rainy day

It's a dreary day....what better way to spend it than to paint and be creative all cozy indoors:

So, I have been thinking a lot lately about how darn much I love our little girl.  So many questions run through my mind throughout the day.  I find myself saying "I love you" probably at least 25 times throughout our day together.  ( I know, am I smothering her :/?!)...I wonder how much that will change through the years.  Does she know that she has me wrapped around her little finger?  Will this love continue to grow or does it plateau ever?  What will it be like when I tell her she has to change her clothes when she tries to wear a way too short skirt to high school? 

Ohhh, I guess these are all natural thoughts a mother has.  All I know is that I often just feel like that quote by Elizabeth Stone:

"Making a decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside of your body."

So true.

And, I am adding a little melted crayons to my current piece....we'll see where this takes me.

I purchased this set of cookbooks for a few dollars a few years ago at the Harper's Ferry Flea Market.  I really bought them because I loved how sweet they are in size, color and pattern.  Written by Helen Evans Brown, who apparently was pretty popular on the West coast in the 40's and 50's, I am wondering if they might be worth anything after doing research on her (not that I would want to part with them.) 

These books were published in the 1950's and I happened to pull them out to get a little inspiration for my next painting.  I might have to sit down and really read them and learn more about her now that I know they are special.

dance

One of the things I love about my husband is his mad dancing skills.  The man has got rhythm that you wouldn't believe, or suspect, based on his love of history, traditionalism, accounting and his quirky sense of humor.  Writing about it actually really makes me miss it.  The night of our wedding we ended up at a local bar and on the dance floor with some of our family. Me and my new hubby managed to make K-7's 1993 hit "Come baby come" look relatively classy in a suit and full wedding gown.  And in our dating days, more than once before baby, we would end up dancing in our living room with the music I'm sure way too loud...sigh, those days have since retired but I'm sure one day his moves will make an appearance again.

Cut to the chase, I've been working on these completely carefree pieces.  While I worked they reminded me of the fun of dancing.  Not sure why, maybe it is the way the lines move or the glitter shines.  But they are happy...and they make me want to dance.  I think my painting may be moving in a new direction:

 

Life...it's a roller coaster.  Enjoy the ride

the middle one in progress

Oddly enough, my husband broke out Pandora this morning and started dancing with Leila in the kitchen.  Priceless.  Leila started twirling around and giggling like I have never heard her giggle before.

martha, martha, martha

Besides a few minor flaws, like how she pronounces water "wah-ter" and the fact that the mere thought of eating with her reminds me of inviting the Queen to tea or that apparently she was the torturous mother who kept the lights off and curtains drawn on Halloween to shun gitty children, well....I simply love her style.

And, with a gift card to Michaels from my mother-in-law, a great President's day sale and simply asking the clerk in the checkout line if he had any coupons he could give me, I got all of this for $0:

turn it around:

Now, Martha's never ending line of paints and supplies can make anyone a little excited about the most daunting of projects. You really can't beat the colors and styles she offers and the quality of her stuff is wayyyy better than most. But, they come with a price tag. That's why I was so stinkin' excited when I got this pack of 10 paints, which normally costs $19.99, for just $10.....I am not too proud to ask for a coupon and for the entire line behind me to hear. I got 50% off my highest priced item!

And these to add some embellishment to my work:

Meanwhile, I am working on the "swimsuit" painting (which I found fitting to call it) and I happened to go through and organize all of my recipes on Sunday and found some quirky cards I couldn't resist.  Is it just me or do you love going through your mother's, grandmother's (and so on) recipes and getting a giggle out of the advertising.  Case in point:

An early 80's ad for Weetabix.  If you are interested in purchasing this today you will have to go to England.

I found a use for some of these odds and ends though.  Here is a snippet of work in progress:

samples

Here are a few more samples of work that will be added to pinterest today.  It really is interesting to look at your portfolio from years past to present....I feel like my art (especially these samples) show how your style can change depending on where you are in your life.  pretty cool:

this chalk drawing was from my magnet high school class

 Pencil drawing of model from course taken in Italy

Ok, so when I was a junior (I think) in high school I was completely into buying fanchy schmancy drawing pens and doing these wild drawings of faces.  At some point I will take some pics of my sketchbook I kept back then....it is full of characters!  This is a HUGE drawing on thick paper and each shape has a pattern....maybe I should break it out and see what happens if I work on it 15 years later? hmmmmmm.

watercolor

custom piece created upon nephew's arrival

black chalk

I do love it....however I haven't used it in a long time.  I have a ton of it stowed away with my supplies, all kinds of different densities and variations so I think I might put it to use again.  It's a bit of an intimidating medium because of how bold it is.  In black, you see:

elms

elms

elms

elms

elms

elms

elms

elms

portfolio & pinterest marry

I love getting feedback on my blog....the more the better!  Everything takes time and I am learning as I go but ultimately I blog to track my love for painting and art and the craziness of motherhood.  All I really want is for my work to speak to people and hopefully they will get something out of it.  It's hard with just a blog alone to showcase all of your work as a painter and a few people have told me it is difficult to see my samples.  I couldn't agree more!  Aha......pinterest.  How I do love you.  If you haven't discovered this wonderful obsession you must.  Right now. 

I will be adding pieces of my art to my board which is devoted to my original work on pinterest over the next few weeks.  In the end, my entire portfolio can be viewed at once going as far back as my days as a student.  Each piece will be linked back to the blog so they will be posted here first.

 Here goes:

Old Town Alexandria

oil pastel 19" x 24.5"

Model Italy

watercolor 13.5" x 18"

Street Band:  New Orleans

acrylic on paper 17.5" x 30"

Venice

watercolor 30" x 22"

the winning piece complete!

I finished the painting for Meghan, the winner of the drawing held in December!  She gave me a few clues to inspire me.  She wanted the piece for her bedroom which she just finished re-decorating in a romantic theme with red, purple, smoky topaz and chocolate throughout.  I asked her if she could travel anywhere where would it be: Paris.

Eiffel Tower at night

12" x 12" acrylic, gold & silver ink on canvas with polycrylic finish

congrats on winning the painting, Meghan and thanks for being a good sport about having your picture taken ; )....I hope you enjoy it!

degas, you are brilliant

Whenever I get the chance to take the Metro into DC the smells, sounds, colors bring me right back to my high school days.  And I love it.  My family and I moved to Northern VA in the middle of my junior year in high school.  Not knowing a soul at my new high school and feeling like a fish out of water, I spent most weekends with a loaded up back pack trekking through Georgetown, Alexandria and DC.  Or some days meeting my dad for lunch at his office in Rosslyn.  I couldn't get enough of all the art, history and interesting atmospheres right at my fingertips. Pretty fabulous.

So yesterday was special because it was the last day of the the Degas exhibition at the Phillips Collection.  I got to take the day to myself as a birthday present (today marks number 34 for me!) while my husband took care of Leila.  There was a street fair going on when I arrived in Dupont Circle:

It was a gorgeous day.....I had a great lunch at a yummy Italian restaurant before heading to the show:

The show was absolutely amazing.  The line to get in was wrapped around the corner so I ended up becoming a member just so I could skip the line.  It was pretty packed but his compositions, use of color and texture.....I can't say enough.  My heart was pounding I was so excited!  Really looking forward to taking Leila there now that I am a member....its such an easy metro ride in, she's going to love it!

Treated myself to this vessel to hang on the wall and house my rings at Tabletop

When I arrived home last night my husband had planned a surprise brithday dinner with our family......so fun!  More birthday loot :) So thoughtful and unexpected.....

Leila's gift from the Degas show.........

Have a great week everyone!!!