Louisiana – Page 7 – Gator Girl Art

In the garden.

Posted on June 2, 2013June 2, 2013 by gatorgirlart

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

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Candle or Mirror?

Posted on May 23, 2013 by gatorgirlart

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.

The King Gator original has sold. I think he sold to his soul mate.

King Gator Says Wager it All! — King Gator Says, “Wager it All!”

There are two ways of spreading light. To be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it. – Edith Wharton.

With loving abundance and sparkly light (reflected or not),

Gator Girl

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Shotgun Angel framed!

Posted on April 7, 2013 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all,

Thanks to my daughter, Katy, Shotgun Angel is framed in the wood that I want for her. I cut one side too short and we replaced it with another piece of screen door. I thought I had wrecked the frame, but no.

I am still looking for 2 skeleton keys to hang from the door handle.

I think I might lighten the sky a little in the darker parts… sitting with that idea for a while.

In the last 2 weeks, 2 women told me that they wanted to paint, but don’t. I would like to tell anyone that wants to paint:

Show up.

Start anywhere.

Keep painting.

I have taken classes on and off through the years. I got serious about painting when I took a class from Shiloh Sophia of the Cosmic Cowgirls. She empowers women and teaches a spiritual side of painting.

I learned how to draw proportional bodies from Jane Davenport.

If I am having a problem, I sometimes watch a YouTube tutorial.

A drawing class at the local junior college helps teach you how to see objects by their lines and curves. Wherever you see your next place to grow, go there.

For inspiration, I take a class called Lifebook from Tam Laporte. It is only $99 a year and you get weekly on-line tutorials from different artists.

If you want to paint, paint.

It can save your soul.

It can save the world.

With ever-loving gratitude,

Gator Girl

P.S. It is OK to spend money on paint.

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Gator Girl Art Gone Viral

Posted on April 5, 2013April 5, 2013 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

Viral in the sense that I had more hits in one day than any other day in the history of Gator Girl on Etsy. It is all thanks to Brice and Zach at Hansen’s Sno-Bliz.

I was getting all kinds of ETSY sale notifications for my painting of a Hansen’s Snoball. I checked on Hansen’s Facebook Page and saw that they posted my painting with a link to My Etsy Shop. The stats: 232 views and 6 prints sold in one day. It was super fun.

Hansen's Sno-Bliz — Hansen’s Sno-Bliz on ETSY

Cathy and Dennis Schlais picked up “Waiting for Moses”, formerly known as “Making Amends”. Cathy always loved Harriet Tubman who was called Moses. This painting reminded her of waiting for Moses. I am happy she has a loving home. Thank you Cathy and Dennis.

I bought some paints from dreamingcolor.com. They are called Silks, acrylic glaze. They have mica in the paint for shimmer and shine. They are not very shiny, just right. I bought them for mermaid tails and alligator skin. I painted Silks on the mermaid tail so her tail would be shinier than the water.

It seems hard to tell the difference here. Trust me, there is more shine and depth in the one on the left.

I also tried to make her skin look unblemished like porcelain. I used a mixture of Golden Titan Buff, Golden Light Umber, and Liquitex Deep Portrait Pink for the last coat. I think it looks best to paint the pink on the cheeks, the darkness by the eyes, etc… before the last coat. It is kind of like the blush under the skin instead of sitting right on top.

My youngest daughter, Katy, is here from Azusa, California. She is helping me frame. I think I have it down now. I still don’t love it. I don’t hate it. It is just more like work than painting. I need frames, so there you go.

We had a lovely Easter with lots of family and lots of eating out. We are probably all a little spoiled. Raffi won’t get seafood every day now. I am happy to be back in my studio. I am happy to start another painting.

I hope you are all well and happy, too.

With never faltering love,

Gator Girl

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My friend at the IRS called.

Posted on March 22, 2013 by gatorgirlart

Hallelujah and Good Morning all y’all,

We got a verbal thumbs up from the IRS for non-profit status of NOLA Groundswell! Two years of proposing and waiting. We will have our paperwork within a month and can start writing grants for Samuel Square Park. For some reason, my grant thoughts float towards Pepsi.

On a whim, I grabbed Gator Girl off of my wall and painted, repainted and painted. Now I do think there is a limit of how much paint a girl can wear. I pushed that limit.

I am happy with her sexy new look and her new hair style. I have always loved the painting except her expression. I used Effy Wild’s beautiful lips as an inspiration. (Thanks, Effy.) I still have a little skin tone to work out… maybe. Maybe I am happy. I hope she is still your favorite painting, Stacy.

I might also be finished with the Mermaid. I struggled with having the tail be a little camouflaged in the water or popping. I decided her tail should blend in. The blending is probably why we rarely see Mermaids.

Maggie thinks she needs a shell painted over her breast, but loves her tiara. I like to talk with Maggie, because we can discuss what Mermaids really wear.

I painted all day, every day this week because next week is the beginning of company coming to New Orleans. House guests will taper off sometime in June. It will be a blast.

And if you are worried that we are full up, just let that thought go. There is always room for you.

With abundant and never-ending love,

Gator Girl

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Sanding My Painting

Posted on February 22, 2013February 22, 2013 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all,

I am a little in the “is Mardi Gras over already?” and “really, 2 months until Jazz Fest?” slump. It is like when you are a child and you are first able to realize that on December 25th, Christmas is 364 days away.

It also feels like a time of introspection and I am not as excited to put myself out in the world right now. It would be perfect if someone wanted to stop by my house and buy art.

I am just going to sit tight and wait until the ebb of life turns to flow.

Today, I am sharing the steps of my most recent painting. I was going to blog when it was completely done, but the feathers are taking a while.

Step one: adding a little color. Spraying it with water and blending. I love this part where I set my intentions for the art.

Next, I textured it with gel medium and scraped it with a credit card. I wanted to make some raised squares like an Indian blanket.

I liked this part of the background, so I saved it for his heart area. It looks like dreaming and passion.

I used my fingers and thick white paint to make the war paint.

I made feathers with gel medium and painted them many, many times… still unhappy with how they looked. My genius sister suggested I sand the feathers to blend them into the background and make them feathery thin.

I wrote the title with my finger and thick white paint.

I added a close-up of his eyebrow because I love it.

This is a boy dreaming of being a Mardi Gras Indian Chief one day.

My husband, David, is marching on Saint Joseph’s Day in the French Quarter with the Italian American Marching Club. Since I will be in the Quarter on St. Joseph’s Day, I will have another chance to see a Big Chief.

One more thing… I am really hoping two women look like the couple that I painted entitled “Justice” (even a bit). If so, please send me a photo at nancy@gatorgirlart.com. I will send you a super nice print.

lovingly yours,

Gator Girl

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2013 Vision Board

Posted on January 24, 2013January 24, 2013 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all.

I am sharing my vision for 2013.

It looks different from last year.

I don’t think I want as many things to change.

The only thing that I put on my board last year that didn’t materialize is NOLA Groundswell. We had some interest. We almost received a grant, but nothing concrete yet. I sent a letter off to the Internal Revenue Service yesterday asking for approval of our non-profit status. It has been over a year since our request, including a $400 fee for the government to consider our request.

Magnificent Maggie helped me. It is the same cardboard. New duct tape. New bristol paper.

The pink and orange glitter are the Pussyfooter colors.

Physically visible in my fishnets and feathers on St. Charles. Gator Girl Art visible in a gallery in the French Quarter. I will keep you posted on whatever else decides to be visible.

I swear, this snake just turned up exactly like this when I used a brayer with green paint over dried white paint and glitter. I added the eyes and nostrils. I wish you could see the scales.

In one of my We’Moon calendars, I cut out a piece about snake medicine.

Snake medicine is with us.

We can pretend our skin is not shedding,

we can attempt to remain underground, curled up and quaking,

we can refuse to digest our life and suffer indigestion.

Or we can embrace the magic of our transmutation–

Chew on our life, swallow and savor it,

Slither out of our skin and leap out of ruts with passion,

Swirl into new experiences and dance,

Then feel the sun on our skin and dream.

–Gloria Rohlfs 2011

OK. I said it. Words are powerful.

Maggie wrote “izmot”. She might have meant “tomzi” I asked her what it meant and she said, “Good Luck, happy celebrations, and love.” I couldn’t have said it any better. Isn’t that what everyone wants?

Happy New Year to y’all.

With abundant love, an open heart, and shedding skin,

Gator Girl

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Shotgun Angel

Posted on January 11, 2013 by gatorgirlart

Good Morning all y’all!

I feel like I am finally back after the holidays and the flu. It might seem like a crazy thing to say, but being ill and sleeping 12 hours a day, does give a person time to reflect.

My word for 2013 is VISIBILITY. This word by itself might have thrown me back in bed for a few days. I plan on making my art visible to the public. I am thinking restaurants and a gallery. On the first of January, I was totally freaked out by this word until I realized 2013 is a whole year. I am currently making myself visible in my fish nets and corset. Pussyfooters is turning out to be a fun way to give back to the community. We make events sparkly and pink.

I found out at this event that the Pussyfooter women are totally nice. After this picture Miss Camille and Miss Becky tightened my corset until I looked like Miss Scarlet (in my mind). I was grateful. I had no idea you weren’t suppose to breathe.

I am nearly finished with Shotgun Angel.

The first thing I did was spray the canvas with Ink Spray Dylusions London Blue. If you want to try this, it gives a nice continuity to the painting, but be forewarned, the blue bleeds through as many layers of paint that you put on. At some point you might want to stop the bleed by painting some parts in clear gesso. Otherwise, your yellow house will keep turning green.

Next, I dropped paint on the background, straight from the bottle: white, yellow and purple. Then I sprayed alcohol on the paint drops and walked away.

I put layers of paint, drops of paint, sprayed more alcohol until I liked the background.

I drew the wings on the painting with white chalk. Then I laid the cellophane on top of the chalk outline. I drew the wings on the cellophane with a black sharpie a little bit bigger than what I wanted.

I painted her wings by spraying a mixture of glue, Pearl Ex violet powder, and alcohol on the underside for sparkle. I learned this from Bonnie Rose Bryan on Lifebook 2012. On the front of the wings, I painted featherish stuff with Golden Acrylic Titanium White. As an added bonus, the cellophane glows in the dark. Cellophane adds just the right amount of transparency for wings and lays totally flat.

I cut the wings out mostly inside the black lines. They are adhered with Golden Gel Medium.

When I look at the photo of my painting, I don’t like her dress outlined in white.

I do love how the stoops turned out.

I had to resist adding tiny details like birds and cats.

I am planning to frame this in old wood from an old shotgun house.

If there is anything that I left out, that you would like to know… just ask.

I was listening to Billie Holliday Pandora when I painted this. The angel must have been listening, too.

I have my next painting in mind. It is a political statement.

Thanks for checking out my blog. It makes me feel grounded and happy to connect with you.

With abundant love and gratitude,

Gator Girl

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Angel Appearing with Attitude

Posted on December 21, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

On a beautiful winter day and the longest night of the year, Happy Winter Solstice.

I am painting my favorite painting. It has all the elements that I love. It is definitely New Orleans and full of magic and attitude.

It is a little know fact that Shotgun houses have their own angel. When she appeared on my canvas, I immediately fell in love. She is going to have cool cellophane wings. The nice people at Rouse’s Market gave me a cellophane sleeve without buying the flowers.

Here is Alligator Bliss in progress.

The glitter paper on his leg shows through the glass, but you can’t tell what it is with the glass on top.

This is my finished Alligator Bliss. I tried building up the background with molding paste. It made the swamp grass look pretty cool. I wanted parts of the painting raised to balance the safety glass I used for scales. That is also why I put tile along the bottom.

Do you notice the yellow dotted paper on the alligator stomach? It is the same piece of paper I used on the curly hair of women. I am on the look out for another piece of bubble paper, now that I am hooked on its usefulness.

I made this little Christmas decoration for my daughter and her girlfriend. It is their dachshund with antlers and one of their rats. Cami, the dog, looks like a deer in headlights. The rat is quizzical. I painted it on a left-over piece of our dining room table.

Wishing you all the blessings of the season. Time for this gator girl to look over the past years events and make plans for 2013. Time sure does fly.

lovingly,

Gator Girl

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Gator Agents

Posted on December 13, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I have been living my alternate dream lately. I have been spending a lot of time with my grand babies. They are growing up so fast, I have to slow everything down and observe the wonder of it all.

For a while I had trouble switching gears from creating art to child care. Then an epiphany. When my girls were growing up, I had to work. I wanted to stay home. Now I want to work, but my grandkids need me. I just needed to switch gears in my mind and realize my timing is off. All in good time. (I am becoming quiet fond of old-timey sayings lately.)

2013 is around the corner. My word for the coming year is visibility. This is the year, I put my art out into the world. Fly Be Free Art. I am thinking restaurants, galleries…

My Gator Agents will be an integral part of the plan.

I have 3 main agents. (One is remaining incognito at this time.) I have an up and coming star-agent as one of my east coast representatives. So far I have two agents based in Los Angeles and two agents in Philadelphia. I am not sure what kind of role Buddy will play at this time. That is why he is pictured here as a mascot.

Really, the sky is the limit at Gator Girl Art, LLC. If you would like to become an agent for Gator Girl Art, please email me at nancy@gatorgirlart.com or fbfgator@gmail.com. Give me a brief description of what you plan to offer. All emails will be read and replied to.

Sincerely,

With hope and faith in the future,

Gator Girl