Day 16 Clutch

Clutch

Keep Searching...Love Will Find You

Here's a second Valentine's Day piece for those who are still looking...

Keep Searching...Love Will Find You

Enamel and Ink

Day 9 of 30 - What Is Happening to Our World?

This week's global crimes against humanity leave my heart devastated.  

What is happening to our world?

9" x 12"
Oil, Acrylic, Ink on Canvas

Stop and Smell the Roses

This was a good day because:

I was driving along at lunch, 

windows open,

the sun was shining on a day when you could breathe,

the air crispy cool, looping around the sunny rays, 

a gift from fall.

Then, the familiar plucking and chords begin,

Heart's, "Crazy Over You,"

fingers turning the knob up to SUPER LOUD,

"My love is the evening breeze touching your skin

The gentle sweet singing of leaves in the wind...,"

And,

I had an ensalada with 

lime vinaigrette,

chicken, 

guacamole, 

extra hot red chili sauce, 

and corn salsa 

And,

As I strolled out of work talking with friends,

I found,

the air still gentle and filled with yellow.

Later I walked my dog slowly in

bright, green grass 

next to freshly harvested earth, 

and then around woods,

remembering skipping along railroad tracks when I was girl.

And, 

the water tower loomed above my head,

cirrus clouds, like a shredded cloth, moving slowly, slowly, slowly

across the periwinkle skies,

and me singing "Blackbird" loudly

no one hearing my crackly voice

in the cricket silence,

or me laughing at myself.

So happy. (-:

"Stop And Smell The Roses"

Heart:  "Crazy Over You"

Robin Williams

Goodbye, Robin Williams.  My heart aches for you.

You were a part of my whole life from "Mork and Mindy" forward.  It was your darker roles that showed, in my humble opinion, your talented soul.  I mean, who could imitate your manic comedic genius, perhaps only Jim Carrey comes close to that?  Steve Martin also, had that crazy body movement, but slowed down to the nth degree in comparison to you.  But it was the sweetness of your soul, the sadness in your twinkling eyes--how could those two things be combined?--that showed your gentleness and awesome talent.

I remember your malevolent turn in "Insomnia" with Al Pacino and Hilary Swank that shocked me at your depth.  I saw them all--"The World According to Garp," "Good Morning, Vietnam," but that was the one that exposed me to what was inside of you.

And I will never forget my favorite part of "Good Will Hunting."  Your comment to Matt Damon's "Will" about living life, loving a woman, seeing Michelangelo's creations in person...you were so touching.

I'm so sorry you had pain in your life.  Isn't it amazing how many comedic geniuses have that ache touching them inside?  I hope you are at peace, dear Robin, and your pain has ended.  Thank you for all your gifts that you shared so generously with this world.

"Good Will Hunting" - Bench Scene

One day later, here's the best article I have read so far on his struggle:  Robin Williams.

Later still, this sane and compassionate one from Flavorwire:
Robin Williams and the Myth of Battling Depression
and this from The New Yorker: "Suicide: A Crime of Lonliness."

No Despair If You Follow Your Heart (No Longer Available)

This painting emerged when I smeared some molding paste on a canvas.  I saw a face in the lower left-hand side and it grew from there.  I knew I wanted to include some sort of quote about feeling down, but becoming lifted when you follow your heart even if you don't know where it's leading.  That, of course, is my feeling about art, a complete lifesaver in my life.  I searched for quotes, and these two were my favorites and top contenders:

"The heart has its reasons which reason knows not."  --Blaise Pascal

and my ultimate favorite:

"When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object."  --Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being



I was going with that one, going with it like the tearful, yet hopeful figure in the painting floating to his destiny.  Somehow, though, it was just not succinct enough, and it didn't reflect what I felt was the initial feeling of this fellow:  Despair.

And then I thought, "No despair, if you follow your heart."  The message on the painting is a bit of a puzzle, which a life's journey oftentimes end up being, no?  I felt it hit exactly what I was trying to express.

Here he is hanging outside in setting sun:

And one more shot floating up through the just blossoming magnolia tree:

Day 354. It's the Weekend - Set Your Heart Free!

Oh, people, we had one heck of a week en la oficina.  I'm two glasses of red wine down, and all I can say is, it's finally the weekend, set your heart free!

Here are a few songs to get your ventricles pumping.

"You Gotta Move," Rolling Stones (an all-time sloppy, bluesy favorite)

Here's the Mississippi Fred McDowell original, "You Got To Move." I love the rawness of that guitar and voice:

Day 346. She Saw The Signs Like A One-Two Punch SOLD

Esmeralda saw the signs like a one-two punch, for she was a smart girl, and rather perceptive.

Really, it was her own fault, because she was quite honest and let her vulnerability show.

She could even see the other side of it; how she may appear to be too eager to express her feelings, but unfortunately for her, she knew no other way, always both a blessing and a curse, this tender heart.

She really was, the most normal of people, but once a perception is cast, often there is no possibility of recast.

She knew this, because she had been miscast and misinterpreted before.  It always stung, she couldn't even say it stung less.  But she could admit, she was becoming more used to it, and knew that it was possible to go on, quieter, disappearing.

And so, she wrapped up within herself, embarrassed by her admission.  Not wanting to hold onto that feeling, she knelt on the floor, leaned back into a yoga pose, and breathed out all those chagrined and self-conscious thoughts.  "Let...It...Go," her breath and mind pleaded, and she really tried.

Day 340. Bittersweet (SOLD)

imagine, you

do

picturing in your mind

hello and yes

sparkle, smile

clinking glass

all happiness

but it twists and turns

life

towards darkness while

light reflecting still,

not as expected

heart hairline break

bittersweet

14" x 17" Bristol Vellum

Day 142. Anastasia Donned A Cossack Hat

Anastasia was so in love with her photographer boyfriend, she agreed to wear a fur (faux, of course!) Cossack hat in the middle of spring so he could get his shot for Vogue's winter issue.

She sighed as she felt sweat trickle down her neck.  She would do anything to secure his love so she imagined herself as Julie Christie in "Dr. Zhivago," put on her white-pink lipstick, and smiled broadly.

She wore her heart not only on her sleeve, but completely outside of herself, leading her actions like a brilliant lightbulb of an idea.  If I do this for him, he'll fall for me in turn.  Would her plan work?  She'd like to think so.  But under the sun's rays, she began to wonder, was her heart still melting for him or was it just perspiration running underneath her ridiculous purple jumpsuit?

I loved how this one turned out.  I had too much paint on another canvas, and I used this canvas to wipe the extra paint off the other.  When I pulled it away, I was left with something that resembled a silhouette.  I positioned the canvas so the paint continued to run down the bottom edge of it.  I also took Liquitex ink! in yellow oxide and let it run down all the sides in whatever way it wanted.  From the top, the jumper looks like I missed painting it purple in spots, but I didn't want to mess with it.  I loved the effect it left as it continued onto the bottom edge.  There you have it!  How Anastasia came to be!

Day 111. Oh, Boston...

Oh, Boston,

My heart cries for you.

I think back;

and I think,

please, not again.