May 2012 – Gator Girl Art

Dear Muse

Posted on May 23, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Dear Muse,

I am writing to let you know a few things about myself. I LOVE everything to do with food. When I was in kindergarten the teacher asked us to share what we loved. I went first, and said, “spaghetti”. The girl who went next said, “my mom”. I thought, “damn, I should have said that.” Apparently, my five-year old self was my true self. I love shopping for food, preparing it and most of all eating it. So much so, it is a compulsion. The only times I forget entirely about food is when I am painting. I love to mix colors and paint a picture until I am happy with it. When I start to love the process and the desired form begins to appear, the endorphins really kick in.

I HATE people lying to me. I hate war. I hate stinky things and when guitar players play the same pattern over and over in a really high pitch.

I DESIRE a peaceful existence. I want to paint every day. I want the willingness to turn all of myself over to God. I want a happy family and to travel.

I want to LET GO of entitlement, selfishness, and anger.

BEAUTY brings aliveness, creativity, appreciation of art and nature, appreciation of my family and friends.

The feeling of DESPAIR comes from the hearing about abused children, poor treatment of people with mental illness, despair in other people, war, shopping for clothes.

I LIKE a party. Sitting around a fire pit. Date night if it turns out well.

I WANT recognition of my art.

I am WILLING to let go of my inner critical voice, or at least mute it.

with unending love,

And thanks for listening,

Gator Girl

Really Beyond Excited about Raven!

Good Morning!

When I wrote in my profile that I am living, working and thriving in New Orleans, I am.

I have been painting for Raven Wisdom Studio in Chico. That is my sister’s place. I kept putting Raven aside and working on it little by little. When I started looking at each area of the painting. One of my favorite parts of the painting didn’t please me any more. It looked too dark. Raven’s can be a little dark, themselves, and I didn’t want to portray that. Also, it was lacking whimsy, which I really like.

Today, I could feel the excitement of creating pumping through my veins. I ripped up paper and painted without even a sip of my coffee.

Right now the frame is drying. I don’t love framing, because I am not confident with it yet, or competent. I am too impatient to wait for help so I just push ahead. I am liking this frame.

Part 1 of Raven Wisdom — Part one of Raven Wisdom

After I cut the old wood, I scrub it with soap and water. I love old, but don’t think dirty is good in a house.

This was super fun. I painted the heart, filled it with love, turned it upside-down and sprayed it with water. When I turned it over it looked like flames.

Raven Appears Like a Shadow — Raven appears, timid at first.

I left the wood this color. It looks like old houses I remember fondly. The frame is going to have a shelf to hold Raven’s favorite trinkets.

I painted Raven with a lot of water and rolled the canvas with a roll of paper towels. I learned this technique from Effy Wild. It left the outline dark, and picked up the paint in the middle. Nice effect.

I painted Raven bigger, to be more of the focal point. Along his back is part of a Rumi quote, “be the soul of that place”.

I tried a new technique. I painted black, sparkly embossing powder mixed with acrylic varnish and melted it with a heat gun. It made a nice, black texture. You can see where I added it on the blackest parts of Raven.

The nest is made with corrugated cardboard that my sister insisted I needed to pack when I moved to New Orleans, lichen from the Lake of the Woods, Oregon (our favorite place), a red thread for the sisterhood, a fortune about friendship, and a flaming heart from Mexico.

There are other things making up the nest, like sheet music and journal paper. I added gold, brown, red and black paint for depth and mystery.

I am so sorry that the words do not stay put when I hit “publish”. I will keep working on this.

Thank you for reading about my process. Painting is pretty solitary business if you don’t count spirits chiming in. I appreciate the togetherness of my on-line family.

Where are your thriving in your life? What makes you lose track of time? Where do you feel your heart expand? I would love to hear.

Lovingly,

Gator Girl

Uncategorized

Maggie the Magnificent

Posted on May 9, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Good Morning!

Miss Maggie’s teacher, calls her Maggie the Magnificent. That right there is a sign of an awesome teacher.

Today, I want to share the development Maggie’s painting of Tim Burton‘s Jack Skellington and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

I asked Maggie to finish this while she was still 3 years old. It is almost done, except for glitter and other adornments. She has been patiently waiting to add glitter from the beginning.

Since the last posting, Maggie added a beard on Jack and eyelashes on Sally. She gave Sally a peachy colored face with a purple chin. Her hair is long, purple and teal. There is a purple vine circling them both. On Sally’s side there is a crimson sun in front of her body contraption. On Jack’s side, there is a white sun to his left.

I hope you enjoy following Maggie’s painting. My part has been to hold her palate and ask her to tell me what she is going to do next. Most times she draws it in chalk first so she stays with the concept of product. When she is playing, it is all about process with her. It must be super fun to be 3.

Right here… X… I tried to add a picture of Maggie at Jazz Fest. Uploading didn’t work. I am happy that the main picture uploaded.

With abundant love,

Gator Girl

Uncategorized

Input Invited

Posted on May 9, 2012May 9, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Hi all ya’ll,

I hope I can actually blog today with pictures and all, but my computer is feeling her age. I thought my PC was about 3 years old, but it turns out I bought it in 2005, so that makes 7 years flying by in a flash.

I ordered a flash drive so I can save everything I value on this computer, in the event that it terminally crashes.

Well, Gator friends and agents, you probably guessed it. What computer would you buy today if you needed a new computer?

With loving regards,

Gator Girl