Arms and Legs

My dollies have been complaining about their inability to dance and hold hands (sigh). Bossy girls. So I spent the day fashioning legs, painting arms, sewing, stuffing and photographing. Here they are. As I closed each picture file they whispered their names in my ear. The lady with the sunface on her chest (above) is named Leola. She is a Leo, very large and sunny and full of life. She has shparkly paper wings and long, dancer's legs.
Next we have Vida. (my grandmother's name) She is a little wild, loves to dance all night marathons at the bar with itinerant sailors and loves the Virgin of Guadalupe with all her heart. She is a complicated girl.
This is Junebug. She has 4 sisters and lives in a big house with a rolling lawn and lots of cats. She likes to sit up in the attic and paint mandalas. She has never had a date.
This is Sally. She is shy but loves to collect shoes. She has her shiny espadrilles on today and she has just ordered a pair of faux leopard skin cowboy boots from Zappos dot com. She buys her dresses at Goodwill but for shoes only the best will do.
This is Nancy Jo. She is from back east and wears gloves all the time but especially on shopping trips when she visits her Grandmother in Moline. She wants to live in a house with high ceilings and crystal chandeliers.

It's official. I'm off my rocker.

The New Sewing Machine

Until last Friday I had never owned a new sewing machine. I have been jonesing for a real sewing machine ever since Carla came to visit. Discovering DJ's blog hasn't helped. So I wished and hoped for a few weeks and then on Friday I plunged and bought a Viking Emerald 118. It threads its own needle. It zig-zags. The tension stays put. I'm on cloud nine.
So today I ignored the phone and computer and buried myself in these sewing projects. First I printed out some collages made up of my paintings onto transfer paper, transferred them to white sheeting fabric and then I plunged into making these wall dolls. The first ones were based on a series of dolls I made a few years ago that had wings, arms, and long dangly legs. This time I was not satisfied just to repeat that so I tried several new shapes. The body part of each doll is 4" long and the faces are about an inch each. So I am working with quite small objects.
You are looking at raw experimentation. Dolls with no arms. Things that for the most part didn't work. But I persisted. For 7 hours or so I was oblivious to the world as I tried random solutions to the wall doll conundrum. I discovered some things I will build on and some things I will let go of.
I know there is a tool that turns skinny tubes inside out but I dont have one so I tried the tassely legs but they were too skinny so maybe I'll have to look into the proper tool. I am way too impatient. Rather than having the right tools I just barrel in and go for it. My sisters are both real seamstresses because they are patient and perfectionistic but I am ... not.
The little faces with ribbon hangers were experiments for the Artfest charm swap. I sewed a penny in each one for weight but I am still deciding if I like them or not.
While none of these ideas are "it" they are the starting place in my search. Over the coming days I will handle the pieces and add to them or tear them apart or think of variations to try. What I wont do is be discouraged because my first try wasn't brilliant. Good ideas take time and they grow out of other ideas. I'll keep you posted.

Private Lessons

Here is my small studio, all set up for a day of painting on canvas with 3 special women from the Seattle area. I have known Irene and her daughters, Justine and Liesl, since the daughters were in baby strollers. We met each other many years ago at the Bellevue Art Fair where Irene and her husband were among the first loyal supporters of my art. Over the years Irene and I shared a dialogue where she insisted she could not paint and I insisted that just loving paintings was proof that there was talent, passion and ability. In other words, I was daring Irene to try. When she read that I was finally teaching a workshop here in Portland she shyly asked if she could have lessons too. I agreed to have her come to my studio for a day of painting. Then she asked if her daughters could join us. What a great time the girlfriends would have in Portland; shopping in a sales tax free zone, a night in a comfy hotel and then a day painting in my studio. And so this adventure began shaping up.
The women arrived promptly at 9:30 am bearing gifts! If you have never tasted salt caramel chocolates from Fran's you have a treat awaiting you. They are simply the best chocolates I have ever tasted in my life. And the decoupaged plate with a picture of a Chimney Swift - by some amazing coincidence they chose the one image that carries for me layers of significance that I won't get into just now. But it is a treasure to me and so thank you-thank you dear Irene and Justine and Liesl for your thoughful gifts. I will hold you in my heart every time I look at the beautiful plate.
I got everyone rolling right away by reminding them that on canvas we can correct our mistakes and so it is fun to start broad and tighten up later. Everyone worked on 16x20" canvases so there was quite a bit of painting to be accomplished in one day. These are the beginnings of the paintings and I think you will find the progression interesting. I love to see how other people approach their work.
Justine is painting a girl with cakes and cupcakes on her head. Her sketch started out with birds and other things in addition. She has a great sense of humor that came right through onto the canvas. It was so exciting to see how confidently she proceeded.
Irene brought a poem she had written and we discussed how she might repeat the theme in her painting. Her composition will allow her to collage the poem onto the canvas when she returns home; this will be a meaningful touchstone for her to have; her beautiful poetry and her first painting together. I am pretty sure Irene amazed herself with how well her painting progressed.
This is Liesl's painting at an intermediate stage. Liesl is so much like the subject matter she chose; outgoing, glamorous, a celebration of young womanhood. We discussed how no matter what we are painting or how we try to lie we always paint self-portraits and Liesl has certainly done that here. She loves Bettie Page and really reminds me of her and of the voluptuous pin up queens of the 50's.
Justine's painting has progressed nicely as she experiments with layers of interferon green, sparkly gold and brilliant fuchsia. She has added some collage elements too in the form of french writing, uncial lettering, some strange diagrams and a butterfly. Her lady makes me giggle.
Irene's painting is progressing wonderfully too. Once again, the subject matter mirrors the concerns and stage of life of the creator. A pensive, artistic soul entering the stage of life where one strips off the masks and ponders the serious questions for herself. I love the dappled, misty quality she has accomplished by applying the paint in her own way. Each person leaves their own personal signature in the way they apply paint.


At some point we stopped for a rustic meal. This is the salad John gathered that morning in the rain with our neighbor's asian pears and walnuts from our orchard. Blue cheese dressing. Zesty.
Pumpkin soup with green chili sauce and toasted pumpkin seeds. John made the sauce and toasted the seeds and I made the soup the day before. It has ginger, garlic, onions and vegetable stock and is one of our favorite winter soups. I didn't photograph the Kalamata olive loaf, goat cheese brie or Peach Kuchen. The food fortified us for the challenging work of bringing our paintings to resolution. Here are our results.

This is Liesl and her finished painting. I think she did a brilliant job of capturing the wild abandon of the glamorous woman with the long legs and red high heels. She kept her brushwork loose and evocative and the color palette works perfectly. A+ Liesl!

And Justine has pulled off a beautiful and fun painting too. Her lady-with-the-big-hairdo has morphed into Marie Antoinette complete with a beauty mark. We discussed tying the entire painting with a satin sash and Justine plans to add more collage when she gets home. Really a fun and wonderful painting. A+ Justine!

This is Irene's painting which I find completely beautiful, original, truthful and powerful. I'm not sure she knew she could do this but I was sure. She has a great eye and is a quick learner and I just hope she will continue to paint. None of us knows how far we can go unless we try. Anyone with the passion can learn to paint. Oh, Irene, I am just so proud of you. I am so glad we created this day together. You get an A++ for bringing us all together.

And finally, here is the tired facilitator, looking pretty beat up at the end of a long day but very, very happy to have shared this experience.

Now everybody grab your brushes and paint! Give yourself the gift of self-discovery. Revel in your creativity! You have the power, so much power, and you can go as far with it as you will let yourself.

Cook turkey or create new journal?

Oh, carumba my friends, does this happen to you? You have a house full of people coming for Thanksgiving, a huge menu to prepare, a house to clean and a list of chores to be done and then like a thunderbolt the muse is upon you like a seductive lover demanding to be wooed. Why does my best inspiration occur when I should be doing other things?

This is the new journal I put together last night when I should have been cleaning my studio for tomorrow's and Sunday's guests. First I had to put away the acrylic journal covers that were left over from the workshop. Aye, aye aye, just handling those journal covers made me want to make a journal. Really, really bad. I could not resist. You know the rest. Wet glue, hurry, hurry, feeling guilty, can't stop. My best projects go like this.

This is the back of the journal. I made a collage in PhotoElements and then printed it on a full sheet of transfer paper. Ironed that onto an old sheet (wrinkles because it was my first time and I didn't iron the sheet first because of my haste) and gelled it onto the acrylic cover.

This is what the front and back covers looked like attached to the canvas spine. The signatures will go in next. I love how rigid the acrylic makes the journal. Everything glues to it fantastically.
This view shows how the tissue I used inside and outside makes a translucent layer that shows both sides at once. Like looking through jello or encaustic. I woke up at 2 a.m. thinking the technique with the layers of tissue on acrylic was so novel that I should write it up for Cloth, Paper, Scissors but I know I have too much on my plate to do that. There is just so much you can do with acrylic panels!!
This is the inside of the covers showing the inside of the spine. Next I will sew in the signatures.
This is the spine of the finished book. I sewed a chinese coin in the upper spine (it doesn't show very well). That coin was an Artfest trade so thank you, anonymous giver, it was the perfect thing for this journal.

Oh *%$#@!!! I hear DH out in the kitchen running water while I madly type away in here. He must think I've lost my marbles to be on the computer with time running out. Wheeee, I love being an artist. Catch you later.

With a Full Heart

If you are an artist or just love to play with paint I advise you to get on the mailing list for the all day art retreats held at Diane Havnen-Smith's studio. Diane is a new best friend (no kidding) that I met only 2 months ago and with whom I have formed a close bond. When she asked me to teach at her studio I had certain reservations; first being that I dont teach (period) and second that I didn't know if I could commit to something so far out of my comfort zone. I love the way life dangles these opportunities in front of us as though testing our trust and faith in our fellow sister. I am so grateful that I took the chance. Diane has given me one of the happiest weekends I can remember and she is an amazing human facilitator of joy. We in Portland are so lucky to have this resource. One of these workshops may just be the thing that will spark a fire within you that will change your life. It happened to me.

One of Diane's many many skills is culinary; this is the delicious lunch she served. You are looking at Green Chili Sour Cream Enchiladas with cruditie vegetable salad and chipotle sauce. It tasted even better than it looks if that is possible. Really wonderful after several hours of all out art creation.

And here are the Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese icing that she served for dessert. Oh, and yes, we had chocolate too.

I wish I had more pictures of the participants and of the art they created. Diane took such terrific photographs of everyone that I sort of fell down on the job and I want to post this right now. So these photographs that follow are the few I came away with. If I get emails of additional art I will post them later. Many of my photos were too blurry to use; I was so excited that I made them out of focus.

This first one is of a reverse painting that has as its basis an image stamped from a rubber stamp. The painting was done by Katie Kendrick and I love the colors she has chosen. The painting will be viewed from the other side of the transparent substrate but I think you can already tell it is going to be beautiful.

"Olivia" was painted by Darci Roloff Keefer. She painted it on clear acrylic sheet (mylar) and then backed it with black matboard. This was originally going to be a class about painting faces but in the end each person painted what they wanted to. I think it's always more important to follow your own heart than to follow the rules.

The persimmons were painted by Laura Roloff and you are looking at the back side of the mylar. I just look at her creamy, yummy brush strokes and want to get in the studio myself. I really like the way she followed the form of the fruit with her brush.

This painting was done by Jayne Stamm. She experimented with layers of paint and pulled off this wonderful abstract. Love the color palette and all the inventive shapes.

Cynthia Mooney painted a self-portrait that I think looks just like her. She is an experienced artist and knew exactly what to do with the assignment. I think the likeness is wonderful.

This is the last of my presentable photographs of the paintings that were produced. I think Diane will post more at the innerstandings website. This face was also painted by the talented Laura Roloff. She handled the values of flesh tones better than I can; she could have taught the class!

For 2 nights I slept in the Queen's bedroom at Diane's house and along with the fabulous Katie Kendrick we had a 3 day girlie slumber party and talk-fest that was out-of-this-world fun. When we woke up on Sunday morning there was fluffy pumpkin pancakes to enjoy; Diane whips the eggs whites separately to get the light texture. Oh, I hate to brag but I have seldom been pampered like this. Maybe if you are a teacher reading this you will want to teach at Diane's venue.

The last picture is one of Katie and I clowning around with our cameras. For some reason we decided to take self portraits by holding our cameras out at arms length and shooting our own faces. Katie is teaching at Diane's 0n January 27th; a class in mixed media titled, "Feminine Icon" that you can read about here. Katie is going to have a table at Artfest in March and I am too; we are both excited to think about teaching at various venues around the country in the coming year. The travel is fun, the women are wonderful and full of life and it is just the most precious way to spend the valuable time we have on this planet.

I am still absorbing all the lessons I have learned this weekend from the women I met. My only regret was that we didn't have more time to share portfolios, dreams, wishes and backgrounds. I believe every single woman who creates can support and further the progress of the rest of us; all we have to do is figure out a way to connect and share our enthusiasm. If only we could spread our virus of love and inclusion to the politicians; what a wonderful world we could create. Well, until that happens, hold those dreams closely and reach out to your support group. Thank you sincerely to the group (10 of us!) who came together at Diane's and who dared to share the adventure. It was a dream of heaven and I hope to meet each of you again down the road.

I Fly on Paper Wings

This is my latest painting, titled "I Fly on Paper Wings". It is a painting about the fragility of the artist's existence. Without a net, without a trust fund, without a lick of sense, the artist carrys on. The best example of this is the street musician who offers up his song for free. I recall a blind leper in his 80's singing outside a church in Oaxaca, sitting on the ground with his beautiful face turned upward singing in the sweetest and most angelic voice to any and all who passed. I can always spare a coin for the street musician.

And so the world goes. On hope, duct tape and faith. On paper wings.

Busy Painting

I stretch a lot of canvas for my paintings when I want to paint sizes that are not standard. And I love the deep box look too so I use mitered 1x2"s for the sides of the frames. I order 100 ft. rolls of canvas that I store under the long work benches in my studio. So many things to store! Early this week I assembled the boxes, stretched the canvas and gave each one of them 2 coats of gesso. It all takes a day or two counting the time in the shop cutting the bars; the photo below shows the pristine boxes ready to go. The effort is worth it to me. Nothing makes me feel more like an artist than preparing my materials and knowing that the craftsmanship is there.
One of the boxes in the photograph has received a painting; this is an image of how I spent the summers of my youth; either reading or drawing on the cool concrete floor of my bedroom in Arizona. Either activity swept me off to a dreamland of green trees and snowy landscapes that did not exist where I lived.

After I finished that painting (it is 12x20") I started on some encaustic faces. I finished waxing them this morning and then took these photographs.

I thought this one looked like Princess Di so I put in a stamp of the Queen Mum to keep her company.
I like the hand on this one. My printer ran out of yellow ink which is why the lower part of the hand is magenta. I love that watery effect and will never be able to get it again. It's great when the fates conspire to throw in a surprise and see if you fight them or accept it.

Had to stop for lunch. Cabbage cole slaw made with rice vinegar instead of mayonnaise topped with avocado and Orenco Gold tomatoes and mild Jimmy Nardello peppers.

The beautiful Dooce-lady. Ok, maybe I'm dreaming but the beautiful Dooce does look a bit like her. If she had a too-short bad haircut maybe.

I had to do a dramatic Victorian Ophelia type. Every once in awhile I like to see if I can still draw a face that is not so stylized. I've almost forgotten how.


The last rose of autumn. And believe it or not, my Fairy Roses are still blooming too. Hold on the the dream of summer.