Did you have one of these this past Thursday? They truly are gorgeous birds, really... it was a challenge getting those crazy colors in his feathers to read true, and his beak and wrinkly cowl...
I'll have this one along with me this weekend at the Seward Winter Frolic! We'll be open in Studio #210 at the Ivy Building (2637 27th Ave S, Mpls 55406!) and would love to see you!
Sat Dec 3 from 10-5 and Sun Dec 4 from noon to 5!
Many guest artists and great stuff in the studio! Serving tea and wine and various cakes and things both gluten-y and non!
And this guy is for sale with no shipping costs for you!
Just because there can never be too much sweetness in this world, here is another really cute, squishy faced pup. Not sure I got the proportions as true as I'd wanted them, but this works for me! I also think I may suggest that it hand diagonally, and I can't figure out quite how to get it to look that way in the photo, know what I mean?
We went and got our Christmas tree last night, at the "Y's Men's Tree Sale" on 42nd and Hiawatha- I love that pun in the name. Say it out loud to yourself and you'll get it! We got a table-top one, a long-needled white pine. We usually get the shorter ones but they are so prickly, we thought we'd go for a furrier one this year. It's so sweet, going through the ornaments every year, and remembering where each came from, who gave it to us, what events that year brought us. I even put masking tape on some of Max's handmade ones- he's got a barnacle-looking white snowflake that he made at Breck in preschool with his 5th grade Bio-Buddies~
I LOVE that stuff!
Back to attempting a 6x6 a day- this is Val, from the Edina Art Center, who is always really hard to get a photo of but I happened to have a piece of cheese in my hand and so was a bit more focussed on me than usual. I love the shadow, and the intense wrinkled thought on her face...
And here is another wolf I'm working on~ from photos taken at the Minnesota Zoo in the fall. This is one of the group of pups rescued up in Alaska from a wildfire, and then sent here to our zoo. Really sweet, half tamed wolves- they are all neutered and fairly comfortable with humans and so come up to the glass quite often, making for really great photos.
I'm having fun with all these greys, and that wonderful solid stance. SO great!
It has been a really sweet day~ we had a brunch at our house and at one point had skads of kids running and shouting and laughing through, chasing Bow, our friend who is a total kid magnet. It was such a joy~ we have to remember how much we love one another and how good it is to get out and talk to other people sometimes.
Wolves know that, I think.
This is a painting in progress. Not quite done just yet, but I'm ready to have people see it.
Any thoughts?
I have painted this moose a couple times now, and just love it! I thought about changing the background color to blue this time, but that red just has to be. Though I DID make it a bit more energetic, with pinks and oranges flushing in there too...
I just love how you can see the structure of this animal, even lying down. There's weight and strength in the shoulders and that back end... and those massive antlers!
Yes, I am working my little tail off at the moment, painting up a storm in all my painting time AND free time! I have bits of acrylic paint all over my clothes- this is why I purchase most of my wardrobe at thrift stores- why pay full price for something that will end up decorated by me anyway? And believe me, I AM careful with things I love, but there's always that little last minute brushstroke that I MUST apply, inevitably while I am wearing silk or cashmere, and of course I end up flicking the tiniest bit of pink onto my smokey grey silk camisole...
Ah well.
It is the mark of an artist, yes?
This is the lovely grizzly at the Minnesota Zoo- I'm needing my photographers (my husband and son!) to get over there and get me some more bear photos. I'm wanting to paint them a lot lately. For me, they represent a number of complicated emotions- I collect (and make) stuffed jointed Teddy Bears, and especially love the old ones I've found who show evidence of their previous lives in rubbed fur and lost parts. Something about the totemic sense of having a silent partner calms me when I'm feeling frantic and alone, and I spent a great part of my childhood with a quiet, fuzzy friend in my pocket. It always made me feel someone was with me, understood what my perspective on this life entailed. I still love bears~
And there's the other side of bears, when I dream about them. Sometimes they appear in my dreams as dark, threatening hulks with tiny red eyes, scary and silent, but these are not Teddies at all. These are symbolic representations of that part of my world over which I have no control.
Which makes me realize (especially after reading through the TALK section of the "Teddy-Bear"Wiki page) how nice it is to have a blog where I can write what I'm thinking, and for the most part, feel that whoever is reading this would tend to agree with me.
That's so nice~
SO here is a bear~ and I like this one. It is a friendly bear, who sometimes likes to sit in its pond and splash at the visitors.
If you're thinking this moose looks familiar, it's because I keep painting it! I love those darn hooves on the sidewalk and I can't get away from it!
Though I will say I particularly like the freshness of these brushstrokes...
Just been getting a bit busier than I'd expected, and expecting to get a bit busier before January! That said, do please get your photos to me soon if you'd like me to paint something for you for the holidays! It's getting closer and closer! We put up mom's Christmas Village yesterday!
In 2013, I was lucky enough to get to go to Ireland with my mom and dad, and we met my sisters, Beaner and Kelli, in Dublin, and spent a week traveling and taking photos and dad was so incredibly happy and excited and he was our even keel, keeping everyone happy and talking to anyone he met. A year ago today, he left us, incredibly fast and with no warning. It's taken a long time to get to this point, where I am not weeping constantly at the huge hole he left behind. Though of course, sometimes his absence screams louder than I can handle, but I've learned that if I let myself experience it and let the tears come, it will stop soon. I've held myself back at times, afraid that if I let myself sit with it, it won't cease. I've learned it's better to let it be, let it flow through me, and then later I can smile again.
I painted this today, thinking of those Irish eyes~
I like painting these bears from inside their cave. Being behind them and seeing the light out there, it can be scary to think about stepping out of the safety of what is known. But sometimes you just gotta do it!
I'll be auctioning this one off too, with the funds going to the World Wildlife Fund because I want my grandchildren to still be able to see tigers in the wild.
And I hope you can make it over to 5012 12th Ave S for our Holiday Art Boutique! Sat Nov 12 from 10 to 5!
6x6 acrylic on wood, AUCTION bids start at $30! click here to start!
I didn't like the painting I did for yesterday, and then I ran out of energy and time for posting it. SO here is another bear head for today, a little different from Wed's bear, because THIS one has a hint of a grin going on. I am so fortunate to have both children and dogs (and I'll admit, our cats too are wonderful comedians!) who are always (or almost always) in the NOW time zone, and who are also so full of joy you can't help but laugh with them. And having a trampoline to bounce on next door helps a lot too.
I suggest you do whatever you can to help yourself smile, because the world needs more joy in it for dadgum sure!
6x6 acrylic on wood, $75 click here to purchase! You deserve a grin!
This is Brooklyn, a commission finished up for a present this weekend, and I hope it was received well! It was such a great one to do, and got me to thinking about all-American things like labradors and retrievers and the flag and pick-up trucks and all that, and how easy it is to just lump things together and stamp a label on them, like "Patriotic" or "Redneck" or "Liberal"... though when you happen to own a pick-up or a labrador or a flag, you don't necessarily look at it as a sign of belonging to a specific mindset. It's just a part of your life.
Not sure where I'm going here- just kinda thinking and trying not to think at the same time, though I will say that I will be at Brigid Clark's house for our Fine Art Holiday Sale this weekend, 10 to 5, one day only! (5012 12th Ave S, SW corner of 12th Ave and Minnehah Parkway!) And I will have fresh new paintings and I just got my newest "30 in 30" Days Projects books and I'll have some of the Dogs from July and the Cats & Pals from March!
I really really meant to be posting every day of November, kinda as a personal challenge, but wow, it's been tougher than I thought!
I'm building up some work for my upcoming Holiday Sales, next week at Brigid's House and on the 19th at Edina Art Center, and in December at Artistry!
So this is a painting from a pic of the black bears at the MN zoo~ I need my boys to go take more photos of the Minnesota wildlife for me~ I had a great time with that shiny black coat! I need more black animals to paint!
This moose brings with it November. Cooler, darker weather, thinking inner thoughts, brooding, maybe cleaning out that closet and reorganizing those boots...
Oh yeah, that's MY November... I suppose the moose are wandering around, eating all the last tender bits of any green still poking up above ground.
I like this one- it IS a bit darker, something more moody about this one...
