African American woman – Gator Girl Art

I call this style “Mine”.

Posted on August 10, 2013 by gatorgirlart

Good morning all y’all!

Glitter and Glam is complete. I think will paint a sequel that expresses the Pussyfooter party energy.

What I like about her the most is the use of real jewelry. Her necklace and earring were added after she was painted. The pearls are painted on and the jewel is from an earring. I sewed sequins on her dress. I ordered them from a majorette website, so they wouldn’t be the thin, flimsy kind. I definitely will sew on canvas again. What inspired me to paint this was this beautiful color, Old Holland Iridescent Carmin. I used this color throughout, adding white, orange, black, brown or whatever to change it up.

I framed “I am enough”. She is suspended with eye hooks and copper wire just inside the frame. My sister made the clay embellishments along the top.

My new painting is on wood. I put three coats of Gesso on the wood, two white coats and one black. If you skimp on the Gesso, it makes it harder to paint. Wood without Gesso, or not enough Gesso, grabs the paint and makes it difficult to spread and mix with other colors.

This painting is called, “That’s what friends are for.” I had the song running through my head while I was painting. Something like, “In good times and oil spills, I’ll be on your side forever more…”

If anyone can make the words flow with oil spill better, I would love to hear from you.

That's what friends are for. 4 or so hours in. — That’s what friends are for. 4 or so hours in.

FYI, there are thirty species of turtles, tortoises and terrapins in Louisiana. See, not just bugs.

Although we do have stinging caterpillars that drop out of trees making August even more enjoyable. They are deceivingly cute.

Maggie made this cool picture.

On the left is Paw Paw’s house. On the right is my more beautiful house (my words). In between is a river and Paw Paw in a kayak coming to see me. The window at the top left of my house is open, so I can watch him coming. I totally love this painting/ idea. Frida Kahlo lived in a similar style. Diego and Frida had separate houses with a walkway across. I am thinking that this would be an idea women would favor and men not so much. Maybe we should take a poll.

Wishing you all a happy day.

love,

Gator Girl

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Let it begin with me.

Posted on September 14, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all! It’s Friday in September.

My mind is on a theme that is creating power within me. I want to paint about change. My reoccurring thought is… Why can’t things be better? Why should anybody go to bed hungry? Why do innocent people die in the name of war every day? Why don’t we stand up for health care and be our own advocates for our own bodies?

I am working on a new painting. I tried sketching out what I wanted to paint instead of diving right in, but I had just as many start-overs (3). This painting is a fair-skinned woman with ginger hair. Weirdly, I had a lot of trouble yesterday thinking of white women as soulful and wise. I shouldn’t even say this, but women of color come easier for me. So… I started listing in my mind the 100’s of soulful and wise women I know. I chose one strong and intelligent woman I admire to loosely model my painting after. Now I am over-the-top in love with the process.

I need to remember, and you might find this helpful… the time that seems wasted and unproductive is not ours to judge. I think the down time leading up to something is the time we need to process and see the signs, feel the intuition, and even wait for the materials to show up.

stand up in progress — Stand Up in progress

The words say, “The time I used to spend worrying about my image, I now spend in revolution. Stand up.” I don’t ever like red and blue, except to make purple, but it is what it wants to be.

I am painting over my original words in total, so they will be only there in spirit later on. The words that I am going to put on the painting I read in another blog called, “The Diary of Kitty Cavalier”. This is the link to Kitty’s website. The words are as follows:

When a woman chooses to source her truth from within her very bones, rather than looking to a set of rules outside of herself, she is truly wise. When she can stand up and speak a truth that is boiling up inside her no matter how big a risk it is to speak it, she is claiming her wild soul, perfect and untamed. When 5,000 years of conditioning is telling her that her way is wrong, but she decides right then and there that her way is right, and in fact, always has been, she is finally free.

Let it begin with me. is done. I like the muted look of the bee’s wax around the woman. I glazed her with varnish 3 times to make her shine and be safe from the dangers of the world.

I have 3 questions for you.

I might add another layer to the background to make the painting more uniform. What do you think?

Also, I am deciding if I want to sell prints and Giclee’s any more. I like the energy and the textures in the original paintings. What is driving me to continue selling reproductions is that I want people to have something affordable. Any thoughts? Do you think my Etsy prints are affordable?

Last, but not least, wise words from a 4 year old, “Nena, you might want to spend a long time on your paintings, but mine is done!” Wise beyond her years, she is already listening to her heart.

Wow. I feel like I can hardly breathe with excitement. Thanks for reading.

Until next time,

All of my love,

Gator Girl

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Imagine it and you can have it… in the tangible.

Posted on September 8, 2012September 8, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Good Morning all y’all!

Either my husband is so sweet or I am risking my marriage to write to you. Time will tell. It is our 28th anniversary today and he helped me to nail on the trim to a dresser that I am reclaiming and now I am blogging about the process.

About 2 weeks ago, I was looking for a dresser on Craig’s List and found the perfect one for $20 in Mid City. I didn’t have a car that day to pick it up. By the time David got home with the car, the dresser was gone. I thought, maybe I will find one closer and less expensive. I didn’t quite believe it. Then… last weekend, our neighbors moved out and put a cheap dresser on the curb. This dresser didn’t have the same quality as the one I saw on-line. But it made me happier, like getting a dog at a shelter happier. This dresser was going straight to a landfill. Besides being cheaply made, it was missing a drawer and the front of a drawer. To me this was perfect. I needed a flat place to store my prints instead of on the top of everything And I always need more general storage.

I painted the top, framed the open drawer with molding from the neighbor’s trash, bought two baskets at Target (exactly 17 inches deep) for a grand total of $30. This total does not include painting with Golden Acrylic paints. I couldn’t wait long enough to buy less expensive paint.

Furniture ariel view — Aerial View of Dresser

I saw the idea for putting baskets in place of the drawers on Pinterest.

I am not quite done with Let it be me. I am going to try something new (to me). I am going to paint melted bees-wax around the woman to soften the background. I tried painting something small with bee’s wax before, but not one of my paintings. Wish me luck. I really operate on a combination of luck and divine intervention.

This painting is representing the moment of surrender. The giving up of self to the greater power. Big step.

I am hoping to heal the world with painting. What are you hoping today?

Sincerely,

With all my heart,

Gator Girl

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Making Amends

Posted on July 28, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Good Afternoon all y’all,

It is almost August, if you can believe it. Exactly two weeks until our Gator Girl Art and Friends of Samuel Square Party. If you are in or around New Orleans, I hope you come by.

Angela and I sent our application in for a huge grant to improve Samuel Square. I have a good feeling about it. It is for $75,000 and their decision is between two parks. It might be good if you picture us at the ribbon cutting of the new playground.

Today, I am going to share the finished Making Amends. I chose the name because those were the words that refused to be covered.

Making Amends 1 — Making Amends Completed

I oiled and varnished the frame. I like the rich brown color. The wood is the top half of a door. The top hinge is still on the right. I couldn’t decide why the painting wasn’t finished for a while. Then I put the sun further back and voilà.

I feel like I know her.

I think he is going to do something special for the world.

I am getting some giclee’s made, framing a print, making a menu. It is exciting to have a party. My Aunt Grace is coming with three of her childhood girlfriends, so I already know it will be fun.

Until later,

You are always in my heart,

Gator Girl

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Life in Progress

Posted on April 20, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Good Morning all y’all!

I hope this Friday finds you well.

I need your help.

I am so excited about the painting that I am doing and am just waiting for some words to find me. I started looking for words and realized that I just need patience.

I started 2 new paintings this week. And the one I am going to show you is the one that grabbed me yesterday and I painted like fire all day.

I started out painting on an old canvas of MMMM’s from when she was one. It is 16 x 20 inches. I printed out mostly black and white photos of my past and applied them with Golden Gel. The pictures are a little random. I have my grandmother and parents which would be expected. But then I have a golden chipmunk from our cabin in Lake of the Woods, Oregon. The catholic church in Red Bluff, because I have wanted to be Catholic since I was 5 when my best friend Carol got to go to catechism classes on Saturday and I had to stay home.

I just went with my intuition and as you will see, it doesn’t matter in the end, because I cover it all up.

When I really got excited and couldn’t paint fast enough was when I saw this bubbly paper in my paper drawer and saw her hair. I cut it into strips, put it on with gel medium and voilà! I love it.

I painted her hair with my favorite Golden Mars Black. It is such a rich and mat color. She has a small nose, because in the beginning, she was a child.

I covered the pictures with paper. Some ripped and some cut with scissors.

The skin color is equal parts cadmium red and yellow oxide, with a little blue to make it a richer brown.

She is almost done. Just a little tending and she is waiting for words. You can see she is waiting expectantly.

And she is willing to make a deal.

If I use your words on the painting, I will send you a free print from my ETSY site.

With exuberant love and anxious expectancy,

Gator Girl