Just wondering today if you know that you can paint your future?
A few years ago, my mentor, Rev. Shiloh McCloud, needed two people to help her run her women and girls publishing company. She started painting three women, just standing together, smiling. Shortly thereafter, at the exactly right time, the perfect women showed up. One of the women, Mary, just wandered into Shiloh’s gallery and fell in love. She was visiting from Canada at the time. She packed her bags and moved straight away — been here every since.
Three years ago, when I was living in California, I started painting alligators, angels, and swamps. I was consciously painting my way to New Orleans. Everything unfolded perfectly, down to the last detail. I told anyone who cared to listen that I was retiring in three years, moving to New Orleans and becoming a full-time professional artist. Speech is undeniably powerful.
Just as I believe all religions are roadways to the same higher power, I believe any means you use to project out to the universe what your dream is will work.
Do you write? collage? paint…sing…dance…sculpt… How do YOU put yourself into your perfect life?
I am holding off sharing Mardi Gras Muse with y’all because I just bought a miter saw, installed it in my kitchen, and am making a frame before I post her next week. My idea is to make a frame out of reclaimed wood and embellish it with whatever calls to me.
I put fine silver glitter on her veil to make it stand out more. I put red chunky glitter on her roses and gold metal finish on her gold tooth. She makes me very happy now. 2 coats of varnish insure her lasting beauty.
Mardi Gras Muse or as Maggie insists Maskatier Princess (named for her mask and partial tiara), is still in process. I played with both kids all day Friday and Saturday and it threw off my painting time in a good way.
Mardi Gras Muse in progress
I am having a lot of fun painting the muse. She is wild and entertaining. Her hair is a mixture of purple and pink paint in Golden Heavy Gel. I like the ridges. It gives her hair a thickness that mine has never achieved.
It seems like Spring has arrived in New Orleans, at least for today. It is a little chilly, but the sun is shining. We are having a crawfish boil in Audubon Park by the Mississippi River later today. I don’t think life gets much better.
Things have been super fun and exhausting here with our first Mardi Gras. I think on Sunday there were 7 or 8 parades. It was like hanging out in a tent village. The best part for me was the parade goers. Everyone was so friendly. There are special throws that you try to catch at certain parades. Maggie got a shoe at the Muses all decorated with glitter, David got a Zulu coconut, and Will Farrell gave Maggie and David a cow bell. Pretty awesome and free fun. Y’all will just have to come see for your self.
Mardi Gras ParadeAngie, NOPD and lots of ladders for the kids
This was walking distance from our house.
What I am sharing this week is the progression of 2 paintings that I am working on. You will have to use your imagination about what they are going to look like when I am finished or check in next week when I am done. The skeleton is finally coming along. I am going to call her La Femme Fatale. I went through a lot of names. I think it was because I started painting what I had in mind, but forgot to check in with her. A couple of names that she had for a while were Lasting Beauty and Haunting Beauty. Maggie wanted to name her “A field of Unicorns”. Apparently, the unicorns were invisible. I like La Femme Fatale because New Orleans has such a French influence and She is hanging out in the French Quarter around Mardi Gras. She is pretty fatale being beyond the flesh and blood stage of her life.
first skeleton picture
I decided that I didn’t like such small details, so I went larger.
2nd, Larger Picture
In the second picture, I am starting to like her here, but she has a long way to go.
La Femme Fatale Almost Finished
Fetching, I’d say, in a fatal way. Those are little crawfish fireflies in the street light, a small alligator playing a tambourine on her shoulder. She is now wearing a little hat with a veil that is so popular with the parade crowd. She had on a real Mardi Gras bead necklace, but I removed it for now. I may add it back in using an old glass bead throw that you can still catch once in a while. I put a net veil on the hat, but liked the permanence of a painted veil. I put little glitter fleur dis lis on her dress. This painting has been a labor. Some times things don’t come easily.
She is starting to look satisfied. I would say she’s almost finished.
I just want to introduce the painting I am having a lot of fun with. She is Mardi Gras Muse. If you want inspiration, paint a muse. They so love the attention.
Preparing the wood
I picked 3 colors: mars black, magenta and white. I painted these words on in gold: Mardi Gras feel the happy love. I added a big heart on the right and 2 little hearts on the left.
Mardi Gras Muse Blocked Out
I am just going to have fun with her. Lots of symbols, pictures and words in her hair. She will have plenty of bling on her mask and glitter on her tiara. I see her so clearly already.
I hope you check in next week to see the progress. Life in New Orleans is a dream come true.
What we found out during Mardi Gras is that it is not a sprint, it is a marathon, so pace yourself. There is a bit of life wisdom in that.
You know how it feels when you think you are on the right track, when all the pieces in your life are just falling into place? I feel like that about our move to New Orleans. At my launch party two weeks ago, 2 paintings sold and I was asked to donate a print to the Pussy Footer’s Ball. My friends Heather and Mimi are each putting my name in the drawing for the opportunity to be chosen for the marching krewe.
The Blush Ball is an event for charity. They are raising money for the Metropolitan Center for Women and Children.
This is the painting that I donated for the raffle. I decided on a mixed media original designed for the Ball. I put my mother’s glasses on the person in the painting. I have always loved these glasses from the 50’s. I said “person” because she could be a woman or could be a drag queen. It just depends on how you see her. I love how paintings have their own intentions.
Queen of the Ball
One of the paintings that sold at the party is Eternal Love. Both paintings had to have emergency photos taken at the print shop. The turn around was too quick to have Dorka take the photos.
Eternal Love
These two happy campers are pushing up daisies. The semi-transparent butterflies are emissaries between worlds. I painted this with my husband, David in mind.
I hope that 2012 is starting off fabulously wonderful for y’all.
2012 has started off ridiculously wonderful for everyone I have talked to. My sister-in-law is a brand new citizen of the United States. My daughters both got great LSAT scores. Katy got two job offers and free health care. I hope that 2012 is going the same for you. This will be one of the few times that I might have trouble keeping the blog short and sweet.
The opening of Gator Girl art was a ginormous success. I wanted a reverse retirement party. I wanted to feel viable in the world of art. I believe that celebrations and rituals are important. The act of ritual begins or ends something. I am going to tell you what worked, so you can have your own celebration of whatever you want to begin.
My sister and her boyfriend came from California to New Orleans to help. My brother coincidentally flew from Argentina for a job out of Houma the day before. So already it was amazing. We went to the Green Project to find some reclaimed wood to make frames for 3 of the paintings.
Angie, Jan and me looking at a shutter frame.Framing in my pajamas. An artist perk.Framed Gator in Entry
The above picture is of the entry table. On the right is my bio and artist statement. I put postcards by each painting that talk about the subject. On the piece of wood, sitting on a tiny easel, is a statement saying that 10% of all proceeds from the sale of Gator Girl Art goes to rebuilding parks and green spaces in New Orleans. Next to that is a bamboo box with my business cards. On a pink clipboard is a sign-in sheet for names and emails. Last but not least, is the painting Laughing Out Loud, framed in water-damaged, reclaimed wood. I am happy to say that this gator has a new home in New Orleans. I think it is important to have original art available for sale, so I learned from Shiloh Sophia to offer my original paintings for 1/3 down and you can take it home and pay $100 a month. I like the energy that comes with original art.
We had red beans and rice, seafood gumbo, drinks, king cake and chocolate chip cookies. I bought this really cool cheddar cheese that had sage running through it and made it look like an alligator. There was more food, but this is what I would serve again.
I am working on a new painting to donate to the Pussy Footer’s Ball. I am having so much fun painting it. I will show you very soon, because I am working on a deadline.
Waiting for Dinner, another piece we framedWere You There
I am including Were You There to show how important placement is. I didn’t like this painting as much before I put it up over the fireplace on a light-colored wall. I really like it now. I am going to frame most or all the art that I still have since the launch. I like how the frames look and I think people here, versus people in California like and maybe expect a frame.
That is all for now. I hope if you are celebrating something in your life that you would like to share with the world, this was helpful. If you came to my opening, thank you so much for supporting me. If you are following my blog, it warms my heart.
This is the painting that I gave you a sneak preview of a couple of weeks back. Her dreams kept multiplying and her basket is over-full with eggs ready to be counted. The little chick and the mamas are looking on. The theme is abundance. She is wearing a tiara but is unaware of her Goddess-ness. She is humble and hopeful.
Humble and hopeful is how I am starting the New Year… as well as grateful. I hope all the best to all ya’ll in 2012.
Mini Mags and I have been missing Brook. She was tragically hit by a car last week crossing Napoleon Avenue on her own between Dryades and Danneel. The car was a hit and run, but the people there were so nice. When we got the phone call, my daughter and son-in-law responded. The neighbors had Brook covered with a blanket and 5 people were petting her. She was rushed to Maple Street Small Animal Clinic. They fixed her up and x-rayed her. The x-ray showed too much muscle damage from old age for her to recover.
It was a miracle that my clueless, little escape artist lived as long as she did. I should paint some little lab angels in her picture.
My husband called her an anti-lab. She hated water, even to get her feet wet. She was afraid of guns and did not understand the concept of fetch. She was fetching, however. She loved to dress up, especially if she saw another dog wearing a sweater.
Mini Mags and I were reminiscing about Brook, and Maggie in her infinite 3-year-old wisdom, said that I should paint Brook.
At the risk of sounding loony-tunes, I am going to start talking about my process. I set the mood. Usually, I play music that inspires me, but when I paint pets, it is unusually quiet. Search me, I don’t know why this is the case. I light a candle, and for Brook, I put out some black and pink paint and her favorite food, an apple. I asked Brook’s spirit to help me paint her. Living or passed on, I feel the animal’s spirit happily respond to this. I guess it is just like an animal in life, eager and loyal.
Little Altar
I picked 3 colors that I think Brook would like. With Brook I picked hot pink, a color I always associated with her, pale pink and opaque yellow. Then, I sprayed the canvas with water to make the paint go on easier and freer. I put the paint anywhere that feels right. I put the yellow near the top like a shining light and the pinks everywhere else.
Then I wrote words on the painting. As it happens, all the time so far, the words placed themselves so appropriately. They went on like this: loving was near her tongue, loyal was near her brain and lab was by her throat. When I wrote the words, the canvas was vertical, and when I blocked Brook out, the painting was horizontal. I am just mentioning this to show how this just happens.
Background and Words
The words are loving, Loyal, lab.
Next, I painted Brook. I chose Black, but it could have been any dark color. I think I will paint the dark places on her coat in Dioxazine Purple and the lighter ones in Micaceous Iron Oxide, with Bone Black predominant. The great things about acrylic paints (I use Golden Acrylics) are the quick drying time and you can layer over anything that you try on. If it is a real mistake, paint it over in opaque white or gesso and start over.
Just on the off-chance that you don’t want to read about painting Brook all day, I will insert a picture of the blocking here.
And thanks for reading about Brook and my process. Stay tuned for the next step.
Gator Girl Art 