Dare to........................................

Dare to..............

Pare things down to essentials

Tear it up

Wear it out

Stare someone down

Prepare for the unexpected

Bare your soul

It's just one little word

Chris

A bit of this and that........

Whenever I am a busy girl, I just don't seem to find the time to blog so here's a little recap:

I am taking a watercolor portrait painting class at the museum - we started with value studies, and here is mine of this photo of Herbert Hoover(assigned).  The drawing took quite a bit of time but the painting was done in one shot - about 1 1/2 hours.  I could do more to make the darks more intense but at this point I am busy working on a drawing for the next painting of my choice - this time in color.

My kitchen is on the east side of my house so it gets dark there quite early this time of year. For some time I have had a lamp on the counter near the sink - I love the warm light that it gives, so much friendlier than the overhead spots.  I had a wood and metal lamp there for several years but it blew over a couple of weeks ago when I had the window open - the socket got too loose to use so I put a new lamp on my thrifting list - and amazingly the very next time out I found this porcelain lamp - it was only $12 and they also had 35% off everything in the store so it ended up only costing me $8, including the shade! Yay!  I love how it goes so well with the cream pitcher that I got from my mother - just perfect!

That same day I found this incredible book Cloth and Culture, Couture Creations by Ruth Funk - for only $1.50!!! It is filled with the most fantastic and creative garments - what inspiration!!

And finally one of the lilies from the arrangement on my Thanksgiving table - I put together lilies, a few roses, some mums, and eucalyptus in a beautiful old vase that I inherited from my mother. I surrounded the vase with orange tulle to match the lilies and then arranged gourds around the bottom.  I so love doing the table up for the holidays - and now it's time to decorate my house for Christmas and the Solstice - I bought a new reindeer for the collection at Pottery Barn, and I am really looking forward to getting the herd out as well as the swans and the village.  I plan to decorate a small tree with birds like last year - I am just like a little kid at holiday time!
Have a super weekend!
Chris

May your Thanksgiving be filled with good food and good company

"This morning I ask only
the blessing of the crayfish,
the beatitude of the birds;
to wear the skin of the bear
in my songs;
to work like a man with my hands."

- Joseph Bruchac

 

and in my own words:

This morning I ask only

the blessing of the food before us,

the company of those I love,

to wear the pigments of the earth and the sky

in my paintings ;

to work like an artist with my hands.

May your day be blessed with abundance!

Chris

Frida!

Frida Kahlo has always been one of my idols: she was an innovative artist and an icon of style.  Some years ago I saved a photo from Vogue or one of the fashion magazines showing a model holding a Frida mask - the above is my interpretation of that photo.

I was recently thrifting and came across this book for a dollar - what a treasure! 120 pages of photographs and commentary about Frida - she is not only an artist but also an actress and political activist; she is seductive, innocent, mysterious, and above all, iconic.  I find it fascinating to compare these photos taken of her throughout her life with her own image of herself as seen through her self-portraits.

I have drawn myself a bit, especially parts of me like hands and feet - where can I get a better live model? I have never painted myself but perhaps that is the next step - who am I?

Have you created a self-portrait of yourself? I would say that anyone who keeps an art journal is creating a visual self-portrait of their thoughts and daily life, their dreams, their disappointments, their creative journeys. It seems that journey is a short one but perhaps it is the longest journey we can ever take - as T.S. Eliot wrote in Little Gidding:

"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."

Happy exploring!
Chris