This blog has been on my mind and in my heart, but not on-line. Other things have trumped art this last month…
a weekend with a long lost childhood friend who has been to New Orleans every year for 20 years and had never been out of the French Quarter…
our family reunion in New Orleans and atJazz Fest,
Cousins at Jazz Fest
Lafayette and the Crawfish Festival in Breaux Bridge,
My sister and me at the Crawfish Festival.
swamp tour at Lake Martin…
Cajun Swamp Tours
a great performance from Charmaine Neville at Snug Harbor (she is there for two shows every Monday night and tickets are only $15 …
Maggie’s ballet recital…
Maggie waiting for her performance.
and ending with a weekend getaway in Grand Isle.
Mimi in Grand Isle
Grand Isle brings me to this weeks blog. While in Grand Isle, we met some friends of friends that are takinga year off for an adventure.
They can tell you better than I can, so I am re-blogging their blog. I think it is important to tell you about Hani and Sarah right away because you can catch the beginning of their trip.
Hani and Sarah are attorneys, married, and driving a vehicle that Hani built out of an ambulance, a truck and a plane.
Thanks to my daughter, Katy, Shotgun Angel is framed in the wood that I want for her. I cut one side too short and we replaced it with another piece of screen door. I thought I had wrecked the frame, but no.
I am still looking for 2 skeleton keys to hang from the door handle.
Shotgun Angel framed
I think I might lighten the sky a little in the darker parts… sitting with that idea for a while.
In the last 2 weeks, 2 women told me that they wanted to paint, but don’t. I would like to tell anyone that wants to paint:
Show up.
Start anywhere.
Keep painting.
I have taken classes on and off through the years. I got serious about painting when I took a class from Shiloh Sophia of the Cosmic Cowgirls. She empowers women and teaches a spiritual side of painting.
I learned how to draw proportional bodies from Jane Davenport.
A drawing class at the local junior college helps teach you how to see objects by their lines and curves. Wherever you see your next place to grow, go there.
For inspiration, I take a class called Lifebook from Tam Laporte. It is only $99 a year and you get weekly on-line tutorials from different artists.
Viral in the sense that I had more hits in one day than any other day in the history of Gator Girl on Etsy. It is all thanks to Brice and Zach at Hansen’s Sno-Bliz.
I was getting all kinds of ETSY sale notifications for my painting of a Hansen’s Snoball. I checked on Hansen’s Facebook Pageand saw that they posted my painting with a link to My Etsy Shop. The stats: 232 views and 6 prints sold in one day. It was super fun.
Hansen’s Sno-Bliz on ETSY
Cathy and Dennis Schlais picked up “Waiting for Moses”, formerly known as “Making Amends”. Cathy always loved Harriet Tubman who was called Moses. This painting reminded her of waiting for Moses. I am happy she has a loving home. Thank you Cathy and Dennis.
I bought some paints fromdreamingcolor.com. They are calledSilks, acrylic glaze. They have mica in the paint for shimmer and shine. They are not very shiny, just right. I bought them for mermaid tails and alligator skin. I painted Silks on the mermaid tail so her tail would be shinier than the water.
Mermaid FinishedMermaid Almost Done
It seems hard to tell the difference here. Trust me, there is more shine and depth in the one on the left.
I also tried to make her skin look unblemished like porcelain. I used a mixture of Golden Titan Buff, Golden Light Umber, and Liquitex Deep Portrait Pink for the last coat. I think it looks best to paint the pink on the cheeks, the darkness by the eyes, etc… before the last coat. It is kind of like the blush under the skin instead of sitting right on top.
My youngest daughter, Katy, is here from Azusa, California. She is helping me frame. I think I have it down now. I still don’t love it. I don’t hate it. It is just more like work than painting. I need frames, so there you go.
We had a lovely Easter with lots of family and lots of eating out. We are probably all a little spoiled. Raffi won’t get seafood every day now. I am happy to be back in my studio. I am happy to start another painting.
We got a verbal thumbs up from the IRS for non-profit status of NOLA Groundswell! Two years of proposing and waiting. We will have our paperwork within a month and can start writing grants for Samuel Square Park. For some reason, my grant thoughts float towards Pepsi.
On a whim, I grabbed Gator Girl off of my wall and painted, repainted and painted. Now I do think there is a limit of how much paint a girl can wear. I pushed that limit.
Gator Girl
I am happy with her sexy new look and her new hair style. I have always loved the painting except her expression. I used Effy Wild’s beautiful lips as an inspiration. (Thanks, Effy.) I still have a little skin tone to work out… maybe. Maybe I am happy. I hope she is still your favorite painting, Stacy.
I might also be finished with the Mermaid. I struggled with having the tail be a little camouflaged in the water or popping. I decided her tail should blend in. The blending is probably why we rarely see Mermaids.
Mermaid
Maggie thinks she needs a shell painted over her breast, but loves her tiara. I like to talk with Maggie, because we can discuss what Mermaids really wear.
I painted all day, every day this week because next week is the beginning of company coming to New Orleans. House guests will taper off sometime in June. It will be a blast.
And if you are worried that we are full up, just let that thought go. There is always room for you.
I feel so happy to be back in the land of the living. A virus had me in its terrible jaws.
Let me begin with the miracles.
#1 The mission of NOLA Fusion is to help out small businesses in New Orleans by sharing information. Gator Girl Art is their featured business for March! The miracle part is that I sent them my information and the VERY next day… featured.
#2 Three of my paintings are hanging at UrbanRoots…visibly hanging, visible to the public.
#3 Last month, I wrote that it would be nice if someone came to my house and bought a painting. I was feeling a little frustrated at the time because I didn’t know where I wanted to sell my paintings or how to make it happen. Yesterday, a couple driving from California to Florida, stopped by my house and bought a painting. Seriously.
The couple bought Making Amends.
I think letting go of makingit all happen versus letting it happen is the key. I think when you hold too tightly to the outcome of anything, you impede the outcome.
I have a more complete painting of Dream Little Chief.
Dream Little Chief
I started a new painting. Step One.
The Beginning
I am pretty excited about the first two days of this week and extremely grateful for money to keep my dream afloat.
I am a little in the “is Mardi Gras over already?” and “really, 2 months until Jazz Fest?” slump. It is like when you are a child and you are first able to realize that on December 25th, Christmas is 364 days away.
It also feels like a time of introspection and I am not as excited to put myself out in the world right now. It would be perfect if someone wanted to stop by my house and buy art.
I am just going to sit tight and wait until the ebb of life turns to flow.
Today, I am sharing the steps of my most recent painting. I was going to blog when it was completely done, but the feathers are taking a while.
First
Step one: adding a little color. Spraying it with water and blending. I love this part where I set my intentions for the art.
gel medium
Next, I textured it with gel medium and scraped it with a credit card. I wanted to make some raised squares like an Indian blanket.
Warrior Heart
I liked this part of the background, so I saved it for his heart area. It looks like dreaming and passion.
War Paint
I used my fingers and thick white paint to make the war paint.
sanding
I made feathers with gel medium and painted them many, many times… still unhappy with how they looked. My genius sister suggested I sand the feathers to blend them into the background and make them feathery thin.
Dream
I wrote the title with my finger and thick white paint.
Eye Brow
I added a close-up of his eyebrow because I love it.
My husband, David, is marching on Saint Joseph’s Day in the French Quarter with the Italian American Marching Club. Since I will be in the Quarter on St. Joseph’s Day, I will have another chance to see a Big Chief.
One more thing… I am really hoping two women look like the couple that I painted entitled “Justice” (even a bit). If so, please send me a photo at nancy@gatorgirlart.com. I will send you a super nice print.
Happy Super Bowl Sunday! We have the honor of hosting the game here in New Orleans. It is still pre-game and everyone is happy.
I completed Justice.
Justice
I don’t know how the idea for a painting comes to me. It must be a muse. I just have a flash of an idea and I need to get it on canvas. I do not know any two women who look like these women. For the life of me, I could not get the dark-haired woman on the right to smile. Maybe she is a bit upset with our government.
I am also upset with our government. I choose to remain hopeful. I believe in the wise words of Theodore Parker, “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
Now the fun part.
If you and your partner look like these women, send a photo to me, nancy@gatorgirlart.com and I will send you a print. I really hope to see a photo or 10.
The only thing that I put on my board last year that didn’t materialize is NOLA Groundswell. We had some interest. We almost received a grant, but nothing concrete yet. I sent a letter off to the Internal Revenue Service yesterday asking for approval of our non-profit status. It has been over a year since our request, including a $400 fee for the government to consider our request.
Magnificent Maggie helped me. It is the same cardboard. New duct tape. New bristol paper.
The pink and orange glitter are the Pussyfooter colors.
2013 Vision BoardMy word for the year.
Physically visible in my fishnets and feathers on St. Charles. Gator Girl Art visible in a gallery in the French Quarter. I will keep you posted on whatever else decides to be visible.
The year of the snake.
I swear, this snake just turned up exactly like this when I used a brayer with green paint over dried white paint and glitter. I added the eyes and nostrils. I wish you could see the scales.
In one of my We’Moon calendars, I cut out a piece about snake medicine.
Snake medicine is with us.
We can pretend our skin is not shedding,
we can attempt to remain underground, curled up and quaking,
we can refuse to digest our life and suffer indigestion.
Or we can embrace the magic of our transmutation–
Chew on our life, swallow and savor it,
Slither out of our skin and leap out of ruts with passion,
Swirl into new experiences and dance,
Then feel the sun on our skin and dream.
–Gloria Rohlfs 2011
GGA in a gallery.
OK. I said it. Words are powerful.
AffirmationsMy favorite.
Maggie wrote “izmot”. She might have meant “tomzi” I asked her what it meant and she said, “Good Luck, happy celebrations, and love.” I couldn’t have said it any better. Isn’t that what everyone wants?
Happy New Year to y’all.
With abundant love, an open heart, and shedding skin,
Carnival is upon us. 7 days until I sashay down St. Charles with the Pussyfooters. I am so lucky to be a part of this fabulous group of women.
Today, I am sharing a process. I painted this on Bristol paper. It was a little frustrating for me because I usually paint, paint again, paint over… I had to be a little more gentle with the paper. There are aspects that I like, and things I want to change.
I am painting a version of this same idea on a canvas.
Justice in Progress
What I wanted originally were hearts. It is a painting about love and our justice system. The new painting is making me happy with so many hearts. You might not see any hearts in the completed painting. It is important that they are there. I especially like the heart that the two women make with their bodies.
I found this quote, “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” —Theodore Parker. Mr. Parker was an abolitionist who lived and died in the 19th century. I think he would be honored to be a proponent of marriage equality.
I will somehow put his quote on the painting. Right now, I am imagining it written on the arc of the rainbow.
I just wanted to check in. I don’t like to miss a week.
Next time I post, it will be my vision board for 2013. Miss Maggie is helping me with it. Her words are perfect.
I feel like I am finally back after the holidays and the flu. It might seem like a crazy thing to say, but being ill and sleeping 12 hours a day, does give a person time to reflect.
My word for 2013 is VISIBILITY. This word by itself might have thrown me back in bed for a few days. I plan on making my art visible to the public. I am thinking restaurants and a gallery. On the first of January, I was totally freaked out by this word until I realized 2013 is a whole year. I am currently making myself visible in my fish nets and corset. Pussyfooters is turning out to be a fun way to give back to the community. We make events sparkly and pink.
Orpheus 13th Night
I found out at this event that the Pussyfooter women are totally nice. After this picture Miss Camille and Miss Becky tightened my corset until I looked like Miss Scarlet (in my mind). I was grateful. I had no idea you weren’t suppose to breathe.
I am nearly finished with Shotgun Angel.
The first thing I did was spray the canvas with Ink Spray Dylusions London Blue. If you want to try this, it gives a nice continuity to the painting, but be forewarned, the blue bleeds through as many layers of paint that you put on. At some point you might want to stop the bleed by painting some parts in clear gesso. Otherwise, your yellow house will keep turning green.
Next, I dropped paint on the background, straight from the bottle: white, yellow and purple. Then I sprayed alcohol on the paint drops and walked away.
I put layers of paint, drops of paint, sprayed more alcohol until I liked the background.
I drew the wings on the painting with white chalk. Then I laid the cellophane on top of the chalk outline. I drew the wings on the cellophane with a black sharpie a little bit bigger than what I wanted.
I painted her wings by spraying a mixture of glue, Pearl Ex violet powder, and alcohol on the underside for sparkle. I learned this from Bonnie Rose Bryan on Lifebook 2012. On the front of the wings, I painted featherish stuff with Golden Acrylic Titanium White. As an added bonus, the cellophane glows in the dark. Cellophane adds just the right amount of transparency for wings and lays totally flat.
I cut the wings out mostly inside the black lines. They are adhered with Golden Gel Medium.
When I look at the photo of my painting, I don’t like her dress outlined in white.
I do love how the stoops turned out.
I had to resist adding tiny details like birds and cats.
I am planning to frame this in old wood from an old shotgun house.
If there is anything that I left out, that you would like to know… just ask.
Shotgun Angel
I was listening to Billie Holliday Pandora when I painted this. The angel must have been listening, too.
I have my next painting in mind. It is a political statement.
Thanks for checking out my blog. It makes me feel grounded and happy to connect with you.
Gator Girl Art 