Getting it done!

Lola and Mommy painting together.

So one of these days I looked at my studio walls and floors and realized the crazy amount of unfinished paintings I have.

Doodle Me Happy

I start painting after painting and never consider them done! I keep coming back to them and adding more stuff...which would be ok if I wasn't talking about dozens of them! They're beginning to pile up!

Playground

Plus, now I'm thinking that maybe I do that out of insecurity...you know, if I show you a photo of a painting and say "work in progress" and you don't like it, it's ok, because "I'm not done with it yet". Get it?

Helena

Well, now I decided it's enough. Once I heard an artist (don't remember who) saying that she doesn't like to hold on to paintings for too long because she likes to keep the energy moving... Or something like that. And she was so right! So, slowly but surely, I'm going through all my paintings, one by one, and actually FINISHING them. And by finishing them, I also mean, signing them, scanning them, and putting them for sale.

Inez

IT. FEELS. SO. GOOD.

A sense of accomplishment, you know? That I'm not walking in circles, but actually going somewhere now! Aaahhhh!

Up and Away

All the paintings you see in this post, yep, you guessed it! DONE! 
And for sale through a click of the mouse! ;-)

What have you been crossing off your list?

I don't know what happened...

Suddenly, it's March 2013! How can my previous post be from October of last year? Don't know. Life happened, I guess.

my table @ Stephanie Lee's plaster workshop

Last month I was in a plaster class taught by Stephanie Lee. It was very cool...messy - oh, my, is it messy! - but cool. Stephanie was really nice and funny, and always ready to answer all the questions from her students. All in all a great weekend.

lots of pieces started that weekend

Me and plaster, though, different story. I thought he had hit it off, but I was wrong. Two days after the workshop, I was home, working on my pieces, when...

my pretty cups - gone!

second piece - gone!

before

after

Crack!

All of my plaster pieces are gone. I still have the ones made with joint compound, at least. And I'm still working on them. Thinking back now, all the pieces that cracked were on the same kind of substrate: those artist cradled boards, which I LOVE and were supposed to be great for working with plaster, according to the master herself, Stephanie. I must've done something wrong when mixing the plaster, that has to have been it!

little joint compound pieces

Last night I was working on a piece for my daughter's bedroom. Not finished yet, but I'm still not quite sure where to go from here! I'm enjoying the journey, though, isn't that what counts?

Happy Monday, everyone! Go make some art!

Collected Intuitions

A little photoshopping goes a looong way... real photo here.

So, the show was awesome! The space looked amazing, filled with beautiful art from all these awesome ladies you see in the picture. The energy was super positive, everybody was excited about the event.

And what a turn out! The place was packed at one point! Everybody had a good time!

Paintings were sold! Fun, fun, fun!

The most rewarding thing for me, though, was to have my family and my friends there, my greatest supporters.

My friends and I - photo by Cynthia Shaffer.

Unfortunately I didn't take a single picture of my husband and children... Thanks, Hubby, for taking care of the kids while I mingled! xoxo!

Excited...A little nervous too!

Sooo...tomorrow is kind of a big deal for me...my very first GALLERY SHOWING!!!

The artists of Studio Crescendoh Painting Studio - myself included - will be showing our work together! We're all very excited! Jenny Doh, the owner of Crescendoh, organized everything and offered her studio for the event.

Every one of us will have a few paintings on display. And these are mine:

Take a look at all the great artists that will be there too!

Don't see me? 

No, you're not crazy, I'm not there... yours truly here missed the deadline to send a photo for the flyer, so I did a little 'photoshopping' and here's MY version:

Ha! Yeah, baby, I WILL be there! It says so on the flyer! :-)

So, if you're in the area, stop by! Did I mention it's a FREE event? Here is the info:

October 6th, 2012

From 7:00pm to 10:00pm

Studio Crescendoh

207 N. Broadway St., Suite L

Santa Ana, CA 92701

There'll be refreshments and a musical performance.

PS: Covered parking is available at the Artists Village parking structure at Third Street and Broadway, for $2.

Hope to see you there!

Society6

It took me a year...

...to consider this painting DONE.

This is what happens sometimes...I start a painting like I always do - adding a lot of colors, making different marks...

layer 1

Then I added another layer, refining some shapes and finding new ones...

layer 2

By the third layer, when I decided to "embellish" a little bit more, I started to actually like it.

FREEZE!

That is the worst possible thing that can happen...you get attached. 

I like it! Now what? What can I do that WON'T ruin this? 

layer 3

So I put it aside and started working on something else. And this painting kept staring back at me for a year! A YEAR! I couldn't believe it when I saw the date of the first picture I took of it!

Suddenly, one day, I just wanted to finish it. I wasn't worried about making a "mistake" anymore, and that took all the pressure off, making way for inspiration to come.

final painting

Now I love it! LOVE IT! Love the colors, the shapes, the transitions. Am I allowed to love my own painting? I hope so. And I hope that other people will SEE the love in it too...

Have a great day!

Loving Homework

I recently finished Mindy Lacefield's Paint Your Story self-paced class, and let me tell you: loved it! After so many months of little or no painting for me, this class was just what I needed to get me going again. 


Because I knew there was going to be a new lesson everyday, I pushed myself to find the time to paint. I would tell my daughter "Mommy has homework to do" and that made me feel less guilty to actually use that time for myself. *

There was a different video everyday, which, in my opinion, is what made this class so good. The exercises were fun and playful, and Mindy had several prompts and tips that really helped.

These images are paintings that were all done during the class.

I'm really glad I decided to take this class. Totally worth it and money well spent!

* By the way, I haven't painted since the very next day the class ended! I really do need more homework! Any class suggestions???