New Orleans Artist – Gator Girl Art

Not Going to Reverse Paint After All

Posted on March 30, 2023 by gatorgirlart

Long story short, I could never paint well enough to be happy with my work by painting in reverse on glass. Reverse and glass are two words you won’t hear me say again.

This is my latest and last attempt.

I decided to do mixed media on canvas paper, then put it behind the glass. I am still doing 6 versions of Winny.

This is Boxer in Pearl Earring. What you see at the top is my latest attempt at crackling the background like an old Vermeer. Paint a coat of white glue, any brand, and while it is tacky, paint over it with paint. When it dries, it looks crackled, but mostly in one direction no mater how I paint the undercoat. I say good enough. This is my plan for the background.

I was thinking of an over-all name for the piece. Maybe Tiny Boxer like the Tiny Dancer song. Maybe she will be wearing Elton John sunglasses. The words for the song fit her perfectly.

     Hold me closer, tiny boxer
     Count the headlights on the highway (like on a road trip)
     Lay me down in sheets of linen (in our bed)
     You had a busy day today (watching walkers by)

That's all for now. I have a way forward that I am happy with. 
May I wish that for you. 

Gator Girl

Winny the Boxer

Reverse Painting on Glass

Posted on February 16, 2023 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

This one small plane of glass might be 2 blogs. It is interesting to try to figure this method out. Reverse Glass Painting has been used all over the world since the 1500’s. I fell into it because we replaced a 6 pane window with a door in the back of our house.

The painting has to be well thought out. I immediately did not think this through. I just figured I could learn as I go. I sort of can, but the first thing I had to learn was how to take the paint off.

This is the prototype. It’s called Boxer with Pearl Earring. I put this collage behind the glass panel. The tricky part is painting in reverse. If I make a mistake, I have to take the paint off down to the glass. It is important to look at the back of the glass often. That is cumbersome if you have a heavy, old 6 pane window. The first time I forgot her pupils.

The following image is the side of the glass that I am painting. I tried putting glass beads in the black paint to make it look crackled like an old painting. That didn’t work. I need to order some stuff called Crackle from Blick. This attempt is sort of basic, but not too bad. Just wait…

This is the viewing side. I put on so much paint to make it opaque.

This is where I am now.

I took off the most offensive paint with nail polish remover. I learned this handy information from a YouTube educator. Kayla Bame The entire research I did was watching this young woman’s video; 7 things to know about Reversed Glass Painting.

I am ordering Crackle. And I am trying to not start all the way over. Stay tuned.

XOXO, Gator Girl

Uncategorized

Skeptical of Bird’s Advice

Posted on December 12, 2022 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I painted this right after the world began to open up after the first wave of the pandemic. I wasn’t quite myself after staying inside my house for so many months. My enthusiasm for painting was low. Mostly, I was painting with on line prompts using someone else’s enthusiasm to spring board off. This was the first attempt I made to paint on my own.

I liked having bird around to give me questionable advice. Today, I decided to offer her to the world. There is one caveat. Take her advice with a grain of salt, or a grain of bird seed in this case.

Skeptical of Bird’s advice is an original painting. 16 x 20 inches. Acrylic, gold leaf, and varnish on canvas. Right now, I am offering her through etsy.com/shop/gatorgirlart and Where y’Art Works.

Thanks for reading!

Wishing you all the best in this holiday season, 2023, and beyond.

XOXO, Gator Girl

Uncategorized

Black Girl Magic

Posted on July 20, 2022 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I’ve decided that I paint my best when I chose exactly what I want to paint and paint exactly how I want. This is Black Girl Magic.

I found a board in the garage and a frame that I got at an estate sale of a local artist who passed a few years ago. The frame had some damage to a paper coating, that I knew paint wouldn’t cover. I ordered some party napkins that were black with gold dots. I separated the layers, cut them in strips and adhered to the frame with Liquitex Gloss Medium.

I love painting on a board, because it is recycling. It is very different than canvas. It has little absorbency. Board is not as forgiving.

I am including 6 stages of the painting. First, I painted 2 layers of black gesso and 2 layers of black acrylic ink. I drew her face with chalk. I tried out some transparent brown paint. At this step, I sprayed the painting with Grumbacher Matte Varnish to hold the chalk in place.

Next, I painted layers of transparent red and transparent yellow. I didn’t mix the paint. I used transparent blue for the shadows. (I am loving transparent paint.) I highlighted with titanium white on a dry brush.

Then, more layers of red, yellow and blue. Trying out some hair and a large bead necklace. I can see her personality now.

Feeling confident. Her and I.

I thought I was finished, but decided I didn’t like the stylized highlights that worked on Booker.

Finished, probably. I might darken her eyelashes a little. I never know how far to go with lashes.

I am pretty happy with her.

I hope you are finding a way to keep cool.

Love, Gator Girl

alligators

Shopping in the French Quarter for Pretty Things

Posted on May 17, 2022 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I just finished, sealed and varnished a new painting. I got my idea from a photo on line of Ruthie the Duck Girl. She is a New Orleans icon. When she was a child, her mother put her hair in ringlets to look like Shirley Temple. She sent her out on roller skates with her pet duck and charged for photos. Ruthie continued to walk/roll around the Quarter all of her life often in a wedding dress. She sold postcards and posed for photos. She was born in 1934 and passed away in 2008. I love this story and that people in New Orleans supported her and her eccentric behavior.

So, I was looking at photos of Ruthie and wanted to paint her. I thought to myself or maybe out loud, “I wish I liked to paint ducks.”.

Shopping reminds me of going to a parade or to a girls lunch on a warm, humidish Saturday. They are both fixed up and wearing their pink nail polish. Best friends excited to be out during a pandemic lull.

The painting is 24 x 30 inches, acrylic paint, charcoal and varnish.

My favorite thing about this painting is the plaster wall. I think I nailed it. My next favorite thing is their relationship.

Wishing you all the best! Stay safe.

Gator Girl

alligators

A Girl and Her Gator

Posted on May 7, 2022 by gatorgirlart

Good Afternoon all y’all!

Remember me? It’s been a year since I painted anything to share. I think it was a combination of painting too many commissions and the world wide pandemic. Painting started to feel less creative and more like work. The never leaving my house part of the pandemic was not stimulating.

I feel like painting again and also feel like sharing.

Jazz Fest is going on in New Orleans right now. It is especially wonderful because it has been 2 years. Everyone is so happy to be out eating great food, seeing excellent art and watching amazing musicians. It’s hot. Sometimes very hot. If you pace yourself, rest and hydrate, it is all enjoyable.

When in doubt, I paint an alligator. This one is a happy baby. I love his baby teeth. I am not sure why the girl is a little startled. Maybe she is surprised by her new pet.

I am close to finishing another painting. I will share it as soon as next week. It’s called, Shopping for Pretty Things in the French Quarter.

All the best. Pray for Ukraine, Roe Vs. Wade, our world any way that you do.

Love, Gator Girl

Uncategorized

A New Table Top

Posted on May 5, 2020May 5, 2020 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I imagine you have a range of emotions staying home all of the time now. I have been practicing sheltering in place my whole life and even I have hard days. There is so much going on in the news. I still am trying to wrap my head around this virus being global. It makes the world seem so small.

I did something I really enjoy. It is for my daughter and her partner’s house. They asked for an oleander table top for their house a few months ago. I was in the middle of the hospital art at the time.

I am going to tell you how I made it, because it was fun.

The women brought me a round table top from the big construction store. It is about 23 inches across.

I painted it with black gesso. While the gesso was wet, I swirled this tool into the top all around the edge about 6 inches in. I use this same tool for Prince’s afro. (With Prince, I dabbed not swirled.)

Then I painted green lightly on top, so the black was slightly visible. I painted blueish teal in the center and a little bit on the edge. I thought the blue would go with their porch ceiling of sky blue.

Next I looked at a photo of Van Gogh’s Oleander painting. I painted the leaves from that photo. I started to paint his pink flowers, but stopped half way through to ask for a photo of their oleander tree. Luckily, I didn’t go too far with the flowers, because their tree has white flowers.

I liked the flowers, but didn’t love them. I ordered some encaustic wax from a company in New Jersey called R and F that makes it by hand. I only ordered from there because it was sold out everywhere. It turned out to be good, because the block of white wax was huge for $20. I cut a piece off and put it in my empty Hot Cakes tin to heat. I could fill 4 Hot Cakes tins with the block of wax.

I used Art ‘n Glow resin because I didn’t see my usual brand. I got it on Amazon for $25 for two 8 oz bottles. It was the perfect amount for the table top. I bought back up incase it wasn’t enough. Small containers are better if you don’t use resin very often. After you open the resin, you should use it in a few months. I liked this brand. It seemed like it had fewer bubbles… hardly any.

That’s it. It isn’t perfect because it is handmade. I am OK with that. It is still beautiful (just like you).

Love in the time of Corona,

Gator Girl

Children's Hospital, Uncategorized

Ten More Paintings

Posted on February 10, 2020 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I have completed twenty paintings for the Children’s Hospital!

The process of these ten paintings (11-20) have been a balance between what I want to paint and what I think the committee will like. I felt pretty sure of myself while painting the first 10. Then, some of the paintings were returned. That had never happened to me before. Originally, I was asked to paint diverse people and happy paintings. When the paintings were returned, I was asked to change the skin color on all of the children that I painted to rainbow colors. I tried to do this to make everyone happy. I changed some of the paintings, but it wasn’t feeling like my art.

I am feeling a little insecure and that makes it harder to paint. For the last 10, I need to paint what I want within the new parameters and not stress about it. So far, I painted a shotgun house and am working on a rainbow colored tween. I started to miss painting faces so much.

Here are 8 of the next ten. I accidentally erased Einstein Alpaca and The Bee. I especially liked the alpaca.

The manatee is my favorite!

Warmest Regards,

Gator Girl

Uncategorized

Small Plate

Posted on July 19, 2019July 18, 2019 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

The heat index is well over 100 degrees today. I’m trying to stay hydrated and indoors. I finished my blue crab painting today. David took the photo at our Mother’s Day crab boil. I added the plate and table cloth. This one has already been dinner.

This painting was only suppose to be practice for my encaustic crab. It turns out that I like it quite a bit. I put some embellishments on the plate with molding paste. I thought it would give the painting some texture and interest. I think I could have used just paint.

It is kind of fun to add molding paste. While it is wet, you can just scrape it off with a credit card or pallet knife. After it dries, it is hard as nails.

I like this version of the painting, too. I almost left it blocked out. I am happy I added the plate shadows and the table cloth. I stenciled the table cloth on with just paint.

This is the final painting.

I hope this summer finds you well. Try to stay cool. It’s OK to rest and take some time for yourself however you can manage that.

Love to everyone,

Gator Girl

alligators

Love is in the Air

Posted on May 10, 2019May 10, 2019 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

My newest painting is about alligators in love at Jazz Fest. I painted a similar painting a couple of years ago. The first Jazz Fest painting was inspired by a photo of my granddaughter, Maggie, and her cousin Lenny. They were dancing at Jazz Fest as part of a family reunion.

While the original painting was hanging in my living room, I fell in love with the composition. So when my daughter wanted that painting for her house, I decided to paint the same scene with alligators.

The grass has the shape of the whole world. The skywriting is really a thing at Jazz Fest… not so much the wildflowers.

The whole painting seems happy to me.

This one is a little different… taller grass, no purple flowers, more imaginative. I based the girl on Gator Ballerina just in case I want to include this painting in a traveling alligator book one day.

They are both large paintings, 30 x 40 inches. I will be making prints after the paintings are photographed.

Jazz Fest is a great adventure. If you haven’t been, I hope you can one day.

Love is in the air,

Gator Girl