Gator Girl – Page 4 – Gator Girl Art

Prince and My Latest Paintings

Posted on May 12, 2016 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all,

I am pretty excited. I had a custom order for a portrait painting of Prince. I was finishing Big Freedia when I received the request. I am still a little hesitant painting real people. I want the subject to like their painting and see themselves in it. Maybe this is just unreasonable. Musicians keep coming up in different ways, so I am going with it.

After I see how big their eyes, nose, ears and mouth are, what shape, how spaced from each other, etc . . . I can just paint what I want.

Anyway, I painted two versions of Prince. I told her to pick one if she was happy with it. She wants both! This is the same person who bought Shotgun Angel. I am so happy that she likes them.

Prince 2 Prince

I told her that I would frame them. I think the framing is going really well, but I am on hold waiting for the photographer. I need the paintings here to finish the frames. Framing is a process for me. It seems that every time something is challenging, I can use that information later. I upgraded my miter saw blade from 40 to 84. The numbers are the size and closeness of the teeth. Because this is new wood, I want the edges to fit smoothly together.

If it sounds like I know what I am talking about, that’s good. 🙂

I planned on only talking about Prince, but I noticed that Paw Paw Gator (aka Grandpa Gator) has never been on-line. I decided to put my last batch of paintings in this blog. This is almost a year of painting, maybe 10 months. They are different sizes and different prices. I have prints for everything. I keep 11 x 14 in stock. Shop Etsy or Where Y’Art.

Down the Road in Violet

The Kiss

Moonlit Walk

Paw Paw Gator

The Holiday

Rollergirls

Ballerina

Gator Ballerina

Big Freedia, the Queen of Bounce

Smoking Rabbit

Shotgun Angel’s Sister

Until next time all y’all,

And good night sweet Prince. May you live on in your music,

Gator Girl

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Queen of Bounce

Posted on May 5, 2016 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

We just had Jazz Fest in New Orleans. It is a pretty amazing experience with incredible music, delicious food and quality art. Most people talk about Music or Music and Food. I am there #1 for the art. I go one day each weekend, when it isn’t as crowded (not Saturday or Sunday) to see the art. The food vendors are there both weekends, but the artists change. When I need to rest, I stop in and listen to some music. I am pretty sure I am in the minority on this.

Jazz Fest the second weekend was pretty wet.

I am just about finished with the Queen of Bounce aka Big Freedia (pronounced Free-da) I ordered 2 jewels for her crown, amethyst and amber. I am nervous painting a living artist because I really want Big Freedia to relate to and like my painting. I will probably never know.

I choose Big Freedia because I was part of the Guinness Book of World Records for Twerking in 2014.

I woke up one morning and told my family that I had a dream that I needed to help Big Freedia win the twerking world record. My daughter said, I could still participate because it hadn’t happened yet. It was scheduled for later that day or the next day. Surprising everyone, including myself, I went. I am not sure if they counted my sweet darlin’ and me in the final number because you had to be continuously twerking correctly. Fortunately there is no video of that.

Big Freedia was the star of that contest. She is beautiful and her personality is bigger than the sky.

To read Freedia’s background in a snapshot… I found a lot of information on Wikipedia.

Right now, I am painting two paintings of Prince. He had so many looks in all the years he performed, I didn’t want to narrow it down to one. Prince is a commission painting. The same people who bought Shotgun Angel asked me to paint Prince. I am going to show them both of the paintings and they can choose one if they like it. I don’t take money for commissions until after they see the finished painting. Maybe they had a different idea. I don’t want them stuck with something they don’t love.

I’m back to the easel. See ya later alligator,

With a heart full of love,

Gator Girl

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Meet Gator Girl

Posted on April 14, 2016 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

You probably know me, unless you just started following my blog. Either way, I put together a video of my porch, studio and me. I am using the video in my Etsy Shop. I love feeling like I have a “Shop” and not just a house. I am sometimes in a gallery with Where Y’Art and lately my paintings are hanging out (get it?) at Baldwin, Haspel, Burke & Mayer, a law firm in the Central Business District. Those paintings in the law offices have a better view than I do. By far. They are on the 36th floor and have a view of the bend in the river and the bridge to the west bank.

Many of my paintings are at my house. You are welcome to come by.

Spring has sprung in New Orleans. Jazz Fest is around the corner.

Feeling the love,

Gator Girl

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Living in New Orleans

Posted on April 7, 2016April 7, 2016 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

Often, I wonder why everyone doesn’t live in New Orleans. New Orleans is the only place I have lived where I have to choose between (often free) things to do. If you live here, you have to turn down parties, festivals, second lines… because you can’t be in two or three places at once.

I am not ordinarily a party girl, sometimes I choose to stay home all weekend and paint. Those times, it is nice that my sweet darlin’ has something to do.

Last weekend several tribes of Mardi Gras Indians were putting on their suits at Bayou St. John in preparation for parading. I am not a big fan of crowds, but I am a big fan of the Mardi Gras Indians. What? No crowds! Mardi Gras Indians are the coolest thing in the city. I thought there wold be huge crowds.

I made a video of the photos David and I took to show y’all.

Until later, alligator!

Gator Girl

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If your rabbit doesn’t smoke…

Posted on March 11, 2016 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

Spring is upon us and I am here with a public service announcement.

If your rabbit doesn’t smoke, it will have a life expectancy of 9 years (or more). If you are thinking about buying a cute little bunny for Easter, there are some things you need to consider.

They are complex psychologically.

A rabbit is prey. You need to be careful where you pet him or her. If you grab him from his back legs, it will frighten the rabbit. This is not a good first pet for a small child.

They live an average of 9 years. They live longer if they 1. Don’t smoke 2. live indoors 3. see their vet annually and when ill.

So far this is sounding like a commitment you would make to a dog or cat. Pretty big decision.

They like company. 2 rabbits are happier than one.

They like to chew. You will need to put the electrical cords out of reach and baby-proof the receptacles.

If-your-rabbit-doesn't-smoke

This is my rabbit, who does smoke. Unfortunately, his life expectancy is 7.8 years. I have tried to reason with him, but like I said… complex.

He is a fan of Van Gogh and decorated his house to immolate the famous painting. Hanging in the frame is a pair of rabbits in love. They do like a partner.

He is suspicious. I think this might have something to do with his possible exploitation at Easter, as well as his unfortunate position in the food chain.

If you still want to have a rabbit live with you, look at a shelter or rescue. Spay or neuter.

many_rabbits

A rabbit can have babies starting at 6 months old. She can become pregnant within minutes of giving birth. She can have a litter every 28-30 days. Breeding statistics by Dana Krempels, Ph.D.

Wow. Food for thought.

Gator Girl watching out for you and your Easter shopping decisions.

❤

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Billie Holiday didn’t have a sister.

Posted on February 26, 2016 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

Billie Holiday didn’t have a sister, but if she had one, it would have made her life easier in my opinion. She had a tough time. If being born a black woman in America in 1915 wasn’t hard enough. Her parents were 13 and 15 years old. She worked as a prostitute before she was 14 and died at 44.

I found this out when I was looking to see what Billie Holiday’s sister looked like. No sister.

However, Shotgun Angel does have a sister.

I am painting Shotgun Angel’s Sister for someone who wanted the already in a private collection, Shotgun Angel.

I emailed the owners of Shotgun Angel and asked if they would mind if I painted sequel painting. They were very nice and said congratulations on the commission and please name it something else and change it up a little. I felt free to go ahead and am totally enjoying the sister idea.

My commission guarantee is… if you like it when I’m done, you can buy it at our agreed on price. (I hope they like it.) I painted this for 7 days straight. “Honey, can you make dinner?” I wanted to get it into the group of paintings that were photographed yesterday.

Shotgun Angel's Sister frame wood — Shotgun Angel’s Sister frame wood

From now on I am going to pre-soak the wood for all frames. This wood seemed especially dirty, so I put it in the bathtub with Charlie’s Soap and Oxyclean for about 20 minutes before I scrubbed it. The wood came out looking beautiful.

I bought old skeleton keys on Etsy. I need to take a handle off of something else and add it to this frame.

She is almost complete.

This Easter bunny has a message for all y’all. Stay tuned and you will know what his important message is. He is standing to the side, so I can add the words.

We are between seasons now. Mardi Gras is over. And HANSEN’S SNO BLIZ OPENS TUESDAY! I don’t know anyone who is more excited about this than my sweet darlin’. “Pleeease, I know. Hansen’s opens Tuesday”.

My best regards to every one of you.

With light and love,

Gator Girl

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Gator Girl is Famous!

Posted on February 18, 2016 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

Not exactly my 15 minutes of fame, but a welcome surprise. My niece, Maggie, from California texted me to say she saw Accepting New Members in Apartment Therapy. You will probably love Apartment Therapy if you don’t already.

Someone from New Orleans bought the original Accepting New Members a couple of weeks ago. They saw it at Where Y’ Art.

Cat and Collin Co-Founders of Where Y'Art — Cat and Collin, Co-Founders of Where Y’Art

Watch a video about what these two women are doing! If you are an artist and/or a collector, you will want to check this out.

Thanks for listening. 🙂

With a loving, full heart,

Gator Girl

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Rollergirls

Posted on February 4, 2016February 4, 2016 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

Happy Mardi Gras! I would normally be working on a Mardi Gras painting because I am moved by the seasons… Mardi Gras, Crawfish, Snoballs and Football.

I wanted to finished Rollergirls for any roller derby fans.

I love roller derby. I wish I was brave and tough enough to skate like that. This painting is loosely modeled after the Big Easy Rollergirls. The floor in the painting is more like a gym floor, but their colors are black and gold. The crowd is very close to the players and the fans from both sides are dispersed throughout. I took some artist’s prerogative. The gator is the jammer. That is why she has a star on her helmet. The other team is trying to block our star player. It is just becoming apparent to the crowd that Ms Gator has a winning move.

Every time I came back to this painting, I wanted to change someone’s expression or skin color. The 15 spectators took more time to paint than the rollergirls. I am not really this patient unless I want to complete a vision.

Can you find Brad and Dellwen from Brad and Dellwen’s Flag Party on Magazine Street in the painting? (The photo is from NOLA.com) It is a mystery to me why I choose people to paint. Many of the spectators just have the attitude of people I know, they don’t represent them physically.

20160201_171255

I am going to the airport to pick up my friend from California for her first Mardi Gras! Muses rolls tonight! Muses is my favorite parade. I love that it is a women’s krewe. They have great throws and are generous. The Pussyfooters are dancing tonight, but I am going to be a spectator cheering my pink sisters on. I hope to see you on the Avenue.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Gator Girl

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Inktense

Posted on January 8, 2016January 8, 2016 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I hope you had a nice holiday. I know the experience differs between people and year to year. This year was a good year for our family.

In New Orleans, we are rushing into an early Mardi Gras. The Pussyfooter Blush Ball is a week from today and the parades start in January. I am at a loss to explain what Mardi Gras means to New Orleanians. I think it is something like God, family, Mardi Gras.

It was probably October when I started my Rollergirls painting. Faces are one of my favorite topics, so I thought I would paint a crowd behind the skaters. I hit a wall when I felt like it was never-ending. There are 15 people in the crowd, besides the main characters. I don’t know how people paint so small.

So I stopped.

I painted The Kiss. My favorite painting.

Then, I was struck by the sadness of the Holidays for the people who are alone, or broke, or sick. So I painted a holiday painting. I wanted the painting to be generically holiday and express mixed emotions. You will see it again next year on an e-card.

Here it is January, and I am back to Rollergirls.

I put different shades of skin-colors on my palate, aka paper plate, and worked all day on all the faces. I had to keep moving between faces so the paint on the canvas would dry, but my palate would not. Here I was, spritzing my palate with water and going face to face. And face to face.

I started using my charcoal pencils. I have white and black. I thought it would be great to have pencils that worked like charcoal with a fine point, but with lots of colors. I wanted to work on one face until I was happy with it. I started searching on-line.

Ta Da! I already owned the solution. Derwent Intense Pencils.

These pencils were suggested to me at one time, but I had never used them.

The pencils when dry are like bright, slightly creamy colored pencils. When you brush with water they work like ink and are permanent. When dry you can erase the pencil. I layered the colors before I added water and they mix themselves. I added white to lighten, or lifted the color off with a clean, wet brush.

With these pencils I can finish one face or at least work on one face until I want to move on. I am not tied to a palate of drying paint.

I am about half done with Rollergirls. I am not a fan of sharing unfinished work, but here it is.

I hope 2016 is a happy and healthy year for all y’all.

Thank you for reading my blog!

All my love,

Gator Girl

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A Vlog in a Blog or Epoxy Resin Arty Table Top

Posted on November 12, 2015November 12, 2015 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I made a pretty cool table top and I made a video of the process.

I have been thinking about editing videos for a long time. I like to watch instructional videos, so I bet you do, too.

This is my first attempt.

Here are the links to the things I found while making the table top that really work well. They are both on Amazon.

Foneso Tri-Pod/ Selfie Stick is 21.99 Prime Shipping. It holds my phone easily and securely. It also holds a Go Pro. it has a remote control.

Clear Epoxy Resin is 59.99 plus 9.49 shipping. This is a good price for a gallon. It costs more at Home Depot. 92% of the Amazon reviews give it 5 stars. I give it 5 stars. It has good directions and dries as clear and hard as glass. Measure carefully and keep the area as free from dust, hair and bugs as possible. Use a drop cloth.

The dragonfly painting is mine. The tiles are left over from a kitchen re-model.