angel – Gator Girl Art

Angel of Peace

Posted on October 6, 2016October 6, 2016 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I am feeling a little over-whelmed with what is going on in the world. I would probably be unaware of some of the underreported news if it weren’t for my Facebook friends. Like the pipeline protest in North Dakota, the pipeline spill in Georgia and Alabama, or photos of children killed in Syria. There are so many things happening at once that it’s hard to chose one thing to focus on… child sex trafficking, global warming, Hurricane Matthew, the election…

Here is an angel of peace in my attempt to bring love into the world. (After I see the painting online, I will probably add some shading here and there, a silver lining on the clouds, more green on the olive branch, but it is pretty done.)

I collaged the background in random paper to give myself time to think. I like the texture.

I wanted flowers somewhere in the painting, so I added them in the paper I used for her wings.

My favorite part is the transparent rainbow. I also like the abstract olive tree.

This is half way through. I was thinking of a woman looking up, but the angel adds more power. I woman might feel overwhelmed like me.

This is the sketching out. I had a shotgun house and a woman in mind for the painting. I needed more sky and less house. Sometimes the words under the paint are as important as the painting.

I hope your psyche is feeling balanced. I hope you will chose to do something good for our ailing world however small. It’s the only one we have.

With hope,

Gator Girl

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Baby, I got this.

Posted on July 26, 2013 by gatorgirlart

Hi All y’all,

Writing to you from the deep south in the deep summer, and loving it. My mother-in-law grew up here without air conditioning. I’m not sure I would be loving that.

The angel put on a white button up shirt. The painting is called, “Baby, I got this.” So please don’t worry about your problems. They are being handled on an angelic plane.

The angel is standing in the midst of many easily handled problems.

Note: In the south, “baby” is a term of endearment, containing no disrespect.

I started a painting of a Pussyfooter to give to the Blush Ball this year. Last year they raised 22,000 for the Metropolitan Center for Women and Children.

The painting is about half done.

A wig that I saw at Fifi Mahony’s in the French Quarter was my inspiration.

I am thinking about sewing sequins on her dress.

She is going to have lots of sparkle,

but first I need to love her and she is not quite there.

I am sure she is going to say something meaningful. We Pussyfooters are not just glam and sparkle. 🙂

I was the guest speaker on the Cosmic Cowgirl phone call last night. The Cowgirls asked me to tell my story, how I went from teaching children in California to New Orleans artist. It made me remember how dreams materialize. Seriously, it is pretty magical how things work out.

Maybe I will share my story with all y’all next week.

Wishing you happily ever after,

Gator Girl

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an Angel

Posted on July 13, 2013 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I hope this blog finds you in perfect health and enjoying the best life has to offer.

Today, I want to share my process of painting this angel.

I grabbed my favorite portrait size canvas, with all belief that I was going to paint a woman. The only mysteries that I was expecting to have revealed were her message, the color of her skin and hair, and her attitude.

I applied 8 to 10 layers of background. Sometimes, I think this step is too much, but I like the texture and depth it creates. Also, it is fun to experiment with colors and shapes that will most likely be covered by the subject.

I started painting and knew it was male.

Shocked in disbelief. I painted on some short hair. Not right.

I painted a skeleton. No again.

Zombie, walking dead? Not the message I was feeling.

I added wings. The fullness and redness of the lips increased. This is when I saw the androgynous angel appear.

This is the part of the painting where I fall in love. I am just sitting with this feeling for a couple of days.

Love is usually followed. Maybe always followed by the part where I think I have ruined it. Followed by feeling that I have given it my best and seeing the painting as completed. (I fall in love again, but not the love at first sight love.)

One thing I get about painting… Trust your instincts. Let go of control. The harder part is applying that philosophy to life.

Updates to follow.

We have a new family member. Desdemona was giving to us by friends who can’t take her on their move to Hawaii. It turns out that Desi is the perfect dog for us. She is 9 years old, playful, smart and independent.

36 pounds of joy.

We gave her a Mohawk for summer. She looks like a Disney wildebeest.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for supporting my dream.

Loving you,

Gator Girl

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Shotgun Angel framed!

Posted on April 7, 2013 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all,

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.

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.

If I am having a problem, I sometimes watch a YouTube tutorial.

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.

If you want to paint, paint.

It can save your soul.

It can save the world.

With ever-loving gratitude,

Gator Girl

P.S. It is OK to spend money on paint.

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Angel Appearing with Attitude

Posted on December 21, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

On a beautiful winter day and the longest night of the year, Happy Winter Solstice.

I am painting my favorite painting. It has all the elements that I love. It is definitely New Orleans and full of magic and attitude.

It is a little know fact that Shotgun houses have their own angel. When she appeared on my canvas, I immediately fell in love. She is going to have cool cellophane wings. The nice people at Rouse’s Market gave me a cellophane sleeve without buying the flowers.

Here is Alligator Bliss in progress.

The glitter paper on his leg shows through the glass, but you can’t tell what it is with the glass on top.

This is my finished Alligator Bliss. I tried building up the background with molding paste. It made the swamp grass look pretty cool. I wanted parts of the painting raised to balance the safety glass I used for scales. That is also why I put tile along the bottom.

Do you notice the yellow dotted paper on the alligator stomach? It is the same piece of paper I used on the curly hair of women. I am on the look out for another piece of bubble paper, now that I am hooked on its usefulness.

I made this little Christmas decoration for my daughter and her girlfriend. It is their dachshund with antlers and one of their rats. Cami, the dog, looks like a deer in headlights. The rat is quizzical. I painted it on a left-over piece of our dining room table.

Wishing you all the blessings of the season. Time for this gator girl to look over the past years events and make plans for 2013. Time sure does fly.

lovingly,

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