Chastised Charles and His Paper Hats

During school, Charles was chastised for constantly constructing paper airplanes and hats. Nonetheless, he could not stop, and he continued in obscurity with his paper-folding ways. That was until a head designer for Issey Miyake saw the genius in his origami at a small fair, hired him on the spot, and forever changed his shame into worldwide fame.

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.

Red-Capped Watcher

Red-Capped Watcher

5" x 5.5"

Oil and Ink on cardboard

Look!

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

5" x 7"

Floppy Hat over Cool Blues

Hmm.  I have nothing to say about this fellow, except that I really like him.  Ha!  You just know that he was out in the fields, rolling up hay bales or coming in from riding his horse all over some mountains in Montana, weary from corralling cattle and newborn calves.  Anyway, that's what I think. (-;

Woman in Her Blossom Hat

A little bit of time plus the following equals this little lady:  Piece of extra paper, oil, pastel, ink, glitter, charcoal, acrylic, watercolor pencil, and heavyweight paper from a bar of expensive soap I bought from Anthropologie.  Yes, it's true!  I like to use it all!  (See, when I say something is "mixed media," well baby, you better believe it's super mixed!

I recently cleaned off my entire desk, and then found I was stymied.  I need all my "stuff" around me and easily available.  Being organized does not work for the way I work!

I think this lady is much prettier in person.  You can't see the purple glitter that well in her face, but it shimmers in reality.

Day 298. She Only Wanted to Eat Scrambled Eggs

O.K., I most definitely did not paint this baby in one day.  In fact, she's been hanging around since January.  I worked on her, and left her.  You see, she's really me going through a phase where the only thing I wanted to eat was scrambled eggs.  Scrambled eggs with sriracha sauce; with shallots; with chives and truffle salt; with organic feta cheese; with extra-sharp cheddar.  Whatever, I just couldn't get enough.  The other day I tried to make scrambled eggs, and the smell of them made me feed them to the dog.  I guess I'm over that phase for awhile, but here was my tribute.

Anyway, while I'm painting and drawing a painting a day, I'm also frequently working on larger pieces as well.  I didn't touch her for so long, because I liked the way she looked and didn't want to "mess her up." However, I have a show coming up, and I had to finish this gal.  Tonight I thought, you've got to let her go--you're done.  And so she is.

 16" x 20" Acrylic, peacock feathers, beads, scrambled eggs

 The turquoise/teal background has glitter in it--can you see above?

The peacock feathers in her hair and on her sweater came from a pillbox hat that I traded a painting for at an art show.  Ebert got a hold of it and tore a small hole in it.  It was ruined for wearing, but it wasn't ruined for mixed media.

 3-D Egg

Close-up of table cloth.

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 108. Dinner with The Cat in the Hat (SOLD)

Even though Dr. Seuss' birthday was last month, a restaurant called the Chestnut Street Inn in Sheffield (http://www.chestnut-inn.com/), served a dinner on April Fool's Day, celebrating the belated big day.  My friend Cindy and I went to a fabulously delicious, delightfully devilish, feast that was served backwards, of course!  Dessert first and appetizers last, we laughing lasses had a boisterous blast!