Grow Old along with me.

Back to work... for the moment

 I've been painting again.  I put the easel in the kitchen and put all of my art supplies and all of preschool art supplies in drawers and cupboards by the kitchen table.  It has been awesome.  We do a lot more crafting now that everything is accessible.

one of our treasure supply drawers

I finally got the nerve to put brushes on this painting again and for three nights I have made major changes to it.  I like it better every time I paint.  It's still only 1/2 way done, but I'm getting the vision of how to finish it finally, and I love the concept.  I'm considering entering it in the Spring Salon.  We will see how it turns out. 

 

I've had a painting block and I finally decided it had a lot to do with how I felt about myself.  Sacrafice is the name of the game right?  Well, there has to be balance, which I have to learn more about and I have eroded boundaries.  I'm working on accepting and loving myself more so I can get out what is in my heart.  It's worth it because when I paint I feel alive and like I have a special power of expression that fills me up.  I really enjoy it even when it hurts like crap.  When my talent improves it won't hurt so much.  (I hope).

confession: I suffer from sexism.  I don't give women, even myself, enough credit.  It must stop and I'm analyzing it in all aspects of my life.  Allowing myself more feminine power and believing in myself, as a woman is essential.  I see women all around me apologizing for themselves and deferring to their male counterparts.  I watch women take a back seat all the time.  I do it all the time!  It's not right and it's not what God wants, but we sure get a lot of mixed messages about this from our culture.  I think I will paint a lot better when I get a better grasp on this.  

Toilet paper rolls gone trendy

This started as a preschool craft for Joren but he refused to paint them so I got busy later that evening.  I found that I really enjoyed painting on the brown cardboard. It has a nice tooth and I like the rustic type finish with a gloss medium over it.  I think I'll do more of this medium.  Why am I just like everyone else and totally endeared by owls?

What was any art but a mould in which to imprison for a moment the shining elusive element which is life itself - life hurrying past us and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose.
                                                                                                                                       -Willa Cather

Janese's house

Tea Party

My friend Ashley commissioned me to paint a set of paintings for her daughters' room. She let me sort of help pick the colors and assist in finding fabrics and developing ideas.. although almost all the credit to how cute the room is goes to her. She has such great vision.
I got to deliver the first of the two paintings this weekend and was thrilled that she really loves them. I can't wait to start the next one.

Vintage name drawings

I just delivered these two name drawings today. The women that ordered them wanted me to match a name drawing she had done back in the 70's. It had a really cute vintage feel to it and I basically copied the style exactly but with new themes and names. I think they turned out pretty cute and I found that I enjoy drawing little cartoon girls. So, I used them in my most recent painting (shown in the next post.)

If you have been a long time follower of my painting you might remember a very similar painting I did a few years back. This is almost an exact duplicate of my first painting called "Driving South". I started the original painting in Utah and used photos I had taken on my drives through southern Utah, but I wasn't able to pull it together and finish it until I moved to Missouri. The painting became all about Missouri and the rural life I was living there. I have a good friend here in MI, who had a similar dreamy experience in Kirksville MO, asked me to recreate this painting with a few variations for her boys nursery. She got photos of the actual street signs where she used to live and the major roads through town. The girl on the haystack in front of the barn is a photo of her daughter which was taken in Misosuri. The horseshoe is from Nauvoo, a similar meaningful town, and the maps show where Kirksville is located. Pancake city was special to their family because it was the Saturday morning breakfast treat for Dad and the kids every week.
The painting is 24" x 24" and I hope it proves to be a fun and meaningful keepsake for them for many years to come.

I enjoyed painting this so much that I have been considering doing a whole series in this collage/ modge podge rural, bright sun style.
Any thoughts on that anyone?