Car Plant

While I was cleaning out my car last night, I found a plant growing in my car!  Well, not quite.  I ran across this pen and ink drawing of a table top and plant.  I have no idea where I was at when I drew this!  I like it though.  Sometimes I like that simplicity of a sketch over color.  Sometimes. (-;  This poor little ditty is creased and stained, but it still has a charm that appeals, I think.

New York Times - Modern Love

This is susch a beautiful piece from Moth Collective and The New York Times. Please watch.

New York Times - Modern Love from Moth on Vimeo.

From Moth Collective: 'A Kiss, Deferred' is our contribution to the New York Times' Modern Love column, based on a true story written by Nikolina Kulidžan. The full article can be read here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/fashion/a-kiss-deferred-by-bosnia-and-herzegovina-civil-war.html?_r=0 Designed and directed by Moth Collective

Ronnie Was Rethinking His Puppet Master Path

Ronnie was rapidly realizing that being a puppet master was not all it was cracked up to be.

He was constantly under some repugnant, sweltering stage, sweating profusely while contorting into awkward positions to animate his puppets.  He should have taken that summer job at Dairy Queen instead of subjecting himself to this arduous livelihood.  Was anyone even paying attention?  Could he stand one whiff more of stale popcorn, old theater seats--not to mention what was on them--and his own stench?  Was it still possible to convince himself that he was keeping a family vaudeville tradition alive, and his work was a badge of  honor, a cross to bear, no matter how low the attendance?

Suddenly, the thought of a cold, banana split lured him ever closer to putting his aching arms down forever.  Why, at this point, he could even acquiesce to a lowly crunch cone or a dilly bar.

He shook his head violently.  Selling himself out for not even a gelato, but an artificial icy treat?  Oh, the humiliation!  He stilled his feet from running faster towards the exit than the sweat running down his face.  Be strong, Ronnie, be strong!

Cover Your Mouth When You Yawn

Ohhhh, this is got to be one of my recent favorites.  It makes me laugh and I love it's bold and goofy simplicity.

Cover Your Mouth When You Yawn

Master Penman Jake Weidmann | HUMAN

I first saw this on my friend Bryan's FB page. This video of Jake Weidmann, Master Penman, is so extraordinarily inspiring. It's a testament to hard work, incredible artistic achievement, and the importance of remembering the artistry of the past and keeping it alive.  

Here are two of my favorite quotes from the video:

We're abdicating so much of what we're learning and retaining, 

not to our own memories but to the memories of our computers and other devices.

By doing the the different tactile movements of forming the individual letters and linking those letters one to another and then putting those words into a context of a sentence you're actually ingraining the information in your brain.

 

Charles Bukowski

One of my favorite poets, full of grit and free of bullshit...

(Source: Old Pictures Archive)

Knit One, Pearl Two

It's been so hot the past weekend, summer still sending out flares.  But if you take the time and sniff the air, you can smell that sweet, drying out smell that signals August and the beginning of school.  Maybe that is just a Midwest thing, I'm not sure, but the grass and field corn are sending a signal.  The brilliant colors of fall and knitted caps will soon be on their way.

At The Party

I took 3 or 4 more pictures of this as it was developing and as I layered more color, but I took them on my camera rather than my phone.  I blame it on being nearly 1 a.m. when I did so.  You see, I lost all my camera formatting when I had a virus and I can't find my installation disks to set it aright.  Ah well, I really haven't looked everywhere yet.

If I get it together, I will add the developmental stages!  Until then, here's "At the Party" in it's finished, painted form.

Fishing for Words

I ran across this poetic line of Franz Wright Sunday in the July/August issue of Poetry Magazine. I was intrigued that rather than the expected interpretation of "fishing for words" being a bad thing, Wright flipped the action as a positive act. Don't you love the magic of words?

Unexpected Urban Love

Unexpected Urban Love 

I was going to call this Freaky Urban Love, 

but they were looking at each other so gently, 

I felt there was nothing freaky about it.

Corn Dog Seduction - SOLD

While sitting at an art show this weekend, I filled in the traffic slowdown time on Sunday afternoon with this drawing in my sketchbook.  For two days, the aroma of warm caramel corn and corn dogs tantalized my senses!  I thought I would put the sweet torture to good use.  In the end, in two days I ended up eating 4 corn dogs, a watermelon Italian ice, a lemon shake-up, and a big cherry shaved ice.  I'm proud to say the caramel corn never got to me...the line was to long. ha! ha!

Two Art Events 7/31 and 8/1-8/2

If anyone is in the area, come on out for a Wine and Art walk in La Salle, IL from 4-8 p.m.  I'll be at Lock 16 Cafe tonight (Fri.) and/or Ottawa, IL Saturday and Sunday from 9-4 p.m. for Art in the Park, Booth #31 on Saturday and Sunday. FRIDAY, July 31st

PEEK INTO LASALLE ~ART & WINE STROLL TONIGHT FROM 4-8 IN DOWNTOWN LASALLE MORE THAN  20 LOCAL ARTISTS WILL PUT THEIR WORK ON DISPLAY. LOCAL BUSINESSES AND SOME DOWNTOWN RESIDENTS OPEN THEIR DOORS AND INVITE THE PUBLIC TO "PEEK IN"

YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN US TONIGHT, FRIDAY, JULY 31ST FROM 4-8 PM. Tickets may be purchased in advance at Sasso, Rudy's Liquors, or Lock 16 and they are $15 per person. Or you may purchase your ticket this evening for $20 at the LaSalle State Bank parking lot where you evening will begin and you will receive a band, and a passport to all businesses that are participating in the event.

************************************************************

Saturday and Sunday, August 1st and 2nd

Ottawa Art League - Art in the Park

Washington Square Park

1101 E. LaFayette Street

Ottawa, IL

She Was A Shy Shark SOLD

She Was a Shy Shark Until She Stepped Out of Her Shell

Celebrating Your True Self

Tonight Caitlyn Jenner makes her series debut in "I Am Cait."  Although I posted this artwork back at the end of 2013 as part of my 365 Day Project, I thought it was apropos to put it out there again and to celebrate people taking off their masks and becoming their true selves.

I remember when the announcement first came out this past spring that Bruce (at the time) was transitioning into a woman.  I initially wondered to myself, was he so beaten down by his family that he felt emasculated?  I wanted to understand why he was doing it.  Google led me to Chris Jones' June/July 2012 Esquire Magazine article, "The Strange Thing About Bruce Jenner." I felt sorry for him as the article reflected what was shown on t.v.--that he seemed left in the dust and his huge place in history and Olympic achievements had been forgotten.

I actually was relieved for him to know that he had had these feelings as a young boy.  Hmm.  That sounds quite strange I know.  What I mean to say is, he became a woman, because he internally felt like one and now because he felt like he was less a man or had lost his manhood through the passage of time and relationships.  Why I worry about his feelings, I don't know, except to say, I hate to see any human being hurting.

I was glad I came to understand Kris Jenner's side of it, too.  She said she appeared to be the 'Wicked Witch of the West,' because he was pulling away into his own issues, and she felt alone.  OMG!  Yes, I love to watch Keeping Up With The Kardashians!  (Thank you, Jennifer Lawrence, for admitting the same thing!)  I think they're the modern-day Brady Bunch, except that instead of the kids rooming in bunk beds, each one has their own million-dollar mansion. ha!  Anyway, who would have known that in the end, that show and Caitlyn's show would really be a touchstone for a huge, huge issue of love and acceptance.

So here ya' go:  A rerun and celebration for being your own true self, whatever that may be--take off those masks!

Day 356. Isa Removed Her Mask - SOLD

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Isa's body parts didn't quite fit together, and she had learned over the years to apply make-up expertly.  Shading made her nose more narrow and shortened, gave her more dramatic cheekbones, and reduced her jutting chin.  But she was tired of being someone she was not.  As she grew older, she also grew into her looks--or maybe she just grew into liking them better.  Whatever the reason, she decided once and for all to remove the mask that she had been wearing all her life.  Her maquillage was no longer needed.  Her confidence was strong.

Clay Mask Beauty Ritual

Clay Mask Beauty Ritual

Oil, oil pastel, acrylic, charcoal, paper, seed beads

Red-Capped Watcher

Red-Capped Watcher

5" x 5.5"

Oil and Ink on cardboard

Baxter Kept His Eyes on the Prize

Baxter Kept His Eyes of the Prize

Ink and Acrylic, diamond star (ok, faux diamonds, but a prize nonetheless.)

Goodbye Omar Sharif

I think I first saw Omar Sharif in Funny Girl.  He seemed dangerously sexy.  A man who kept his distance from Barbra Streisand's Fanny Brice character, until she reached a riper age for deflowering.  At that point, he was calling for action.  Whew!

I saw him later in Doctor Zhivago, my mom being a fan of that, Camelot, etc., I found myself drawn in as well.  Zhivago sealed the deal in my admiration of Sharif.  He was a gorgeous man, a tortured soul (hmm, I wonder if that fed into my obsession with Russian history).  Anyhow, I was very saddened by the announcement of his death.  He lived a good, long life, and I thank him for his simmering, feeling, slow-burning roles.  He was an incredible talent.

Check out Robert Berkvist's excellent "New York Times" tribute article HERE.

Oil Pastel, ink, acrylic, watercolor

Omar Sharif and Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl Scene

"You Are Woman, I Am Man, Let's Kiss"

Lost in Thought

Lost in Thought

Oil, acrylic, ink on cold-press watercolor paper

Walking along happily, Barnard had many disparate thoughts running through his brain.  At least they all allowed himself to remain on the sunny side of life.

"...then she said this and I said that and I was so happy!"

"I need to buy more aïoli."

This picture actually has more lime green and pink in it.  The color is actually purple spots.  Had to grab this from Instagram.  My computer will be going into the shop to get this bad, mojo virus off of it on Tuesday...can't wait!

Rise and Shine

I had a hard, hard time waking up yesterday morning.  Ironically, I started this chiquita the night before, with that almost abstract bed/bed sheet at the bottom and the textured layering at the top.  As I tried to clear my head in the a.m., a time of day which I've never been a fan, I flushed out the expression, played a bit with more layering (not sure you can see that 3D-effect here).  

I did finally wake up later in the day and ended it with some of the most delicious authentic Mexican tacos at a new joint that opened up in the next town.  Mmm.  ¡Muy delicious!  The day unfolded nicely.

At the bottow- Lomo Adobado (marinated pork tenderloin, mango, onion, & cilantro and the two at the top--grilled tilapia tacos with mango pico de gallo at La Michoacana.

Yankee Doodle Dandy - Calendar Art

Today I accidentally knocked over the cutest ceramic coffee cup I had gotten around Christmas at Starbucks, and it broke--broke!--when it hit my desk.  I couldn't believe that slight impact shattered it.  Ugh.  So sad.  On the other hand, the coffee that soaked into my calendar looked like a head to me.  I proceeded to draw over it and extend it, and ended up with this little ditty.  Then I proceeded to sing "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy, Yankee Doodle Do or Die.  A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam, born on the Fourth of July."  Yes, that's right.  Over and over and over again.  Oh well, the drawing was worth it.  You just never know where a coffee spill will lead!

(P.S., I continue with my crappy uploads since I still can't download from my camera...please bare with me.  Can't get the computer in for repair yet.

James Cagney "Yankee Doodle Dandy"

(Yet another one I remember my Grandma Peacock having me watch as a teeny tyke.

Full Speech: Jim Carrey's Commencement Address at the 2014 MUM Graduatio...

I rediscovered this video, having first seen it about a year ago. It couldn't have come at a more opportune time.

Jim tells the story of his dad working at a job he hated--a job he eventually lost.  The "playing it safe route" had no guarantee, Jim decided, so he might as well do something he loved. "You can fail at what you don't want so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love." --Jim Carrey.

He follows "The Church of Freedom From Concern.

I've been going through some doubts recently. Am I on the right path? Where is my audience? How can I be true to myself, sometimes making darker pieces that don't seem to be commercial, but which I feel compelled to make? How do you watch others gallop ahead, discover the things you knew first, years ago? When you say, I knew that, I did that, you then appear disingenuous? I promise you, I don't think of these things all the time, but I would be lying if I said sometimes those feelings aren't triggered.

And then I happen to see this video again and Jim says, "Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world." "Relax, and dream up a good life." And it reaffirms that I am on the right path, my path. I want it sped up, of course. I want some sign that I'm supposed to take this fork and not that fork in the road, but I guess I just have to continue to "Put One Foot in Front of the Other" as the Winter Warlock sings in "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town." (I've posted that clip before in the last few years, just have to every once in awhile remind myself!)

Back to Jim Carrey and more of my favorite quotes of his:

"...Letting the universe know what you want and working toward it while letting go of how it comes to pass. Your job is not to figure out the how (this totally sounds like "The Secret") it's going to happen for you, but to open the door in your head and when the door opens in real life, just walk through it. And don't worry if you miss your cue, there's always doors opening."

"I am just making a conscious choice to perceive challenges as something beneficial so I can deal with them in the most productive way."

Really, listen for yourself. I think I'm going to every day for awhile!

Look!

I'm a little in love with this sweetie pie. (-:

5" x 7"

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July!  I hope it's filled with lots of fireworks and sparkles!  Um, and sparklers, too!

Vacation - SOLD

Vacation

Oil on Paper

8" x 5"