Friends and Downtime

I didn't realize it might be a little weird until Diane's eyes got huge. See, I color in my Art and Life books. Doesn't everybody? I can't stand to see them only in black and white so I tint the pages and covers with thin acrylic and then coat each and every page with gloss (use a credit card to spread). That way the pages sparkle and shine, the books take on added heft and you will find added pleasure in the workbook ... I mean zine.

This is what else I've been doing. I read on the treadmill and decided I needed some novels. Cormac's newest, which I recommend unless you are too affective this time of year to read about the Apocalypse and Michelle's book is a fun little read from across the water. Hers is lighthearted whereas Cormac is wonderful in a different way.

Diane and I had a wonderful visit yesterday and she sent me home with the goodies above that she created. She is amazing; has made 17 quilts and as I admired one yesterday I swore to myself, "just one more". She is a gifted therapist, artist, mom, wife, the whole nine yards. And a really fun friend. Thanks again, Diane.

Thanks too to Katie who sent this beautiful art to me and to Misty who remembered me with something special. I was the big cheese this year who barely got out a card here and there but for all of my negligence, I do think about my loved ones and friends all the time. Maybe my New Year's resolution should be along the lines of spending more time showing my love to others instead of just saying it.

Until I become a better person, I'll just have to say I love you dear readers and I sprinkle a little pixie dust of good wishes on each of you. Happy New Year.

Christmas Eve Eve

The candles are lit and I have my cup of hot mulled wine in hand. I've been blubbing all day missing my ancestors; I think I have been too busy for the past 20 or 30 years to really allow myself to experience their passing but this holiday the sadness has hit me at last. I dreamed last night that my father was alive and I knew he was old and I wasn't taking the time to be with him. I woke up with a vivid case of longing. I don't think I will describe it; this is the time for families to be happy and appreciative and in all ways I am that too. But I miss my mother, my father, my grandparents too at this time of year. And the cards have brought news of illness and old age from other loved ones; all of this is with me at once in this season of deep emotion. And so in this mood I started sifting through the family photos and decided to make some healing art to commemorate my loneliness for them.

My friend Diane took a class with Sally Jean and made a beautiful triptych of her ancestors that I admired in her studio so I decided to do the same. The individual squares in the triptych pictured above are 2" square and joined with copper staves. On the left is my father, in the middle my mother and on the right is my fierce and wonderful Grandmother Irene who was my father's mom. They are all gone now except in the hearts of all who loved them. On the back of these squares are other relatives.

This is a name necklace I made after seeing the one made by Sally Jean for Lisa Kaus. The images on the back are mother, grandma Bessie, grandpa George and Great Aunt Marjorie who is ill now and living alone in Illinois. Her Christmas card is the one that triggered this blue feeling as I wish I lived closer to help her. We all live too far apart these days. It is a mistake.


This is the reverse of the ancestor collages; a little name tag so I can remember who I am. Please know that I am not sad in a sad sense but sad in a good sense. I have had the most loving family; full of all the ups and downs of any family, but mostly full of kindness and inclusion and of course it is natural that I bring them back into my heart at Christmas.

Happy Holidays to all. Be safe. Be cozy. If you feel a bit blue, maybe make some art.

Tropical Dreaming

Here are two paintings I've completed this month. I am working on a series of drink recipe paintings; I have already done the Mojito and now this one - next on the menu is Margarita and I'm not sure after that. They have to be drinks I like so they'll probably be all the ones that taste like candy. You can have the ones with whiskey in them.

If I lived in the tropics I would probably be doing paintings of snow. I'm contrary like that. My dear-dear friends leave Saturday for the beaches of Mexico *sigh*. So I will go too, only in my imagination.

Actually, I have a lot of chestnuts in the fire right now that I will be sharing shortly. No time for travel yet.

The Rain

Woke up yesterday with this image in my mind; I think it will be easy for you to know where it came from. I am very busy now through the holidays but will try to keep you posted. Love each other and eat cookies!

Site Glitch

I think my email program ate the invoice to renew my domain address. I am trying to get it back. Thanks to the several angels for the heads up.

11:30 am. Fixed. ***Whew***

All Is Well

Thank you, my beautiful friends (you know who you are) for your kind and loving messages. All is well. The nest is safe. Mama hen was up all night with cotton in her ears, keeping watch during the howling gale. Anxiety disorder hurts. Perhaps we are the sentrys for the race.

I feel very emotional and touched this morning by the amount of comfort that comes through the contact we can form over the internet. It is really a miracle. I do not feel alone and that is good. Thank you all again.

(this painting was done last night just as the winds began to howl. I thought if I could paint I would be distracted. It is 8x10".)

Completed Journal Page

We are supposed to have another windstorm this evening. They unnerve me. I get weird enough in the winter without the weather; everything seems magnified and tragic this time of year. Whenever I feel the fear creeping up on me I know it is time to stop all worldly participation and take stock; meditate, watch the rain drip off the eves, curl up in a ball and let a short time out make me whole again and ready to return. Nothing soothes me as much as nature. When the war is too terrible, the deaths of the innocents too much to bear any longer, I retreat into nature and remember that the trees, the moss, the rain will all endure. I love the earth like my own mother and she always comforts me. No matter what we foolish and selfish humans do to her, she will endure. She is better than the savages she has spawned.

In this unusual state of mind (for me) I asked myself if this blog wasn't just a pathetic cry for attention (look at my art! you must!). And then a couple of lovely emails arrived from people who took comfort in words I said and I thought that maybe it doesn't matter if I am imperfect, weird, sometimes afraid, sometimes overbearing. That what matters is that sometimes my intentions help.

Winter is the time of the shadow for me. The wind howls, illusions appear and seem convincing enough, the spirit is tested. So forgive me this indulgence, or be glad that I finally let the mask slip for a moment. But just now, with the lights lit and the affluent children eager for new toys, I feel a little off, a little sad and in need of renewal. And it will come I know. It always does.

Journal Pages

Today I worked awhile and played awhile. Whenever I find myself not quite ready to start a new project I get out my journal and putter. I see what that will lead to; what that will tell me about what is on my mind and in my heart. The layout above was created from a computer generated collage (well, generated by the computer and me - the computer couldn't have done it without me) and a whole lot of multi-media messing around. It is in shades of my favorite color (yellow) but slightly to the cool, linen side of the shade which fits my mood today. I am thinking of southern Spain, of the moorish influence on the art and of the beautiful madonnas and tilework I will see there. The art from this part of the world has always influenced me; the exotic veilings, hidden harems, latticey windows and dark mystery. It draws me to admire and to wonder.


Yesterday I was in a pink mood and I created this layout. After I did it my mind wandered to the saying that all paintings are self-portraits. I asked myself what about this girl could refer to me and then thought about how important my purse is in my life. All my stuff is in there; identification, money, bank accounts, lists and notations, curious art supplies, secrets and sundry flotsam. It is the one thing I want to have with me when I lock myself out of the house or my car (please don’t ask). With the purse I have the keys, the phone, the entertainment, the ability to summon help. Also this lady is hiding behind her sunglasses, much in the way I have always hidden behind my work, my blog, the ample skirts of my big sister. I am a big ham and still shy at the same time. So yes, I can see how I have unwittingly created aspects of my self in this collage.


This is what the entire 2 pages looks like of the pink spread. I usually do one major page next to a minor page unless I am just in the mood to rattle on with no artwork. Since I paint so much in the studio I am not compelled to create as much art in my journal. For many years it was a written journal only but when you create a visual pertaining to your life you do unleash the magic and often find inspiration for the next “big one”. So I try to make time for that too.

Painting Progression

The image above is the sketch that I submitted for approval to a client who requested paintings of two children on separate canvases; size 12x20" each. On approval of the sketches the client sent a 1/3 deposit and I proceeded with the work. This is my "off" season (insert manic laughter here) and about the only time I accept commissions. This year I have been kept unusually busy with them. The next step is to transfer the drawings to canvas.

At this point I painted the entire figure of the boy in one spurt of enthusiasm and forgot to photograph the stages. So when I started painting the girl I tried to stop often to record my progress. Here is what I did on her face. The reference photos showed an olive complexion so I used a mixture of raw sienna, cad red, some ultramarine and white for the basic skin tone. I varied that quite a bit throughout the face and added violet around the shadowy areas of the eyes and under the chin. Non-fugitive sap green is also wonderful in the shadowy areas around the eyes.

Although quite young, this child has a lovely almost grown up aspect to her features that challenged me. I didn't want her to look too old. In these first stages I think her chin was too long so in later stages I shortened it.

The reference photo had one image of a very cute dress with a little hanging net petticoat that I decided to use in the painting. I think the coral is just right for her skin tone.

For her dress I used white, ochre and pyrrole red. The petticoat is a lighter shade of the same mixture. In some of the shadows I substituted raw sienna for the ochre in the coral mixture.

At this stage I have painted in the figures and will start on the collaged area under their feet. For this I use sheets of calligraphy stained with walnut ink. I tear the sheets to pieces that fit around my painting.

I place the canvases side by side for this stage so I can tear the sheets and then fit the pieces together like a puzzle. This part is really fun; tearing, finding a place where the piece will fit and then glueing with gel medium. My fingers get all gluey and it's fun to peel them off afterward.

I have finished the collaged ground and done an underpainting on both canvases in the warm coral color. At first I thought I'd make the backgrounds of the two paintings different but in the end thought it would be better to unify them in case the client wanted to hang them in proximity to each other. I did a scumble of ultramarine blue and white over the underpainting. Scumbling is a bad bad habit that I love to do that will ruin your brushes so keep the ruined ones in a special jar and save them just for that or you'll never have a brush that holds a point .

The backgrounds look different in this photo because the pictures were taken under different light conditions. Actually they are the same cool blue scumble. The photos below show the childrens' expressions and faces close up.


I've emailed picture files to the client and now wait to see if there will be adjustments. The daughter in the painting is a future artist and so this entry is especially for her; to encourage her to paint more and to model how easy it is to plunge in and try.

Winter's Comforts

Here is Hermanito keeping watch on the fire. Sometimes he gets so close to the very hot cast iron that I have to catch my breath. He is 17 years old as near as we can figure and he wont even go outside now unless one of us is with him to insure his safety. We live in an area of prowling Toms and dear Hermo knows he is no match for any of them. In the summertime he will "help" John in the garden but this time of year he won't leave his spot by the stove for anything but food. Smart cat.
This is a composite photo of one corner of my studio; the one with the little wood stove. Dont worry; the photo is deceiving. The stool on the right is actually smaller because of the splicing of the photos and it is not sitting dangerously close to the stove. Behind it is a ceramic piece by the local ceramic artist Deb Norby. Some years ago she was the artist in residence at the Oregon College of Art and Craft. I was studying ceramics then too. Here is a close up of her piece called "Kabob". I really enjoy it.

After I shot these I continued my wander through the house. Here is a shot of the top of a chest that sits by the entrance. The drawing of my daughter is over 20 years old and was sketched off quickly on a sheet of typing paper as she dozed. Amazingly, the paper has not degraded although I am sure it was of the cheapest kind.

Kim Murton of Vancouver did the two little ceramic faces and John Taylor of Seattle did the big face jug.
The wall doll and milagro cross were collected somewhere in our travels in the southwest or Mexico, I no longer recall which.

As I write this John is out in the kitchen cooking Urud Dal (spicy Indian soup with asophedida and peppers). He came in with these enormous beets (wine glass for scale only - ha ha) and said to tell my blog that the mighty hunter went out into the darkness with his blunderbuss and returned home with this "game". So tonite it's soup, squash and beets. Nice visiting with you. If you live in the northern hemisphere, keep warm. If you live in the equatorial or southern climes, well you lucky dogs, enjoy your paradise.

Artella Interview

We interrupt this blog to announce that today, Dec. 7th, Judy Wise was featured on Artella's Daily Interview. You can read the interview here or below; I have copied and pasted it for you (without the pictures though) so you can read it easier.

Thursday's Artist Profile: Judy Wise
Daily Muse: How would you describe your art?

Judy: I would call it magic realism.

DM: Tell us more...

Judy: I paint the things that are on my mind or in my memory on any particular day. Sometimes I am responding to world events but more often to things that are happening to me on a daily basis. I see metaphors in my life that I attempt to capture on canvas or in the other mediums in which I work. There is always fresh material.


DM: What is your favorite piece of your own art and why?

Judy: My favorite piece is whichever one I am working on that day. That is the piece that has my full attention and love. Actually, I am not all that attached to the work I create. I accept that my work, like my own body, will vanish one day and that in the bigger picture is not all that important. The joy and love is in the act of creating it.

After that it is just an object to be cared for, admired or discarded.


DM: What does your studio look like?

Judy: Pure chaos. It is always a mess. When I work I singlemindedly grab tools and mediums and leave them where they fall. I don't put my sewing machine away or put the caps back on my jars of acrylic. When I was younger I was very tidy and controlled. That fell by the wayside some time ago. When the mess gets too much for me I wade in and put things in order again which usually takes the better part of a day.Then it stays clean for a short time (which I really love) before I start working on my next piece and mess it up again.


DM: What art supply can you not live without?

Judy: Brushes and paint. Pencils and pens. I have to be drawing or painting every day or I fall into depression. I travel with them and have them in all the rooms of the house that I inhabit. My other compulsive love is my art journal which I have kept in various forms since I was 7 years old. I am never without it by my side. It is the first thing I pack and unpack. It is my sanity and my best friend. Weird, I know but when I open that book I go into a meditative state where I receive "the wisdom" for my life. It is my polestar.


DM: Can you recommend your favorite book(s)?

Judy: I have favorite authors. Cormac McCarthy, Jose Saramago, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Don DeLillo. I haven't been reading much lately other than the NYT Book Reviews. I'm getting older now and I want to spend all my time painting or getting world events off the internet. That has really cut into the time I used to spend reading novels. I was an English major in college so I read books singlemindedly until the internet was born. Now I read only about a dozen a year.


DM: Do you have favorite movie(s)?

Judy: I love the movies from Mexico's Golden Age of movies; the 40's and 50's. Antonio Aguilar, Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete, those guys. I love the music, the costumes, the black and white photography. They aren't subtitled for the most part so a little knowledge of Spanish is necessary to understand them. I saw Antonio Aguilar in concert last year and it was a huge thrill for me. He is very very old now but still can take the stage to sing. Our specialized talent seems to be the last thing to go in extreme old age.


DM: Is there music that you love to hear?

Judy: I love female vocalists across a wide range of styles. I especially love Argentinian tango music, mambo, salsa, cumbia.


DM: Which artist(s) do you love?

Judy: Rothko, Marcia Meyers, Maira Kalman, Squeak Carnwrath, Bonnard, Matisse, Dufy. Too many to name so I'll leave it at that.


DM: Whom do you most admire and why?

Judy: Right now I admire Jimmy Carter for the way he has continued to work for world peace and to ease suffering when he could have retired and selfishly enriched himself or just rested for his remaining days.He was very courageous in writing his recent book on Palestine.

Charmed I'm Sure

Here is my weekend obsession; making charms to trade at Artfest 2007. This year the participants have agreed to make charms - big ones for necklaces or small ones for earrings or charm bracelets. I put on my thinking cap and came up with a bead made of twisted copper wire wrapped with tissue paper and "glued" together with resin and finally oxidized (just the copper) with a mixture of vinegar, salt and ammonia. It was challenging but I finished up this afternoon. The first photograph shows the charms drying in front of our wood stove. My studio was so cool that even after 24 hours the resin was still gooey so I had to move them to the dining room. They are pinned to styrofoam.

I put a dab of celadon paint on a few of the beads that needed the color and I designed and printed out cards to go with the charms that described the materials. I made sixty-five of them; they are all ready to travel to Port Townsend now (and so am I). Winter dreams.