Passions of an Odd Chick

PUSHING IT.

2012-01-30T17:26:00.000-08:00

I'm busy learning new things over here.
I'm learning that it's true, you should never throw a painting away.
I'm going back now and painting over anything I didn't like, saving bits I did and pushing further.
If it was already ugly and/or boring- what is there to be afraid of? That you will make it more ugly or boring?
I'm learning that if it is boring to me, it is probably very boring to anyone else.
I'm learning that I'm tired of making boring art and I want to amp it up a bit.
I'm learning that I've got to understand more about contrast, composition, blah, blah blah, but GEEZ, it's so important if I want to make exciting art. I've got to get more technical and analytical. But I'm learning that when I'm painting- LET all that go and paint intuitively, trust my instincts and just let it flow out of me.

I add things.
Take away things.
Write on it.
Darken it
Lighten it.
Sew it.
Doodle it.
Digitally screw with it.
Use every medium I have until I get what I want out of my own creation!
I listen and learn and watch and see.

and i

SHUT THE FEAR UP.

I read somewhere (I wish I could remember who to give credit) but she said the SECRET to the only difference in why she stood out was that she took a project to a great point, the point where everybody would like it, and then she pushed it further asking, "How can I make this MORE unique and BETTER than the things I've already seen." AND she DIDN't stop until she LOVED it.

She JUST PUSHED IT FURTHER.

that's the big freakin secret

I can do that. I might not be drawing or painting to the level I want- BUT BY GOD, (literally) I CAN PUSH what I'm doing FURTHER. save it. Go back. and push it further. Until one day- I say, WOW, I LOVE IT!!!

Her headdress was a flower pin that I put in my copy machine and folded in half. and by george, it looked like feathers.

Be brave. Be very very brave in your art and your life. And don't give up until you get what you want.

EVER.

i'm still convincing myself of all of this....can you tell?

Where does your FANCY come from?

2012-01-16T13:25:00.000-08:00

Tell me where is fancy bred,
Or in the heart or in the head?
How begot, how nourished?
Reply, reply.
It is engender’d in the eyes,
With gazing fed; and fancy dies
In the cradle, where it lies.
Let us all ring fancy’s knell;
I’ll begin it – Ding, dong, bell.

Ding, dong, bell. Shakespeare "The Merchant of Venice"

Where is fancy bred? I often wonder where inspiration comes from. Of course, I give God the credit for anything created and I believe because we are made in His image that each of us was granted creative powers. It takes connecting to the First Power to enrich your own God-given, powerful, artistic character. But we have to trust and we have to invest. That's just my opinion.

Where does your fancy come from?

Still Practicing...

2012-01-10T12:44:00.000-08:00

Tell me you see a tiny teeny bit of Botticelli influence and I will be be happy. I'm continuing the practice with textures and colors in my journal and having so much fun. Trying to work up the courage and patience to do a large painting. I'm forcing myself to do hands and more of the body. Really, I am. But those pieces are awkward still and don't want to come out of hiding.

I"m loving some new apps (for those who got new IPADs or IPhones for Christmas) called Master Pieces and Art Museum. These are art games that you can play while educating yourself about good art. I'm also hooked on Pinterest - a virtural dream image board that can give you loads of inspiration and ideas.

I'm also trying to clean out the clutter, organize the finances for tax season, and set goals and dreams for the new year.

I see beautiful images from your blogs everyday that feed my artist's soul and spur me on. Have I thanked you lately for being my friend? Because it's no small thing to me. I love our creative molecules bouncing all around, back and forth, like a gigantic game of art basketball.

I hope I'll have more to share soon.

Winter snow brings out the art journal.

2011-12-09T15:40:00.000-08:00

Out my front door

It's a little cold over here in southeastern New Mexico. We've had snow on the ground
for 6 days which is unusual for us.
My Sweet Farmer is almost good as new. Thank you for your kind wishes in the comments.

"Chill Out", mixed media on watercolor, 16 x 20 matted

I'm enjoying my journal again. Did I mention that I ♥ faces. It doesn't seem to matter whose or what face it is. I think I'm into drawing personalities, emoting feelings from their eyes, the position of their chin, etc. They seem to come alive in my journal and look back at me. In a way, I guess I'm still playing paper dolls, only with paints and pencils. It's still an imaginary world where my mind plays creatively, yet keenly. It's like a great dessert for my brain.

Which face is your fav?

notes from a sermon on Psalm 23

my idea of a Venice carnivalle costume

i loved creating this one with only a pencil, black gesso and blue paint.

Hey guess what?? "Yellow Goat" sold from the "Gallery" in Roswell.. I will miss him but I'm glad someone liked him enough to take him home.

You just never know....

2011-12-05T15:40:00.000-08:00

I know it's a little late and I've since taken it down to make room for Christmas, but in my heart I'm still there. My Sweet Farmer almost died over the Thanksgiving holidays. Without giving too much gory detail or reliving it, he had some veins burst in his esophagus and nearly bled to death before he was air-flighted to Lubbock where he had a terrible reaction to the anethesia, so on and on, and spent 6 days in ICU and two more in a regular room.

HE IS fine now!! But wow, what a Thanksgiving. I can't tell you how many wonderful things happened during that week in spite of the horrific beginning, and since that time that made the whole experience very sacred and God-filled, and me GRATE FULL for my many blessings.

I've been drawing as you can imagine. It really is the most calming therapy in the world.

I'm pretty sure this is what Sweet Farmer's guardian angel looked like!

St. John Resting on the Bosom of Christ by
Master Heinrich of Constance

And this is where I'm resting...

Flight to Florence made real.

2011-11-06T14:37:00.000-08:00

" (I felt)... delirious yet tumultuous... I felt as if I sailed with long John Silver and first gazed on Treasure Island. Here was a place where anything might happen. Here was a place where something would certainly happen... " Winston Churchill

Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi Gallery window

Have you ever been to a place that everywhere you turned, everything you saw was out of favorite book or picture book? This was my wardrobe in the Chronicles of Narnia, this was my looking glass in Alice and Wonderland. This was my Treasure Island.

What can I say about Florence?

I saw DAVID, all 18ft of him. one huge block of Carrara marble. He ultimately represented that Florence would slay the giant of the Medici family and Michelangelo turned his back on his first sponsors by creating it. (Great STORY)

But I loved most the unfinished marble pieces of Michelangelo's that showed his way of sculpting- where the person actually moves out of the marble. UNBELievable!

WE had a fantastic, knowledgeable guide that has studied art all his life and he has not lost his energy for it. He talked as fast as he could to tell you details about the art and I totally crushed on him. I could have taken him home and I know Sweet Farmer would have understood.

I saw the DUOMO. The story of Filippo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti is a fascinating one. Two creative genius' that truly sparked a Renaissance.

outside the Medici offices and Uffizi gallery. absolutely intimidating sculptures
they used outside their official palaces.

I LOVE THE history of the Medici family. I watched every documentary I could get my hands on.
They took the money they made as bankers and sponsored art for the city of Florence. They were the first to promote art that wasn't religious (on its face) but to think outside the box about creativity and new ideas and to push the boundaries of original thought! To heck with what the Pope liked.
WOW. ART BURST FORTH IN THAT PLACE!
But in the end the Medici's became violent and greedy and ultimately were thrown out of Florence. BUT the trail of art they left behind is a sight to behold.

Venus by Botticelli

I stood in FRONT of this piece. It was darker than this but so breathtakingly enchanting. I saw Primavera too! So he created some long neck girls and let his imagination fly. I saw original Leonardo Di Vinci's! What can I say?

If you love the Renaissance, intrigue, history, and love art with a passion - and you only have one city to go to in your life-time - take Florence.

I wanted to cry because I had to leave. But I just kept remembering how blessed I was to even be there. You may think that sounds silly or over-dramatic. But my passion met it's match in Florence and it truly touched me.
I will go back someday. That's a promise I've made to myself.

Lovely Orvieto

2011-11-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

We left Rome, Italy and headed for the north. On our way, we stopped at an hidden jewel of a city named Orvieto. I don't have any of my own photographs because I bought a book.

You can read all about it if you love old old places. This walled city dates back to the Estrucans (800 B.C. stuff!!) It sits on top of a volcanic mountain and has quaint and lovely shops where we drank Orvieto wine and had eggplant and cheese on focaccia bread for lunch. It has a beautiful cathedral based on a haunting relic.
(*my opinion only)
It seems each town needed a Saint or relic to bring others to their town for commerce and their own religious unity. They wouldn't have used secular objects because their religion was almost their nationality. These cathedrals housed objects that people came from all over to see and then subsequently pay for local lodging, food and local crafts. The locals knew that it was a boost for their town and that's one of the reasons they funded these projects so liberally. It wasn't a bad deal.... we are still going there today 2500 years later, spending our money in their lovely town, to see the history now revolved around those sacred decisions.

I could have lived like this. It had a fairy-tale, peaceful, secret garden feel to it. It was secure behind the great strong walls, beautiful old trees and winding paths through flower gardens, unbelieveable scenery from every direction, and a quiet artist mood about the place. AND the ART ....

I saw old Byzantine frescoes by Lippo Memmi in the Cathedral. This very painting (Madonna dei Raccomandati). It's at least 9 ft. high. The gold was dazzling, and the designs and color made me want to get home and try my plaster work again.

"In our own time it has been seen... that simple children, roughly brought up in the wilderness, have begun to draw by themselves, impelled by their own natural genius, instructed solely by the example of these beautiful paintings and sculptures of Nature." Giorgio Vasari

I saw original frescoes that covered huge walls by Luca Signorelli. It is said that Michelangelo copied some of his ideas for the Sistine chapel. Remember common people couldn't read so paintings told stories and probably kept the fear of God in people's hearts and minds (along with Papal power and religious leveraging, and commerce).

For whatever reason, artists left their heart and skill here for millions to see and you can't help but walk away feeling visually and soulfully shakened awake.

Let the Games Begin

2011-11-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

Who can see Rome without seeing the Colosseum?? There were riots there the day before but we saw no sign of any problems. Americans knew much more about that news than Romans!

My photographs are a disappointment.
NO. 1- you can't set up to take photos because they don't give you time.No. 2- there are always tourists in the way of perfect shots. No. 3- it's burdensome to carry different lens. No. 4- you want to really see the things you're looking at and listen to the guides and taking pictures becomes somewhat of a distraction. Plus, I'm just not a good photographer. Sorry.

The Colosseum originally had 3 outer walls but fires and earthquakes and time have destroyed them over the years.
Emperor Vespasian (72 A.D.) began the project to placate the people of Rome after Nero's selfishness. Fifty thousand people could enter this sport's stadium pretty efficiently. Did you know nearly 9000 animals were killed in the first inaugural games? There is something horrendously sickening as you stand in the center and think about the brutality of the times and that it was all about entertainment for men, women and children.

Creeped me out when I realized I was wearing an animal print as I stood on the floor of the Colosseum!

Did you know if you leave a door open anywhere, Romans ask you "Were you born in the Colosseum?"

Vestal Garden right below the Colosseum

This is what's left of the garden and temple of the Vestal Virgins. They got front row seats at the Colosseum and other luxuries for keeping the sacred fire burning for the homes of Rome. They couldn't have sex for 30 years but they also didn't have to live under the crappy rules for Roman women under men's authority.

Aww. And the colossal arches. Whenever an emperor won a battle some monument had to be built. And each wanted one bigger than the last one!

".... I began to regard the earth under my feet as skin draped over ancient bones." Fran Davis

All Roads lead to Rome

2011-10-31T11:29:00.000-07:00

Pieta by Michelangelo

Yes! I was there. My nose was right up against the glass (now protected because years ago some deranged geologist repeatedly struck it with a hammer and broke Mary's nose. They fixed her with a piece of marble from her back). It was hard to walk away. The folds of the gown fascinated me and the rib cage of Christ and skin on the face of Mary- and this was made early in Michelangelo's career.

above the entrance of the Vatican- Belini and Michelangelo on either side of the
Papal Tiara and coat of arms

tapestry in the Vatican Hall of treasures

"I am still listening to inner sounds, still divining, trying to get a hold on Italy. Instead, the hold - part poem, part dream, all enigma- is on me..... there will always remain something unknowable about Italy" - Camille Cusumano

Looks carved but it's not. It's trompe!

I had no idea about the treasures housed in the Vatican! It would take you years to see everything.

The trip was beyond my expectations. The only regret was that I couldn't linger, couldn't grasp everything, couldn't understand all the things we walked by without explanation.

But I just tried to stay in the moment. Hear, smell, feel, touch when I could so that I could bring the image back in my head and follow whatever path it may take me from here.

I will bring you more. But it all started in Rome.

"All roads indeed lead to Rome, but theirs also is a more mystical destination, some bourne of which no traveller knows the name, some city, they all seem to hint, even more eternal" - Richard Le Gallienne

Feeling Blessed.

2011-10-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

It's no surprise if you visit here often that I like to paint faces and Jesus is one of my favorite faces to paint. This is actually a take on an old painting of mine but I added a collage background.
Now the photograph bothers me just a little with the two different eyes- in the actual painting, it is not that noticeable.

I'm feeling very blessed as you can imagine as I leave for Italy in 2 days. (Big thanks to Artfully Oogleboops for the article about Florence) I wish my Sweet Farmer would quit being so sweet and sad about our two weeks apart as it is bittersweet to leave him and our lovely little farm, my family, kitty-cat, Sam, the dog....etc.

posterized

"Ships are safe in harbor but that is not why ships were built"

Sweet Farmer says I was speaking Italian in my sleep the other night. I laughed and said, "how would you know?... it was Italian I mean?"

I wouldn't be surprised as I have marinated in Italian everything with my IPOD and Modern Scholar lectures.

I've learned that prior study really enhances my travel experience.

Wish me safe travel and blessings if you think of me, a little prayer. I hope to come back with lots of inspiration to share.

a copy of the painting collaged into another graffiti painting

I'm dreaming of my Flight to Florence

2011-09-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

"Take Flight to Florence" mixed media on watercolor paper

I am dreaming of my flight to Italy. It's less than 3 weeks away!! Did I raise all the money with my paintings???? (for those of you who are new here that was my goal)

No. But a little more than half. About $2600. Which is more than I would have raised had I not tried at all.

But if you count the clothes, and the spending money I'm taking with me, I think my farming actually paid for my trip. But YAH! anyway. Every year I want to raise a little more money with my art. And I did that this year ...again.

Of course, I started out the first year with like- hmmm...$85.00.

I've never told this story but one of the first paintings I sold was actually a painting I did after reading an article on Kelly Rae Robert's art in Cloth, Paper Scissors magazine. Once someone said they wanted to purchase it (exciting day)... I wrote Kelly and asked permission to sell it as it was practically a copy of her original (a bad copy) and she graciously said "yes". Since then, I've learned that a lot of artist start out that way , I mean, copying other people's stuff. I've always been glad that I asked permission and I also gave her credit on the back of the painting and told the girl that purchased it about Kelly and her art in case she wanted other things.

I am really enjoying my Layered Impressions class with Katie Kendrick . She is the QUEEN of creative texture and artistic play. If you want more of that in your art take her on-line class, or order her DVD or buy her book. It has been very freeing for me and I am exploring new paths and loving my paints again.

Big woop that Nourish Your Mind was entered in the Eastern New Mexico State fair by a friend who purchased the original and it won a section (mixed-media) prize ($25.00) and so has a chance at Best of Show.

I hope you're finding ways to enjoy your art and enhance your life.

Come to Autumn

2011-09-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

mixed media

I want to come to autumn with the silver in my hair,

And maybe have the children stop to look and me and stare;

I'd like to reach October free from blemish or from taint,

As splendid as a maple tree which artist love to paint.

I'd like to come to autumn, with my life work fully done

And look a little like a tree that's gleaming in the sun;

I'd like to think that I at last could come through care and tears

And be as fair to look upon as every elm appears.

But when I reach October, full contented I shall be

If those with whom I've walked through life shall still have faith in me;

Nor shall I dread the winter's frost, when brain and body tire,

If I have made my life a thing which others can admire.

Edgar Allen Guest

Odd Chick paints a rare bird.

2011-09-20T18:15:00.000-07:00

Okay. I did a little painting that I can say I'm proud of - finally. It seems most of my time with my art is spent in practice and then one day, I put some new skills together and make myself do an actual painting. It's so easy to never risk anything and just play in my art journal.

It makes me realize that special things in my life actually happened a long time ago. First, in my imagination. Second, in my preparation. And finally, last of all, something happens extra-ordinary. We spend most of time thinking and wishing about the latter. But really most of our time is spent in the first two steps.

It's much like farming. You plant the seed but you don't get the crop until months later.

We have pumpkins but we had to plant them in JUNE. Who thinks of pumpkins in June?? They are no fun in JUNE. But everyone is getting excited NOW about our pumpkin patch.

I took the photograph to Picnik and added the text.
I printed the painting on fabric (use muslin with no sizing taped to a stiff sheet of paper and send it through your ink jet printer. Enhance the colors or go for a more watercolor effect as it fades a tad on white muslin) and made a pillow of it and gave it to a special girl-friend. I could see it printed on an apron or magnet or coffee cup. Zazzle is a fun site for all that.

Then, I made some cards for my girlfriends and special females that have the saying:

You Are One Fine Chick

Just for a little encouragement. Or when other artist send me their art cards, I have something to exchange. Qoop makes beautiful cards- they're a little pricey but still cheaper than a good card and they use professional quality paper and printing.

For me, it's another way to share and exchange my art. It's not showing off. It's adding a little more beauty and encouragement to the world. And that's the best seed I can plant right now for a future crop of blessings to come back to me.

Falling for FALL

2011-09-09T15:20:00.000-07:00

I'm so falling for FALL this year. For some reason, this season is bringing an extra amount of joy to my spirit. I find myself smiling deep inside at the smallest things.

I wonder if it is my up-coming trip to Italy. The knowledge I have gained from my research and dreaming anticipation have added so much to my life.

It could be my new photography class. It's forcing me to use my eyes like a fine lens to scan and scourer my normal surroundings for the perfect photograph- not a snap shot. I want to take PHOTOGRAPHS in Italy.

My teacher came out to the farm and made us find something boring and make it interesting.

Sweet Farmer being loved on by the bar ditch dogs of Krantz Farms!

of course, this was not boring and very interesting.

It could be that I feel better because I've dropped about 10 pounds of annoying weight that I've been carrying around for a ridiculous amount of time.

Or my new tan fingernail polish. ( i'm not usually a girl who gets into nail polish)

Or seriously. My faith is getting richer and deeper and the Spirit of Christ that promises to feed my soul like a spring is something I greatly rely on and it always makes me FEEL ... better.

I just WANT to feel.
I want to feel deeply about the goodness and the sadness in my world.
I know some people must take pills to feel MORE or feel LESS.
It's not always easy to FEEL. It's not something we should take for granted.
This FALL , I want to feel everything as if it were my last FALL.

I'm only a little scared of dying, getting sick and old or terrorist attacks. What I'm really afraid of?? Losing my ability to feel deeply in love with my life in every season of my life.

I choose to FALL in love with FALL and let it take my heart and turn it into a thousand different autumn hues.

This season of my life will

NOT

Unnoticed or Un-celebrated. I will decorate my spirit, not just my home, and carry the crispness of a new Fall morning in my heart. Will you carry it with me?

Gettin over it and around it.

2011-09-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned how much I love Joint Compound?? I took my plain ole moleskin and a stencil and joint compound and added some yummy texture. It even feels like carved leather.

I've missed my blog.
I realized I was trying to do great things before I presented them to you and somehow they never looked great enough all the sudden. (Well, you are really special after all....)

GEEEZ. You'd think a girl would get over it.
And I am now. For now. Until that big mouth inner critic creeps up again. SHUT UP ALREADY.
"Life is like photography; you use the negatives to develop"
It's just me, odd chick, playing with her paints, her journals and sometimes coming up with amazing, but mostly just trials and errors. I can't let comparison steal my joy of learning to paint. And maybe, somebody out there feels just the same on this journey.

I went back to an old journal where I had made a pencil drawing and dressed it up with some paint, ink, etc.

I'm still into sparkles and magic and texture. I think I will call her: "Passion Seeker" until I find a better name. She looks like a MUSE of some kind. Any ideas? She could be fun Halloween art.

I took her to Picnik and I think I like her black and white too, cropped, with the deep red. I love taking my sketch art to Picnik and use their fun tools to take it further and further- I learn so much from playing with it and changing colors, intensities, applying different art styles. Try it. There is nothing to lose by tweeking your art a little. And you might find something that really ramps it up and you won't be so scared to try it. I love finding ways around that scaredy-cat artist in me.

click to make larger cuz it's cooler that way

Check out this amazing blog: I heart shabby chic and get you some fun, fabulous, ideas for fall decorations.

2011-09-02T13:28:00.000-07:00

Finaly, finally got to get my mess out and paint. I started my 10th art journal. (My first one began on the first day I blogged).

WHAT a journey an art journal addiction becomes!!

AND I am having me some IPAD fun, yes I am!!

It comes with a PHOTObooth app and a built-in camera. I made this pic of my feet on my favorite rug and twisted up the above previous journal painting.

wouldn't this make a pretty valentine?

Playing with Nourish Your Mind

Other apps artist will love: Penultimate. Your IPAD becomes a sketch pad and all you need is your finger.

and you can let little kids draw on it in church. the best etch-a-sketch ever!

For lots and lots of visual dreaming, with or without and IPAD- try Pinterest. My daughter got me caught up on it and now it is like crack to my inspiration addiction.

If you can share any fun apps with me in your comments, I would love it!

ITALIANISSIMO and IPADS

2011-08-01T09:21:00.000-07:00

My daughter says, "Why aren't you blogging anymore? People are asking me why you're not posting much."

What can I say?

I got a new IPAD 2. OMG. For a research- reading- art browsing- nerd-odd chick, - it is awesome.

AND I'm obsessing over my trip to ITALY in October!! I've ordered maps of each place I'm visiting. I'm learning Italian (on my IPAD). I'm reading ITALIAN history (ask me anything about the Medici or Borgias'). I am so beating Sweet Farmer in Jeopardy (on my IPAD) on anything relating to Rome or art!

I am loving perusing Italian art and architecture and looking up artist's bios.
I could bore you to DEATH with ITalianssimo !!

Still drawing in my journal. I guess I was feeling a little spacey on this day?

And girls with studs in the eyebrows. I think I had a wild hair that day.

I love creating girls from my own mood and imagination.

You might think I've been a boring blogger lately but I have not been bored- at least in my head.

That colorful playground of my own mind has been extremely active. I forget how to share that sometimes and not even sure I should.

But this is an odd chick's blog. I guess you wouldn't come here unless you're curious, odd and slightly nerdy yourself.

Hey, GUESS WHAT? big NEWS.
My Italian inspired painting: Passion/Compassion got juried into the Roswell ART show in August! WOOP WOOP

A little tour of our art museum.

2011-07-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

That's me making paper. I spent all last week at a paper-making class. I've mentioned before that Roswell has a world class museum. They also have an education section funded by a trust left from a Ms. Bassett who loved art. I can take a class for 5 days for $65.00 from a professional art instructor! AMAZING!

We made paper from dead iris leaves, okra slime and alfalfa powder! I'm always highly experimental in class as I figure I can do the basic stuff at home without instruction.

But I'll take you on a short tour of our museum that I took after class.

I got to see an exhibition of Peter Roger's. I could just stand in front of these huge canvases all day long.
Right click to see a bigger image.

Ram's Skull With Brown Leaves

Yes! That is an original Georgia O'Keefe.

Quincy Tahoma

Bruce Stark Lowney "Hermitage"

Luis Jimenez

Fresco on Masonite by Agnes Smith

I'm totally into frescoes right now!

If you ever come through Roswell, skip the alien stuff and check out our art museum.

They Carry The Sky On Their Backs....

2011-07-05T17:42:00.000-07:00

acrylic on plaster

I am really loving getting plastered with Judy Wise and Stephanie Lee. This on-line workshop has been well worth the fee as I have never seen so many techniques and videos offered so concisely, with full on-line support and every question answered. They will come out with an e-book soon and I highly recommend it if you love working with interesting textures and need new techniques to shake you up a bit and get the imagination flowing. There are so many things left to be explored in this area and they bust it wide open for you. We get nothing for promoting this class and I say that so that you know that this recommendation is from a really good personal experience with the class.

Apart from that I have been a little discouraged with my own progress which always come along with learning something new. It is like struggling with a big sumo/gremlin for the right to paint your own art - exhausting. He finally lets me paint it but he won't give me the finesse to truly finish well. I muddy my paint, I struggle with design and composition. I paint on. BUT

Sometimes I just want to slap that big ole art bully.

Flying High!

2011-06-21T16:37:00.000-07:00

I'm flying high over here and having a great summer!

playing in the irrigated pecan orchard

I've had my grandsons this week and they are getting so big and learning to do so much more around the farm.

of course there is still time to sit around in the grass and just visit

The Three Muses on plaster (click on image for more detail)

I'm enjoying my plaster class in short breaks. I drew this a little too quickly (stealing short burst of time from the boys). Some of you may remember when I drew it in my journal. This is a piece that I plastered on burlap and then cracked and tried to make a pseudo-fresco look. A little rough today but fun, fun stuff. I love the coolness of the drying plaster, the way you can sand away for different textures and the way plaster soaks of your paint.

The thousand-paintings journey continues.....

2011-06-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

passio / cum passio

I had a couple of days to paint and it felt glorious. I would paint a little and walk away- which is not like me. I'm usually so impatient that I won't let the paint dry. I can tell that all the Italian history and renassiance history that I've been listening to on my IPOD as I go to sleep is really affected my painting. Well, at least I hope so. I used Sweet Farmer's eyes for the Jesus portrait- because I wanted them kind, yet penetrating. You can click on the image for greater detail.

It's not finished (i'm going to clean up the lines on the madonna's face) but I'm preparing this madonna style painting for a small show in December so I still have some time. I find it very humbling to do religious art.

I, of course, would love any ideas, critiques, etc. to push the painting further as this seems to be my wall at this time. I'm still on my thousand-paintings journey, but I'm seeing progression and that's all that matters.

The Passion/ The Compassion

2011-06-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

passio / cum passio

I get a descent rough sketch done and then I began, what for me is initially, the tortuous desire to paint what is in my mind's eye, my vision. This is when my passion for art makes me feel helpless, dizzy, disoriented. It's what makes my heart wildly beat , the unquenchable desire to achieve something higher than my current skill level. This is when I ask, no I beg, for divine assistance.. FOR Something transcendant, something beyond myself. Something in collaboration with the One who created the first art- and the passion that requires all or nothing of myself.. I am not enough without His touch in my art, in my life.

But, there is no guarantee of a safe landing. The root word for passion (passio) actually means suffering/endurance. The struggle to release, unveil, bring forth that unseen vision, only known to that place beyond the back of my own eye-lids, my heart space. The "ME + HIM'' work, the art that only WE can create, today, somehow, someway. The struggle is exquisite and scary. I give up the fight in trade for the miracle moments, the divine appointment, to share in something brand NEW, created from nothing. The work I want see and enjoy in art, the work He is just waiting to see from me. The passion / the compassion -it's all there.

No one has to like it. You just have to do it. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. Right or rough, where you are NOW. We do what we can, and give what we have. In the end it is just between you and Him anyway.

Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task. the rest is the madness of art. - Dana Gioia

Inspiration Must Find You Working

2011-05-31T15:56:00.000-07:00

This is the only big painting I've done in a long time. Art is still such a joy to me but I've gotten a little stagnant and need to mix up things up a bit. I'm so excited about this book and this class. I think it will teach me a alot about texture and faux frescoes and sculptures and add a new dimension to my art. Plus, on-line classes really work for me right now in the middle of farm season.

I did get to take a trip to our cabin in Cloudcroft. We saw agave's blooming everywhere as we headed up the mountain. Cloudcroft is at 9,000 elevation and stays wonderfully cool day and night - a quaint little mountain town with my favorite things: fresh bakeries, artists, hummingbirds, forest land, and fresh mountain air.

We went to an artisan's craft fair while we were there and I was totally enchanted with these paper-mache sculptures and visited with the artist- Sarena Mann. Click on the photo to enlarge and see the amazing detail of every little piece.

So like Picasso says: "Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working."

Don't give up on my sparse posting. I will get rolling again soon!

Speaking of rolling... this is my son, Tucker, memorizing Psalms. He has 5 down so far but wants to memorize all of them. He inspires me too!

Emulating Good Things

2011-05-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I've been gone so long. I have planted about 600 acres of corn this month, not to count the hay I've cut and raked. I haven't been to town but once or twice to get groceries or go to church. I get totally absorbed in farm work this time of year, just like I do with my painting- it's just another form of creativity for me. There is something so deeply satisfying about watching the sun come up over a green field that you've only been able to see the row in front of you until the light shines on your work.
I've done a few things in my journal like the above and then this strange family portrait of my daughter and her sons. I'm totally in love with Dell Kathryn Barton 's paintings and Art Fix (I love following them and seeing their images everyday on my Facebook). If I can't take a class from her, I can a least sit down and really study one of her paintings. I try to dissect my feelings about her work and find out what "IT" is that calls me because I know in that mystery lies another answer to what I want to see in my own work.

That brings me to this point. I realize we are all an example to somebody whether in our art work or our lives and relationships. Sweet Farmer had such a poor example of a good husband from his own father that he said he has spent a life-time studying men who were successful in relationship with their wives. The tips he's gleaned have definitely paid off for me.

We should spend a lot of our learning and studying time on the right subjects. What is it about that person, that blog, that art that grabs my attention and makes me want to be a better person, a better artist? Get really specific. Don't generalize. Then own it. It can become a spiritual practice. We can't be afraid to emulate that person for awhile until those good things become a part of who we are, a part of our own work. It will have a different spin because it came from me, from you-

but it will stretch us to grow wise and whole. Today or someday our lives, our work will be worth emulating.

May my mind stroll about hungry and fearless and thirsty and supple..... ee cummings

Sacred Ground

2011-04-07T17:09:00.000-07:00

I know that if you've followed this blog very long that you have heard me talk
about my Sweet Farmer. I also am aware that I speak of him as if he is the Prince of Persia. (It's actually quite embarrassing to him sometimes).

He is no myth. He's a real life man with struggles and weaknesses as any man. But to me- well,
he really is somewhat of a gentle giant of a man. Not just to me but to my grown children, and my grandsons.

He came along at a time when we were all hopelessly floundering. I was several years out of a tangled and complex marriage of 19 years that had been, for the most part, painful and wounding. I was one of those silly girls that thought I was doing the right thing by staying. Perservering. Faithful to a fault. It all feels now like a bad car-wreck of which my children and I spent years recovering. We would have made it. Without him. But I'm so glad we didn't.

He didn't exactly save us. But there WAS something very redeeming about him. I did dream of this man as a little girl- the prince you want to marry, the good man, the kind man, the generous man, handsome, tall, good-looking. The one that loves your children and plays with your grandchildren. He saved the dream.

Today he's working on a little piece of land in front of the house. It is as close to a Zen garden as I will ever know.It has that tone and feel today- that peaceful, languishing, tended tone.

He has carefully tilled around these pecan trees, and then leveled it perfectly so that he can flood irrigate it with no water waste. I step out on my front porch and watch him work.

I realize why watching him satisfies something deep in me. He cares for the land like he cares for his family and for his animals - with a tenderness, and careful hand, with a studied observation, and a natural hunger to make all things better by his efforts.

And I am part of this garden now that I view from my front porch. I have been carefully loved and tended and I have rooted like these trees that prosper and produce healthy crops year after year.

He floods it later and is proud of the fact that not a trail of water leaks from his leveled plain. He wants me to take a picture.

I'm a little proud too that for now this carefully tended acre is full to almost overflowing, like my heart and my admiration for this simple, loving, sweet, sweet farmer. (now you know)

Someday, our ashes will be spread on this piece of land. I know its not a fancy place. It's a small part of the farm that happens to be my front porch view. But it represents a sacred place to us where love was grown, tilled, worked and tended. Cared for very, very well.

that BECOMING moment...

2011-03-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

Finally painted a little 8x8 that I was pleased with that says spring and cherry blossoms. Sweet Farmer says, "why does her hair go out like that?"
and I say- BECAUSE. it's whimsical, nostalgic... he doesn't get it. But that's okay.
I start to paint a more realistic portrait
and there she goes ...off on her own trail, her own story, her own little world.
It is one of my favorite travel destinations - that Alice-In Wonderland-rabbit-hole of my own imagination.
It is a room of my own.
Where do people go without this option in their lives? Is it arrogant of me to feel sorry for those who have lost the ability to imagine, to play, to design little vignettes, to paint their dreams, to write out the beats of their hearts, to sing from that sacred place . Where for moments in time there is no sense of failure or success, worry or demands.
It is just YOU spilling out, breathing out, laying it out- one texture, one color, one line, one twist of the brush. Where you smile at this innate object before you as you watch the life energy poured into it become something tangible, touchable, like the cherry bud that became the blossom overnight.
Don't you love that becoming moment?

She will RISE AGAIN.

2011-03-22T11:05:00.000-07:00

SHE WILL RISE AGAIN

I find myself sketching Japanese girls in my art journal these days.
I still can't wrap my head around the suffering and the devastation.
I'm not sure I want to.
My mind can't handle it but my heart weeps for the Japanese people and all those affected.
I've been practicing Japanese symbols and I've written several
Japanese proverbs in my art journal.
I just want to honor their courage and struggle in some small way.
Maybe you'll enjoy bits of their quotes and wisdom as I do.

"Tigers die and leave their skins, people die and leave their names."

" If you are understanding everything, you must be misinformed."

"The reverse side also has a reverse side."

"If you believe everything you read, better not read."

"Vision without action is a day-dream. Action without vision is a nightmare."

"First a man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink,
then the drink takes the man."

"When the character of man is not clear to you,
look at his friends."

"Even a sheet of paper has two side."

"Fast ripe, fast rotten".

"Forgiving the unrepentant is like trying to
draw on water."

"Money grows on the tree of persistence."

"The nail that sticks up is hammered down."

Which one resonates with you? Do you have any others
you could add?

A little spoiled...

2011-03-05T11:32:00.000-08:00

There is that strange pull in me this time of year when I look forward to the spring and the new hay fields and future work, and a part of my heart that dreads the long hours, the time away from paint, the time away from Sweet Farmer. I've had a lazy, dreamy winter and I have spent so much time in the house in front of the wood stove that I've gotten really soft... and spoiled.
I keep working in my journal and turning out faces to sell. Yes, I'm definitely painting to sell and Sweet Farmer hates it. But I have this venue, this window of opportunity to sell these faces, to let them fly me to Italy and I'm going for it. I'm still learning a little bit although there is not real art-muscle stretching going on over here.
WORK... real work.. well, it's easy to take the easy road these days. But it is coming.

Speaking of real work. My parents just celebrated a 54th wedding anniversary. I was visiting there and I got on you-tube and played "Until the Twelfth of Never" for them while they were still cuddled in bed. It was my parent's favorite song when they met, but my grandmother wouldn't let my mom play it at her wedding because she thought Elvis was evil. lol. It was such a beautiful song- it made me cry like a baby in front in them. The road hasn't been that easy for them lately, but they are strong spirits, never blaming circumstances, just taking the high road hike every time. It makes me proud.

So down deep, I know I have the genes to do the hard work when I have to. May God give us all a new spring in our hearts and spirits.

Twisted Twin Strikes again...

2011-02-24T10:19:00.000-08:00

You knew this one was bound to be coming with all the sweet
faces I've been doing. Too many sweet things are not good for a person.
I called this one "Moon's Reflection" but I think I got the model from a wrinkle
cream commercial- and I reallllly hate those. Hence, the evil eyebrows.

This one was fun and I like the hat. I call it: "Grateful". Because I took her
right down to Tinnie's and hung her on the wall. I'm feeling very inspired
knowing I have a public place to hang them and possibly sell them.

Sweet Farmer and I had a DRAW OFF the other night with a little wine and cheese.
It was our Monday night entertainment. We drew the fox off the cover of the National Geographic.
I was really proud of his because he rarely draws - and out popped a great fox.

Very different styles but close to the original.
It was a fun evening.
I'm headed to see my grandsons this weekend.
Happy Drawing.

OH and thanks for loving my twisted girl (last post). She's growing on me
with all her imperfections.

Inevitable Realities and ART

2011-02-21T09:58:00.000-08:00

Sometimes.. do you paint a piece that just makes you want to scream?
Throw a fit and squeal like a little girl? Sometimes art can be terribly frustrating.
If I had a genie and 3 wishes, I would ask for world peace and a cure for cancer and then I
would ask for an art teacher to show up at my house AND HELP ME FIX THIS PAINTING!
Sometimes, one simple mark, several tiny adjustments can fix a portrait. But I can't see it.

BUT, I can SEE it which is so frustrating- my taste in art is ahead of my skill.
Art And Fear says: "Vision is always ahead of execution and it should be. Vision, Uncertainty,
and Knowledge of Materials are inevitabilities that all artist must acknowledge and learn from:
vision is always ahead of execution, knowledge of materials is your contact with reality, and uncertainty is a virtue." this didn't make me feel better but i did quit obsessing and inwardly stomping on my right brain's deficiencies

I remember that it is this frustration that is my art teacher- it teaches me about the next piece.It is the FEAR that I'm never going to get it that challenges me to stand up and defiantly paint another and another. "The artist's life is frustrating not because the passage is slow, but because he imagines it to be fast."

I want it fixed now. NOW, I tell you. When I asked Sweet Farmer to help me problem solve, he looked at her and said, "it looks like she's been in a bad farming accident".

He's buried, now, in the back orchard under a pile of rocks.

Not really, I'll let him live because he's the only one around who will provoke me enough to fix her. IT MAY TAKE awhile- but she will toss her pretty head at him(you) someday and say, "THERE, what do you think of me now BIG BOY!"

any suggestions will be taken under consideration and will not provoke an attack :)

Goodness Followed Her

2011-02-18T10:26:00.000-08:00

Goodness Followed Her
I simply couldn't help myself. I have this adorable little niece who posted this picture
recently on her facebook and gave me permission to paint it.
I really like this one. For the life of me I couldn't
photograph the different shades in her face because
her skin is so glowey and youthful- which is great for the
painting but not the photograph.
I'm realizing that I'm happier with paintings I do
from good photographs -but that is somewhat
of a dilemma for me.
Tinnie's (the place that had my art show) called and said
a special little girl was having a birthday in May and WOULD
I MIND leaving the paintings there until then????
I said, "heck no! I need them back to put under the bed you silly
people!"
Not really, of course, I was thrilled. But now I need to check with those
that bought originals to see if they will also be
willing to leave them.
And I get to ADD more.
Is the universe lined up with me or what!!!
Actually, God gets all the credit if that is what
I am receiving at this time.
Gratefulness drips from each brush stroke these days.
Lots of my girlfriends are at Artful Journey.
It's been a year since my daughter and I made that awesome trip.
Little did I know what a great investment
that would be for the both of us.
My daughter now has her own website.
check out
www.crazyconsuela.com
GOODNESS FOLLOWED HER.
I hope it's following you too!

2011-02-15T15:53:00.000-08:00

Etsy Store!

I have an Etsy Store! I promise not to make this blog about the store
but from time to time friends have asked me where to find
my paintings, prints, cards or lotions and now
I hope that this will make it easier for everyone.
I hope to have more posted soon and I will give you updates.
Anyway, I enjoy shopping on my friend's blogs and Etsy Stores- finding something
different and creative and one-of-a-kind items.
I think we all enjoy supporting each other and handmade items.
So check it out!
ETSY STORE

ART SHOW! A success- whew.....

2011-02-13T15:06:00.000-08:00

one of the front doors
THE DAY of the BIG art SALE!
If you click on the above image you will see my name written on the door! I was so excited when I walked up and realized they had even decorated the windows.

The next thing I knew the girls were leading me over to counter to show me flowers that I had received from my Mom, my daughter and dearest friend! okay, I'm dropping tears by now.

But that was just the beginning of all the love and good things I would embrace for this special evening.

Friends came in from my church, my bookclub, my neighborhood, my yoga class, my art guild, all the way from ARizona, my HEART friends, little kids, older friends, new friends, lots of new faces, timid artists I could encourage, artists who had mentored me, artists who wanted to know, "what's next?". Even Sweet Farmer and his shop buddies (well my buddies too). I was so wired last night I could barely sleep.

I SOLD 8 originals!!!

11 prints!!

25 card sets!!!

Many large single cards!!!

My art box!

ABOUT $1600.00 worth in one night as best I could tell.

THAT DOUBLED MY INVESTMENT PEOPLE!!

Yes, I was worried. I was a little naive about how much an artist really invested to show their paintings. I had not counted all the costs like framing, matting, printing, postcards, postage, staging, etc. That doesn't even count the time to create the art.

I learned so much!

But BOY I'm glad it paid off! WHEW! And these paintings will hang for another 2 weeks so I expect that I could sell a few more in that time.

But the greatest gift- HONESTLY- was the time people took out of their busy lives to come out and support me and encourage me. It would have felt successful to me to just have had the guts to hang them and to know that lots of people liked them. BUT BUYING THEM IS SUCH A VALIDATION, I admit.

And those of you who have encouraged me from afar, THANK YOU and wow! dreams happen if you just dare to be brave and true to your calling deep within you.

Italy - HERE I COME!

Can you tell- I'm still running on a heavy dose of relief and unadulterated JOY!

2011-02-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

One day the sky opened up and showed me God's heart.

Heart sightings. This one is for Chrissy- if you don't know Chrissy you must go visit.
She has one of the most freckled, darling, loving, thoughtful, cheery hearts of any one I know.
I met her at Artful Journey. EVERYONE loves her. Who can say that??
You'll love her too. And she'll introduce you to the most wonderful people.
And stuff. Beware. She's caused me to pull my credit card out several times.
She started heart sightings and she collects them from all over the world.
Who says I can't take a good picture?? This was with my old camera outside my front door (2008)
It made me cry.
I hope you feel the love.
Find your own heart sighting and send it on to Chrissy.

2011-02-05T15:01:00.000-08:00

Did I mention that I like to paint faces? It's addicting I tell you. Sweet Farmer suggested I make a box of faces. His idea was more

complicated but I thought I would, at least, try it and see how well the paint would take and what a great little canvas(s)ss! I've seen others try this and I loved how you could have a three-dimensional art object upon completion.

If you want to see some really fantastic altered boxes head on over to Diane's blog She is like the queen of this technique and a very sharing artist. Check out her Etsy store while you're at it- her jewelry will blow you away too.

Whew- after that ride, it's a little daunting to show my first attempts but she has inspired me many times!

I added wooden beads for a stand and a wooden knob that I painted to match for interest.

This passion for faces just keeps on finding a new rabbit trail.

No poverty of spirit, no poor indifferent places

2011-02-01T19:29:00.000-08:00

Mixed media 8x8 wrapped canvas

Journaling has helped me spend some time imagining. Daring myself to dance with myself and taking the muffs off my ears to hear what is planted in my heart. I'm really listening now, paying acute attention....What is that stirring in me? It's a low growl, or is it more like a muffled howl? Something is wanting to hunt, to find, to uncover, to excavate what is hidden, what is my own treasure map. I uncover silver coins now and then, but I know there are more, much more. But for the most part, it's a deep, broad place I must explore further with many rooms, deep crevices. It captures me in places. It's entices me deeper in. It's daunting. It's a thousand paintings away- minus some. Some days I can't get there fast enough and some days I just want to meander on the path and look around, and some days the fog covers my path, visionLESS. But it always lifts and leaves me standing there looking into the looking glass, wondering how far I will go this time before something calls me back from the exploring, the digging. The imagining....

If your everyday life seems poor, don't

blame it; blame yourself; admit to

yourself that you are not enough of a poet

to call forth its riches; because for the

creator there is no poverty and no poor

indifferent places.

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Where Are You going From Here?

2011-01-27T10:34:00.000-08:00

journal page
I am happily and bravely preparing for my art showing on February 12th.
Thank you, thank you and a million times thank you for commenting on your favorites.
Even though it was varied choices, it truly helped bulk up my confidence considering the fact that
they all had some draw to someone. Had only a certain 5 got all the votes, I would have gotten
very cold feet about adding the others for viewing. I keep telling myself that they
are what they are right now, they are good enough right now and that
I would never trade all the things I have learned about the marketing
aspect. I have invested about $700.00- that doesn't count my time.
I will either lose some money but gain valuable lessons or I will double/triple my monetary
investment. I have put it all out there for you to see because it is my hope that
you won't let your vulnerabilities keep you from
showing your own art. If I can do it, anyone can because I knew nothing
about the process. I'm JUST DOING IT. Yes, I am scared half to death.
But even Georgia O'Keeffe said: "I've been absolutely terrified
every moment of my life... and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing
I wanted to do."
It has been a win/win - anyway you look at it.
If you would like to receive an art postcard for my showing (I know you can't
be there except in spirit)
please email me your mailing address at
krantzfarms@dfn.com.

Someone asked, "Where do you go from here"?

Well, the above veiled face shows that I'm not through with faces. I want to make them

visually and texturally more interesting. The journal page above represents a copy of the painted piece I did

in the traveling/colloborative journal that is now on its way to Buffy. I can't wait for her talented hands to get a hold of it. (Those of you who have signed up- you'll be hearing from me soon but there is not a big hurry). It will flow.. on its own course.

I also am working on my writing and am taking an on-line course with Stephanie Lee. I have also downloaded books on my Kindle she has recommended regarding writing and art on her side-bar and am working through those.
I am working on organizing my home, my thoughts, my priorities.
I am working on my photography.
I am staying inspired and motivated by YOUR beautiful post of art and writing and photography- by our very connection.
I am RELENTLESS this year. I am going with the flow or swimming against the tide. I'm moving on.

Where are you going?

FINishHED, DONE, FINALE!

2011-01-23T14:26:00.000-08:00

No.20

Well, my peeps, I've got it done! I told you I was going to make 20 faces and I have finished. No. 20 is the same size as No. 19 so they could hang as a pair. Only 3 weeks before my show- nothing like waiting until the last minute- but I wanted to make them with my heart and not just my hands and sometimes my heart just wasn't in it. Just knowing that I put the dream out there to make 20 pushed me through it. RELENTLESS- remember is my word for this year! It feels good to have accomplished the goal, and relief.

Now I could really use your help. I have posted all 20 of the faces from "She Speaks For Herself" series and now I would like for you to review them and tell me which 3 are your favs. Your opinion really matters to me and I have made some cards and am curious if I have chosen the right ones. You can click on the collage to get a better view. Can I just tell you again how much I have appreciated your comments and encouragement!

click to enlarge

Lots Going On

2011-01-17T19:32:00.000-08:00

new writing journal

she decided to
free herself,dance
into the wind,
create a new
language.
And
birds
fluttered around
her,
writing
"Yes"
in the sky.
-duvall

Have you ever lost some little treasure that you had tucked back in an old purse or favorite coat and then found it the next season when you got it out? And you didn't even know it was missing? And you were so tickled to have it back?

Well, I found my treasure. It was the little ole spirit of passionate ME. I got lost somewhere and I knew I was missing something but I was too busy to stop and think about what it was. I'm taking an excellent e-course by Stephanie Lee. It's really breaking me open, again, and getting to the heart of me. It's just what I needed at the time I needed it.

So today, I tried to pause, take in the quiet, reflective time, work in my art journal, write in my new writing journal- think about my unstable ground and my firm, steady accomplishments in the last year.
I wrote about the areas of my life that need improvement and then a thank-you letter to myself and showed my gratitude for what growth I had witnessed. If that sounds weird, just try it. It feels so good.
On the biz front, I made $550.00 toward my Italy fund by selling lotions, candles and chapstiks at the Alfalfa Conference last week, and $50.00 for speaking at an Art Guild. But I will probably spend all that preparing for the show in February.

Nourish Your Mind

I'm working on getting my cards made, my art matted, printed, my postcard invitation for the show. (set February 12th)

But you see this pretty little girl? She's a print of the original on canvas (giclee) that I also painted on and enhanced. I think she turned out rather nicely and hope someone will want her for their own. There are still wimpy voices that tell me otherwise, but I try not to listen.

Lots going on. Glad I'm centering, looking for balance, and finding myself growing again toward the sunlight.

Quick Note

2011-01-12T10:08:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to let you know that my grandson is out of the hospital and doing well. He ended up having a terrible kidney infection but is on the mend. A huge thank you to everyone for your kind and generous well-wishes and prayers- there is no doubt that he was held up in love, mended by care, and brought through by divine tenderness.
Also, a note about my friend, Teresa, who has breast cancer. She goes for her second PET scan next week to see if the treatments she has so faithfully adhered to are working to destroy her cancer cells. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
I'll be back soon.

Brave Girl

2011-01-10T11:09:00.000-08:00

How I wish I could have made this common sketch into a beautiful painting. It's hard to make beautiful when your heart is heavy.

I wanted this to be a tribute to all those girls who have heavier hearts today but continue to rise up to whatever challenge(s) they face.

Those girls who are hiking mountains without enough rest or food or self-care.

Those girls who take one more step when they think they're done.

Those girls who are running on empty, yet pull one more day of atrocious effort out of their weary hearts.

My daughter has been sitting by a sick child's hospital bed (yes, my dear grandson Cash) for 6 days of high, spiking fevers, IV stick, needle sticks, catheters (he is 5)- waiting for the right antibiotic to kick in.

She broke my heart when she finally broke down and said, "I'm okay.... but sometimes

it's really hard."

IT IS REALLY HARD MY SWEET GIRL.

there's no way around it.

But you are braver than you think you are, stronger than you imagine.

There is a well-spring of hope and faith and courage and bravery in you that never runs dry. You are fed by a Living Stream.

May you feel those eagles' wings that let you rise above your circumstances and a peace that passes all understanding.

AND CONTINUE TO GIVE.

and know that

you are never closer to the Heart of God than you are right now.

Dreaming and Follow Through

2011-01-05T16:24:00.000-08:00

No. 19 19X24 Mixed Media on Watercolor Paper
RELENTLESS

Yes, I'm still working on my series- "She Speaks for Herself". You thought I forgot??
I just haven't been able to come up with much. I think it's because my show is in February. YIKES! I set a goal to make 20, but I have a lot of chatter in my little art heart that just won't settle down. I like to dream like a skinny little hyper squirrel, but my follow through is like a big fat hippo - does anybody relate?
I think my new word for 2011 is RELENTLESS.

i may be sorry but I think that it must be my word. i must be more relentless about my dreams, my health, my love, my Lord, and my service.

HEY, i paid for my trip to Italy! I saved about $800 by paying now and i'm going October 16 -28, 2011!! Now that's relentless faith! it cost a total of $3700. Did I make it with my art? Not yet. I do have $1000 in my little art account from selling art, lotions and chapstiks. i have a lot more to go. i have a small show next week-but every little bit counts. i'll keep you updated.

What's your word?

Collaborative Art

2010-12-30T14:21:00.000-08:00

This is a journal piece I did recently experimenting with background, color and design. I had some wonderful little ATCs that Kimmie from Art In Red Wagons had sent me in 2009 and I thought it made it more interesting to lay them on top and possibly develop the idea later with a design of some ATcs (of my own), on canvas. It felt for a minute like I was collaborating with her on an art piece which would be so awesome.

Do you ever think about that? I love collaborative art. I tried to do it with my 5 year grandson, Cash. He was to make a mark and then I could make a mark. He was not happy about me changing what was already pre-determined in his little head, but we'll keep trying.

It has been fun to share some of my paintings and ideas with my daughter as she designs her web-site. (get ready for the big announcement). I feel invested in her adventure- two heads on creative crack make for some wild, fun, crazy stuff.

Next month I was invited to my art guild to share my inspirations and motivations for art journaling. It's something I find easy to talk about and share but I'm still a little intimidated by a big group setting. But simply sharing my journals, my favorite art supplies, my inspiration sounds like fun- who knows- I might really ignite someones creative fires and they go on to make awesome beautiful art that in turn inspires me to my best art.

Don't you think this blogland feels like collaborative art sometimes. But wouldn't it be fun to really share the page, paper, canvas. I have a handmade journal that I could send around. And then we could donate it for a fund-raiser for some great cause that we agreed upon. If anyone is interested, please e-mail me at krantzfarms@dfn.com - on the subject line add: art journal.

2010-12-16T10:30:00.000-08:00

This will probably be my last post of 2010 as I'm taking a slight vacation from all things computer.

I thought I would take you on a tour of my home and show you how Sweet Farmer and I decorate for Christmas in New Mexico. Nothing elaborate, just simple and fun family stuff.

Penguin family in a winter wonderfland on top of entertainment center.

I just want to thank everyone who has stopped by my blog and commented throughout the year. I can't even express what your encouragement has meant to me as far as furthering my art exploration. You all continue to astound and amaze me with your own creativity. Your blogs fill such a great need in me - to renew my spirit with the beauty that I hunger for from art and creative hands.

This is a favorite wall quilt I made several years ago.

This beauty is a intricate cross-stitch that my mom did for Sweet Farmer and I.

This is a scherenschnitte which was a passion of mine several years back. I never got really good at it but I love the simplicity of this one anyway.

This folk art snowman sits on my piano along with my favorite old photograph of my two children when they were very little.

I truly wish for each of you a wonderful holiday season -safe and blessed

and a fresh spirit of JOY

to take you into the New Year.

Remember to LOVE beyond yourself, even beyond anyone or anything brought into your life that is breaking you. We may never be able to change our circumstances or the people who have wounded or crushed us but we always touch the heart of God when we show MERCY,

act justly and walk humbly. (Micah 6:8)

Until next year my friends....

Secrets

2010-12-12T14:08:00.000-08:00

journal, acrylic

shhhhhhhh....
You want to know a secret?
I think I'm afraid of canvas. And Oils. And Permanence.
Paper is safer. Paper is thin, cheaper and can be tucked under your bed, slid behind your bookshelf, torn-up, unnoticed, unverified, closed up in your journal.
CanVAS. OILS!! oMG! So expensive, a "real" painting, lasting decades. Someone might grab it up and say, "Hang it here", or "I want this one"... or what is this back here, under here??
And then every little mistake - your crooked eye, your disproportionate hand, you strange color palettes, your missed mark, your held breath, will be there for everyone to see, to point out, to make a mountain out of.....
The perfectionist must meet the randomness of your creativity. Not a good couple. They fight all the time.
Someone might have a great expectation if you got an easel out and a canvas and spent weeks on a painting... and it still didn't measure up.
Michele Cassou says: "The Dragon of Control has many faces; don't let it fool you with cleverly disguised arguments."
I say:

Never trust your secret face.

It's a secret for a reason.

2010-12-10T16:46:00.000-08:00

This is truly one of my favorite quotes in all of QuoteLand. I found it beautifully calligraphied by a dear artist in Cloudcroft and it hangs in a place where I read it at least once a day.

Have you ever been loved like that?

The bigger question is (I ask myself everyday):

Have we loved like that?

ARE WE THERE YET?

I heart Herons

2010-12-06T20:27:00.000-08:00

Some Herons by Mary Oliver

A blue preacher

flew toward the swamp,

in slow motion.

On the leafy banks,

an old Chinese poet,

hunched in the white gown of his wings,

was waiting.

The water was the kind of dark silk

that has silver lines

shot through it

when it is touched by the wind

or is splashed upward,

in a small, quick flower,

by the life beneath it.

The preacher

made his difficult landing,

his skirts up around his knees.

The poet's eyes

flared, just as a poet's eyes

are said to do

when the poet is awakened

from the forest of meditation.

It was summer.

It was only a few moments past the sun's rising,

which meant that the whole long sweet day

lay before them.

They greeted each other,

rumpling their gowns for an instant,

and then smoothing them.

They entered the water,

and instantly two more herons-

equally as beautiful-

joined them and stood just beneath them

in the black, polished water

where they fished, all day.

My Wildest Dreams

2010-12-04T12:51:00.000-08:00

There is not much time for long sketches and drawings or paintings but my art journal is always handy for lap painting and dreaming. Though this piece is small, it is greatly symbolic to me in my heart of hearts.
In my wildest dreams:
   * I wanted a great love and a best friend
* I wanted a beautiful, loving family - children & grandchildren
   * I wanted a strong body and a curious mind
   * I wanted a home on a hill, where I could watch trees grow and have flower beds that came up from my own planted seeds, that I could lovingly decorate with holiday decorations and invite friends and family to enjoy
   * I wanted a work that I enjoyed and looked forward to when I woke up in the morning
    * I wanted a real and living faith
    * I wanted many dear friends that laugh with you and cry with you
   * I wanted to create art and paintings that would add beauty to my home and to the hearts of others
   * I wanted to travel

All this has ALL come true for me. It makes me cry to realize it. Should I dream wilder dreams when all my dreams have come true? Should I hold on tight to this season of realized dreams and hopes? Should I feel guilt for those who haven't reached their dreams?
I am content. Truly. In this place. In this time.
And no matter what happens in my life in the years to come- I can always tell myself to be gracious and grateful in what ever valley is ahead because there were years I lived my own wildest dreams.

Catching Up!

2010-11-29T10:26:00.000-08:00

An art card I made this week for my friend.

My heart does swell with gratefulness reflecting on the last two weeks. You know the only reason I would leave my blog peeps is for my close family and friends. I spent one week getting ready for them, a week hosting them, and now I'll spend a few days recovering!

Gus & Cash on the big hay baler

This is what my dining room table looked like most of the holiday because Crazy Consuela (my daughter Joli) was here and she had an order for about 70 caps and we all pitched in to help her accomplish that feat. I got one of my Christmas presents early.

Crazy Consuela Cap for Mom

Isn't it adorable?? You can have one too if you have a facebook account. Search for Crazy Consuela and become a fan and you can see her latest creations and order with her from PayPal. I'm so proud of her and her business is taking off like gang-busters! INCREDIBLE. I watched her walk into a cute boutique her in Roswell, NM and sell an order of 20 JUST LIKE THAT!

Crazy Consuela Caps ready to ship

Update on my art show at Tinnie's (Day of the Dead) I ended up selling 2 paintings after the show.

This one for $45.00. (she's 5 x 5)

and this one! She sold for $75.00! Which really blows me away (she's like 6x8)!- which makes my daughter mad every time I say it because she thinks I'm de-valuing my art by being so shocked. But really I'm just incredibly grateful that someone sees what I value in these pieces and are willing to pay for it! I learned that the show is only the beginning and not to give up just because you don't sell anything on the day of the show. And I also sold some of my pendants:

Also, good news about my friend, Teresa, who has breast cancer. She learned she has no lymph node involvement!! Yeah! If you want to write her and cheer her on I would be so grateful. Send mail to:

Oasis Of Healing

% Teresa Carey

210 No. Center, Suite 102

Mesa, AZ 85201

Just Working On It.....

2010-11-11T17:23:00.000-08:00

My creative soul is restless. It can't quite find its way. I'm trying to work on some sketches to finish up my 20 girl portraits. This one has possibilities- maybe a bird in the upper corner of the painting...

I thought you might enjoy seeing one of my girls that I made into a poster print and hung in my eclectic kitchen corner. She makes me smile even if she's mine.

This is a wall in my living room of a watercolor I did of my Sweet Farmer. His back side is as adorable as his front side. :)

This is another pic of some favorite Fall decorations and me trying to get a photograph out of my new fantastic camera and then messin with it at picnik.

I haven't quite got my photographer's shoes to fit but I won't quit until I do.

So today, I'm just enjoying my clean house and waiting for some real focus for my art.

I hope you're having a great Fall. We still have one more cutting of hay and some fields to plant - I am looking forward to some serious down time.

My friend had her first chemo treatment with no sickness, just fatigue - which we counted as a blessing. Thanks for all the well wishes.

Good News and Bad News

2010-10-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

I have good news and bad news.

The good news is Colorado was spectacular. We were in lower southern Colorado and the views would give you goosebumps. I am going to use florescent paints in landscapes to make them more realistic.

The good news is our friends had a beautiful and sweet wedding and we shared in all the goodness!

IF YOU ever have a chance you should definitely consider staying at Arbor House Inn in South Fork, Colorado. I have never stayed in a place where every guest had a perfect room, perfect food and not one single complaint. Laurie and Keith are fantastic hosts with very high standards and an exquisite eye for details and it's not expensive compared to the quality you receive!
The other good news is Sweet Farmer gave me a Canon Rebel SLR T1i EOS 500d!! LOVING IT!!
The bad news is:
It did not instantly make me a better photographer!
That I lost some pics because I didn't know how to transfer them! UGH!

The other bad news is that they held the Day of Dead day at Tinnie's (while I was gone) where my paintings were shown on one wall and I only sold 3 of the little pendants, and NO paintings. There were 10 artists, and only 2 sold two small pottery items - no paintings! Lots of people came to socialize and eat gourmet chili- but no one was buying. That's really discouraging to me. But I know it's part of the ups and downs as an art journeyman.

The worst of the bad news is that one of my best friends has breast cancer and she leaves tomorrow for Arizona to begin treatments at a wellness center that promotes natural healing and a raw diet, with low dosage chemotherapy. She'll be gone 6 weeks. But I know she will be in good hands.

I'm needing some inspiration from my friends so I'll be visiting your blogs often and soon.

A Few Mysteries

2010-10-21T12:42:00.000-07:00

For the life of me, I don't know where this portrait came from in my head. I'm working with oil pastels, just practicing and this face began to emerge so I just went with it. I look at so many art books that I'm sure I was influenced by someone, I just can't remember who. I like the different affect, and I tried not to over paint it. He looks like a painter to me.

I've got two more girl faces to do to finish my 20 (a commitment I made to myself) but nothing comes so I just wait.

I did get to see my two favorite little faces this weekend.

Oh MY, not those, although my daughter tells me that they can be little stinkers- I've never seen it.

Photograph by Stacy Berry

I loved seeing my family and my grandsons.

When I got home, Sweet Farmer had a big surprise for me. I can't tell you now because I'm getting ready to go on a trip to Colorado but I'll let you know when I get back.

Here's a hint.

Can anybody guess?

A Different Kind of Survivor

2010-10-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

Warrior I

This is a little different, huh?
But last night as I was drawing in my journal I was thinking of men I knew that looked so traditional on the outside, but I wondered what their souls' portrait looked like? They have survived emotional and physical abuse, alone, because it wasn't cool to cry or tell. They carry the wounds and the pain alone. They are fighting for their lives from drugs or alcohol that they use to self-medicate. These hardships haven't made them mean, but wise and kind. They may have a haunted look in their eyes, but it is hard-earned wisdom if you look deep enough. They are rebels, but they are good men, with ravaged hearts and minds, but a spirit that fights to survive.

Everyone knows one of these men. Just because their outside looks like they don't need anyone - look closely. Let them know that they are warriors, heroes, and that you are glad they have survived, and that you will listen if they ever want to tell their story.

Do you know this warrior?

A Good Season

2010-10-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

5X5 block canvas, acrylic

Sweet Farmer and I will head for the mountains in Cloudcroft for an anniversary on 10-10-10. At 10:10 a.m., we will be having a champagne brunch at the Lodge at Cloudcroft. If you are ever in the area, it is a beautiful place with a 5star chef, and one of our favorite romantic spots. The aspens should be turning just about now and I hope to get some good pics as the above is just a study of what I would like to try on a very large canvas.

Farming is slowing down, thank goodness. And I look forward to the fall and winter when I can visit family and friends, paint in front of the fire, and drink my lovely variations of hot tea.

I'm in such a great place in my life, a good season. I sometimes feel so happy that I know anytime the shoe will drop and this beautiful, peaceful time will come crashing down. But there are so many that I hear from, that I pray for, that I cry with that are not in a happy place. In fact, it's tortuous and nerve-racking. And the solutions to their problems are not around the corner. And we know it and we accept it- but it still makes the going so difficult.

6x6 canvas, mixed-media

This one is for you. May you feel this little chubby, calm bird sit on your shoulder and let you know that there are people thinking about you and this season will pass in time.
I believe we will all go back to a garden and green hills will be in our vision for as far as we can see.
hope.

Whadda heck?

2010-10-06T17:20:00.000-07:00

No, this is not one of my Day of the Dead pieces, this is a disgruntled turkey at the county fair.

Sweet Farmer wanted a date with his wife and since I'm that lucky girl, we took yesterday morning off and headed to the county fair right up the road. Yes, it is just as idyllic as you can picture it.

There are booths of cheap toys, greasy food smells, rickety rides, animal moos and ducks honking. Unique characters with tattoos and earrings chanting their sales pitch for simple but challenging games with cheesy rewards. Really. I am not kiddin you.

And we love it. Sweet Farmer totally gets into what he calls "carni-food". It is guilt free eating for a day of artery challenging, comfort food.

We hold hands and check out all the local 4-H booths, extension clubs, and children's art (one of my favorites).

We see old friends and little kids we love to watch, and try to buy them sweet lemonade and funnel cakes.

Sweet Farmer takes an old engine down every year. And this I totally don't get. People, especially old men and little boys will stand around this thing for hours and watch it go round and round and pop and ding and ring likes it's the biggest deal in the world. It's crazy. Try as I might, I have never figured out the fascination of it.

Every year they call him to bring it down and every year we cart it up there for smiles.

Sweet Farmer found some friends of ours and he just had to take them to the craft barn where I had entered some paintings that won some blue ribbons. They weren't nearly impressed as he was and it was a little embarrassing but so sweet to see him try to talk them into some mutual enthusiasm. Not everyone likes their goats yellow for pete's sake, darlin.

Yellow Goat

Do you love the county fair?

Losing Your Mojo

2010-10-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

Journal sketch

I lost my mojo. It was days with nothing and terrible paintings and no, none, zippo, nada inspiration. I felt a little lost. But I painted anyway. Those MEAN critical voices that tell you you can't paint, that you know nothing about composition, color, that you have no originality, that your stuck, that your boring, etc. got loud and louder. But I painted anyway.

One of my fav art books is "The Art Spirit", the collected words by Robert Henri. He said,

Your education must be self-education. Self-education is an effort to free one's course so that a full growth my be attained. One need not be afraid of what this full growth may become. Give your throat a chance to sing its song. All the knowledge in the world to which you have access is yours to use. Give yourself plenty of canvas room, plenty of paint room. Don't bother with originality, set yourself just as free as you can and your originality will take care of you.It will be as much a surprise to you as to anyone else. Originality cannot be preconceived, and any effort to coddle it is to pre-conceive it, and thereby destroy it. Learn all you can, get all the information that is within your reach about the ways and means to paint.

And I was set free again of the VOICES. I found my joy in the process again.

I painted knowing that I might paint over it, that I might hate it, and that the only good thing I did that day was LEARN something more about paint and texture and color and composition.

And Life. Goodness sake. Even when we're making a mess, getting it wrong, bullied by the critics, nothing's jivin, no mojo anywhere around - it's still just one more day toward getting it right.

We're okay.

No. 18 She Speaks For Herself

No regrets.

Crazy Consuela

2010-09-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

No. 17 She Speaks For Herself

I'm still working on the final portraits (gallery showing in February) and on the Day of the Dead gallery showing on October 22nd. My daughter needed an image for her business cards and this one seemed perfect for Crazy Consuela.

5X5 gallery canvas
I'm lovin this little darlin too. It's been so fun and creative to add some sass and beauty and make these harsh and macabre skulls fun.
In New Mexico, Day of the Dead is a great celebration and remembrance of dead loved ones. They remember the favorite foods, favorite jokes and favorite things of the loved one that's passed over. I think it's a good thing to visit graveyards and think about the dead.
I for one, am not afraid of being dead - it will be my ultimate travel destination.

You can't really tell, but this has tiny little seed beads added for drama.

Slightly Twisted, Ever So Fun Stuff

2010-09-20T09:15:00.000-07:00

We don't call me Odd Chick for nothin'. And this new passion has hit me like a chun~kin pumpkin.

Glad I'm Crazy...sometimes.
I have a method to my madness. Nearly everyone of my portrait drawing books, and many art students I've talked to say you must start with the skeleton, with the skull to draw a good portrait. It has been excellent practice for me to stare at skulls and skeletons to understand bone structure underneath.

No. 16 She Speaks For Herself
This Day of the Dead stuff came right at the perfect time because I was losing momentum on my 20 faces. And I love this fantasy face work with a twist. Everyone knows I have a few kinks in me. I channel (slightly kidding) my favorite muse, the Crazy Consuela, my daughter's free and wild and lovely spirit.

I am loving these 5X5 gallery wrapped canvases. I had heard other art bloggers bragging about them, but I just now got it! They are so fun.

Live Like You're Dyin'
check out this 3-D stuff I tried.

right side of canvas

Who said "Everyone should retain a little madness"? It's so freeing to let that twisted sister out to paint.

IT CAME TRUE!!!!

2010-09-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

Day of Dead Pendants

I have been having some great fun over here making Day of Dead necklaces - so fun to create. I have a good reason for making them! EXCITING STUFF!!

I took a car load of Pumpkins to my favorite little boutique/gourmet lunch place (you know the one that I had a secret wish to have my own solo art show with my girl faces?). Well, anyway, I take them pumpkins every year for display-but this year I came with my new prints, my matted originals, and all my girls (15 so far) in a nice box and after I unloaded the pumpkins, I asked the owner for a minute of his time. When I showed him my art and asked for a show- HE NEVER BATTED AN EYE! HE SAID, "OF COURSE, HOW ABOUT VALENTINES' for a "groovy girl's show"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I about kissed him!

I scared myself to death really by asking, but it was time and the free pumpkins gave me a perfect opportunity. I laughed and said, "Beware of bearers of good gifts"!.

He not only offered me that, he told me that they were having a Day of Dead Art Day and that I could bring anything I could get made by October.

AND, AND- that I could have a wall in November for my other art- watercolors!!! My name will be on the postcards they send out in October and in November to 100s of customers. Their events are always well attended because there is delicious food involved.

Art I did for my daughter but hope to try again.

I had to let you know. So many of you have commented on almost everyone of my girls and I just wanted you to know if you have a secret wish- put it out there, write it down and then get to work!! SOMEONE out there is listening and wants your dreams to come true. After all, HE plants those dreams in our hearts, gives us the desire, passion and the motivation to accomplish them.

I also mailed off my first sale on one of my FINE ART prints!

I'm just letting myself soak up this sunshine.

Know Thy Purpose and Be willing to Work your Pa-tu-Tey off!

2010-09-14T16:07:00.000-07:00

No. 15 She Speaks For Herself

It was a good thing we got away for a day because since then we have been working our pa-tu-tees off. This time of year we still have hay to bale and now, we have fields to prepare for planting, and then the actual planting, plus we sell seed to other farmers. Super busy time. I am chief PLANTER because I like it so much and because I sleep with the boss. I use the new tractor with the GPS (the tractor drives itself- no kidding)and even though it's slow and monotonous for most, for me - it's heaven because I can listen to a book all day and daydream about painting while I work and planting makes big bucks for the farm. Art supplies don't grow on trees and neither do trips to Italy!!
I had this painting in mind where I could make a hoodie and build the texture up and use some of my doodles and bright orange and anyway.. today I got to bring her to life. I wish you could see the original - I think all the textures and colors are scrumptious.

AND GUESS WHAT's IN THis BOX???

MY FIRST PRINTS!! real prints photographed by a professional photographer and printed on archival paper with archival inks!!!

Kelly Rae Roberts also did me (I'm sure not just me) a huge favor and put her e-book on sale for 24 hours and I grabbed it up and have been devouring the generous information she shares about how to go about this whole confusing art business.

This is not an easy course to navigate. People invest big bucks and lots of years to learn these things in art school and I'm learning that I have to earn my way into this world and do the work if I'm going to be a success (in my 70s! remember).

Even though I love learning new things- I do get whiny about the HARD work of it sometimes. I WANT TO GO TO MY GRAVE and not be a lazy thinker and letting everyone else do my thinking for me. But I get that it gets harder. And we give up our power slowly but surely if we don't fight like CRAZY WARRIOR WOMEN to be strong and brave, and forever learners. If you're in your 50s or beyond, can I hear an AMEN?

Joy, Hope, A Little Wonder and a Lot of Magic

2010-09-07T17:48:00.000-07:00

Photo by Carolyn Graham

It's no surprise to my regular followers that I'm crazy about my Sweet Farmer and that we got a new Harley around the first of the Spring this year.

We finished our 5th cutting of hay, and had a day to escape and that's just what we did. Lucky for us to run into our favorite photographer!

I feel like I'm on a magic carpet ride when I'm snuggled on the back of my Sweet Farmer gliding down the rode in the open air.

You can smell things, see things and feel things that's just not possible in a closed vehicle.

I know it's more dangerous, but even that aspect makes you feel more alive and more attentive to the moment and to everything that's happening around you.

AND it makes you really hungry, thirsty and sleepy! Too bad it doesn't make you skinny!

So far, most of the time, we head down the same road, up the mountain to Ruidoso, New Mexico. I whispered in Sweet Farmer's ear this time "the road we always choose seems like married sex - familiar, but exciting every time we go there".

Maybe that's more information than you wanted. I suppose I'm gloating about my extreme happiness. But in this day and age- you need to know there are really happy couples, happy people out there. I know there was a long, sad period in my life that I really wanted and needed to believe that.

I don't just want it for myself, I want it for the whole world - a love and a life that brings you joy, hope, wonder and magic! No matter what your circumstances are - chase those things down like they're the last bus for the night!

No 14. She Speaks For Herself

Fall feelings on the Farm.

2010-09-04T13:06:00.000-07:00

You might be tired of seeing portraits and drawings over here although you have been such great friends to stay with me through my commitment of making 20. I have a good drawing in the works, (no. 14) so I hope to show it soon. In the meantime, I wanted to show you what Fall is looking like on Krantz Farms.
We are already having some cool fronts come through and AND we have a big, glorious pumpkin patch right outside my front windows so FALL is right here in my face already!
They are cutting our field corn down as I type. And we have had many, many friends come and pick their share of sweet corn. ( Sweet Farmer and I put up 50 freezer quart bags!).
I wish, wish you were here to pick yourself some pumpkins for your own front porch.

Sweet Farmer plants plenty for all our friends and even groups, like next week a team of physically challenged people will come and pick their own pumpkin and some small children from a Sunday school group are coming out too! That's the best part about living on a farm and sharing what we grow and nurture until it's ripe and ready for harvest.

my favorite candle stiks

I'm glad you stopped by to visit. I can't wait to see what you will do with your front porch for Fall.

I needed a friend today.

2010-09-02T19:30:00.000-07:00

No. 13 of series: She Speaks For Herself

I was glad to get this one done. I wanted to draw a zebra but I am committed to 20 of these faces so I just combined my ambitions today.
She came so far short of what I envisioned. I can't blend like I would like with these acrylics and it is very frustrating. (I softened her edges with Picnik).
I'm trying to learn Photo Elements on my own and that is very frustrating.
I had to re-rake the hay that I raked yesterday (so much humidity that it won't dry) in my John Deere with some other farm help that I had to watch screw up time after time- and that was very frustrating.
My laser printer quit for lack of a yellow toner, and I can't buy it anywhere in this town- so I have to wait on it to come by UPS and today was bill paying day! I'm not going to use the word FRUSTRATING again....
I've had very little patience with myself . I think I need to go to bed and get some rest and be thankful that that is all I have to be anxious about today.
At least, I could comfort my alter-ego with a sweet zebra.

Call Me a Crazy Dreamer

2010-08-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

No. 13 She Speaks For Herself

She's been in my dreams for awhile. You may see a little different style, I call it my painterly style. I notice that I try to stretch myself a little, and then I go too far, and then I go back to my old ways and then I start over and try to stretch myself again. Do you do that? It seems a safe way to proceed.
What I see in this portrait is a prototype of things to come. In my dreams, she's a large oil painting- painted from a live model standing by a camilla bush. She's only a twinkle of that but it will come to me someday.
I've given myself until 70 to be famous. I figure I will need the extra attention by then. So in the mean-time, I'm just making my way to stardom one painting at a time. I expect that there are 1000 paintings between this one and the one that will hang in a museum.

If you live long enough, you may see it too.

Chill Out- No. 12

2010-08-28T10:58:00.000-07:00

No. 12 She Speaks For Herself

I was finishing up on this painting while I was talking to my daughter on the phone. She was describing how hard it is to know when to push her boys and when to let up. They are excellent parents, but both are driven in their own ways and now they are trying to translate that motivation to their sons and it's frustrating because the oldest is very laid back, slow, and day-dreams alot.

I told her to chill out. That his drive would come and his motivation would come - that he's just a little kid. (I'm grandma remember), that he's not suppose to think like a 30 year old.

And there I was still trying to get her to think like me even though there is 20 years difference.

Isn't it funny how we return to being laid back, slow and day-dream a lot when we're 50 or so?

This painting was boring and I had to add some bling and snow and chill this baby out a little. See? I'm motivated- it just comes after the day-dreaming.

2010-08-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

No.11 She Speaks For Herself

She and I did not get along. She was a hard Princess to be around and therefore she's not one of my favorites. But I showed up! I am proud of that. I committed to the painting until the end.

I'm reading this amazing book, "The War of Art" suggested by a friend and an amazing artist who has consistently inspired me.

This book describes what happens to an artist to discourage them and the author personalizes it in the name of "Resistance". I loved this passage:

If you believe in God (and I do) you must declare Resistance evil, for it prevents us from the achieving the life God intended when He endowed each of us with our own unique genius. Genius is a Latin word; the Romans used it to denote an inner spirit, holy and inviolable, which watches over us, guiding us to our calling. A writer writes with his genius; an artist paints with hers; everyone who creates operates from this sacramental center. It is our soul's seat, the vessel that holds our being-in-potential, our star's beacon and Polaris.

Every time we don't show up to the page or the easel because of our critical internal voices, we have lost the spiritual battle within us.

God has given each of us a gift, a calling. Our job is not the viewer, not the critic, not the encourager. Our job is to show up and give our gift to the world and let God do the rest. It may not change the world, but it will change us in the process of aligning ourselves with His purposes.

Fresco style of No. 11
I like this one better for some reason.

Courage.

2010-08-21T17:11:00.000-07:00

No. 10 Courage

Yes, I need a huge dose of it. I'm still trying new things. It's like a baking a new recipe for an important party that you've never tried before, never tasted.

I envy people that work in studios with other artist and can bounce things off of them.

I have no clue what I'm doing. Everything has to be learned from a book, a video or I have to drive 200 miles or farther for a workshop. Or I beg for tips, comments, critiques, anything to help.

And then I think of the people I know right now who are dealing with chronic pain, heart-ache, financial difficulties.

One sweet man I know has a hernia, and every time he stands up, he has to hold his stomach in because it has been pushed out somehow by this hernia. This is after surgery for a bleeding ulcer.

One beautiful woman I know has been separated from her husband for 3 years and still loves him and prays for him to return some day and yesterday they found an "unusual" lump in her breast. She just waits to find out how that will change her life - alone.

I can count 10 people right now that I know are dealing with cancer!!

Two single women I know are going through bankruptcy- losing everything and starting over and the economy crisis just won't let up on them.

Honestly, I don't really need courage when it comes to art.

Art is a privilege. A necessary luxury.

Wouldn't it be great if our art could actually give someone a reminder of courage in a moment of crisis?

Art can heal. It can bring beauty into some one's life that is parched and tired and sick.

I think it's definitely worth the endeavor, and whatever struggle I try to make it.

Scare Yourself at least once a day.

2010-08-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

I'm crackin myself up over here. Not because I probably just did one of the craziest portraits of my series (She Speaks For Herself, No. 9), but because I scared myself to death and loved every moment of it.

I needed to do something different. Really different. (And should you paint when you have PMS???) I was getting bored with myself. My bad twin was just eeking to get out after making some nice girls. Whenever I want that crazy creative part of me to come forward, I just think of my daughter. If you've been around here for very long you know that she has always been an inspiration in my art. You never know what color, what style my daughter's hair will be or what she will have on. She can look like pageant queen or rocker dude. She has always made me smile with her sense of wacky style and design.

I've also been listening to some creative voices that are encouraging me to loosen up my out-lining, tighten up my drawing skills, add HANDS (this was such a challenge and scary) and other elements, and push myself a little further every time I show up to paint. SCARY!!

Thank you Lady Gaga for helping with the hands! Isn't she an inspiration to step outside your comfort zone??

This painting was like going to a really good scary movie that finished with a funny ending. And you walk out thinking, "that wasn't a scary movie after all, but it was a fun little drama!"

Let's go see it again.

Now I wonder, if by the time I finish 20 - if they will even look like a series by the same artist. I hope not.

.... that would be really scary......

Bloomin away over here!

2010-08-17T16:52:00.000-07:00

If you're following this journey and so many of you generous souls are - this is No. 8. I think I'll name the series: "She Speaks For Herself".

I felt like I had a lot of big sisters who flew to my rescue when you found out I had taken some negative comments. Thank you so much for the wise words and encouragement. I go back and read each comment again and again to pull out the treasures left there.

I'm sure the fear (that I'm not good enough) will come back - that's the way it is with creative work. I totally recommend Art &Fear. You can buy it used for around $5.00 and it will be the best tool in your art box.

I love this paragraph from the book regarding fears about ourselves as artists and how we fear that we just don't have that "magic" element you see in other artist's work that you admire or that we don't have any real talent:

Admittedly, artmaking probably does require something special, but just what that something might be has remained remarkably elusive- elusive enough to suggest that it may be something particular to each artist, rather than universal to them all. The important point here is not that you have or don't have- what other artists have, but rather that it doesn't matter. Whatever they have is something needed to do their work- it wouldn't help you in your work even if you had it. Their magic is theirs. You don't lack it. You don't need it. I has nothing to do with you. Period.

So my work is being laboriously nurtured and somewhere along the line, as long as I'm not waiting for perfection, my real "magic" is going to emerge along the journey. I'm good enough- today. I hope you feel the same way about your creative life.

I sent my first 7 girls to a professional printer to be scanned properly and to find out what cards will cost me. But GE--willies, I have to buy 100 to get a good price.

I'm also thinking about making some glass pendants too.

I took 3 girls to have them matted. WOW! I did not realize how much it cost to double matt with 4 inch matt on foamboard! (probably around $50.00 a piece) She said she would give me a discount because I was bringing her several. I know I should learn this process myself, but it looks sloppy when I do it so far.
I'm trying to keep it simple. This is fun, light-hearted art and shouldn't be taken too seriously. But it does deserve a fun, light-hearted setting to shine in. I have several places in mind and I will present by priority until I receive an acceptance. I'll keep you posted.

2010-08-14T23:35:00.000-07:00

It's getting harder and harder to come up with fresh ideas that really excite me enough to want to paint. She's #7. Did I really say that I was going to do about 20????

No. 6 took some hits. You all are so kind here on my blog. But Facebook has brought out some negative comments, some honest, some mean...it really makes you question yourself. And at the same time, the negative comments are just as helpful as the nice ones.

I know this is not serious art- fine art- and I don't expect it to be taken too seriously or everyone to get IT.

For me, these are like (not anywhere close in talent of course) Rosie the Riveter - that great portrait that inspired women during WWII.

Women have always needed these.

I need this one today.

For one thing, I have to accept that if I stick my stuff out there for the "real" public- that it's going to take some punches. It's ridiculous to think everyone will like it.

Some will even hate it, make fun of it, disrespect it.

It will be hard not to take it personally.

But I know who I am.

My value does not come from my art.

It comes from the One who gave me my creative spirit.

If I don't try, I will have to answer to Him.

In the end, it's just between me and Him anyway.

I gave in.

2010-08-13T16:13:00.000-07:00

I have no idea who she is or where she came from. All I know is that this is getting harder, not easier as I expected. She is the 6th in a series.

She had a story to tell, and would not leave me alone until I told it her way.

She was suppose to be Asian, a soft portrait with green and purple, with maybe some leaves and bamboo.

But she would not have it.

I went to bed last night feeling like I had been in an intense argument with a loved one. Unpeaceful. Agitated.

And there she was this morning. Still being stubborn. I didn't want to mess with her so I went for walk, picked some green beans from the garden, paid some bills.

When I came back, I picked up my big brush (I remembered that when you feel frustrated, your brush is probably too small).

I began to sling some white paint at her to cover her up and then her crown and veil began to appear. She hated the green so I covered it up.

Are you predominantly warm or cool? Geez.

She finally got her way, and in the end I like her better than I did when we started.

And we are friends again... now that I don't care who she is or where she came from.

I know it sounds a little psychophrenic. But this is the way my right brain and left brain wars with itself- until I give in to the process. It's beginning to be a real wrestling match, tortuous as I get further into this. You would think I would figure out a way to give in sooner. I'm expecting more from myself with each stroke. I hope you're seeing more.

Fly Baby Fly

2010-08-12T09:34:00.000-07:00

5th one! I wish you could see this up close - she has globs of texture on her because I painted mostly with my hands in big ole pools of paint -so luxurious!

My hat goes off to these girls who make a living doing their art. It is SO HARD to stay in the process and not get caught up in the paint-for-sale mode. I want each of these women's faces to have strength and presence, and a piece of my heart and it is JOYOUS LABOR, my friend.

Sweet Farmer reminded me last night that I can still go to Italy, whether I sell any paintings or not but I told him that it's not the same- that I want my art to fly me to Italy. He just looks at me quizzically and I love that clueless, albeit a little sad-puppy-dog look that says-"why is she driving herself crazy when I just want to give her time to paint because she loves it and it makes her so friggin happy, and I can take care of the rest". He actually said that last night in so many words. Ahhhhh. I do love him for it but I truly think that promoting this art will strengthen me and give me presence and increase my heart capacity- do you see a theme growing here??

It is already working something different in me.

Thanks to those who encouraged me to make cards. I think I will. OMG ooodnesssss.

Tell me if you think I'm beginning to slip. PLEASE. Sometimes, just a little suggestion/critique, like, "I would move the words down and to the right" can really, really help. (thank you Tinnie Girl, check her out- fabulous art)!

I love hearing those comments about favorites. (Thanks Buffy for choosing "Nobody's Fool". No one had picked her as a favorite and so far, she's mine too) It helps me know what is universally pleasing.

AWAKE... and still moving forward.

2010-08-11T09:14:00.000-07:00

Still working. 16 more to go. (Read about my plan here.) Scary, but exciting little path I'm taking, I must say. Thank you all for your honest encouragement.

Once I get about 8-1o finished, I would like to present them to the owner of this gallery setting option that I have in mind to see when and if he would consider them. (I have a very close friend who works in this shop who has encouraged me to do this- a foot-in-the-door as some would say.)

I'm not sure if I should make a notebook/portfolio of prints to show him or show him the originals. Should I show them to him framed or just professionally matted? They are all about 11X14. I think I should matt them all the same, that they will have some kind of collective impact- whatever that means!

Does anyone out there have experience with this and would you be willing to share some tips? I would love to take Kelly Rae's Flying Lessons. And I still may because I think I'm ready. But I really want any profit I might make to go toward my trip to Italy. I know, I know - sometimes you have to spend money to make money.

You would think I wouldn't be so clueless about this as many artist as I follow in this blog world. But I can't remember anyone ever talking about their presentation/ getting-yourself-in-the-gallery-stuff.

Do you have a favorite so far? It's always fun to see what's most appealing to others.

Passion and Pain of Frida

2010-08-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

This is my rendition of Frida Khalo. She was a strong woman who had great passion, yet lived with great pain so I didn't want a smiling portrait. She was strangely exotic with her dark eyebrows that went clear across her forehead and some photos (and even her own self portraits) show a slight mustache above her lip. She had a turbulent, but passionate love affair with her husband, Diego.

I'm not sure why, but I've always been fascinated with her and I've done her several times, and never been quite pleased, including this one. It seems as soon as I told you about my plan, I began to freeze up and have been barely able to draw or paint and nothing has flowed. But I'm going to act like a real artist and suck it up and keep working through it.

Only 17 more to go in case you didn't read about my plan, you can read it here.

I cried when I read all of your comments. You can't imagine what your support means as I'm fairly isolated and have no one besides Sweet Farmer to bounce these off of- and he doesn't like portraits with big eyes or words. So thank you!!

Reclaim Yourself

2010-08-08T19:10:00.000-07:00

I have a secret wish -but I'm going to share it with you even though it scares me just to type it out to the universe.

My plan:

To make about 20 of these girl portraits to encourage women to be strong in their lives and to value themselves.

Then, I want to have a little show at a darling little gift shop here that does that sometimes for new artist.

If I sell them, I will add it to a long-time dream to TRAVEL to Italy in October of 2011 and take my mom and daughter or at least help them go.

If I don't, I will pay for a booth at our art gallery in hopes of selling them.

If they don't sell there, I will give them away for a silent auction for our food pantry in our little community, of which I'm on the Board.

I will make prints and maybe calenders for friends and family.

I cannot fail with this plan. I cannot fail with this plan....

I keep telling myself I must value my art enough to promote it and sell it.

Now that you share my secret wish maybe somehow it will make it grow.

What is your secret wish?

(This is a mixed-media piece with acrylic and watercolor pencils and charcoal. What you're looking at is actually a 8 X 10 print, rather than the original.)

A Girl With Attitude

2010-08-05T18:35:00.000-07:00

I'm LEARNING. I AM.
It feels so good to see some progress.

I'm learning how to blend my acrylics! THIS IS HUGE PEOPLE!! I'm so happy about that!
I'm learning that I can use good paper to paint on and not just canvas and that they don't take up so much room (under the bed) and it reminds me of my journal which feels very comfortable.
I'm learning to let my attitude show- that it is okay that I'm not SWEET, like some people I envy- that I have a EDGE-y-ness and I can let it show in my art.
I'm learning that if I can't get a desired affect with one medium, then I can with another. The world is MMMIIINE in art supplies MMMMAAAHHHH.
I'm learning that I can make it any darn thing I want it to be and that I don't have to show it to anyone if I don't want to - that I paint until I like it- period.
I'm learning to use my hands in the paint and to rub charcoal in for drama, but wipe it off for goodness sake on the end of your fingers before you go back into it!
I'm learning that consistently working, leaving a mess in your kitchen, everyday, does produce results and you can still cook with half a counter.

You can't imagine how much your encouragement has spurred me on.

One thing to ask- I haven't actually painted the words in - I only digitally placed them to see if I like them (another lesson). I would really like your honest opinion about the left side of the painting. Any better ideas?

OH, and I've learned to ask my friends when I get stumped.

Conviction

2010-08-02T21:08:00.000-07:00

con.vic.tion :

1) the act of convicting

2) the state of being convinced: strong belief

One of my favorite authors, Oswald Chambers, said, "It is easy to be determined, and the curious thing is that the more small-minded a man is the more easily he makes up his mind. ..... The difference between an obstinate man and a strong-minded man lies just here: an obstinate man refuses to use his intelligence when a matter is in dispute, while a strong-minded man makes his decision after having deliberately looked at it from all standpoints, and when opposed, he is willing to give reasons for his decision."

I have had many strong convictions and beliefs. I have been a person of strong opinions and never afraid to share them. And I've lived long enough to see many of them shot down and left to die a slow, tortuous death.

I have learned that there are very, very few real convictions that are worth more than relationships.

We should chose our convictions very carefully.

and the hill we chose to die on.

Or in the end we can be become a convict of our convictions.

Can you stand a little cheesy romance?

2010-07-31T17:07:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you get magical paintings and sometimes you get a magical day.

You know, one of those days when you are so freakin happy in the moment that you think you could cry.

But I didn't.

Because Sweet Farmer is still clueless and gets confused about a woman's tears other than when someone dies.

It started out with a hearty breakfast and a good movie in bed! YEh, no hay to cut, rake or bale.

Then we rode on the Harley through the Hondo Valley to the little historic town of Lincoln, New Mexico. Now the Hondo Valley is the place that inspired the likes of artists Peter Hurd and Henrietta Wyeth. We ate at the Laughing Sheep Farm which is tucked right outside the quaint little town. This eccentric little place grows most of their own organic food and I could see the tomato plants and most of my other salad veggies growing right outside the open screen window by our table. That hot pink thing you see on my plate was a quail egg marinated in sweet beet juice. I had fresh vegetable soup with quail meat and rice and a generous glass of pignot grigio. And I just basked in the sunlit room, with a guitar player singing old songs, and a big white Pyrenees dog named "Bear" sleeping in the foyer. Sweet Farmer asked me several times if I was having fun because he knew that it was sooo my kind of place - simple and romantic with natural foods and natural surroundings. I just smiled and ordered a sweet apple crisp with caramel coffee and SF practically had to pry me from my chair when it was time to go.

This little pond was right outside.

I lay down in the grass and rolled around like a fat cat on cream and looked over at my Sweet Farmer, and thanked the whole universe for giving me this million-dollar-day.

And then he took me to my favorite art gallery in Lincoln.

And on the way home on the back of the motorcycle, I did cry a little when I thought about how happy I am, but the wind blew the tears away - swift and efficiently, and all Sweet Farmer knew was that I squeezed him a little tighter around his middle as we rode back down the valley and I could see him smile in the wing mirror.

It's one thing to create a great painting in a life-time, it's another thing to live within it.

It's cheesy- but that's how I feel today- thank you.

Animals Gone Wild

2010-07-25T18:51:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your encouragement regarding my last little odd painting. Nothing quite as magical as that has happened again even though I've tried to re-create that mystical experience, but it did spur a highly-creative period for me. I'm trying to enjoy different color palettes and techniques and continue to be loosey-goosey in my expectations and let things happen as they may.

Remember these fun little images. Well, I followed through and made some cards out of them and tried new techniques that included sewing and collaging.

So much fun!!

There is no way to fail using these messy and shabby chic ideas.

And I'll leave you with another little odd animal painting although it slightly resembles me and Sweet Farmer on a Sunday afternoon. We feel like snuggly, big, lazy blobs sometimes.

A quick thank-you to Kre8iveLife
for a sweet blog award. I don't really like the crazy roundy-rounds of blog awards but I do TRULY appreciate it when you think of me. I loved looking at the other blog friends that she included in the award and you will too.

My list would include all those listed to the right of my blog and all my followers. They constantly inspire me everyday- and that's the honest truth.

5 things I love:

walking on the farm

hearing my son sing

watching my daughter sew

blueberries

my kitchen bar messy with art supplies

"The Gathering"

2010-07-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

This is a real painting finally (unlike my journal pages) on board with acrylics. I painted the back painting using some of my favorite colors and let it dry. Then I began to look at the board to decide what kind of drawing I wanted to start with- I had NO pre-conceived ideas.

NOW THIS IS THE FREAKIE WEIRD PART!

These little creatures just began to appear!! I am not lying- and I wasn't smokin' anything or drinkin.

I just took a pencil and began drawing around what I saw as quickly as I could before they disappeared. The first one was the little woman/ground squirrel in purple thing. She just made me smile and then there was the next and the next. They were all just standing there looking at one another like they were having an animal meeting over a serious subject. The fence was sort of there, but I went ahead and filled it all the way in to give the painting some continuity.

It was so much fun and SO EASSSSY to draw them, then to just paint them and darken the backgrounds so that they would stand out.

I'm sure this has happened to someone else besides me- but you need to share it with me - because I'm a little freaked out. I mean, I've been practicing making watercolors and "finding" fun little animals since I got the new book from Carla Sonheim but this was different. Mystical- Magical. These little creature/peoples just said, "I'm waiting- draw me out" like a Beatrix Potter moment.

I've tried it again but it didn't happen. So, I want to know from those that it has happened to if I can expect it back -whatever IT was.... BECAUSE IT WAS A BLAST!

2010-07-16T14:23:00.000-07:00

I'm just feeling so much blog love right now. Where would I be without the blogs and art sites that I can visit right from my little ole desk? It constantly amazes me. But more than that, it feeds me. Literally. My mind craves and hungers for art. It's like music and nature and love to me. It must be a part of my everyday, walking around life.

I'm sure many of you have been following 30 Journals 30 Days . If not, you are in for a absolute treat. Within those blog post and interviews were reminders to me that I can't fail, that I have to let go.

Ahhhhhhhh.......letting......... goooooooooo. I do Yoga to let go and I do art to let go. It sounds so cliche "letting go" but letting my mind spill out (not my mouth)- letting my creative dreams have a new birth outside myself. It's a silent revolution in my soul's deepest heart. (can you tell I struggle for the words?) while I silence my critic that chases me around and tells me to hold tight, expect failure and mediocrity.

It's still true that my art bounces around everywhere- that I haven't found my style, my own niche. But I'm okay with that. Really. It's too soon still. That would be like a child who wants to know what they will be when they grow up. The truth is.. I've never known where I was going. For instance, if someone would have told me that I would fall in love with learning to ride dirt bikes when I turned 50, I would have laughed at the ridiculous idea. But here I am - with my grandson-having the time of my life!

So I'm just growing up. I take a new trail pretty often and I'm enjoying the scenery.

I'm using a lot more tools these days, less rules. Lots of paper. Lots of instinctive-gut-stuff. Using the Internet and books for inspiration. The main thing is: I really get that if I don't like a drawing or a painting- I just haven't finished it yet.

I'm learning the same acceptance for myself.

I'm so happy that I wake up everyday with another new chance to grow toward up.

Full Nest

2010-07-12T19:28:00.000-07:00

All my chicks came to visit last week, including my Mom and Dad. We had a full house and when they left, although we love the quiet, we missed the constant energy they created while they were here. It truly was a singing, busy little nest.

I layered on this page in my journal while it laid on the kitchen bar between meals, and snacks and visits.

But I wasn't the only one creating.

My mother had taught my daughter, Joli, to make a ruffle, and this is Joli now passing on a sewing lesson to her little niece.

My son-in-law took some Sculpey and made this adorable cowboy head because I told him I wanted to make an art doll sometime. He is a very talented cowboy artist.

Then my Dad tried his hand at it. This was his first time to mold a head with clay. Isn't it amazing?

It still needs baking and paint.

Then, of course, I had to try and I started this head and then my Dad put the finishing touches to it. We think these would make interesting and clever wine stoppers.

There was lots of love and lots of creative energy flowing around, where the corn is growing high and pumpkin plants coming up for fall make the perfect back-drop.

I caught Cash loving on a toad.

I'm a blessed little bird to have such a sweet nest of goodness.

New Art Book

2010-07-03T16:02:00.000-07:00

ALERT- to those who have a weakness for new art books.

If you need a little fun in your life and need to loosen up - well, I've the got the book for you.

I just got my signed copy in from Carla Sonheim - hot off the press.

I went crazy devouring it and experimenting with the new ideas.

It gives you 52 little creative exercises to improve your drawings and make drawing fun and stress free.

I had a lot of fun with the 8th chapter where you just paint red, yellow and blue on a page and then "find" the creature(s) in the random paint marks. I found that it really helped train my eye to work with the paint and encouraged my imagination and also helped me to trust my instincts.

Aren't these funny?? Like my little grandson says: "Sometimes I just crack myself up".

(This one of the cat came about by looking at a cracked wall and finding an image .)Exercise 38

Is this serious art? Maybe not. I think these will make great collages for cards and make my friends smile. They will be fun exercises to share with my grandsons. I think I will go back to this every time I begin to take myself too seriously. Thanks CARLA Freakin Awesome SONHEIM!

Go ahead - crack yourself up today and we'll share the grins.

Draw, and don't waste time.

2010-06-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

Odd little portrait, isn't it?

Some of the strangest, unusual people are coming forward in my new journal. This one inspired from a quote from Michelangelo to his apprentice:

"Draw Anthony. Draw, Anthony, draw and don't waste time."

I'm a Drawer. Drawing relaxes me. Quiets my mind. Stills my soul. Takes me away. Brings me home. It is my resting place. A meditation. A prayer.

A practice.

A journey.

Did I mention that drawing really matters to me?

I gain a little confidence in these sketches and then try to draw a portrait of a real person, my oldest grandson.

This is Gus. Except it's not quite Gus. There is something definitely missing and wrong but for the life of me, I can't fix it. I caught something of him, but there is something still very elusive just beyond my seeing eye.

And then I lose my confidence- put my book down. Throw my pencil. Walk away. Discouraged.

Until I look up a portrait I tried to draw of Gus in a earlier journal (two years ago).

And I realize, my drawing everyday does matter . My failures and attempts are bringing me closer to that elusive dream and higher goal of good art, and my eye is getting finely tuned and my hand is getting more skilled. It's right there in the old journal page. Thank you sweet portrait. I love you too, even though you're raw and basic and young and awkward.

So I tell myself again.

Don't give up. Keep drawing. Draw and don't waste time.

New Ways To Enjoy Your Favorite Art Pieces

2010-06-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

I've been having some fun over here by taking some of my favorite art pieces and making them into little glass pendant necklaces that I can wear with my t-shirts or give as gifts.

This is certainly not a new thing but it was the first time I've tried it. It might be new to you also

so here are the links that were very helpful in getting me started:
http//www.willowing.org/2009/03/how-to-make-glass-art-pendant.html

If you're like me and live out in the middle of nowhere, you can buy your supplies from this excellent on-line merchant, Annie Howes ,who sends them very quickly and sends good quality materials.

The cable necklaces or cord necklaces and can be purchased at Hobby Lobby or Amazon.com. I like the ones with the magnetic clasp. They are also pretty on unique silk ribbon cords. Shop around because they really vary in prices.

I can just imagine some of the beautiful jewelry my blogger friends can make with their fantabulous images and then share them with their friends and family.

I also have a new art journal (moleskin) and I decorated the cover with some molding paste and paint.

It's the 7th for me, but a new one always feel like a fresh start. It holds the hope of my new art, my improved art and my own art signature upon the universe. I often imagine that a great-great-granddaughter will open them up and they will be like a treasure chest of inspiration for her own passions someday....

If you some ideas and better links about these projects please share them in your comments for myself and others who might be interested.

Sacred Moments Meets Real Life DO-DO

2010-06-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

Little did I know that once I actually applied the concepts of my last post , Chaos to Colorful, to real life that it would be such a wrenching experience. You see, I thought by letting something come forward, come to life, by taking a chaotic experience and seeing the beauty in it- that it would be some sacred experiment..a peaceful, beautiful thing. But instead, the experience ended up being me and Sweet Farmer cleaning out the garage. UGH.

Now there was more than chaos out there. There was my stuff and his "crap" as we fondly call the other's saved treasures. We have two, completely different organizational approaches. Of course, we tried to impress our own upon the other and there was not much giving in either way. We argued which is rare, honestly. It wasn't pretty or peaceful. It was hot. It was dirty - downright nasty in places. You gotta be asking, "why do you do these projects in the middle of summer???"

But we didn't walk away from it. And we kept talking it through.

And you know what? We did it. And it really looks great. Sweet Farmer isn't finished with his stuff yet (because his organizational approach includes not handling the worst stuff first, shuffling the stuff back and forth before putting it up, a more relaxed (translated sloooower)approach... need I say more).

All sarcasm aside (it's never helpful, by the way). Actually, he bought some shelves and put them together and arranged them and without that "big picture" detail- nothing would have happened to improve the whole situation. Something great came out of something very messy and dirty and miserable. We actually worked as a team to organize which may be a first! I saw real progress that went deeper than just a clean garage.

So be careful about applying your art concepts to real life. Sometimes it can get very REAL.

And the sacred moments can be drenched in sweat and dirt and tears.

Chaos to Colorful

2010-06-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

I'm on the last pages of my 6th art journal. I have another moleskin ordered and in the mail.

I love to drop serious watercolor on the pages, make a colorful mess of washes and blends, and then find a face. Found faces are so fascinating to me because they just seem to emerge from the page like a spirit that says, "Draw me. Bring me forward into existence". They are always so much more interesting than my preconceived ideas.

And then I got to thinking about the idea of applying this concept to my daily reality and walks. Say I come upon a mess of activity and energy. I will really look at the thing and really see what is trying to emerge to the surface? What can I see that's beautiful? How can I take the mess and chaos and see something more creative? How can I just LET something come forward without manipulating too much - loving what is there, as it is. How can I be more present in the moment and actually find joy in simple images and find the complex and the exquisite? Can I add a touch of artistry of character or speech, and help someone, something come full bloom?

I think I shall tuck that little secret in my heart and go about my regular day and see how I can make it extraordinary.

Slippery Slope

2010-06-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

Behold
the slippery slope.
you know the one.....

The one that let slips one little tight word of anger and out pours the resentment in the caged heart.

The one that takes in too much poison in the body, food or drink, and months later cringes at the collateral damage in the mirror.

The one that quits taking risk and scaring one self a little and finds itself in the padded room..safe & bored.

The one that lets a friend, any special someone, slip away and then waits so long... too long.

The one that lets a thank -you note pass.... until the giver of good gifts is thankless.

The one that forgets kindness and generosity toward its mate one too many times.

The one that lets time slip away-

The one that lets creativity slip away-

The one that lets dreams slip away-

The one that lets YOU slip, slip, slide.... away.

-peggy krantz

art: ink & watercolor