Tag: New Orleans

Posted in Uncategorized

Two Shows!

Posted on by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all,

We are starting the festival season here in New Orleans. There are many things to do every weekend from now until after Mardi Gras. This weekend I am lucky enough to have art in 2 locations.

Mr. Mario Padilla has invited my painting “Fly” of Frida Kahlo to be in his show.

I am definitely not going to miss this next year.

I dropped Frida off while they were setting up last night. The Healing Center looked amazing. Really great art and music. I hear there will be a parade.

Miss Mandie from Downtown Chic Salon has invited me to share 10 paintings at Fall for Art.

I will be here.

I feel so fortunate and grateful for double invitations.

I finished Dancing in the Moonlight (alternately The Happy Family). I like the family. They look like New Orleans to me. I decided against button eyes and their mouths sewn shut. With the baby in the picture, it was going to look too gruesome. I just wanted them to look recently departed and back for a visit.I probably decided to paint them because of the Fall weather and Day of the Dead being just a couple of weeks away.

Dancing in the Moonlight

They are wearing many of the same colors as the night sky. You can see that the children inherited their mother’s chin. It was fun to see the family resemblances. I secretly have always liked the mother to pass down the genes.

Maggie wants another baby in their family in real life, so she asked me to paint a baby in the picture.

Dia de los Muertos is one of my favorite days. I spend time honoring and remembering loved ones that have passed over. I have a box of photos I look through that I have collected and pick a few for the altar. I don’t put everyone up because I would be too crowded, but looking through the pictures is part of the honoring and I think the departed understand.

My mom and I had a shaky relationship. She passed on several years ago.

I recently found a picture of the two of us enjoying time together. I am going to see if I like having the picture up in our house. Sometimes it takes a long time for forgiveness and understanding. At least for me it does. It turns out the altar is healing as well as honoring.

Wishing you healing and a lovely Fall.

With an open heart,

Gator Girl

Posted in Uncategorized

Dancing in the Moonlight

Posted on by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

It is Saturday, the last day I allow myself to blog. I don’t know why the procrastination. I am also procrastinating finishing Dancing in the Moonlight. I am enjoying the family so much that I don’t want it to be over.

(The father’s cigarette ash is my favorite part. He is waiting almost too long to tap it off. )

Dancing in the Moonlight, nearing completion

I also call it Happy Family, but that is not the real name. I was going to sew buttons on for eyes and sew their mouths shut with embroidery thread in a cross-stitch. I am not going to do that now, because I think they would look too scary. I want the family obviously visiting from the other side, but not scary. I did put the cosmetic bag material on the mother’s dress and daughter’s tights. You can’t really tell, except for the shimmer and it feels lovely to touch. The moon has glow-in-the-dark paint as the last coat. Awesome with the lights off.

Right now, my favorite people to paint are recently dead. I like the colors better than skeletons or the living. With that in mind, it is odd that my next painting will have dragonfly wings.

My daughter and my daughter’s sister-in-law (let’s just call them Katy and Antonia) went to the Green Project and saw a lot of broken glass. They put it in a bag thinking I could make a snoball painting with it. How sweet of them.  Some of the glass is from a car wreck and looks just like dragonfly wings. I am looking forward to trying it out.

We are having a little trouble decorating for Halloween this year. Maggie and Raffi don’t like anything scary. Maggie says when she has a Halloween store, she will only have unicorns and puppies. She has asked me so many times to change the hand that scares her in the candy bowl so it will give the candy instead of grabbing the hand that reaches in the bowl. Finally, I get that they don’t want to be scared.

This is the bowl that I am talking about.

I told Maggie that I had an idea. When the little kids come to the door, I will hand them some candy with my hand. She said that is a great idea.

Until next week my loves,

Gator Girl

Posted in Uncategorized

My Mentor, My Love

Posted on by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all,

I need to write 2 distinct blogs on this beautiful day in October. I have  been consciously putting off adding Shiloh Sophia to my list of Artists I Adore. I don’t believe I can do her justice. Today, I decided to offer my best and that will be enough.

Shiloh changed my life. She helped be to discover my dream and gave me the tools to get there. Shiloh is the founder of Cosmic Cowgirls. The idea came to her when she was just a girl. She has always wanted to empower and connect women. One thing that I remember vividly is when she needed two other women to help her run her growing business, she painted 3 women standing together. The perfect women showed up in the perfect time.

When I wanted to move to New Orleans, I started painting alligators. Alligators were all I wanted to paint for 2 years. To me alligators were the symbol and the means to adventure.

One of the classes I took with Shiloh was called Leading a Legendary Life. It was a 6 month Internet course that we begged Shiloh to continue for a year. In that course, we painted the 4 directions of our life. My Southern direction was Louisiana, being an Artist and living in New Orleans. My Northern direction were my Roots and my desire to stay connected to my family. Eastern was health. In the East, I was led to a group where I released 100 pounds. My Western direction turned into Vacation and Travel as California would no longer be my home. All of the canvases came to life.

Since this is a blog and not a book, I will let you follow Shiloh’s link  to learn more.

Part II

I am painting a family from the other side of life. The happy family is dancing in the moonlight. I love celebrating Dio De Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. I will include a picture of my altar at the end of the month.

Dancing in the Moonlight, in progress

I am taking an online class from Jane Davenport. I am feeling more confident painting bodies. I am also trying some new techniques. I rolled a thick coat of Liquitex Professional Heavy Body Phthalocyanine Blue over the whole canvas. Next, I brushed in swirls.  The moon is painted on dry gel medium applied with a motel key card. Swiping the card made some nice grooves. For the girl’s tights, I used a trick I learned on Pinterest. I put a nail in the eraser part of a pencil and used the head of the nail to make black polka dots. I am going to apply a shiny fabric, that used to be  a gift bag for bath products, over the mother’s dress and the girls tights using acrylic varnish. I think the fabric will seem a little other worldly and add some shine and movement.

I am going to say good-bye now. I trust that if you need Shiloh in your life, you will find her. She is a genius for helping you to realize your dreams.

If you have your dream, carry it, nurture it, speak it, do something towards it every day.

With unreasonable love and an open heart,

Gator Girl

Posted in Uncategorized

Bee Love

Posted on by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all,

I am playing around here (I mean working) instead of doing housework. I never minded housework before I had so many better things to do. I do believe I was in the minority back then.

I am posting my results of non-stop painting this week.

I love many aspects of Bee Love. I am thinking of painting a series. My husband hates the human-looking face on the bee so much that he actually said the word “hate”. Obviously, some childhood trauma.

I think she is just too adorable to hate. She is definitely a girly girl worker bee. She is wearing a cream-colored vintage plastic bow. The letters are from a fancy set of Pairsinpears. The  black polka dot tape is Washi tape that I bought on Etsy.  She looks a bit like a Pussyfooter Bee with her pink striped leggings and orange hair. She is a hard-working worker bee. She feels she can dress pretty without having aspirations of being queen.

I have been trying out this fun technique. I color with Caran D’Ache watersoluble crayons over dry acrylic paint. Then I mix the crayon in as much as I want with acrylic varnish using a paint brush, making it water proof. Sometimes I leave a little crayon-look and sometimes I blend it completely in. Finally, I seal it two more times.  I like the look and it is just kind of fun to color with crayons.

I just have a bit more shadowing to do on Bee Love.

Stand Up
Stand Up’s Side View

These are the words that are on the front of the painting Stand Up:

When a woman chooses to source her truth

from within her very bones, rather than

looking to a set of rules outside of herself,

she is truly wise.

These are the words typed on the side of the painting:

When she can stand up and speak a truth

that is boiling up inside her no matter how

big a risk it is to speak it, she is claiming her

wild soul, perfect and untamed.

When 5,000 years of conditioning is telling

her that her way is wrong, but she decides

right then and there that her way is right,

and in fact, always has been, she is finally

free.

Kitty Cavalier 2012

An odd thing about the words on the painting… I named the painting Stand Up, tentatively while I was painting. I found the words later in Kitty’s blog. I don’t know if I believe there are no accidents in life, but I do believe in synchronicity if you keep your heart open. 

I have been invited to show my art at Fall for Art in Covington, Louisiana on October 20th. My art and I will be at the Downtown Chic Salon from 6-9pm. My niece, Mandi is the owner/ stylist.

Mandi is on the right of center wearing all black.

Until next week…

My wish for you is your heart’s desire.

lovingly,

Gator Girl

Posted in Uncategorized

Stand Up!

Posted on by gatorgirlart

Hi All y’all,

I hope this Friday finds you just where you want to be.

I am nearing completion on Stand Up.

Nearing Completion on Stand Up.

I still need to whiten up her skin tone. I am going to keep the comic book outlines. I am portraying her as a shero. She is wearing an outfit like Wonder Woman. She has tiny gold stars strewn through her hair at Maggie’s suggestion. I like the tiny-ness and the 3 D-ness of the stars. I still have those wonderful words from Kitty Cavalier to add. Because it is an extra thick canvas, I am going to type the words and put them around the outside edge.

I am starting a super fun painting called Bee Love. I went to a gardening seminar, put on by the Master Gardeners of Greater New Orleans. I learned some fascinating bee facts. Did you know that the worker bees are female? That drones only exist for mating? And bees have certain jobs like undertaker and hive cleaner? They are amazing little insects.

Bee Love blocked out

I bought a linen canvas for Bee Love. So far I love it. It is tight and smooth. I painted the canvas with black gesso so I can start out on a black background. I haven’t ever done that before, my backgrounds are usually 3 colors. Hmm. She will be a cute little worker bee with curly pink hair.

I got into the Pussyfooters! Woot, Woot-woot! I will be marching in pink! Miss Heather nominated me. Here is a peak at her thank you card.

Thank you Miss Heather

I am taking a drawing class on-line with the fabulous Jane Davenport. Our assignment is to draw a super model. Heather sure looks like a super model to me.

I would love to stay and chat, but my paints are calling.

Until next week,

Never ending love,

Gator Girl

 

Posted in Uncategorized

Imagine it and you can have it… in the tangible.

Posted on by gatorgirlart

Good Morning all y’all!

Either my husband is so sweet or I am risking my marriage to write to you. Time will tell. It is our 28th anniversary today and he helped me to nail on the trim to a dresser that I am reclaiming and now I am blogging about the process.

About 2 weeks ago, I was looking for a dresser on Craig’s List and found the perfect one for $20 in Mid City. I didn’t have a car that day to pick it up. By the time David got home with the car, the dresser was gone. I thought, maybe I will find one closer and less expensive. I didn’t quite believe it. Then… last weekend, our neighbors moved out and put a cheap dresser on the curb. This dresser didn’t have the same quality as the one I saw on-line. But it made me happier, like getting a dog at a shelter happier. This dresser was going straight to a landfill. Besides being cheaply made, it was missing a drawer and the front of a drawer. To me this was perfect. I needed a flat place to store my prints instead of on the top of everything And I always need more general storage.

I painted the top, framed the open drawer with molding from the neighbor’s trash, bought two baskets at Target (exactly 17 inches deep) for a grand total of $30. This total does not include painting with Golden Acrylic paints. I couldn’t wait long enough to buy less expensive paint.

Aerial View of Dresser

I saw the idea for putting baskets in place of the drawers on Pinterest.

Let it be me. In progress.

I am  not quite done with Let it be me. I am going to try something new (to me). I am going to paint melted bees-wax around the woman to soften the background. I tried painting something small with bee’s wax before, but not one of my paintings. Wish me luck. I really operate on a combination of luck and divine intervention.

This painting is representing the moment of surrender. The giving up of self to the greater power. Big step.

I am hoping to heal the world with painting. What are you hoping today?

Sincerely,

With all my heart,

Gator Girl

Posted in Uncategorized

Follow Your Heart

Posted on by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all,

Hurricane Isaac is now Tropical Storm Isaac. I was a little too nervous to write before and during the storm. Mostly, I just waited him out. Everyone handles situations differently. My husband went out and cleaned the storm drains on our street when there was a break in the wind. I just waited. My daughter had everyone over for beer and board games because they still had power. I just waited. What was the best thing to do? I guess you have to follow your heart.

While I was waiting, I thought about painting. I worked on this all day yesterday. It is called, “Let it Begin with Me”. Today, I think she may be called, “Follow Your Heart”. I am sure it will all become clear when she is done.

Let it Begin With Me

Big changes during the painting. She started out looking like a white girl in the 70’s and changed to a prayerful                African-American woman. She isn’t finished yet.

Maggie painted along side of me most of the day. She told me when she finishes a painting she always sings a little song. The end of it was… let your imagination sing. 4 years old is such a nice, open age … but not without concerns.

Maggie’s Girl in Progress

Maggie asked for a canvas the same shape as I was working on. I gave her a smaller canvas with the same shape.

Yesterday, Maggie asked me for some advice.

She said, “I have a feeling to stomp evil rabbits, and I don’t know why.”

I said, “Look in your heart and see how you would feel if you stomped the rabbits. What does your heart tell you?”

To my surprise, Maggie replied, ” My heart wants me to stomp evil rabbits.”

I told her, “Well, I think you should follow your heart. That is all we can do.”

… Follow your heart, because that is all we can do.

With a prayerful, loving heart,

Gator Girl

Disclaimer: No imaginary evil rabbits were stomped or harmed in any way. I hope they were persuaded to change their evil ways in a gentler manner.

Posted in Uncategorized

The Good News and Could Be Better News

Posted on by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all,

I will start with the good news. It seems like everyone had a fun time at our party. We got to meet some new people. A few of the new people live in our neighborhood. Some were soccer buddies of my son-in-law or people he builds for. Teachers from Harriet Tubman “represented” (as they like to say). Many of the guests were friends and family. My 80 year old uncle Anthony  drove in from St. Gabriel. He looked at every picture for a long time and left me a check for a Giclee of Heart of the Hurricane. He is such a sweet man.

Heart of the Hurricane
Snoball for Miss Ashley
Snoball for Miss Ashley

I painted this picture for Ashley Hansen unsolicited. I was happy to hear she likes it.

A collage of the party.

If you picture if not here, I apologize. This is just a sampling and I didn’t get pictures of everyone. Katy darling, you are not here because you stuck your tongue out at the camera.

Miss Michelle is in the bottom right. She made everyone’s night fun. She entertained the 3 and under crowd at my daughter Angela’s house. The little ones were thrilled to have their own party. Michelle is an angel.

If you couldn’t make it to our house. There is always next time. I hope to see you then, if not before.

OK. The not so great news for us, but great news for Harris Park. The Allstate Foundation and the Drew Brees Foundation in collaboration with the Injury Free Coalition for Kids chose  Harris Park in the Gentilly Woods for the park grant. This wasn’t the first time Harris Park applied for the grant. Two schools and a church will also use the playground. Since Angela and I have already written the grant, it will be easy to tweak for the next round of applications. Friends of Samuel Square Park had great support from the community in letters, money and the promise of volunteers. It is just a matter of time.

Sincerely,

With a heart full of gratitude.

Gator Girl

Posted in Uncategorized

For Miss Ashley

Posted on by gatorgirlart

Good morning and happy Saturday!

Today is party day! 6 pm at my house. I hope to see all y’all. I am cooking for company today, so this will be short and sweet.

I painted every spare minute to get this finished. It is a gift for Miss Ashley of Hansen’s Sno Bliz. I framed it in her old, old screen door. I decided to give it back to her when I saw the look in her eyes when she asked what I was going to do with the door. She kind of looked like she was losing an old friend. I hope she likes it.

A refrigerator for your tummy
Snoball

There is often a line at Hansen’s because it is truly the best. I put Miss Ashley in the picture with butterfly wings because she is like a good fairy giving so many people enjoyment. The experience is not just the snoballs but also the other people waiting in line, the staff, and the timelessness of the shop. When my 80-something mother-in-law goes to get a snowball, it is the same place she went as a child.

Thank you Miss Ashley. This Snoball is for you.

With everlasting, sweet love,

Gator Girl

Posted in Uncategorized

More Artists I Adore

Posted on by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

You know, humidity gets a bad rap. I think it is kinder than scorching hot, dry heat. The air sort of envelopes you in a warm blanket. If you are not loving the heat and humidity in New Orleans in August,  you can visit St. Mary’s, Tasmania, Australia. The high is 55 degrees today. If that is not an option, go on-line for a virtual visit.

I was reading the blog of Gone Rustic and kept thinking of people I wanted to share Rita’s art  with. My sister and my California art friends, Mary Helen and Julie would love her art quilts and her dye and stitch projects. She also has a drawing section with one of my favorite things, Babushkas. Another, very cool thing is her shop is in Tasmania, Australia. Check it out!

Needle Felting Sample
by Rita Summers

This is one small sample for what she shares with you on her blog.

Next up is, Stephan Wanger of Galeria Alegria. I have a great respect for Stephan’s philosophy and art. He uses Mardi Gras Beads that would have ended up in a landfill and makes the most beautiful art with them. He cuts every bead apart from the strand, glues the beads onto wood, then frames the finished piece.  His art is truly amazing.

I don’t know when he finds the time, but Stephan also donates his time and supplies to local schools. He personally works with groups of children all day, and he leaves the finished art with the school.

Just check it out!

Can you believe this street car scene is made from individual beads? If you are in or around New Orleans, you can see original Mardi Gras bead art at 4431 Banks Street in Mid City. It will blow your mind.

Both of these artist’s websites are great.

Until next time,

With unfathomable love,

Gator Girl