I was explaining to Maggie that it’s not summer yet. A difficult concept when it’s 90 degrees. My little poet said, “I don’t like it when the hot summer puts its heat into the cool spring air.” Word.
My friend, Julie, is coming to visit. She finished the school year teaching in California. I went back and counted the days we have had company on my calendar. Since Mardi Gras, Julie’s visit puts us at 54 days of house guests. When you live in New Orleans, the party comes to you.
I painted Nice Hair for pure fun. I love the two major colors. I think she looks like Kalinda on the Good Wife. I would have added a lot of jewelry, but she is all about her hair.
Nice Hair
This is day one of my Mardi Gras Indian. I am going to sew sequins on his outfit. I am not sure what his finished colors will be. I am thinking dreamy background.
Mardi Gras Indian roughed out, day 1
This is the access key pad for my studio. If you forget the code, it is underneath.
Access code for my studio
I am planning on finishing the Mardi Gras Indian this week. Julie is a painter, too, so she won’t mind.
Things are heating up around here. It is raining today, but the rest of the week will be dry and 90. (Weather √ ) My sweet darlin’ is barbecuing all day to acquire some kind of pink line in the meat that lets us know he did it perfectly. The barbecue is on auto pilot now while he takes Maggie and Riff Raff to the children’s library. (Next meal √ ). One of the reasons he is my sweet darlin’ is because he takes the kiddos out so I can talk to y’all.
Now, an art update.
I painted a picture of my oldest daughter in oil paints. I found some oil paints that clean up in soap and water. I felt like I wasted a day, but I learned that I hate oil paints. They are creamy and lovely to paint with, but the look is creamy. They take forever to dry. I am spoiled by how quickly acrylic paints dry and how bold they look. I had a thought in the back of my mind that when I was a real artist, I would paint in oils. I don’t know why I thought that. (No more oil paints √ )
Dislike oil paints.
I love the way the cowboy hat looks. I didn’t finish the painting. I knew I would never get it right with the oil paints. This is a small canvas, only 12 x 16 inches.
Covered with paper.
Because the paint was still damp the next day, I covered everything with paper. At the top, there is a Lucky Rooster coaster. Bottom right is a Juan’s Flying Burrito logo. Some bingo paper and little red dots because dots make me happy. Peaking out is my sister and her beau.
I am going to show you what I am painting, but it is still in progress. I photographed the paintings today on the easel, because I don’t like to see my unfinished paintings when I google something. I wonder if people think they are done.
Crow in progress.
I am half done with this. It is called Crow Talking to the Lucky Moon.
This turtle is also 12 x 16 inches. Pretty much half the size of my go-to canvas. I am going to make a frame for him.Maybe a few more wrinkles on his neck.
Turtle needs a frame.
I have a small problem with Nice Hair. Maggie wants to buy it. She has $20. When I finish her, I guess she is already sold. I might put some molding paste in her hair and for sure attach some antique embellishments. My plan is to paint flowers in her hair and a butterfly hovering.
Nice Hair, in progress.
I like the blue background. It reminds me of Tiffany blue.
Well, that’s all she wrote.
The kids are here all week. It is between school and summer camp.
In New Orleans, when we aren’t talking about our next meal, we’re talking about the weather. FYI, my next meal is coming from Juan’s Flying Burrito and the weather has been gorgeous for two weeks straight. 80’s, sunny and dry. My favorite weather is dry in the day and raining all night, but not when I am leaving my art all night in a tent on the bayou.
Duke, my sort of brother-in-law took some fabulous photos of Bayou Boogaloo. I think this will be a photo essay. I will include information for first time festers, which I am not one of. (Thankfully.)
Loading the festival truck
Loading the Prius for festival
Bringing out Walking to New Orleans
Setting up the tent
Unloading Festival Supplies
Festival Supplies
Posing in front of the tent
Ready for Fest, Day 1
bayou-side tents
This is the art side of the festival.
beautiful bayou
Gator Girl Art had exposure to the public. Lots of people came out. I sold a little over $1,000. My expenses were a little over a thousand dollars. I almost broke even. Yes, I would have liked to make some money. No, I am not giving up.
I signed up for Blues and Barbecue taking place in Lafayette Square in October.Jazz and Heritage will tell me soon if I have been accepted. You will be the first to know.
Walking to New Orleans seemed to be the crowd favorite.
My sort of brother-in-law bought it. Thank you, Duke.
In New Orleans, if you are selling in an arts district, there is no city or state tax on original art. The tax I had to pay is only on the $200 I made selling prints… $8. That’s cool, right?
I decided some things for the next festival. I am going to buy nice, white, mesh sides for my tent. They will be easier to transport and look professional. I am going to paint some smaller originals. I like originals better than prints. People who have a small space or limited finances will be able to buy an original. I am only going to take my originals and one size prints.
I made these cool presentation binders. One binder has all of my originals that are still for sale. One binder has all originals already in collections. I filled the binders with 8 x 10 prints. On the facing page is their story. I am going to take along the binders.
This has been an important week for Maggie. She graduated from kindergarten and turned 6!
Counting today, it’s 10 days until Bayou Boogaloo. Tent. Check. Art. Check. Yen for a new adventure. Check.
It is hard to prepare for something I have never done before.
My plan is to try my best without being compulsive about it. Trying my best is getting all of my prints ready. Packing everything I think I will need. It is not watching festival videos and ordering on-line (with one day shipping) for something I suddenly need.
If I told you I wasn’t even a little stressed, I’d be lying.
If I told you I wasn’t even going to watch one “How to do a Festival” video, I might be lying.
Gorgeous today in New Orleans. I opted out of a picnic so that I could write to you. I need to keep a work schedule or I feel like a fraud. Today, I am starting to list 4 of my originals.
It is a process.
Dorka sent me the files of the photos she took of my most recent paintings. I changed the size of the photographs slightly. Dorka discourages me from changing the photos too much by myself.
Then I up-loaded two sizes to Fotoworks Pro. The sizes I offer are 8.5 x 11 and 11 x 14. I tried printing 8 x 10, but that seems too small for art. Fotoworks Pro is in Southern California and I work with them through the mail. I have had only positive experiences with their personal service and great quality.
After I ordered prints, I started up-loading to Etsyand WhereY’Art. The difference, I think, between the two Internet stores is Etsy is international and Where Y’Art is local. I have been with Etsy for a few years and am pretty happy with it. I just started in February with Where Y’Art. I love that it is local and I know the owners and some of the other artists. Where Y’Art also offers shows out in the community a few times a year. I will let you know more later… when I know more.
Gator in the Hen House
It takes about 10 days to get the prints from California. (I am sure this is because the mail is coming to Louisiana.) I am only putting up the originals now. I want to have the prints in hand when the orders come in. (Hear that universe?)
I used to hate the business part of painting. Now I like it. It is like having a secretarial job for a day. I wanted to be a secretary once.
We are having a blustery Tuesday. It is really cold and windy out there. I know I shouldn’t complain because we don’t have snow, but we are supposed to be a tropical climate.
I was given a big sheet of copper. I took it to a metal shop and had it cut in 8 x 10 inch pieces. I think I have about 50 pieces. I can cut them smaller myself, but the copper is pretty thick. My idea is to put some of my art on the copper. I tried using a transfer paper called TAP. It is designed for transferring onto material, but it advertises that it transfers to any surface. I chose Baby, I got this. because his skin color is so beautiful, but the white wings did not transfer. I added some color to his lips with red paint and darkened his features with black paint.
Embossed Angel
I painted embossing powder on the wings with varnish, then used a heat gun until it bubbled. I sealed his face with wax and the rest of the copper with varnish. I won’t use the wax again. It didn’t make that much of a difference.
I tried printing the same photo on organza.
Organza Angel
This was easy. I just attached the organza with varnish.
My plan is to nail the copper onto reclaimed wood with copper tacks and add some kind of embellishment. If you have any ideas for this project, let me know, please. I plan on taking a few finished pieces to Bayou Boogaloo to see if people like them.
I also bought a silk screen kit to try with the copper. So far that has been a big mess, but I am not through.
I have painted Nice Hair a little bit. I have an idea that might help you if you are just starting to paint faces.
I started by painting her face and hair, then I stopped and measured. Are her eyes level? Her ears the same size? It saves me from painting her over and over without knowing why she looks out of whack. I painted her before I measured because I don’t want to be too controlled.
Nice Hair with pencil marks.
When I put the pencil marks on, her left ear was short and one of her pupils was more dilated. A little quirky is good in a face, but some things like pupils just look off.
Nice Hair, in progress
I don’t know where I am going with this yet.
Right now, I am getting ready for my in-laws. They are coming tomorrow for Easter. I always feel like I need a block of time to get started on something. I might be able to pop in here once in a while. We’ll see.
I wanted to finish Gator in the Hen House before I wrote to you this week. I am taking 4 paintings to Dorka to photograph this morning. This ismy photograph of the finished painting. I am going to frame it with some wood I have saved under the house.
This is pretty large, 24 x 36 inches. My favorite part is the alligator. My second favorite part is the chicken wire.
My goal was to make the gator the center of attention with a smug and cavalier attitude. The chickens are a riot of color and feathers. They each have their own personality.
I raised the chicken wire with molding paste, then lightly brushed some Golden Green Gold and Cobalt Teal back in.
The rooster was painted with Golden’s Permanent Violet Dark, then Carbon Black and more colors. The shiny parts are Silk’s Acrylic Glaze.
This rooster is standing as straight as he can on his tiptoes trying to look invisible.
This hen’s eyes are starting to roll back in her head. She thinks she might faint.
I used Golden’s molding paste and Liquitex heavy body acrylic on the white chicken. I said “used” because I painted with a brush, my fingers and a palette knife.
Whaat?
I loved this chicken when she was pure green, but I wanted her to be a more realistic color and contrast with the gator.
So I changed her to..
Mama chicken is yelling, “Get outa here!”
On Mama Chicken I painted with acrylic paint and Dylusions Postbox Red Ink Spray. I painted with it, not sprayed it. I love how it saturates. I had to seal the hen with varnish and then paint the white bits back in. When you paint with ink it keeps soaking through.
I made the floor of the hen-house dirty, by putting broken toothpicks and beads in black and tan paint, putting them on the floor of the hen-house and pulling the pieces off with tweezers. I knew I would have a hard time making the dirt look random, otherwise.
One of the challenges of this painting was to keep the chickens in the background as supporting actors. They really wanted to take over.
I bought this cart at IKEA. I love it more every day.
Rolling Cart from IKEA.
Each day I have to trust again that I am on the right path. For me, right now, it seems like the only one. So I am putting one foot in front of the other and going on.
74 degrees and everything is starting to bloom. Don’t hate. It will be unbearably hot before you know it.
With Spring comes house guests. It is fun to see our city through the eyes of someone here for the first time.
When someone has been here before, I like to act as a bed and breakfast. But for the first time visitor there is so much to see, I think a tour is in order.
We have friends here from California this week. After 6 days of being a tour guide, I felt they had seen enough of New Orleans for a first visit. I was not willing to release them before this. (It is such a great city, I think you really have to live here full-time to experience it.) Today, Mary and Ulco are taking a self-guided walking tour of theGarden District.
We started the week with a car tour… breakfast at Camilla Grill, Audubon Park, the French Quarter, Frenchman St., the Marigny, the Bywater, and City Park. The next day, we rode the Streetcar to the French Quarter and had beignets at Cafe du Monde followed by lunch at the Gumbo Shop. Mary and Ulco were kind enough to go to the finale of Entrepreneur Week to support Where Y’Art. (Where Y’Art won the popular vote, but not the judges vote for $50,000.)
We went to Hogs for a Cause at City Park on Saturday. It had rained all night and it was a muddy mess. *House guests don’t really like wading around in the mud. To be honest, we didn’t like it either.
We stopped by Chickie Wah Wah to see Paul Sanchez. He invited several guest artists on stage during the show. It was super fun. I have to go see Antoine Diel again.
Antoine Diel with Paul Sanchez
We were super lucky to see the Mardi Gras Indians on Sunday. After that, my sweet darlin’ drove them through the 9th Ward and Chalmette.
I have a to do list as long as my arm, but my studio is quiet and here I am.
Just a little update today.
Company is coming to New Orleans in waves. And why not? New Orleans in the Spring is the best.
Raffi is beginning a large painting of his pets. He wants it to go with his 3-year-old painting of his family.
Beginning of pet portrait
I gave him some student quality paints for the first layer. Besides the color, the paints themselves look drab. I ordered him some Liquitex paints for the next layers. They aren’t Golden, but they are nice.
My Gator in the Hen House is still in progress. I have spent many hours on this. I will continue to paint it until I am happy with every inch.
Gator in the Hen House, still in progress
This is why I am a little late with my list today.
Nice Hair, the beginning
This is super fun. I have painted the darks. I think her hair will be full of fun stuff. Maybe butterflies, bugs, a bird? I don’t know yet.
I didn’t really think it would happen that I am accepted to Bayou Boogaloo. In the application they asked for a picture of my tent. I wrote that I did not have a tent yet, I have never been part of a festival, but rest assured, it will be fabulous. I figured this was a shot in the dark . It is a big art and music festival along the bayou by City Park. It runs for 3 days, May 16, 17 and 18th. I haven’t slept well since I found out.
When I start becoming too anxious about life and I can’t calm down by thinking that my life is pretty good, I write. I found out by writing that it is the outlay of money that is making me anxious. You know how they say you have to spend money to make money? I have to use the communal money from my marriage to fund this new adventure, i.e.. my sweet darlin’s income.
Before I started making art as my full-time profession, I bought a lot of art supplies just for fun. I had to remember fun. So I put my worries aside and started a new, easy painting. In this painting, I will paint intuitively. No learning curve.
I do like to learn how to paint a chicken with an expression of fear. I like to analyze what chicken feathers flying off the chicken might look like. I like to figure out how to paint a swaggering alligator walking toward me. I was becoming too tight. (Imagine wearing a t-shirt two sizes too small.)
I want to paint with abandon. Reclaim joy.
Begin.
I know it will be a woman. I know she has a lot on her mind. I think she has wild hair.
You can already see her eyes peaking through.
Anyway, that’s where I am. Regaining joy.
I have never been a fan of journaling. But in a pinch, it is a good way to find out why your head is spinning.
Gator Girl Art 