skeleton – Gator Girl Art

Gator Girl Art is on Etsy!

Posted on April 12, 2012April 12, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Good Morning all y’all,

If you would like an original Gator Girl painting, but need to wait a while for the opportunity, there are prints available on Etsy. My prints start at $30 and there is a special going on for the month of April. Go ahead and check it out. You can also send me your email address through my email account at nancy@gatorgirlart.com and I will send you an email when I have a new painting, OR you can also see all my paintings in progress by following my blog.

And thank you, thank you for reading my blog!

I have completed 3 paintings.

The original of Monsieur Gator was painted on commission and is not available.

The collector asked for a French Gator. Painted in French around the outside edge of the canvas are the words “Strolling at Sunset, Dreaming of z Camembert”.

I listened to Chante France on the Internet. M. Gator loved the music. It seemed to put him in the mood for a portrait. What an attitude he has!

La Femme Fatal is mixed media, 12 x 36 inches painted on wood. She is standing on the street in the French Quarter after the parades have passed. She still has “it” after all these years. She sells for $800.

The Mardi Gras Muse or as MMMM calls her, Princess Masketier is mixed media on reclaimed wood, with a reclaimed wooden frame. The original is $800. The frame is part of the painting, so a small portion of the frame was also photographed.*

There are words about Mardi Gras running through her hair, and a 3 dimensional king cake baby. She is wearing a raven mask for my sister who owns Raven Wisdom Studio in Chico, California. (She is a clay artist.) The music is from the song “Mardi Gras Mambo”.

Mardi Gras Muse started out clearly in my mind’s eye, but took over a month to complete.

Now that these 3 paintings are complete, I will be starting a new painting from scratch. The options are swirling around me as I type.

Please stay tuned,

All my love from an ever-opening heart,

Gator Girl

*The photography is by the amazing Dorka Photography in New Orleans.

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Hello March!

Posted on March 4, 2012March 4, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Hi friends,

La Femme Fatale finished.

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.

Masked Muse — 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.

Until next week, my loves.

Gator Girl

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Mardi Gras

Posted on February 25, 2012February 25, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Hi y’all,

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.

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.

skeleton in progress — first skeleton picture

I decided that I didn’t like such small details, so I went larger.

In the second picture, I am starting to like her here, but she has a long way to go.

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.

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.

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.

With grateful and abundant love,

Gator Girl

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Artist in Residence

Posted on February 2, 2012February 2, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Hi y’all,

Today, I am updating you on Maggie’s painting.

She started adding some detail. Skeleton Jack is on the left and Sally is the pink one on the right. They are using a “contraction” to walk. They don’t have proper feet. On the bottom she put a strip of painter’s tape and then removed it after painting over the tape. She is painting flowers on that strip for Sally.

Painting Skeleton Jack and Sally — Maggie Painting

With abundant love,

Gator Girl and Mags

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What’s not to love about eternal love?

Posted on January 21, 2012January 21, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Good Morning y’all,

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.

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.

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.

Talk with you next week!

Gator Girl