Saturday, May 31, 2008

Canvas makeover

I woke up with an itch to hold a brush... and realized that I don't have a canvas or a journal. What to do? Find an old painting that you don't like and paint over it. I didn't paint over everything, just did a makeover on the girl. Her face bothered me for the longest time, so I painted a new one and gave her a new haircut. You can see the 'original' here. Does it look better to you?

Friday, May 30, 2008

A little silence...

A little silence, little rest, is good.
I'm pretty sure that we all need a little silence, a little rest... It's good that it's Friday. Happy weekend!

Saturday, May 24, 2008

No matter where you go or what you do,
you live your entire life
within the confines of your head.
-Terry Josephso

Friday, May 16, 2008

Creating life.... and art

Every spring my daughter finds a big green caterpillar. She takes care of it, bringing fresh greens daily and perfect sprigs where she can attach and form into a chrysalis. Couple of weeks later we are all rewarded with the sight of a beautiful butterfly. First time she witnessed it, she said excitedly: "I created life!" She was little then, but we didn't forget it... so every year my dh and repeat her words.
For some reason I was inspired to grab a huge (extra very big) piece of paper and graphite and give myself 15 minutes to come up with something... There was a time when anything bigger than an ATC (2.5 x 3.5") was too big for me. Not today... I took a picture with my hand in it so that you can see how big this was. I started with no expectations, drew fast, had fun smudging...
Then I decided to add some color... but just before I started my dh returned from work. I had another quick idea - I grabbed the poor man and put some pastels in his hand and told him to color whatever he wants. After a puzzled look he started adding green to her hair (she loves coloring parts of her hair green and my dh and I don't like it). Then he turned loose with the background... and soon we were both having fun with it. At the end we called Hana to add her touch (she added more green in hair).
It was great! It took less than 30 minutes from start to finish and made my heart smile. What a great way to finish a Friday... and a sign that the weekend will be perfect. Hope that your weekend is perfect too.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Bird talk

First say to yourself what you would be;
Then do what you have to do.
-9"x12" on watercolor paper-
I had the best intention to do Sharon's Modigliani challenge. I started with a blue background, had a "face" in mind, the colors ready... and then I saw my little clay bird and everything changed. I don't know where this came from... but I got lost in the process and loved painting it.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Feeling restless...

My very much loved bird started his long flight back to the nest this night... It's late and I have to wake up very early. I should be sleeping, but I can't. Not that I'm worried.... I would just like time to go faster. It is going to be long 24 hours...
What to do when you feel restless and don't want to paint? Bake.
I rarely bake anything sweet, but for some reason I had to make cookies at 10 p.m. Emily (of The Black Apple) blogged about them yesterday, and then mentioned them today... and I had to try. Mine didn't turn out as pretty, and I have no idea how they taste (because I didn't try them), but I feel a little better now that I spent the time in the kitchen. And it gave me an excuse to play in Photoshop... just as I did with the above picture. I wanted to show off the beautiful colors of roses, so I thought that it would be a good idea if I (background) was in sepia.
Last night I dreamt that a black panther crossed my path and was probably preparing to attack me... I really don't want to go to bed now. Maybe I'll start a new journal page...

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Peace of Mind

Spend your life joyfully
and with the greatest internal peace of mind.
I finished the third and final canvas of girls with musical hairs and roses. I liked working in the same format, similar theme and same color pallet, but it's time to switch to something different...

Thursday, May 1, 2008

I believe in tenderness and delicacy...

... and some days I have to surround myself only with tender and delicate things, people and music.