Aphrodite

ahhhhhh......

Halloween.... I love it so much.  it is my favorite thing....ever...in the Fall.  I love walking around at night with a bunch of other people walking around at night...dressed in costumes and having fun.  Our neighborhood is just- the best - for this.

one guy at the end of the block has a really cool digital art (spooky) show that he projects on his garage....it is spectacular.

and all of the neighbors have kids....everyone....has kids and everyone is out visiting and hanging out.


I absolutely LOVE it.  and I start early...asking my kids what they want to be...and then trying to find those costumes...usually on ebay...and I have to give myself loads of time for the search...for the shipping... oh yes......I really get into it.

Oh...and I really super get into the pumpkin carving....well...of course I do- I mean...that makes sense...any chance to do something artistic...creative....I'm there...

so that brings me to this year's costume for me.  Usually I put all my effort in kid costumes...and then I just kinda...wear a witch's hat...or bunny ears....or something lame like that- but I always want to have a really fun costume- something totally over the top.  :) fun.

This year....I am going to be Aphrodite.  It was a toss up between a mermaid...and a greek goddess...

I'm going with a greek goddess.....and not just any greek goddess...I'm going as Aphrodite...with a costume on...of course...I'm not going to be emerging from a scallop shell...naked....it's not that kind of party and it gets pretty cold here around that time of year- so that just wouldn't be smart.

(Birth of Venus-Botticelli, c. 1486)




She's all about love....she is love...and that makes me happy.   :)  maybe I'll get some heart tattoos to pass those out too...or maybe...hmmmmm..  Hey...I just might.  spread some love around...


Yes, yes...I know....Halloween is supposed to be all scary...and spooky...and whatnot.  :)  that's fun too.... I love that part too.  Which makes me then think of being some goddess of the underworld...but no....I don't want to be all goth...and black...yuck.


... knowing me...I'll probably just want to sprinkle glitter and stick heart tattoos on people.  <3



Peace and love...and Aphrodite...and here's to radiating love and creating beauty.



hallelujah.  <3

golden

today...all....fire...golden....yellow.

I ditched all the colors and stuck to what I was feeling.  yellow...

like...golden...sunshiney....warm....brilliant...

Let me introduce you to my new best friend....


this watercolor pencil- in Primrose yellow... it is....it makes me...it just is.  It is the probably...must be...the lightest yellow before white....

I like to draw my sketches with it- before I paint.

Getting started....

and continuing....layering and staying with the same tones...

and adding more shadows...

And then....the finished....

and closer....

I like to crop the painting in different ways...thinking of cutting it down and framing....

and this is how I feel today...all sun....and all love...what more do I need to do?




and so....

Peace...love...and bright...yellow....be the sun.    <3

rainy days and watercolors

Today was a cooler rainy day...end of summer/beginning of fall...feeling day.  

it made me want to make a big pot of spaghetti sauce...and get cozy...after I ran around to take back late library books and get groceries...and throw in a bunch of stuff to make the sauce...

I settled in and got started on this watercolor.  

still loving the new paper....

This one is a bit different......starting to include a face...where I have left the others...sans face...sans head.  

I didn't stop to take pics of the progress...I was just...too into it....  

Here are some close- ups though....

I included a lot more pencil lines in this...as you can see in the close-ups.  

I've said this before...but....wow.  the watermarks on this paper.... make me happy.  

I guess....being my own model....I'm always available...and I know I will be motivated by dark chocolate peanut M and Ms.  

peace...love....rain....and loads of angel hair pasta.  :)  

yellow and blue: nude

yellow and blue...

less and more. 

This was another attempt at trying to step back a little bit...and use less....to say more...

a study....use of two colors here....trying to concentrate on shape and light and dark.... this was the last of the old paper....before I moved to the new paper...




speaking of yellow... there is just something about yellow...and sunshine...that can just....turn your mood around and make you feel golden.


peace and love and sunshine.

<3

(created in WordFoto app...for iPhone)

different paper...a whole new scene

so....

the other day when I really needed watercolor paper....my limited choices forced me to pick a paper- I really didn't want to buy...but I really needed paper... 

and sometimes....something like- buying watercolor paper-can make you realize....serendipity...the gods must have been laughing at me when I bought it...knowing I'd be really happy with this happenstance...this paper.... the universe delivers.  :)

not knowing what I was getting into...I just started painting last night...

the usual quick sketch and then dive into the painting...I really have very little patience with the drawing part...although- I know it's important....

and then... the painting... a new pose...a new perspective on the same geography... a new look...a new paper....  

and different things happen.  

hmmmmm.....so many messages there...I can't keep up.  Change your perspective...change your....everything.  

anyway.....back to the painting part...  :)  

last painting I did...I wanted to do more- less.  :)   so I tried to walk away from this painting...while I still had a lot of white space left.  

You can see that I still used my favorite tool...the flat brush...but I also have a lot of cool watermarks- letting the paper work its magic.  With the first pass of the background wash....I could instantly see this paper was taking over and...I was amazed.  I like it when that happens...when I do less....and the paper does more.  

and for some close ups....

and...

beautiful watermarks....just like....magic.  

less is more....sometimes in a painting....things just left as a hint...make a bigger impact.    

peace...love...and new perspectives....something as simple as different paper...can lead to surprising things....me....ever the optimist.

The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser...in case you thought optimism was dead- Robert Brault.

amazing...yes.   I never erase.  

<3  

studies and practice: nudes

So yesterday...

there I was...just pouring over beautiful nude watercolors- wherever I can find them on the inter- webs.

which prompted me to do more- expand more- practice more...

which means...I have to get my model ready (me) and repeatedly press the button to take a pic... it really is not as easy as it sounds.


practice, practice, practice....watercolors are amazing...and I'm just trying to figure out all the fun tricks...

today was more about doing quick studies...and it all begins with the sketch...a good solid sketch makes all the difference-  sure...some things can be worked out later- or fixed in the watercolor painting part...but... the issues I have in the sketch....are the issues I have to deal with later.

So the first one I did....


I wanted to do a more...minimalist type of thing...still....I need to hold back more... what I think I will do next time is just do simple lines...maybe a background wash...and that is it.


So here is the first sketch...

and this is what I would like to preserve for the next try... keep the rough lines and keep it really simple..

Even when I applied this wash....I wished that I had gone a different direction... but that was the whole purpose of today...just play.   see what happens.

With the final as....

and then I kept going...and tried another pose.  

again...just playing around...seeing what works... surrendering to the moment and not getting too hung up on the how...or why...just going with it.  

Just two close-ups of the study.   

so, yeah.  This post makes me see how it's important to practice...explore...be open to new stuff...always grow and sow... the seeds of love (HAHAHAHHA, that's a Tears for Fears song).  

anyways....

peace and love and....sowing seeds...of love.  

water play and curves

today...nude. 

I decided to do another watercolor nude and take a break from the cherry blossoms.  Cutting out all those blossoms...well- it get's to be like...weaving...or knitting...the same motion- over and over...and I needed to change things up and explore something curvier...using different colors.  

First I started with a quick sketch....as always-- and used my water color pencil.  

after I did my sketch....I wanted so bad to dive in and start the watercoloring...

just one thing...

I wanted to make it look different this time and I decided...I would avoid the flat brush...and just use round brushes....and I hesitated....

and....I love my flat brush... I just wanted to try something different...

HOWEVER....

I just couldn't stick to it.....and I found myself drifting back to the flat brushes....and abandoning the round altogether.....I just....couldn't.... I still really love the way the flat brush layers color.  

and here is the studio today....I was half inside...and half outside today...so the minimal is present...music....drink...paint...Burt's Bees lip gloss...the minimal....the M and M's (dark chocolate peanut, of course) were here too...but they...somehow...left the scene... somehow. 

and after touching and re-touching...and layering...and applying bold puddles of color....

I have this....I'm sure I will play around with it a tiny bit more.... but 

and so...here is today's lesson...ummmmmm.... 

so....cheers and here's to peace...love...and curves...and color....and laughter.  :)   and fun...and fluffy stuff...like clouds.

puissance

today....

the word of the day from AWAD subscription is...puissance....

which then-later on...caused me to spot the word on my shampoo while reading the label- lathering up...ya, know- the French ones on the label.

which means- I have some puissant shampoo...which is damn important in the morning...maybe not as important as breakfast...but...





finding your puissance... mandatory not optional.

love and peace....and puissance.

Red Lips

sometimes I write about doing art...and sometimes I write about...language stuff....and

sometimes...just

stuff... 


stuff that won't necessarily change lives.... :)  however, it's the bigger picture I'm focused on here....


I never thought I could wear red lipstick.  It looked bold and crazy, and yeah- I could and have done some crazy-ish things...like going out and getting my navel pierced...when I was 22, not that it's super crazy...but I did it on a whim...and MAN...did it get infected...

and
that 
was 
NOT 
fun 
crazy.  

Anyway...red lipstick...I just....couldn't do it.

Until this year...when I went to look at lipstick-

after drinking some wine with a friend, Allison...

you know...because after you've had a few...and you go looking for lipstick colors with a friend...

you don't always pick the most....ummmm....practical choices.

you go for the RED.... and you are convinced you will wear it too (wine talking).


and that....is a good thing.  sometimes you need to shake it up...and wear the red.  right?

 I mean- why the heck not?

So I picked out the brightest red.... F-Bomb is what it was called.   Oh, yeah. Urban Decay has great names for their lip color like:  jilted, venom, bang, streak, strip.... and it lasts...a long- long time.

 (I am not getting paid to say this, although I wish that I were)


and I'm glad I went for the red.

it's good to be bold....and go 250 mph so to speak...(recently I got to drive a Ferrari, and I'm not sure I could actually drive 250 mph :) even if I were in a car that could go that fast)...and maybe change it up a bit sometimes...people say they can't change...but really...it's their own limits that keep them from...



wearing red.

love and peace....and red hot crazy lip color.

Hanami

why am I painting cherry blossoms?

without really thinking of why...I just felt like it...but after reading about the cultural meaning surrounding cherry blossoms in Japan and China....

it makes sense.


In China...cherry blossoms symbolize feminine sexuality and power...and in Japan they represent the fragility and beauty of life.  Such a powerful symbol that encompasses beauty, strength, as well as fragility...

life is precious.   enjoy it.  marvel at it.  appreciate it.  embrace it for all the crazy stuff it throws your way.

and here is progress...

I'm also thinking about trying to add rain...I feel like it needs another element to it.


and also...

I saved another dragonfly today.  :)  Look at that amazing pattern on his abdomen.  wow.

peace....love...beauty...

carbs...

thank goodness for carbs...

noodles...especially.  

I love them...and...weirdly- I love angel hair pasta or vermicelli...but not spaghetti....spaghettini is passable...sort of...

but I'm not so much into linguini...

however....noodles broader than linguini....totally ok.    is that weird?  I'm normally not an overly picky person about things....

I suppose if I were stuck on an island...with only spaghetti as company...I wouldn't kick it off the island...

I especially like carbs...when they come in the form of potatoes...

I'm Irish after all.  

and now...I have to put down the carbs and keep cutting out cherry blossoms.  

abstract...nudes

One day....


My daughter took some cheap construction paper...and decided to just do some fun watercolor on it....just playing...

I love that she does that.


Today...

I took her fun watercolor sheet and cut it....curves....for an abstract.


I don't normally do abstracts...but the mood kinda hit me.  :)


Here it is:

maybe I'll start doing more of this... give her some watercolor paper and paint...and collaborate.  :)  

I love re-working things and building off something that is already there... it's a chance to do some cool problem solving at the same time react to something in front of me...making me expand and create.  I love taking old paintings and painting over them- interacting with the previous colors and textures and marks. 

<3 

and creativity... endless.