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Page 2, Momma

Hi all y’all,

Happy Holidays!

My work ethic is getting a boost. I paint every day now unless I am out of town.

Here is momma.

momma-for-blog

The New Orleans images are shrimp boots, vegetables that grow well here (eggplant, okra, tulips, creole tomatoes, a magnolia tree), dark Mississippi river soil, a Mardi Gras bead tree, and a shotgun house.

I wanted a garden like this. It seems like you need a lot of money in the city to buy a house with a big garden area. I fudged on this because this is a family with an average income.

Here is a photo of momma in progress.

momma-in-progress

I didn’t mess around too much with the composition this time. The neckline of her shirt was an accident. I wanted to tell myself when I came back to paint that I wanted the neckline smaller, so I used a paint pen to mark the new neckline. It reminded me of a burnout shirt, so I left it.

I am going to put a little more of her hair on her right cheek (left cheek to you) because it looks too big. The danger in that is that it is hard for me to put the brush down. I am usually changing another thing an hour later.

The challenge for me is that it takes me so long to paint. I think the author might get tired of waiting. Each page is a full on painting, so it does take a while. I hope I reconcile with this soon.

2016 has been a hard year for a lot of people. I hope you are doing alright.

Keep hanging in there.

All of my love,

Gator Girl

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized

The One Really, Really Important Rule About Painting

Hi all y’all,

I have been wanting to connect with y’all on-line, but the universe has been conspiring against me. Maybe it is all this retrograde talk or maybe my blog was just not ready to be birthed.

Crows on a wire has been a difficult painting.

#1 I painted a tree without really knowing how to paint a tree, so I painted the tree 20 times before I was happy with it.

#2 The question occurred, “Why are the crows dressing up?”

#3 “Why are they all wearing random costumes?”

I don’t usually paint with massive amounts of detail. I usually know basically where the painting is going. I am trying to just remain open.

I am getting to know these quirky birds.

I have a million women inside of me wanting to be painted. I do not know how the crows took precedent.

July 1st version of Crows on a Wire
July 1st version of Crows on a Wire

I love how the background showed up in the roof.

I now know the crows are dressing for Mardi Gras.

The 2 black capes on a black bird were getting lost. I tried something new with the judge’s robe. I colored the robe with a black oil pastel. Then I melted the pastel with a heat gun. I like the feeling and the denseness. On the vampire’s cape, I streaked silver ink, let it dry and colored in with black oil pastel. I am going to paint with acrylics on top of all that.

Magnificent Maggie, who I am certain is going to be the next Rodrigue, told me something interesting.

She said, “Nena, there is one really, really important rule you need to know about painting.”

I replied, “What is that, Mag Pie?”

“The one really, really important rule is to Never quit painting until you are happy with it.”

Seriously, words to live by.

Unabashedly in love with life,

Gator Girl

P. S. In my next blog you will see the finished Mardi Gras Crows, as well as a, hopefully, happy story about visiting Gaza Gaza.