Louisana Art – Gator Girl Art

Functional Art

Posted on September 6, 2019 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I have to say, I do miss the California coast when it is in the humid high 90’s in September in New Orleans… no rain in sight.

The porch table at the camp is finally damaged so much that we need a table cloth to play cards. I had a piece of wood left over from a project that is too heavy to hang on the wall. It was just the right size to replace the damaged table.

This is an aerial view of our camp on the Pearl River.

Here are the stages of the painting…

I sealed the new table top twice with Marine Coat. We are going to clamp it on with liquid nails.

The river is changing course and taking lots of our bank. I am still hopeful that someone will buy the camp and move the cabins back before they fall in the river. It is really lovely there. The cabins are adorable.

We buried St. Joseph upside down, facing the cabins. I was sure this would do the trick and sell the camp. Maybe it will.

I am back to painting wall art. On the 18 x 36″ canvas right now is the beginning of a dog with a chicken on it’s head. One of my favorite themes is an animal riding on an animal. I don’t know why.

I hope wherever you live you are safe from climate change. I hope you are enjoying your life. I hope the best is yet to come.

Hopefully yours,

Gator Girl

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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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Swamp Girl

Posted on April 18, 2015April 18, 2015 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all! My mini muse came through for me. I saw a drawing Maggie did in her notebook. I fell in love. The alligator was subtle. I noticed the girl first. She had no color or background, so I asked Maggie to tell me a story about the girl. She said the girl is in a long green dress. The dress is old and her hair is messy. She lives in a swamp. I asked if there were flowers in the background. She said I could paint flowers, but if I did, make it mostly green with both light and dark greens.

Maggie's Swamp Girl — Maggie’s Swamp Girl

Maggie and I generally copy each other if we like what we see. I painted a more realistic swamp background, but it made me unhappy. So I painted over-sized leaves and flowers. The painting reminds me of a page in a children’s book.

I added the eyelashes on the alligator and the freckles on the girl just like Maggie. I made her dress just a little shorter to show her toes. A friend wrote to me and said I seemed so happy on Facebook and in my blog. She was wondering if life here is really that wonderful. Well, yes. And also, I don’t want my blog to be a downer. I do struggle with waking up in the morning. I am slow to start. It takes at least 2 cups of coffee. I still have to take care of me. I have chores and responsibilities. I eat too many carbs. I need a certain amount of happiness to paint. So some days I don’t paint. I have to try not to compare my art to anyone else’s. While I was looking at realistic swamps, I ran across Adrian Deckbar. Adrian is a local artist that paints more beautiful than a photograph. My heart sinks just a little when I compare myself to others. But then I move on. Even with the ever-present road work on nearly every road, New Orleans rocks. The people are nice. My friends are interesting. I hope, if you are not there already, you find your happy place. I suggest writing down what you want, painting it, dancing it, speaking it every chance you get. There is a vehicle to get you there. lovingly,