texas

This was on the door of an art gallery!

Sounds like my kind of business.

Have a great summer!

Facing Challenges

This painting did not provide as much joy as previous paintings. I think the times that I intentionally decide to try something harder like clothes, the figure, and hands, that there is a feeling of determined courage as I walk into the new self-imposed challenge. This painting represents all that I face in my own personal life and in my art. I look boldly into the future, and bravely move forward. Though she has no joy evident on her face, hope springs eternal in her heart.






Posted by Odd Chick

Gushing

"Gushing" 24x24 Acrylic on Canvas

I can't stop painting. It is literally gushing out of me. I hope you're not tired of hearing praises about this class because I love the growth and passion I am taking away from it.

Sometimes, there are other artist and classes and books or music that unlock another "number" in your creative spirit that is mysteriously locked inside some of us like a sequence on a combination lock on a treasure chest.

"Seek and you shall find."
"Knock and the door shall be opened."

And you never forget that person or that book that "clicked" another slot to that sacred safe of treasures.
This has been that kind of class for me. It has unlocked and unleashed some heretofore hidden talent that laid dormant in me just waiting for me to find the right moment in time and the right person to coax it out.

And I put my INTENTION out into the world.
There is something to that brave step, I believe.

I have many more "clicks" to go, possibly a life-time of uncovering what God planted inside of me to find and discover and enjoy.
I'm going to do my part in seeking it out because He has proven Himself reliable in providing the abundant treasures along the way.

Tell me about that click for you: a person, book or music.. or pet or whatever....

Tilt

Strange little painting I know. But they don't call me odd chick for nothing.

Needs a name.

Maybe you can see what I was trying to say and help me. I am going through a shift, a transformation, after stepping out on the ledge. Somehow, I think this painting expresses that.  I'm better with paint than I am with words, and I'm still a budding teen with paint.

Most of you know that I've given myself 10 years, or 10,000 hours to practice my art. I am half way through. I keep telling myself that I'm beginning to see half of what I can do, but I must keep practicing as hard as I have for the last 5 years (I have 11 full art journals now and countless paintings under my bed). I'm sure I will have spent $10,000 or more on my art by the time I'm at 10 years, not counting my foreign travel and trips for inspiration.

But I'm sure that's still less than going to art school for 4 or 5 years!

I am sure I will not have ARRIVED or whatever that means at 10 years but I will be painting exciting, interesting, skill-filled paintings beyond what I can do now.  That's really my priority. Not the sale, not the attention, just the flat-out feeling that I am getting a grasp at something because I really, really wanted it and worked at it. I am blessed with the continued opportunity. The gift really is the opportunity.

I will keep experimenting, taking classes, listening and studying other artists and surrounding myself with inspiring people. I will help others along their way too!

Thank you for following my journey and giving me the privilege of following yours.

GANESH, The Remover of Obstacles

So I'm taking this wonderful class, and no, the teacher is not paying me and I'm not a close friend (although I love her from the videos), but I think when you find a good thing on-line you should share it. It may be just what a new artist needs on their journey. This class has been a very good fit for me.

My daughter wanted an elephant. SO....... I got started but had a very, VERY, hard time with it. One of my fellow classmates (thanks KARIN) suggested I ask the elephant because she stated: "In eastern tradition, the elephant god, Ganesh, is the Remover of Obstacles".

So what the heck? And the elephant talked to me. I said, "You're messy, you know".
The Elephant said, "I know, but so is your daughter's hair and her house. Let me be".
I said, "Elephants are hard to paint, geeeez".
He said, "Then let me just step out of the picture. Quit being afraid of me. I remove obstacles, remember?"

And so I named him, "The Remover of Obstacles" and I hope he gives you courage to remove the obstacles in your life today and makes you smile.
Talking to elephants can be very enlightening!

Dancing Your Way Out Of A Scary Place

 art Juice for the soul

I'm having so much fun this summer. I'm taking Flora Bowley's on-line workshop and it has sparked a mighty passion for my art again, almost like the first years of discovery.
 Her book inspired the elk painting (post below), but her workshop is even juicier. I worried about the price, but it has been so worth it and we are only half-way through.
Above is just a plastic plate of  palette colors I used. I love the way acrylics look with glaze added to them.

This is another large canvas 36 x 48 -very brave for me as you know I feel safest in my art journal. The bad art voice says "don't work too big. Where are going to hide them if the are really bad? Big paintings take up too much room under the bed. Who wants a really, big, bad painting?"

But Screw that voice!

After layers and layers and marks and variation from cool to warm to neutral and back again, the painting begin to make a turn around from all the chaos. It was a wrestling match in my mind for days to continue on pass the fear, pass the awkward ugly phase, walking out of all comfort zones and just painting- intuitively and trusting. Just trusting.


Once the imagery evolved, it began to be such a joyful journey- you know that zone where you hear only "paint, my love, just paint". Like your inner child has finally emerged and is playing again with colors with no care in the word and no judgement for her art. Present, in the moment, and just pure joy for the color on paper or canvas. And it is in that playful place that we learn so much.

details of larger painting

And thenAnd she danced her way out from under the bed. I danced. 

Geez, why is it so hard to trust and let go? I'm not sure, but I'm going to keep doing it until I hear that intuitive voice again loud and clear because I love the way she talks to me.


- Posted by Odd Chick

Elk on the brain

new painting took to Perculator app and then to Diptic app

It started with a friend and her new cabin in the forest. It's a really lovely place but it needs some art and she suggested that I do an elk painting to hang in her family room.

First, I started drawing elk in my journal. I tried encaustic wax for the first time.

journal page

Played with some photo effects.

perculator app and then Pixlromatic app - love the colors on this one

Then, I tried a big piece of watercolor paper and massive amounts of fluid acrylics.

Not really happy with that (nose all wrong) so I played with more effects, changed the antlers, worked on the nose, still looking for inspiration.



Finally, I painted over it and started a whole new layer. I got a new book from Flora Bowley in the mail and found my inspiration with the prompts she suggested to keep your mind open and responding to your own intuition while you paint, free of the critic's voice.

Artemis' Forest Acrylic on Watercolor paper full sheet

I like it and think I will also enter it in the juried show coming up. The colors are really more vibrant than I could photograph and there are a lot of details that don't show up. It's not really my friend's style so I'll keep painting more elk for awhile and see where this new passion takes me.