PRETTY GIRL FINAL

6 x 9
mixed media on board
click on image to enlarge

Well, she's done.
This was a fun one.

ALREADY WORKING ON XMAS !!!

Lots of layers that are
difficult to see.
The glitter and shiny
stuff is really hard
to photograph.
So you are missing out on
some of the best stuff
on this piece
of mixed media art
on board.
Maybe if you click on the
image to enlarge
you'll see it all.

This measures 12 x 24 on birch.

For my grand daughter
Iris.

Hello??? Is Anyone Out There????

Are you an artist like me?

Do you sometimes wonder if you walk the
planet all alone?

What are your insecurities?

Are you afraid of becoming one of those ladies
doing craft shows on Saturday morning PBS?

What about when someone says of your art
"CUTE" ~ are you flattered or does your inner critic
scream "OMG !!!! SEE I TOLD YOU !!!!"

I am interested in your creative process, what
gets you going, what shuts you down.

Have you always created in the same style and theme?
Or have have you moved around and how have either
of those modes affected your artistic and creative life?

Please..........................*small voice, quivering* tell me what's
on your mind.

MORE GOOD GIRL GONE BAD

I continue to like Girl Girl Gone Bad
more and more all the time
I've added some stuff and some
layers and now I think she is more
interesting.

What do you think?

BACK TO BIRDS

Take Flowers Home To The Little Lady

Mixed Media on Board - 6 x 12
click image to enlarge

Don't know why,
I've got this thing
for birds.

The flowers are
something I've wanted
to try out.

Not much to say
about this except it
brought hours of
enjoyment for me.

I hope you enjoy it
too, and please leave
a comment. It is always
so nice to get your take
on my art.

Not sure if it is
finished yet.

WORK IN PROGRESS

A MOMENT OF FUN

Meet Audrey,
The pole dancing
slut cat.

I swear
she has no shame.

The human heart has hidden treasures,

in secret kept,

in silence sealed,

the thoughts,

the hopes,

the dreams,

the pleasures,

whose charms are broken

if revealed."

Charlotte Bronte

ANDREA ~ HOLLYWOOD HILDA IS YOURS !!!

CONGRATULATIONS
ANDREA IN PARIS !

I LOVED YOUR IDEA FOR THE SIGN....

(email your address and I'll send this to you)

MORE HOLLYWOOD HILDA

What do you think should go
on the sign she stands next to???

Tell you what, be the person to
come up with the best phrase
for the sign and I'll award the
completed "Hollywood Hilda"
as a prize.

Right now she measures 6 x 12 inches,
so with a mat and frame,
that makes a pretty nice prize.

Keep in mind, there isn't
much room on that sign....
short and sweet.

Hollywood Hilda ~ Work In Progress

I'm having fun with this one.

ART FULL TIME

I am spending more and more time making art.

Sometimes it can be difficult because I still have a day job.

I come home around 5pm and enjoy the garden for about 30
minutes. Then dinner is ready. After that I have a couple of
hours for studio time. If I don't get into bed by 8:30 I'll be
in a comma the whole next day.....head bobbing at my desk.

Generally when I have lunch (still at my desk) I surf blogs
and other art related sites.

But the remainder of my day here at the "Job" is spent really
thinking to myself about ART.

This balancing act of art and the day job is difficult.

Today I came across Jesse Reno, this guy is refreshing, and
I so want to be in that space of making art......I loved his video.

Treat yourself and visit Jesse Reno, see the video. Be inspired.

PRETTY GIRL GONE BAD

SWEET ANGEL ~ IRIS

MIXED MEDIA ON WOOD ~ SUNDAY GIRL

SANTA FE - INDIAN MARKET WEEKEND

Santa Ana Retablo

Santa Ana ~ Retablo on wood
purchased at Spanish Market
Santa Fe New Mexico ~ 2008

This is the most beautiful piece of art I have ever
acquired. The first in what I hope is many. The
colors are so soft, up close it is velvety.

She is the patron saint of mother and children
and families.

May you, your children and your family
find joy and happiness today.

THE BIG "IF" ~ LET'S GET REAL JUST FOR TODAY

On The High Road
Paula ~ 2007

If you could be anyone - just for today,
who would you be?

If you could go anywhere - just for today,
where would you go?

If you could say what was truly on your heart -
just for today,
what would you say?

If you could eat what you love - just for today,
what would you eat?

If you could change anything in the world - just for today,
what would you change?

So.................
???????????

FIND A PLACE WHERE YOU FEEL HAPPY

Along the Rio Grande
Paula ~ 2008

Find a place where you feel happy......
settle in.....
feel good

PAINTED BUILDINGS

Abuelita's Restaurant, Bernalillo New Mexico
Paula ~ 2008

Isn't this a charming touch?
There are, or I should say WERE
panel insets along the side of the building
with these wonderful paintings on them.

The restaurant did a remodel and these are
now gone.

What a pity.

It is Friday.
Here's hoping you have a restful and
happy weekend.

Catch you on Monday !!

NATURE'S ARTISTIC CREATIONS

GARDEN OF THE GODS ~ COLORADO
PAULA ~ 2008

Life is good......

And you????

GRANDMA TAKE A PICTURE OF ME !!!!!

IRIS HAVING LUNCH OUT WITH HER GRANDMA
Paula ~ 2008

Grandma take a picture of me with my hands on my head !

Grandma take a picture of me with my eyes closed !

Grandma take a picture of me sticking out my tongue !

And on, and on, and on it went,

hours of pure, electric, euphoric joy.

Such is being Iris' grandma.

THIS IS WHO ROCKS MY WORLD

THE GUY YOU LOVE TO HATE

A Dude With A Tude
Paper, Acrylic and Pen and Ink on 8 x 10 gallery wrap canvas
Paula ~ 2007

OMG, I nearly forgot.

You know how it is when there is someone who
is kind of abrasive, a real "know-it-all"
who likes to get in your face and take over
the whole show?

That kind of person you tend to try to put
out of your mind.
They aren't on your holiday card list, in your address
book or even on your radar screen.

AT ALL

Well, let me tell you, everyone at the
community coop feel that way
about this "Dude-With-a-Tude".
He's got major attitude.

BUT, I happen to think he is simply misunderstood.

I love him dearly.

I make him wanna be a better "Dude".

I'm off to Denver to see my sweet grand daughter
"Iris"
Oh yeah, and her parents too !

I'll be back Monday !

Love you, miss you already!

DON'T FORGET TO SCROLL BACK UP AND VOTE FOR
YOUR FAVORITE FOUL !!!

AND FINALLY.............

FRECKLES ~ ACRYLIC AND PEN ON 4X6 POSTCARD
PAULA ~ 2007

And finally,
the last but most certainly
not the least !!

This is Freckles,
her given name is
Francine but everyone in
the coop prefers "Freckles".
She's kind of shy,
she has a bit of a skin issue,
all those freckles have
brought her a lot of good hearted
teasing, alas she is a tender
and demure little chick and her
feelings get hurt easily.

I had a difficult time getting her
to agree to sit for the portrait,
and even then I had to keep getting
up from the easel to urge her back into
the room.........little sweetie that she is....

Anyone out there have advice for
boosting a chicks tender ego????

MEET JOHNSON

Johnson - Acrylic and pen on 4x6 postcard
Paula ~ 2007

This guy's name is Johnson.

He runs the yard.

Yeah, right.

No man ever runs the place !!!!

Tune in tomorrow for my
final installment
of
Chick-A Babes
On Parade !!!!

NESTOR ~ CHICKEN COOP MARTYR

Nestor ~ Acrylic on 4x6 postcard
Paula ~ 2007

I do have an entire coop of these little cuties !

Meet "Nestor".
Nestor is a homebody.
He likes to hang close to the nest and make sure
everyone has nice warm eggs.

While the chicks strut around the yard,
Nestor is the community martyr.....
"oh don't mind me, I don't mind missing out on all
the fun, I'll just stay home and keep the eggs warm"......"sigh"

Tune in tomorrow and meet yet another chicken coop celebrity !

And in the meantime, have a great day !

PUNKIE ~ ANOTHER ACRYLIC CHICK-A-BABE

PUNKIE
ACRYLIC ON 4X6 POSTCARD
PAULA ~ 2007

So have you figured out that I've got an entire
chicken coop of these little cuties ????????

Punkie likes to use a lot of that
spikey hair stuff......
I think she tends to get carried away
but hey, who am I to stand in the path
of great personal expression??

Happy Monday, all....

still asleep here, more later

DOTTIE THE ACRYLIC CHICK-A-BABE !!!

Dottie
Acrylic on 4x6 postcard
Paula ~ 2007

Meet Dottie, everyone!

She's a sweet Chick-A-Babe,
posted here today as my
tribute to Chewy

I don't know where Chewy
got that name
"Chick-A-Babe"
but I just adore it and her
art is something to admire as
well.

Today is Friday !
I hope to eat well,
drink in moderation,
have a kittie-nap,
and paint up a storm
this weekend !!!

P.S. I nearly forgot! I've
been joking about seeing the lizards
in my yard having sex. I really do have
better things to do, but I've been thinking a lot
about Kim's writing on the "slow life" so
I sit on my patio where life goes slooooow, which
means I see lizards having sex ~ I kid you not!
Well this morning there was a little baby lizard and
I'm betting there are more !!
I hope to get a photo.......isn't that too cool !

Have a great weekend. And hurry back !!

PICNIC SALAD A LA ACRYLIC ON POSTCARD

4X6 Acrylic and Ink on Postcard
Paula - 2007

This was the first recipe my son would make when he was around 5 years old.

I would measure it all and he would do the dumping and stirring......

his big delight was that salad spelled backwards is "dalas". His name is Dallas.

Make some salad and have a fun memory today.

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

Paula - 2007

Everyone must be consumed by summer activities !

Where are you ????

What's up?

AFTER THE MASTERS

For Pierre Delattre
Paula - 2007

I read somewhere that when the great masters trained their
students, that they would have the student copy one of
their paintings and it would be called "for Vermeer", or whomever
the master was......

There is an artist in Taos that I just love.

Pierre Delattre..........

His work is so full of joy and life.
I studied a very small corner of one of
his paintings and made this postcard painting from
what I saw. It was a fun process and I learned a lot
about my own style. Obviously I would NEVER copy
someone's work to sell .......

As I worked away on my little experiment, I thought about
Pierre and what he might have been thinking as he created
his paintings, where his inspiration came from, how he arrives
at his choices for color, is his life as joy-filled as his paintings,
does he only dream of such relationship
or is his life really like his work,
........good questions I will certainly ask
him the next time I'm in Taos !!!!

I encourage you to really look at those master's
works and attempt to learn from them.

Garden Art !!!!!!!!!!!!

Paula's Garden Gayfeathers
Paula ~ 2008

So I've determined that yes,
gardening is ART !!

Oh heck, you all know
me by now.....

To me EVERYTHING
is art !

These Gayfeathers were
planted last year and they looked
just horrible.....on death's door,
so to speak.

I'm sure glad I didn't dig them up
as my husband suggested because
this year they are just simply
beautiful ! And to think this is just
their first full season in my garden.
Imagine how they'll look when they are
established and BIGGER !!!!!!

!!! WOW !!!

FUNKY EGGPLANTS - ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

You might recall,
this is the first one.....

and here are the next two.............

I'd been working on both of these for some time now
and finally had an extended period of time
to finish up. I've used Golden
Matte Acrylic, and just love it.
This paint provides a beautiful Matte Finish.......
It reminds me a lot of gouache and egg tempera.
Lovely finish.

That yellow really photographed kind 0f harsh
it is really more of a soft Yellow Ocher

I had a great 4th of July holiday here in the
Great American Southwest

How about you??????

What have you been up the these past
few days????

TAKE A BREAK AND HAVE SOME FUN !!!

Audrey On Her Favorite Perch
Paula ~ 2008

Meet Audrey
incorrigible toddler kitty

Her favorite pass time is
playing on, in, under and
around her box

I'm going to take a few days
off from blogging and my
day job
to enjoy the 4th of July
holiday

I'll be painting up a storm and
hopefully I'll have
show and tell
when I return

Have fun and
MISS ME !!!!!

ART AND THE COLORS OF "HAPPY"

Window on Canyon Road, Santa Fe New Mexico
Paula - 2008

ACRYLIC GLAZE - ART IN THE SLOW LANE

Every now and then I come across someone who talks about slowing down.

Slower food,
slower fun,
slower life in general.

My recent fun with acrylic glazes really illuminated that
"slow"
concept for me.

When using such a thick glaze, getting impatient and
quickly stirring the mixture creates air bubbles.

Then the pouring is slow,
slowly spreading,
tilting,
waiting
for gravity to work it's magic.

Back to those air bubbles,
figuring out how to eliminate them
during
the pour
requires some patience
but I've found that if you use a pallet knife
you can scoop up a bit that has dripped off
and deposit it back on the surface
and
actually drag the air bubbles off the surface.
It takes patience.

Then there is the drying time.

So after all this,
I still have to sit back and look at what I've created,
not satisfied
and trying to decide
what should happen next
and whether I'll like the out come.

I'm not a time waster
so I want to be sure
before I go to all the trouble
to repeat the previous process !

And there is more about this
SLOOOOOOOWWWWWWW
concept ~

The other day I was laying in the grass looking up into the trees while I talked to my daughter-in-law on the phone.
Looking up,
looking up,
more looking up........
looking up for quite a while
when suddenly I realize what I'm seeing.
A pair of hummingbirds and their nest !!!!
Oh my god,
I was astounded !!!!

Hummingbird Mommy !

(bad photo but the best I could do on a windy day with my little camera)
Paula - 2008

What do we miss when
we are in an everyday sort of rush to get there,
get it done,
move on to the next thing
on our to-do list?

Just something to think about on these
warm,
lazy,
summer afternoons.

Is there a tree nearby?
Can you take some time to stretch out and just watch ????

I highly recommend it.

CRAZY FOR GLAZE ??????????

TO GLAZE OR NOT TO GLAZE (click for a larger image)
PAULA - 2008

Top photo - nearly no glaze at all

Bottom photo - super thick, poured on glaze
made from soft gloss gel, matte gel, water,
fine gold and interference blue (a la Nancy Reyner).

Aside from the fact that the bottom
one was a bear to photograph, I *think*
I like it.

I'm not so sure how a person
would take adequate photos
to represent and sell online, this seems
to be a more in-person
presentation.

I've been having lots of fun with glazes
and playing with some small 4 x 4
canvas covered boards. They do have
a faux encaustic look without having to
run out and stock a whole studio wtih
encaustic supplies, not to mention the
durability factor increases dramatically with
the acrylic glazes.

Kim uses a lot of glazes in her work and so
is the main inspiration for me trying out this process.

LIFE IS ART - LIVE IT LIKE A MASTERPIECE

Santa Fe
Paula - 2008

So I'm wandering around Santa Fe.
Just a couple of blocks off the plaza,
taking photos.
There is so much to see -
a visual paradise.

When I stop dead in my tracks

This just can't be.........

I see a sign posted over a shop door
that says
"No Photographs"

Too bad,
beautiful building.

Are they just being cranky?
Too many tourists?
Maybe it is time to get
out of the business.
I sure hope these folks
don't track me down for
taking this photo, I did it before I saw
the sign.......(I'm sorry)

Like I said,
too bad.

Life is art,
live it like a
masterpiece!


Keep It Simple
and
Be Nice

ACRYLIC GLAZES

Acrylic glaze on 4 x 6 postcard stock
Paula - 2008

OK folks, I've looked at Kim's work over at
Creating Space
a million times.
Read her posts about
layer upon layer
of glaze.

Why I didn't act sooner is a mystery to me.

Why do you want something,
have all the resources to make it happen
and still not act?

My husband once said
"well I can understand why you
might think you aren't good enough to have that"
(he really knows how to push the buttons).

I've always believed that we are our own worst enemy
so last night I decided to get the heck out of my own way
and ...............
crack open the bottle of glaze and have a go at it.

What fun !

I didn't get too wild, but as least I got started.
This is going to be a fun weekend.
I can just feel it !!!!!!!!!!!!

What about you?
Are you good enough?
Will you satisfy some
inner urge you've
been resisting for
some unknown reason?

Go for it !

AN ARTIST AT A STOP LIGHT.................

Bernalillo, New Mexico
Paula - 2008

Where are you going?

What are your plans?

Do you live life on the fly
or are you a planner?

I'm a little bit of both.

I took this photo as kind
of a study in perspective
but later it held many
thoughts for me,
~as an artist, what do I want~
~what do I want to convey in my work~
~how will I know what to do next~

The road for me isn't clear,
I don't think it is for anyone,
.................really....................

For today though,
I hope your road
leads to joy, love,
satisfaction
and
whatever is most
dear to you!

Studio Photos and Creative Thoughts

Santa Fe Eggplants - Violet
14 x 18 gallery wrap canvas
Paula ~ 2008
(click image to enlarge)

I like showing you my art with photos
from my studio - it just
seems more natural and creative
to display them on the easel

I'm on a bit of a roll here with these
acrylic on canvas abstracts

The blue one in the background
was my first installment
in this series

What do you think?

What feelings arise in you
when you view this art?

Am I out to lunch?

Have I tilted in the wind
just a bit too far?

For some reason these paintings
help me to relax and just let
my creativity flow.

And, on the topic of
creativity.......

Just yesterday Kim over at
Creating Space
were exchanging emails and
she really got me to thinking about
creativity - a lot of questions came up for me

Where does creativity originate?
What is creativity? Just art, or maybe also
cooking, science, music, mowing your lawn?
Who epitomizes creativity for you?
Jackson Pollack, Salvadore Dali,
Tiger Woods,
Bill Gates?

I can't begin to know the answers
but I'd sure love to know what
your thoughts are on the subject
of creativity !!!

Maybe it is the idea of so
few rules, maybe it is the
idea of "fun"...........

Comments?
I'd like to know
what you think!

GOURD BIRDHOUSES !!!!

So here are the birdhouses made
from gourds. I don't know how
well they'll hold up in the weather,
but they are cheerful and I like them.

A friend asked me if I thought birds
would really use them. Heck, I don't know,
I just like the way they look !!!

Now just need to get them positioned
in the yard.

I think if you click on the image
you can see it enlarged.