Fishing With Love...

When you are fishing with love... you can catch whatever you wish! And so catching a few hours of paint time this weekend was exactly what I was fishing for. After all, if I don't love myself enough to let myself play every once in awhile... who will? So I gave my permission!

I couldn't wait to get started! I had these oddly rectangular canvasses for awhile and wanted to do something interesting with them. A whimsical fisher-girl seemed like just the right subject for this substrate. I began with a bluish-greenish monochromatic palette and let it fade into the background, so the girl and fish would stand out!

I'm not sure why I made her eyes so big! They looked a little more proportional in the sketch... but I went with it... chalking it up to a bit of whimsy. Whimsy never hurt anyone!

The pops of color were exactly what I was looking for, and the fish turned out even sweeter than I thought he would. I must confess though... that I drew him on a separate piece of tracing paper until I liked him. This little goldfishie is the 3rd iteration of my original attempt, and a sweetly creative expression of exactly what I was fishing for (with love)! You see... I'm trying to discover my own personal style. And like any good fisherwoman...patience and perseverence is what I need!

Can You Sugar Coat It For Me?

Goody-goody gumdrops, and cotton candy too (of course)! After I had so much fun with my pop art ice cream cone, I decided to make a cotton candy version as well (actually, my brain has created a whole series of candy art... now I need more canvasses!).  And since cotton candy is all sweet and sugary, I thought that gumdrops would make the perfect accompaniment. But after I stared and stared at the finished piece, I thought the gumdrops looked a little naked.

So... I covered them with glitter! Big, fat, chunky glitter! Now they really look like gumdrops.

The final, final piece is totally sugary and 3-D! But I still can't decide if I like the gumdrops with or without the sugar. But that's how it is with original art.... sometimes you just have to take a chance. There's no "undo" button.

Thoughtful Thursdays: I See Stars!

For me, inspiration can come from anywhere at anytime and from anything. And since I watch TV, listen to the radio, and love going to see plays and movies... sometimes it comes from the stars of stage, screen and sound! Many times it's influential in a teeny-tiny way, like the stars on this woodburned piece here. This particular (and literal) addition of stars was influenced by Kat Von D of LA Ink. Kat has a collection of small stars tattooed on her left temple.

This tree-like assemblage was influenced by the band They Might Be Giants and their song Build A Little Birdhouse. In it, they have a line that says, "make a little birdhouse in your soul".... so I did!

And, well... you may recognize this little troublemaker if you saw the movie Coraline! She's my very own Little Me — inspired by the movie character's scary little doll she found in her own likeness. I practically ran home and started making this after seeing the film. I think Coraline is going to be one of those Cult Movie favorites, for sure.

So there you have it... a little bit of star-inspired inspiration. Are there any stars that have influenced your art or creativity in big ways or small? I'd love to hear about it.

Tickled Pink!

What can I say? I love the color pink. It's so happy and whimsical and flirty... it just makes me smile. And when I ran across this photo of these smiling retro-style ladies... well, I was just tickled pink! The overhead view of this circular piece (that ended up being a tabletop), just made me dizzy. Kind of like how I feel after doing an art show. There's lots of fallout, cleanup, tallying, re-organizing, and figuring out what to do next. I'll let you know when I figure it out. Stay tuned... you never know with me!