Craving Beauty

I went to visit a beautiful garden today. It's a nursery called "Shakespeare's Garden" that's tucked away on a winding road in my town. The property has always been a nursery and was owned by the same family for many years. They sold it a couple of years ago, and I remember feeling a loss. (I have been feeling that way a lot lately). As much as I liked the original, nothing could have prepared me for Shakespeare's Garden. It is absolutely, unbelievably awesome! For the past couple of weeks I've been living in a state of hyperdrive. I took on so many projects, all of them important in their own way. I piled them on feeling that "I can do it all". I am happy to say that I did finish them all, but now I've crashed! I really don't want to do anything. I am taking a new class with Laure - a Trip to the Garden and I am behind 2 assignments and there will be a new one tomorrow. Yikes! So today, after work, for about 20 minutes I went around S.G. and took pictures. I was the only one there. It's hard to describe the energy that I felt, the renewal. I bought 2 plants to use for my class. They also had a rack of handmade paper and I bought a sheet. On the drive home I noticed so many things around me: the old fence lined with daffodils, the buds on the trees, the grass that is so lush, etc. It was just what I needed to get centered again. I'm still tired but I am ready to start painting. I might go back on Friday. I know that finding beauty is, for me, a necessity, like breathing!

Charm Bracelets

I think it all started when my sister-in-law Vicki received a Pandora bracelet for her birthday. It was very pretty - with the donut shaped "charms". It took me back to (for me) the real charm bracelets. The souvenir kind of bracelet. The one in the picture is mine. It's not really mine though, because I bought it at a tag sale. I've adopted it, refined it to make it my own. The little cake charm was actually given to me by my father. It opens up to reveal a candle. So that charm is officially mine! I can take you through the bracelet and tell you the story of my life. It's all there. At one time I had 3 or 4 different bracelets. I took the charms that I wanted and then gave the bracelets  away. Now I've decided that I really need an astronaut charm because I love, love, love anything about outer space and aliens. Maybe  I'll find an alien too. Isn't it fun to have a charm bracelet?

Strolling Along Bourbon St.

Here's another picture that I did for the New Orleans class. I found this location on Google Street view. I spent about an hour looking up and down streets for something that caught my eye. I think that I was in the wrong neighborhood. After I finished this I found some really pretty houses. Oh well! When I pick a subject to paint I'm usually looking for a challenge, something to get me out of my comfort zone. I liked this because of the doors, the shadow and the balconies. It was a challenge! My favorite thing in the painting is the window with the bars. I just painted the negative spaces and the bars magically appeared!

I'm in New Orleans (in my mind)

I just finished the second assignment for my class. This was about taking a pen and drawing. There's no correcting! It's like being a trapeze artist without a net! Scary and exhilarating at the same time. I loved doing it! I know that I've done this before. I've read Danny Gregory's books and thats his method. Just do it, and always with a pen. The funny thing is that a lot of the artists that I like paint like that. It's hard to find a happy medium because I know that it's important to know how to draw correctly. I struggle with it because I feel like I'm cheating if I don't have it that way. This painting is different, I really like it and I'm not bothered by the wonkyness. (is this a word?) Taking a trip to New Orleans is a good thing! Thanks, Laure.

Meet Marlin

Marlin is a trolley driver in New Orleans. I'm on another Imaginary Trip with Laure Ferlita. I've been painting him for several days and he seems very real to me. The Imaginary Trips are so much fun and challenging too. I really took my time with this and tried to get the correct depth and dark and light values.  My biggest struggle is with the colors. I have a hard time because I always want to paint the colors that I see.

Lineup

I took this picture in shoprite. I love the colors. I used the Halftone app for the effect.

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Neat Shoes

I found these beautiful shoes at the local Good Will Store. Size 5 1/2 Via Spiga. The only person I know who has that size foot is my daughter Valerie. I would have bought them in an instant, but alas I knew that she wouldn't like them. Isn't that always the way it goes? You find your dream shoe, and it's not your size. Calling Cinderella.....



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