I meant to post before running off to the wild west for the holidays, but it just didn't happen! What's more is that I didn't upload pictures from last weeks' studio time before I left for Montana. So the image above is something I finished two weeks ago, but I figure it's better than nothing. ;)
Yesterday I made this little painting of a cerulean warbler woman. This photo is an abomination, but you get the idea. Today I'll refine her dress and body, and then I think she'll be finished. I like the simplicity of this image--it feels good. My impulse is usually to clutter and muck things up a lot. But I think this bird lady works just as she is. I might add some stars though. Just a few! I also took 3 little paintings to the framer yesterday. I love my framer, and I highly recommend them, even though I'm tired of framing my work. 
And I can't even believe that I forgot to mention the fact that I am now the proud owner of two little Deb Putnoi paintings! As you can see, they live above my plants.
And I am also the proud new owner of this Cat Bennett painting that I wrote about here. The bowl and vase below it are wedding presents, and the little glass basket-looking thing was my grandmother's. I've been nesting like a fiend.
These Dust Bunnies by Janet Scudder were also wedding presents. They're made from repurposed socks and other kinds of clothing. I feel like Janet needs an Etsy site, but until she puts one up, you can buy these little buddies, and lots of other handmade goodies, at the Arsenal Center for the Arts December Shop.
We had open studios today at the Arsenal Center for the Arts. I put some work out, newer and older. 
And I was relieved to see that even with all of the different media, and the widely varying scales and changing palettes, everything somehow, miraculously works together.
It still feels very unfinished and kind of ugly, but it's all about experimenting! I like not knowing where or how this will end up.
My new favorite thing is consulting the butcher. 
Just so you know, getting married is really fun. I highly recommend it. And being married to Charley (although I only have 12 days of experience with it) is REALLY fun. These pictures are photographs of photographs (I only had printed copies and no scanner), but I couldn't resist posting something to mark such a great day. I will post something crisper (and knowing me, probably more artsy) when our photographer is finished processing our images.
I like this one, because I'm surrounded by all four of my parental figures, since my stepdad was behind the camera. 
Framing is starting to chap my hide. Not only is it expensive, but it also feels like I'm imprisoning my paintings. All of the layers and textures and colors that I slave over for weeks and months, become flatter and duller when they are trapped behind glass. So I've been thinking of ways to make pieces that 1) feel technically and conceptually satisfying 2) can happily exist without frames and 3) can be created without using chemical solvents. 
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Last Monday night I got home from a fabulous day of teaching. My students were all excited and making boat loads of progress, having break-throughs left and right. All was right with the universe and I was feeling exuberant. And then I took a look at my credit card bill. And lo, there was a mysterious charge at the bottom. After some investigating I learned that some fel, fel being had hacked into my ebay AND paypal accounts. This super-baddy had also changed my ebay password, thereby locking me out of my account. This made it ridiculously hard to get help. In fact, it took me three hours to get help, which in the whole scope of things, isn't really that bad. But it felt REALLY bad at the time, especially after waiting 45 minutes on hold (web chat hold, since you can't actually speak to a person) only to get disconnected. During this three hour period I also managed to create the image above, entitled Sad Pita, during a performance I like to call Flaming Toaster. 
Made this little drawing:
And monkeyed around with this whole painting a whole lot more:
I'm hoping to finish it tomorrow, when I will have a whole, uninterrupted day in the studio. Huzzah!
After I complete a crafty project, I like to lay it all out in the living room to admire my handiwork. I encourage Charley to admire it too, and praise it of course. I'm crazed, I tell you.
And worked and worked and worked on this piece, only to scrape out everything I did. I was just having an icky art day:
The scene is based on a photo I took on Monday--that perfect blue-sky day. I arrived a little bit early at the home of my private student, so I spent a few minutes sitting in my car, daydreaming and snapping photos. I must have looked an awful lot like I was casing the neighborhood because the workman loading equipment onto the roof of this van was eyeing me very suspiciously. I'm really happy with this piece--I feel like I've taken this series to a new place. 
I also like the way these two paintings function together. I worked a little more on the cedar waxwing (on the right), and I really like how he came out. Disarmingly sinister.
Cat Bennett moved into our hall a few weeks ago, and I am smitten with her work! The series above (in progress), entitled, You Are Not Alone, has been occupying my thoughts. Especially this one:
I love it so much that it hurts a little bit. I might actually have to buy it, economic crisis be damned! Ack! I love it! 
These weird roses have been kicking around my life for the past five years. They are painted from life in gouache on paper, coated in beeswax, and cut out of their original context. I didn't have a purpose for them at the time, but I liked them and didn't want to throw them away. They are also a reminder of the two years I spent after grad. school, working full time as a nanny and hardly making any art at all. These roses were one of the projects I started but never resolved during that time. I like thinking about how far I've come since those days. It gives me warm fuzzies. Anyway, today I was messing around with the loose bits in my studio (in a HIGHLY caffeinated state, by the way), and I decided to make a new collage. Here it is so far:
In person the beeswax has a much stronger presence. 
That's right! My very own pitcher plants. 
I thought he was finished when I left the studio, but now I think he needs just a bit more work. He's looking a bit wooden.
Sometimes, having to park all the way up on the roof of the parking garage has its advantages. Like today:
And I really like how it's coming along. But there's a human presence missing in the narrative, and I can't decide what form it should take. Hmmmm. Methinks it's time for a photo session. 
I'll finish him tomorrow.
I'm also thinking about what to do with these antique boxes. I started painting on that open blue one about 5 years ago. Since then they've just been kicking around in moving boxes. But lately they've been occupying some space in my thoughts, and consequently earned some space in my studio. I think it would be interesting to make some 3-D objects, but I'm a bit nervous about it. I am awful when it comes to sculpture, or anything else that requires some sense of 3-dimensional space. My sense of direction, for example, is truly an abomination. So I'm going to ease into these boxes by painting on them, on their nice, comfy 2-D surfaces.
Here's how they look in context (so far!). I like how they're all tropical and jungly--a totally different aesthetic for me. Tomorrow I'll add some more, so that they're hanging down across the top of the entire painting. By the way, this is a ghastly photo when uploaded to blogger. The one at the top is more accurate, with the bright blues and purples.
I thought that the hanging pitcher plants below were finished, but when I peeked at them again after teaching my afternoon class, I decided that they need more work. I want to build the gouache up more to give them an extra shiny, velvety texture.
I do like the tangle of tree branches though. Branches have always kind of intimidated me for some reason. But I think that painting a bazillion birdcages in linear perspective has primed me for any challenge.
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