garden – Gator Girl Art

Good Morning all y’all!

Happy June! Today is a picture sharing day.

In the garden is finished. I might frame this, but I also like the purple edge. The girl has her hands full. She is balancing her friend on her head. Girls are creative and strong that way. She doesn’t mind getting her hair a little messed up.

Cathy and Dennis sent me this picture from their home in California. It makes me so happy to see them with the painting. (The nasty voice in my head is fearful of buyer’s remorse.) They said that Heidi from Parcels and Post wrapped it so well, it could have traveled around the world.

Cathy wrote…

I call the painting WAITING FOR MOSES.
I love what you said about it in your blog when you were painting her. As I remember you were trying to show her in an unhappy place as a slave who had a hard life picking cotton on a plantation, but with the hope of a brighter future for the baby she is holding. The darker side of the painting clearly says this to me and all the brightness is on the right side as the hoped for future. It fit so perfectly for me as I had read and talked with my 3rd graders over the years of Harriet Tubman that many slaves knew and called Moses for secrecy. They called her Moses because she made numerous trips south to lead her people north to freedom. Plantation owners placed a bounty for her dead or alive.

Thank you, Cathy for liking and buying Moses.

Maggie’s teacher at the JCC taught the kids so much about art and artists this year.

Apparently, 4 year olds are little sponges.

And the JCC teachers are awesome.

Maggie said, “I was dreaming that the unicorn and me were looking for a lost toy.

The unicorn was dreaming about going to the grocery.”

Now, what’s new with me… and then I will let you go.

Acrylic paint dropped on canvas with a lot of water.

Added Kosher salt. Let dry completely. Brushed off salt into the sink.

warm colors with cool blue

Painted intuitively, whimsically, with abandon. I used brushes, my fingers, more water and a little bit of ink.

I don’t know the end version of this painting. I am hoping a crow turns up… a whimsical crow… with a friend.

I have been busy painting a dresser and a chandelier. I will show you next week. They are both going in my studio, so I am just having fun with them.

Wishing you all a fabulous summer,

filled with good luck, happy celebrations, and love.

Gator Girl

Hi all y’all!

I am inspired today by a poem I found on-line. I decided to name my most recent painting after one of the lines. The poem is, “Be Strong. Be Confident. Be You.”~ Copyright: Tia Sparkles Singh, 2011. You can read it here. The line I borrowed is, “Stronger than you know.”

She was originally called, Born Hip". — She was originally called, “Born Hip”.

Maybe a third of the way finished here. It is a large canvas. 24 x 36 — She is, maybe, a third of the way finished here. It is a large canvas. 24 x 36

I don’t think I used any cool painting techniques that I haven’t written about before. This is the first time I painted a border on the canvas. I knew what I was painting when my hands touched the canvas, but not before. She wanted to wear all red, and not have any red elsewhere on the painting.

The background was red inside the border in the beginning, then I added white with a roller, then the teal with a brush.

I used Caran D’Ache water-soluble crayons for fun and for the crayony look. To make the crayons permanent, I used Golden spray varnish when I was completely done.

“Strength” was the only title I could hear.

The next painting is, “In The Garden”.

I am showing part of the easel so you can tell she is in progress. I was going to paint her with an “Oh my!” mouth, but Maggie said she is just giving her friend a ride on her head because her hands are full. I liked that better. I love chickens.

Raffi is beginning his 3 year old painting. — Raffi is beginning his 3-year-old painting.

His favorite color is blue. His next favorite is orange. His third favorite color is blue and orange.

My newest Gator Agent. This photo makes me laugh, because when she was teaching kindergarten, she dressed like this one day (without the mustache) and her students didn’t recognize her. I am thinking she is still incognito.