we're heading up to Grand Marais today when i get home from school! it's the annual retreat at the Art Colony with Elizabeth Erickson, the Women's Art Institute Studio Retreat- mom and I have been going up every year since 1995, i think... missed one in there somewhere...
and every year i have the same struggle with the blank canvas... it is amazing how my ego gets in the way, how i have to fight myself to let myself play- i supposedly know enough to not judge myself but i know i do anyway. Will others like this? is it working? what am i doing? who do i think i am anyway? you know, all that angst...
and then inevitably, i get out of the way of myself and something comes from somewhere, and i am able to begin...
we will see what happens-
stay tuned....

Yup i've been a little busy again~ this time trying to make bunches of Franken-t-shirts and Franken-T-skirts for last weekend's HandmadeMN Spring Market...
this is a video (i HOPE) that Liz Hurley and her wonderful husband put together, one of four of HandmadeMN artists demo-ing their talents~
So if THIS doesn't work, i do have a link... FRANKENSWEATER video

And THIS weekend, among other things (3rd Sunday Brunch, Lyn-Lake Street Fest with HarMar SUperstar, Art Cars at Art-A-Whirl) I am attempting to have art at the Grain Belt Brewery Building for Art-A-Whirl, and on saturday morning I am giving an Artist Talk at Bohlander Gallery between 1oam and Noon~
Bohlander Arts

This is the smiliest dog I think I've painted! A commission, it took me a little longer than normal because of the size and interruptions...
I really like his eyes-
I have fixed the background- need to get a better shot to put on my website~ before I get it to the owner!

Such gracious green everywhere today! the trees along 38th street are already bowing towards each other across the asphalt...
I may need to paint trees very soon...
I made two Frankenskirts last night for the sale next weekend~

NEWEST!

This is a companion piece to LOOKING- this one is titled LISTENING- really, if you look at their faces, their eyes are soft-focused, staring off into the distance, and their EARS are at attention~ Maybe I didn't get Bing's up high enough, but Duane thought Gus' were too big and I said huh-uh! Those are the right size!
But this is what they like to do best, esp on a lovely spring afternoon when it is just a bit cool and there's a smidge of sunshine in the backyard- they have a habit of lying near each other companionably, and yet with enough personal space that no one feels crowded~
i love these guys!

Listening

The dogs in the yard- duane took this one~ I am SO fortunate to have married a fellow artist who is capable of great compositions. This is probably our most common collaborations- his photos inspire my paintings.
I am feeling the need to paint something else soon tho... poles? trees? max?
hmmmmm~

Rotta Love at Northrup King Gallery 321- Opening sat April 10th 3 to 9
i already sold 2 pieces last thursday! sorry- it's my spring break and i've been REALLY tired- i think my body and heart are doing that thing where you give yourself a time-line and you PUSH and PUSH and then you MAKE it WAHOO! and then afterwards you are exhausted and a little depressed because it is over...
so, i did do a gigantic Bingo...
and i have a few more fun commissions coming up,...
and i gotta make some FRANKEN-tshirts and t-skirts...
whew~
these are the ones that sold!

somehow his eyes look crossed to me...
okay i am deciding i don't like this one... needs to be redone...

Monday's do tend to feel the same, somehow... maybe it's more the Sunday night scenario, the end of the weekend, the necessary return to the schedule and the work place, altho the way we live our lives we're ALWAYS working! I don't think either of us would be happy any other way~

lovely mornings~ small child can't sleep past 6, and taking him into our bed doesn't make him more likely to snooze... but dang, how can you not laugh at those cat imitations and at his fumbling for your lips and ear lobes...
now, dogs on the other hand... once they hear us moving, they think "Breakfast!" and are all clickety nails and flapping ears and running up and down the stairs...

Just finished a couple yorkies for a commission for a friend's parents- really sweet dogs! I got to go meet them and take their photos in the bright shiny sunny kitchen- Felix and Oscar, litter brothers, pushing 85 in dog years... or is that human years?
It is funny how you can really get a feel for an animal's personality, and how DIFFERENT they can be!~
I've always loved aniamls, sometimes more than humans...

Snow Bingo

Another shot from the dog beach a couple weeks ago~ Duane is excellent with his random camera shots and he always has it in his belt holster too, takes sweet action shots of dogs and telephone poles and things that I can paint later... but I actually took this shot- I think Bingo thought I was gonna give him a treat...
I love the contrast of the snow and the shadows...

Dog from LOLA last summer~

This was a fun one to do, actually yesterday morning while Max and Duane took a good 2 hour nap- amazing what you can get done when you are super aware of time!
I may do another from another photo of the same dog- sweet bull-dog/pit pup~ got lots of good shots of dogs that weekend! It was last august, the last weekend- our LOLA Art Crawl, the first annual! And we had a meeting yesterday to plan the next! keep yer ears on~

gus in the sun

March sunshine, pouring in the big front windows onto the porch~
Especially at this point in the late winter/early spring it is wonderful to be able to use those spaces we've had cut off for the colder weather. The porch is in use once again!

Gus Love

So here is the almost finished work- not sure about Gus' eye, and I want to lower the grass behind bingo, but all said, I love the composition and the play of light and dark- oooo may lighten up the dogs' shadows a titch too~
Beautiful weather! we sat out in the front yard after I got home from school yesterday, drinking guiness in celebration of St. Pat's Day, and neighbors and children and dogs all walked by, smiling and saying"Hi!"- Max loves pushing around the pink wagon Regan keeps in her backyard...

working last night, and now it's tuesday- yup i think every other day might be a better expectation...
i couldn't find a photo i was crazy about for the longest time, and then saw this one- its not a great shot but i really wanted to do a Bingo/Gus painting, showing how they relate to one another- Bing is usually resigned about Gus' attentions- Gus is licking the older dog's face in a dash-in-dash-out move~
this is how i start- pencil sketch on black gessoed board~
i'll try to finish tonight and repost~

Dog beach photos in the snow from a couple weeks ago- since the snow is all melting nicely from the rain and 40+ degree weather we've been having... actually I think it hit 60% today! very nice- depression caused by too much cloud cover has been lifting...
anyway, painting this one caused me to laugh~

...obviously not able to post daily...

... i think the daily postings can start officially in June when I really will actually have time. I am painting up a storm right now, but the whole taking-time-to-put-stuff-on-line thing is a drag~ until I know people are actually looking at this thing, I'm really only doing it for myself anyway.
So... here's a dog~

wednesday...

...yup- doing the dogs- sometimes you think you are done with a subject and then you challenge yourself. I figure painting trees and poles for a couple years really turned me on to the negative space aspect around the dogs- gotta admit I hanker for the sight of their haunches....

up painting...

Rotty for upcoming Rotta Love Deviant Dog Art Show at Northrop King, April 1o, 3 to 9pm~
or come on the April First Thursday for a Preview Show! 5-9pm, April 1st, 2010~

and the poodle from the dog beach on saturday~ wonderful horse-like movements in the brilliant sunshine on the cool blue snow~
...probably should be concentrating on other things... but starting something new is always fun!

...starting again...

Today is a monday, it is foggy and grey, I have been working on some commissions and some lovely dogs from A Rotta Love for their up-coming show in April~ We went to the Guthrie last night for Macbeth- I liked it, Duane felt it was pompous as Shakespear sometimes can be. I was really struck by the child actors and the slaying of MacDuff's family... it amazes me how the meaning of something can change as you yourself change. I taught MacBeth when I was in Brown's Valley in 1991, and didn't feel as strong a connection as I did last night when MacDuff says "I must mourn like a man" or something along those lines...
anyway, until I download my camera again, here's Babe who lived with me in Brown's Valley oh so long ago~