My spiritual journey at the moment is working on trusting my intuition,listening to what is being said around me, including my dreams, and being grateful for everything. I have been cleaning, cleaning, cleaning in preparation for 2 weeks of fabulous company that starts arriving tomorrow morning. All the time being grateful for my furniture that I can dust, my floors that I can vacuum, and trying to be thankful for the toilets I can scrub. So far my spiritual plan is working like a charm.
Two new things are on the horizon. I donated The Heart of the Hurricane to the Easter Parade. They are raising money for music education in New Orleans. My sister met Miss Kitsy, who is in charge of the Easter Parade, on an airplane going to California. They hit it off and one thing led to another…
Heart of the Hurricane
My youngest daughter is going to start selling Gator Girl Art prints and cards on Etsy. It seems like a win-win situation. With Etsy I will be able to sell at a bargain price and Katy will handle the mailing and correspondence so I can paint. While I was listening, I heard “Etsy” from three different sources in one week. I am beyond excited about this.
If you want to check out another blog, I have been reading knowthesphere.wordpress.com. Jeremiah is insightful and pairs his insights with stories. He is a freelance writer living in upstate New York.
I put fine silver glitter on her veil to make it stand out more. I put red chunky glitter on her roses and gold metal finish on her gold tooth. She makes me very happy now. 2 coats of varnish insure her lasting beauty.
Mardi Gras Muse or as Maggie insists Maskatier Princess (named for her mask and partial tiara), is still in process. I played with both kids all day Friday and Saturday and it threw off my painting time in a good way.
Mardi Gras Muse in progress
I am having a lot of fun painting the muse. She is wild and entertaining. Her hair is a mixture of purple and pink paint in Golden Heavy Gel. I like the ridges. It gives her hair a thickness that mine has never achieved.
It seems like Spring has arrived in New Orleans, at least for today. It is a little chilly, but the sun is shining. We are having a crawfish boil in Audubon Park by the Mississippi River later today. I don’t think life gets much better.
Things have been super fun and exhausting here with our first Mardi Gras. I think on Sunday there were 7 or 8 parades. It was like hanging out in a tent village. The best part for me was the parade goers. Everyone was so friendly. There are special throws that you try to catch at certain parades. Maggie got a shoe at the Muses all decorated with glitter, David got a Zulu coconut, and Will Farrell gave Maggie and David a cow bell. Pretty awesome and free fun. Y’all will just have to come see for your self.
Mardi Gras ParadeAngie, NOPD and lots of ladders for the kids
This was walking distance from our house.
What I am sharing this week is the progression of 2 paintings that I am working on. You will have to use your imagination about what they are going to look like when I am finished or check in next week when I am done. The skeleton is finally coming along. I am going to call her La Femme Fatale. I went through a lot of names. I think it was because I started painting what I had in mind, but forgot to check in with her. A couple of names that she had for a while were Lasting Beauty and Haunting Beauty. Maggie wanted to name her “A field of Unicorns”. Apparently, the unicorns were invisible. I like La Femme Fatale because New Orleans has such a French influence and She is hanging out in the French Quarter around Mardi Gras. She is pretty fatale being beyond the flesh and blood stage of her life.
first skeleton picture
I decided that I didn’t like such small details, so I went larger.
2nd, Larger Picture
In the second picture, I am starting to like her here, but she has a long way to go.
La Femme Fatale Almost Finished
Fetching, I’d say, in a fatal way. Those are little crawfish fireflies in the street light, a small alligator playing a tambourine on her shoulder. She is now wearing a little hat with a veil that is so popular with the parade crowd. She had on a real Mardi Gras bead necklace, but I removed it for now. I may add it back in using an old glass bead throw that you can still catch once in a while. I put a net veil on the hat, but liked the permanence of a painted veil. I put little glitter fleur dis lis on her dress. This painting has been a labor. Some times things don’t come easily.
She is starting to look satisfied. I would say she’s almost finished.
I just want to introduce the painting I am having a lot of fun with. She is Mardi Gras Muse. If you want inspiration, paint a muse. They so love the attention.
Preparing the wood
I picked 3 colors: mars black, magenta and white. I painted these words on in gold: Mardi Gras feel the happy love. I added a big heart on the right and 2 little hearts on the left.
Mardi Gras Muse Blocked Out
I am just going to have fun with her. Lots of symbols, pictures and words in her hair. She will have plenty of bling on her mask and glitter on her tiara. I see her so clearly already.
I hope you check in next week to see the progress. Life in New Orleans is a dream come true.
What we found out during Mardi Gras is that it is not a sprint, it is a marathon, so pace yourself. There is a bit of life wisdom in that.
I am still not sure that this is a valid use of my time, but I am trusting the process.
Grace is Not
I like the part of journaling where I don’t have to worry about the longevity of my art. If the glue fails… whatever. And I can try new things like what I see Effy Wild and Tam Laporte create. BTW, they are both really fun to watch.
I find it interesting that I chose a word and I am still searching for the meaning of that word. Again, just trusting.
If you look closely, you can see I wrote “sharing what you have” and had to change it to “I“. LOL, that’s telling.
(I am in love with duct tape).
Flip Side of Grace Is
I layered the back page with prayers. I love to put a lot of intent into the page. I put some stamps that my Aunt Ruth gave me because at 93 she is still full of grace and remembers everyone with cards.
Now the best for last. Tonight is the parade of the Muses’s. I am pretty excited about that. Magpie dressed as a muse for preschool today.
She started adding some detail. Skeleton Jack is on the left and Sally is the pink one on the right. They are using a “contraction” to walk. They don’t have proper feet. On the bottom she put a strip of painter’s tape and then removed it after painting over the tape. She is painting flowers on that strip for Sally.
Skeleton Jack and Sally in ProgressMaggie Painting
You know how it feels when you think you are on the right track, when all the pieces in your life are just falling into place? I feel like that about our move to New Orleans. At my launch party two weeks ago, 2 paintings sold and I was asked to donate a print to the Pussy Footer’s Ball. My friends Heather and Mimi are each putting my name in the drawing for the opportunity to be chosen for the marching krewe.
The Blush Ball is an event for charity. They are raising money for the Metropolitan Center for Women and Children.
This is the painting that I donated for the raffle. I decided on a mixed media original designed for the Ball. I put my mother’s glasses on the person in the painting. I have always loved these glasses from the 50’s. I said “person” because she could be a woman or could be a drag queen. It just depends on how you see her. I love how paintings have their own intentions.
Queen of the Ball
One of the paintings that sold at the party is Eternal Love. Both paintings had to have emergency photos taken at the print shop. The turn around was too quick to have Dorka take the photos.
Eternal Love
These two happy campers are pushing up daisies. The semi-transparent butterflies are emissaries between worlds. I painted this with my husband, David in mind.
I hope that 2012 is starting off fabulously wonderful for y’all.
Mags is always wanting to collaborate with the painting I am working on, so we started a large canvas that we can paint together. We use my paints and my brushes for this painting. I am teaching her whatever I know and what probably always happens when you give away, you get back.
What I am getting is my memory. The memory of painting for the process. Of being totally sure of myself. Of being thrilled by the colors. Remembering non-judgement.
MMMM (Mini Mags My Mentor)
My thought for today… give away what you want. With love, Gator Girl
Gator Girl Art 