New Orleans – Page 6 – Gator Girl Art

Working with Copper

Posted on April 15, 2014 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all,

We are having a blustery Tuesday. It is really cold and windy out there. I know I shouldn’t complain because we don’t have snow, but we are supposed to be a tropical climate.

I was given a big sheet of copper. I took it to a metal shop and had it cut in 8 x 10 inch pieces. I think I have about 50 pieces. I can cut them smaller myself, but the copper is pretty thick. My idea is to put some of my art on the copper. I tried using a transfer paper called TAP. It is designed for transferring onto material, but it advertises that it transfers to any surface. I chose Baby, I got this. because his skin color is so beautiful, but the white wings did not transfer. I added some color to his lips with red paint and darkened his features with black paint.

I painted embossing powder on the wings with varnish, then used a heat gun until it bubbled. I sealed his face with wax and the rest of the copper with varnish. I won’t use the wax again. It didn’t make that much of a difference.

I tried printing the same photo on organza.

This was easy. I just attached the organza with varnish.

My plan is to nail the copper onto reclaimed wood with copper tacks and add some kind of embellishment. If you have any ideas for this project, let me know, please. I plan on taking a few finished pieces to Bayou Boogaloo to see if people like them.

I also bought a silk screen kit to try with the copper. So far that has been a big mess, but I am not through.

I have painted Nice Hair a little bit. I have an idea that might help you if you are just starting to paint faces.

I started by painting her face and hair, then I stopped and measured. Are her eyes level? Her ears the same size? It saves me from painting her over and over without knowing why she looks out of whack. I painted her before I measured because I don’t want to be too controlled.

When I put the pencil marks on, her left ear was short and one of her pupils was more dilated. A little quirky is good in a face, but some things like pupils just look off.

I don’t know where I am going with this yet.

Right now, I am getting ready for my in-laws. They are coming tomorrow for Easter. I always feel like I need a block of time to get started on something. I might be able to pop in here once in a while. We’ll see.

I really would appreciate any copper feedback.

Love to you all,

Gator Girl

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Gator in the Hen House

Posted on April 9, 2014April 9, 2014 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all,

I wanted to finish Gator in the Hen House before I wrote to you this week. I am taking 4 paintings to Dorka to photograph this morning. This is my photograph of the finished painting. I am going to frame it with some wood I have saved under the house.

This is pretty large, 24 x 36 inches. My favorite part is the alligator. My second favorite part is the chicken wire.

My goal was to make the gator the center of attention with a smug and cavalier attitude. The chickens are a riot of color and feathers. They each have their own personality.

I raised the chicken wire with molding paste, then lightly brushed some Golden Green Gold and Cobalt Teal back in.

The rooster was painted with Golden’s Permanent Violet Dark, then Carbon Black and more colors. The shiny parts are Silk’s Acrylic Glaze.

This rooster is standing as straight as he can on his tiptoes trying to look invisible.

This hen's eyes are starting to roll back in her head. She thinks she might faint. — This hen’s eyes are starting to roll back in her head. She thinks she might faint.

I used Golden’s molding paste and Liquitex heavy body acrylic on the white chicken. I said “used” because I painted with a brush, my fingers and a palette knife.

I loved this chicken when she was pure green, but I wanted her to be a more realistic color and contrast with the gator.

So I changed her to..

Mama chicken is yelling, "Get outa here!" — Mama chicken is yelling, “Get outa here!”

On Mama Chicken I painted with acrylic paint and Dylusions Postbox Red Ink Spray. I painted with it, not sprayed it. I love how it saturates. I had to seal the hen with varnish and then paint the white bits back in. When you paint with ink it keeps soaking through.

I made the floor of the hen-house dirty, by putting broken toothpicks and beads in black and tan paint, putting them on the floor of the hen-house and pulling the pieces off with tweezers. I knew I would have a hard time making the dirt look random, otherwise.

One of the challenges of this painting was to keep the chickens in the background as supporting actors. They really wanted to take over.

I bought this cart at IKEA. I love it more every day.

Each day I have to trust again that I am on the right path. For me, right now, it seems like the only one. So I am putting one foot in front of the other and going on.

Loving you unconditionally,

Gator Girl

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Me as Tour Guide

Posted on April 1, 2014 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

74 degrees and everything is starting to bloom. Don’t hate. It will be unbearably hot before you know it.

With Spring comes house guests. It is fun to see our city through the eyes of someone here for the first time.

When someone has been here before, I like to act as a bed and breakfast. But for the first time visitor there is so much to see, I think a tour is in order.

We have friends here from California this week. After 6 days of being a tour guide, I felt they had seen enough of New Orleans for a first visit. I was not willing to release them before this. (It is such a great city, I think you really have to live here full-time to experience it.) Today, Mary and Ulco are taking a self-guided walking tour of the Garden District.

We started the week with a car tour… breakfast at Camilla Grill, Audubon Park, the French Quarter, Frenchman St., the Marigny, the Bywater, and City Park. The next day, we rode the Streetcar to the French Quarter and had beignets at Cafe du Monde followed by lunch at the Gumbo Shop. Mary and Ulco were kind enough to go to the finale of Entrepreneur Week to support Where Y’Art. (Where Y’Art won the popular vote, but not the judges vote for $50,000.)

We went to Hogs for a Cause at City Park on Saturday. It had rained all night and it was a muddy mess. *House guests don’t really like wading around in the mud. To be honest, we didn’t like it either.

We stopped by Chickie Wah Wah to see Paul Sanchez. He invited several guest artists on stage during the show. It was super fun. I have to go see Antoine Diel again.

We were super lucky to see the Mardi Gras Indians on Sunday. After that, my sweet darlin’ drove them through the 9th Ward and Chalmette.

The top 3 things we did this week were: 1) the French Quarter. 2) the New Orleans School of Cooking. This is a great over-view of history as it relates to food.

3) Honey Island Swamp Tour. I like this tour for a first visit because it is close to the city and well run.

The restaurants are too many to mention.

Art? No art. I better get busy.

With scaly, reptilian love,

Gator Girl

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Life in Progress

Posted on March 25, 2014March 25, 2014 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I have a to do list as long as my arm, but my studio is quiet and here I am.

Just a little update today.

Company is coming to New Orleans in waves. And why not? New Orleans in the Spring is the best.

Raffi is beginning a large painting of his pets. He wants it to go with his 3-year-old painting of his family.

I gave him some student quality paints for the first layer. Besides the color, the paints themselves look drab. I ordered him some Liquitex paints for the next layers. They aren’t Golden, but they are nice.

My Gator in the Hen House is still in progress. I have spent many hours on this. I will continue to paint it until I am happy with every inch.

Gator in the Hen House, still in progress

This is why I am a little late with my list today.

This is super fun. I have painted the darks. I think her hair will be full of fun stuff. Maybe butterflies, bugs, a bird? I don’t know yet.

She seems to welcome Spring.

Maggie lost her tooth. Too cute.

Gotta run.

Until next week my loves,

Gator Girl

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Mardi Gras and a Gator

Posted on February 26, 2014 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all,

We are in the full swing of Mardi Gras come rain or come shine.

Day 2 Mardi Gras, last weekend — Saturday, February 22nd, 2014

Last Saturday, the weather was beautiful, the crowds were there, but in a gentler, roomier way.

It rained all night.

Sunday, started out muddy and fun. Then the deluge. Only the hardcore monsters of Mardi Gras stuck it out.

Pussyfooters put on a happy face.

I am working on a new painting called Gator in the Hen House. It could symbolize government corruption. I really wanted to paint it because chickens can be so colorful. I wanted a challenge. This painting is pushing me to experiment with proportions, movement and design. I am just going to take my time.

So far, it is only acrylic paint.

My plan is to add some ink behind the chicken wire for depth and color. Then, chicken wire made with medium gel gloss using rabbit wire as a stencil. I want to add paint to molding paste and put some of the feathers on with a palette knife. Finally, many more layers of paint.

All of this will occur after Mardi Gras.

I am already liking the Gator’s swashbuckling attitude.

That’s what’s happening in my neighborhood. What’s going on in yours?

Happy Mardi Gras,

In abundant love,

Gator Girl

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Women of Mardi Gras

Posted on February 18, 2014 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

The Carnival season is upon us. Do you know how the longer you are in a situation, the more you see?… like the unfolding of a map. I feel like I am understanding Mardi Gras a little more this year.

I just noticed that many women are in more than one parading group. What bad ass women. I have never been much of an athlete and this would require that kind of energy.

There are many women’s troupes. I will only touch of a few. Give you a taste of what you might not know.

Of course the Pussyfooters.

“First and foremost, it is said that Pussyfooters are on this earth to raise the consciousness of all women everywhere. Sisters from the Mothership work to support and empower women globally and locally. We honor our imperfections and dance out of love and non-judgement. We are–each and everyone of us–shiny diamonds.” —Camille Baldassar, founder.

The Pussyfooters raised $34,000 for Metropolitan Center for Women and Children this year.

The Bearded Oysters. The Bearded Oysters is an organization devoted to sisterhood, fun, art, and personal growth. Over 700 women.

The Muff-a-lottas are a dance troupe filled with New Orleans ladies ready to strut their Muff Stuff down the nearest parade route.

Cosmonaughties are Celestial bodies in motion! The Star-Steppin’ Cosmonaughties are the official dance team of Krewe de Lune. Born during the 2011 Carnival season, the Cosmonaughties have been rocking their unique, fun style in Mardi Gras parades and events year-round ever since.

I am hella excited about the Glambeaux‘s debut this year. Talk about bad ass. Flambeauxs are heavy. These flambeauxs are a hiking backpack’s frame supporting a propane tank fueling 4 burners on top of a pole.

Historically, the flambeaux was carried on the parade route to illuminate an otherwise dark street. Historically, carried by a man. It is customary to tip the flambeaux carrier. The Glambeaux donate their tips to Woman with a Vision.

14 days until Mardi Gras! The parades have already started.

Love to y’all!

Gator Girl

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Walking to New Orleans

Posted on January 28, 2014 by gatorgirlart

Good morning all y’all!

New to me stuff going on in New Orleans. The schools, government offices and many other businesses are closed for two days because of a storm coming in. The grocery and Red Box were crowded with people yesterday, like before a hurricane. The low tonight will be 27. It is 36 as I write this. The roads will be icy. Some bridges will be closed. For this transplanted me, this preparedness seems over the top. Maybe I will be educated.

The Blush Ball was last Saturday. There is a great video on Facebook of our dance, but I can’t get it to transfer out of Facebook. At least you can see our costumes and our awesomeness. We raised $30,000 for the Metropolitan Center of Women and Children.

That is me in the very middle in a short pink, curly wig.

Walking to New Orleans, because I have been thinking about alligators and skyline.

I have a nice old frame that I acquired at an estate sale. My sweet darlin’ cut a piece of wood to fit in the frame. It measures 15.5 x 28 inches. Usually, when I do a background, I start haphazardly, intention mixed with wild abandon. Most of it gets covered up. This time, I thought it would be cool to paint the land and sky the same colors. I started painting land and sky (with intention and abandon).

I cut out maps, music, and decorative paper for the buildings and paper that looks like French writing for the foliage. I outlined the skyline in black paint and painted a much finer line around the buildings.

I am waiting for Golden self-leveling gel to arrive in the mail. It will be shiny and totally protect the paper. I think people will be drawn to touch the buildings, so I want to protect them.

The Chinese New Year begins this Friday. The year of the horse. Symbolically, I plan to dust the house before then. I like to take a small part of another culture’s ritual and make it my own. Especially, if many cultures share the same ritual.

“Horse year is a time of fast victories, unexpected adventures, and surprising romance. Energy is high and production is rewarded. We’Moon 2014

Looking at the rain. Shaking my head. I believe we will be open again on Thursday.

Last but not least, our own Fats Domino.

Love you all,

Gator Girl

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Dandelion Prayers

Posted on January 15, 2014 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all,

Things are gearing up around New Orleans. The Pussyfooter’s Blush Ball is this Saturday. I am stretching my comfort zone by being very brave. I am dancing in the front row at the ball. Whew. I am not a dancer by nature.

Everyone is talking about Mardi Gras and the Jazz Fest. It feels like fun is blooming all around.

I had to stretch myself artistically. I was asked to paint a picture of my God daughter. It is way more stressful and sometimes feels more mathematical than artistic. I don’t want to make her nose to big or her ear too small. I thought I was done, but I see the jaw line is not perfect yet. I am calling the painting Dandelion Prayers. Because I think wishing is a little lame, unless wishing is backed by a lot of hard work.

The parts of the painting that I had the most fun with are the parts I made up. I added the green dress to match the meadow and her eyes. Usually, I like a lot of messier lines, but this painting is rather clean. I rubbed Dorland’s Wax Medium all over her face and hair, I sealed the rest of the painting with Golden Satin Varnish. I will post this again when I am completely done.

Effy Wild offers a lot of courses in art journaling. I decided to try her free course, Wildly Inspired. She posts on Wednesdays. I know I will probably get behind in this, but it is there for inspiration and I plan on keeping up. The two major things I tried with Effy’s first video was texturing the coat of Gesso and sealing the whole cover with Golden Self Leveling Clear Gel.

I think journaling will help me stay open in 2014. I notice on the cover that I am standing very straight and looking a little closed. That is OK, because this is just the beginning. What kind of trip would this be if I was already there? I put the card with the number 5 on the back, because in numerology, 5 invites people into your life. I used to have a “5” (just add up your house numbers) two bedroom house and at one point there were 8 people living there. We rented a port-o-potty for our second bathroom.

Peace and Love. That's my girl. — Peace and Love. That’s my girl.

Maggie's 2014 Vision Board. — Maggie’s 2014 Vision Board.

Maggie calls her board Tam (Tame) for no reason that I can decipher. The initials for her vision board are T.A.P. The initials don’t stand for words. She envisions for herself: Christmas, her 6 year old birthday and Mardi Gras.

I want to share with you, that being OPEN sounds great, but it is a little hard.

May I ask… what is your word?

In love with the adventure. And sometimes a little terrified.

Gator Girl

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OPEN (my word for 2014)

Posted on January 7, 2014January 7, 2014 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all,

Muy frio. Besides walking the dog, I am lucky to work inside my house.

I have taken a whole week to get myself into the new year. My word is OPEN. For some reason, it always needs capitalizing.

I used about a third of my board from last year.

I tried out some new techniques and some new products. Trying not to mind that supplies are expensive and this is old cardboard.

My board is different this year. It is mostly all painted, but still has so many rectangles.

On the Cosmic Cowgirl January phone call, I saw that the gift that I am giving to the new year is a bunch of white roses. I plan to buy them throughout the year as a reminder.

Last year’s board was a little 3D, so this board is very lumpy.

I left the board a vague on purpose. I think the year might have different plans for me than I imagine… 3 presents, a fortune, 3 spirals, 16 candles, many people, a blank canvas, and my gift of a white rose. I don’t’ know why or what the numbers mean. Running laterally through the board is my piece of the red thread. I spent the whole week, on and off, just wondering and painting layers and layers on this board.

Cosmic Cowgirls each hold one section of the red thread. It is too much to be responsible for everything, so we all commit to doing our part. That is the meaning I am going for with the thread… doing my part. The thread also keeps us connected to other people. Imagine if we were all standing in a circle, all around the world, holding that thread, connected.

So far, I am mostly aware of the people on the vision board. If I am to be open, I will have to be open to people. Hmmm.

This vision board is not about a to do list. It is about dreams and desires.

This really cool sign for my house came in the mail for my birthday.

My BFF, Jules, had it made for me. (Thank you)

I was fortunate to spend a whole day with my mini muse, Maggie. She is a funny and entertaining girl. Our day went from looking for pearls in pistachios (only the organic nuts have pearls) to thinking Rhiana wrote “Monster” just for her. These are the lyrics to the bridge…

I’m friends with the monster that’s under my bed
Get along with the voices inside of my head
You’re trying to save me, stop holding your breath
And you think I’m crazy, yeah, you think I’m crazy

I am so excited to watch MMM grow up.

Looking forward to 2014.

Opening to possibilities.

Gratefully in love,

Gator Girl

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You Stole My Heart

Posted on December 20, 2013 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

The holidays are here. Soon to say good-bye to 2013.

I have been thinking back on the year. It was a good year for me. I tried to work hard. Be kind. Practice gratitude. My sweet darlin’ aways says that you can only control your own attitude and effort. I tried.

On my vision board from last year I see that NOLA Groundswell is now a non-profit business. That’s it so far. I applied for a few grants, but I think money is a little tight. No grants yet. I do love Maggie’s input…Good Luck, celebrations and love. My word for the year was VISIBLE. I am heading in that direction.

My last painting for 2013 is competed.

I wanted to paint the love between a mother and daughter. I like the words because they can be spoken by either person. I used a few of my favorite icons… the blue bird of happiness, the home, daisies and a sun. I like the fanciful childlike renderings.

I have some Shasta daisies in my front yard that I planted 30 years ago in Sacramento at our first home. Every time we moved I divided a few plants and moved them with us. 5 moves. I think that is why I put daisies in so many of my paintings.

The sky and the sun are tissue paper, decroative paper and paint. The words are chip board that I painted white.

I hope you like it.

I am off to visit the in-laws in California.

Have you been thinking about your 2013? I would love to hear.

In hopeful anticipation of 2014,

love,

Gator Girl