Uncategorized – Page 2 – Gator Girl Art

Ten More Paintings

Posted on February 10, 2020 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I have completed twenty paintings for the Children’s Hospital!

The process of these ten paintings (11-20) have been a balance between what I want to paint and what I think the committee will like. I felt pretty sure of myself while painting the first 10. Then, some of the paintings were returned. That had never happened to me before. Originally, I was asked to paint diverse people and happy paintings. When the paintings were returned, I was asked to change the skin color on all of the children that I painted to rainbow colors. I tried to do this to make everyone happy. I changed some of the paintings, but it wasn’t feeling like my art.

I am feeling a little insecure and that makes it harder to paint. For the last 10, I need to paint what I want within the new parameters and not stress about it. So far, I painted a shotgun house and am working on a rainbow colored tween. I started to miss painting faces so much.

Here are 8 of the next ten. I accidentally erased Einstein Alpaca and The Bee. I especially liked the alpaca.

The manatee is my favorite!

Warmest Regards,

Gator Girl

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Functional Art

Posted on September 6, 2019 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I have to say, I do miss the California coast when it is in the humid high 90’s in September in New Orleans… no rain in sight.

The porch table at the camp is finally damaged so much that we need a table cloth to play cards. I had a piece of wood left over from a project that is too heavy to hang on the wall. It was just the right size to replace the damaged table.

This is an aerial view of our camp on the Pearl River.

Here are the stages of the painting…

I sealed the new table top twice with Marine Coat. We are going to clamp it on with liquid nails.

The river is changing course and taking lots of our bank. I am still hopeful that someone will buy the camp and move the cabins back before they fall in the river. It is really lovely there. The cabins are adorable.

We buried St. Joseph upside down, facing the cabins. I was sure this would do the trick and sell the camp. Maybe it will.

I am back to painting wall art. On the 18 x 36″ canvas right now is the beginning of a dog with a chicken on it’s head. One of my favorite themes is an animal riding on an animal. I don’t know why.

I hope wherever you live you are safe from climate change. I hope you are enjoying your life. I hope the best is yet to come.

Hopefully yours,

Gator Girl

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I love resin. Me encanta Puerto Rico.

Posted on August 1, 2019 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I love resin!

I have been back to my encaustic and resin combo. Encaustic art has been around for thousands of years. There are so many ways to do it. I tried to look for a video to show you, but it was too hard to narrow it down. Encaustic is painting with wax and fusing the wax with heat. I am a beginner. First I paint the subject and background with acrylic paints. For the wax painting, I use an electric skillet, encaustic wax, paint brushes and a heat gun. The tricky part is getting the wax down before it cools. It takes a little more patience than I have.

I was very happy with my magnolia countertop, so I thought I would try a crab. The crab was a little less forgiving than a flower. The crab needed me to stay in the lines.

I like encaustic painting, but I love it after a resin pour. It looks so shiny and 3D.

This is my crab in the middle of my wax painting.

You can see the layers of wax build up.

This is after the resin pour.

It is hard to show resin on the computer. Trust me, it is smooth and shiny now.

I also did a small magnolia.

This magnolia was the prototype for my counter top. I let the edges get a little more melty than the crabs edges.

Me encanta Puerto Rico

My daughter’s significant other is working in Puerto Rico. She invited us to share their Air BnB in Old San Juan. We were lucky to see the beginning of the demonstration to remove the governor. There was lots of banging of pots and pans and lots of singing. It was an every night, growing, demonstration… much louder and more persistent than I’ve witnessed in the states. The protestors were nice people.

The first photo is the beginning of the tear gas. The second photo is tear gas and small fires in the street. The third photo is the clean up in the morning. By 9:00 am you couldn’t see any sign of the demonstration. All of the graffiti was painted over and the street was washed clean.

Their corrupt governor was removed. Power to the people.

July looks so exciting.

My best to you all. Loving wishes for whatever you are dreaming.

Gator Girl

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Small Plate

Posted on July 19, 2019July 18, 2019 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

The heat index is well over 100 degrees today. I’m trying to stay hydrated and indoors. I finished my blue crab painting today. David took the photo at our Mother’s Day crab boil. I added the plate and table cloth. This one has already been dinner.

This painting was only suppose to be practice for my encaustic crab. It turns out that I like it quite a bit. I put some embellishments on the plate with molding paste. I thought it would give the painting some texture and interest. I think I could have used just paint.

It is kind of fun to add molding paste. While it is wet, you can just scrape it off with a credit card or pallet knife. After it dries, it is hard as nails.

I like this version of the painting, too. I almost left it blocked out. I am happy I added the plate shadows and the table cloth. I stenciled the table cloth on with just paint.

This is the final painting.

I hope this summer finds you well. Try to stay cool. It’s OK to rest and take some time for yourself however you can manage that.

Love to everyone,

Gator Girl

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My Queen, a Wedding Gift

Posted on March 28, 2019March 28, 2019 by gatorgirlart

Hi y’all!

I hope this blog finds you well.

We have been fixing up my daughter and her fiancée’s back yard because people are coming into town for their wedding in a couple of weeks. They asked me to make a new table top for an old iron table. I love to paint furniture. And I extra love using resin. It makes everything so shiny and hard. My beer garden table that I resined two years ago still looks good in impossible Louisiana weather. The only downside of resin is the weight. It gets especially heavy if you try to encapsulate something, even glitter, that requires more than one pour.

They let me paint anything I wanted. That is my best kind of commission. I painted two birds that look like Katy and Gen. I put crowns on both of the women so they could both be queens. I took the photo before I poured the resin, because resin has too much reflection. The finished table is much shinier.

Someone is reading the poem, The Queen, by Pablo Neruda at the wedding. It is a beautiful poem. That is why the birds are queens.

I hope they like it.

My unending love,

Gator Girl

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Her Halo

Posted on January 11, 2019January 11, 2019 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I was recently inspired by the words of Reda Rackley. I don’t know Reda in person. We are Facebook friends. She is also and artist. She wrote, “She took off her halo and wore it as a necklace.”

I have permission to use Reda’s words in my art.

I might have painted her too quickly because I felt I had to get her down on canvas. She reminds me of the recently elected women to Congress. I was also thinking of the powerful women’s march this year. That was before it was cancelled in New Orleans.

I like her urban-ness, her basic black, her deadpan stare. Her halo looks like glittery barbed wire.

She is not listed for sale anywhere. I will send her to you for $200 + shipping if you would like to have her around to inspire you in these tenuous times.
She is 16 x 20 inches, acrylic, glitter, varnish on canvas. You can email me at gatorgirlart@gmail.com.

Remember history like your life depends on it.

In strength and numbers,

Gator Girl

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Yemaya

Posted on December 27, 2018 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

This is my most recent painting. Yemaya, Goddess of the Ocean and the New Year. Click on the link and read all about her.

The Pussyfooters were invited to a Second Line and ceremony for Yemaya about 2 months ago (Fresh Johnson narrates the Second Line video and is a Pussyfooter). This was the first I had heard of Yemaya. We raised money by selling raffle tickets. It was the kind of raffle where you split the pot. Part of the money went for our police escort. You need to have a permit and police to close the streets for the Second Line. Part of the money went for the brass band. Part of the money went for women in Orleans Parish Prison who cannot post bail. Sometimes a woman is sent to the prison because of a traffic ticket that she cannot pay. She doesn’t have any money for bail, her kids are put in foster care, she loses her job, and she waits. Part of the money goes to the lucky winner whose name is drawn. In this case the lucky winner put her winnings in with the bail money. We raised $800.

We had a Second Line to the river where the leader said a beautiful prayer to Yemaya and made offerings of fruit. Eli Mergel took photos.

I wanted to paint Yemaya immediately. I love to paint women. I also like a goddess. I am donating the original painting to the raffle table at Blush Ball. Blush Ball is where the Pussyfooters raise the most money. Anyone can go to the Blush Ball. It costs $40 or $60 a ticket. With the $60 ticket you get in an hour early and drink for free for that hour. It is really fun. The Pussyfooters perform. There is a band and a DJ. And a raffle table where you will find an original Yemaya.

FYI, the Pussyfooters raise money all year for women and children. We usually raise between $20,000 and $30,000 in the year.

That took a lot of words to share my painting. I hope you like her.

Sincerely trying my best,

Gator Girl

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Dog Days of Summer

Posted on July 26, 2018 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I hope you are having a good summer. I heard that someone, somewhere is enjoying a soft cool breeze. That would sure be nice.

I am trying out painting with oil paints. I have been painting with acrylic paints for about 15 years. My limited experience with oil painting has been very different from acrylic painting.

I tried painting a beagle in oil paint. I saw a cute photo on Instagram that my daughter’s friend posted. He said his dog was “throwing shade at the dog park”. I loved the phrase. So this is Remington in oil.

I had an idea to paint another beagle in acrylic paint to compare my experience. My sister-in-law has a beagle that she loves. I asked her to send me two or three photos. So this is Buddy in acrylic paint.

It was challenging to paint with oil. The good news is that it stays wet a long time. The bad news is it stays wet for a long time. I just walked into the studio in my street clothes and got paint on my shirt.

With oil there are a few days between coats. I tried adding Gamblin Cold Wax Medium to give the paint more thickness. I liked how the brush strokes were more apparent… like dog hair. I tried adding Gamblin Galkyd Lite to make the paint dry faster. It also thins the paint. I used Galkyd mixed with the paint when I painted Remy’s eyes. It is harder for me to achieve detail with oil.

Because the oil paints stay wet, I put my hand on the painting and did a lot of smearing. I waited until the paint dried and fixed the smears (many times).

What I really love is the brightness and richness of the oil paint.

I feel comfortable with acrylic paints. They suit my impatience. I have experience with the mediums I can use with acrylic paint to achieve what I want. I used Golden Extra Heavy Molding paste to make raised letters on the dog blanket. It took about the same time to complete each painting. They look very different. Buddy has many layers of different colors. Remmy is striking. He reminds me of a super hero.

My analysis is… I will use the paint that will achieve the affects I desire. I am not giving up on oil paint too soon.

If you have any thoughts on oil vs acrylic paint. I would love to hear them.

Practice makes perfect (or not).

Summer dreams,

Gator Girl

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Cool Cat

Posted on April 12, 2018April 12, 2018 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

It’s a beautiful day here in New Orleans. Just a quick post to share the companion piece to James Booker. Cool Cat.

Cool Cat is 16 x 20 inches. I used the same color pallet as for James Booker, but went heavier on the reds and yellows.

James Booker is much larger at 30 x 40 inches.

Tonight is the opening for Art of Flavor at the Old No. 77. It is beautiful there. The Old No. 77 is a restaurant, bar, hotel and gallery. Where Y’Art and the Old No. 77 do a top-notch job putting it all together. Nina Compton, Chef at Compère Lapin and Abigail Gullo, bartender at Compère Lapin are curating. I’m excited.

Flamingo Madness and Counting Her Chickens were chosen to be in the show.

Counting Her Chickens as They Hatch

Loving all y’all,

Gator Girl

Mardi Gras Indians, Uncategorized

Big Chief David Montana

Posted on March 15, 2018March 16, 2018 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

It has been pretty fabulous at Gator Girl Art lately. I will tell you this one tale…

I was at my agent, Derrick Hemphill’s house. (Cool, huh?) He was having an open house to introduce his huge, new printer. While I was there, I asked Derrick if he could get permission for me to paint a Mardi Gras Indian. He knows a lot of people and he grew up in the Treme.

Right away, he asked his mother to go down stairs and get Big Chief David Montana. This threw me right out of my comfort zone. I never thought of painting a Big Chief. He came upstairs and he agreed to let me to paint him. I also, got to see his house, the suit he is working on, and lots of photos.

This is all so cool. Google him. He’s famous.

I chose to paint him in a pink suit. He let me borrow a reference photo.

So, I haven’t yet continued with my New Orleans Musician series. I still have several large canvases gessoed in black and ready to go.

I started on a 30 x 40 inch canvas. I painted the border in Golden Alizarin Crimson. Then I painted the entire canvas, including the border in Old Holland Iridescent Carmine. It is a vivid crimson… a beautiful pink.

Here is the finished painting (as far as I know).

It is a little tilted on purpose. I was worried about all of the little feathers, but they turned out really fun to paint. I used a fan brush and loaded it with three colors of pink. I used The Chief as the light source. I am a little proud of that idea.

Here it is. I did my best. I feel lucky.

With all my heart,

Gator Girl