Winner

And the winner is.......
Da Da Ta Da! CHANDRA!!

That was fun, I wish I had something for everyone, we'll have to do that again soon! I feel like I just made a bunch of new friends, which is almost as great has hearing from some old friends (Miss Mayer! Tammy!). The down side is that I don't think I will post again, I might just retire my blog. I'm somewhat intimidated now that I know all you people are tuning in. Ok, I won't retire, but I'll have to triple check my spelling and quit talking about placentas. Congratulations Chandra! I'm glad you won, I know you'll love it. Thanks to everyone who played.

Drawing for a Drawing

Last night I watched August Rush again, my new favorite movie. After the kids went to bed I felt the creativity flowing out of my fingertips and was inspired to pick up a pencil and draw. It was really enjoyable and this drawing is the end product. I would love to give it away, so let's do a drawing for the drawing. If you are interested just leave a comment. Wednesday night I will put all the names in a bowl, draw a winner, and I will mail the drawing to you. (This is where I get a little nervous and hope there are people actually reading my blog...) The drawing is done in pencil on soft gray paper and is 8 by 81/2 inches. I have wanted to do this for a while and love giving stuff away, so if it works we'll be on to something.

Watering Petunia

Sneak Peek

Here is a peek at one of my new paintings. I think it is going to be one of my all time favorites. Oo, I feel some poetry coming on.

So, I turn thirty and the next thing I know I've gained five pounds and I start writing poetry. Life is full of surprises - some pleasant, some not so much. I'll compose a masterpiece for you next time I'm in spin class.

Big Apron, Little Girl

I went to church and I looked at the steeple
then I came home with five hungry people.
I cooked and I cleaned and I rocked and I sang
I loved and I squeezed, my heart swelled and it rang
out the love, wrung out the love.

I did this drawing in church today. It is another idea for an apron theme piece. I have been meaning to start a new blog that chronicles putting together this show. I haven't done it yet because I haven't thought of a name for the show. I had better do it soon, I'm dying to talk about these ideas and show you what I am working on.

Bookstore

I took the girls to a bookstore tonight. We had a lot of fun. The best parts were walking in and snagging this book with designs and pics of really neat aprons and walking out with the Once soundtrack. The in-between stuff was pretty fun too. Even Ez taking off her shoes, pants, and almost managing to get her soggy diaper off while my hands were very full. Oh, and unwrapping a couple random CDs while I wasn't looking. Anyway, I'm really excited about this book because I have started a couple paintings for my show at the end of the year that will be all about aprons. I wish I could paint them and make them. Will there ever be enough time to do everything I want and everything I am supposed to do, too, without going crazy?

Tooth Fairy

Oiseau

I feel like such a let down when I don't have anything to say about a painting. Nothing poignant or profound, no deep meaning. Isn't it OK if I paint a painting just because it's pretty? That is all this one is, just pretty. Feel absolutely free to make it your own and let it express your innermost something. As for me, pretty will have to do. That is, along with a french title, c'est belle, non?

Desiree

I had a completely different vision for this painting before I started it. It took me on a wild and very long ride. I think I started it last summer. The last thing I did was lay in the red ribbon. It was an absolute delight, there is nothing I love to paint more than ribbons. For an explanation of the ribbon I would refer you to a couple posts ago where I went into detail of this ribbon as a symbol. Simply put, she is delicately bound by her passions, and quite enjoying the idea of it.

That said, let's name the fruits in this painting. Ahem... Mango, lime, kiwi, tangerine, orange, cherry, pomegranate, lemon, and pear. Spring is in the air!

Tangerine Dreams

This piece is ode to Lisa-Marie-Presley-Walker-Harris. It is named after one of the colorful pairs of overalls we found in the ceramic room at Waterford. She named them all: tangerine dream, club soda with a twist, something about lavender and orange crush. Though that really has nothing to do with the subject of this painting, it is a fun memory and a lovely title.

I let my little girls take colored pencils to this painting. They drew little figures on her skirt. Sometimes I feel like I practically wear my children like I wear clothing. Even more, sometimes I feel like they have been woven into the fabric of my very being. The rest of the painting followed the little girl's style, with lollipop clouds on a warm and wacky summer day.

Four

I called this painting "Four". I probably could have got a little more creative with the title. (Titles are not my forte.) I suppose I could say that about the meaning of the painting as well. I often express the things that are foremost on my mind, of which there are now three, by putting representations of them on a woman's head. Sometimes they are birds, or birds with baby heads, or sheep. In this case they are bird houses, dwellings. I used this symbol because the frame of mind she is in. She is feeling like a vessel, she is the keeper of the dwellings of her little birdies. So, here is the simple part: She is thinking about taking on a fourth dwelling, becoming a vessel a fourth time. But does she have room? Can she do it? Should she do it?

The buildings are the world. The other people, grown ups probably. She sees hers as a little more dainty, precious and beautiful.

I love the ribbon across the bottom of the painting, winding its way delicately through her fingers. I have found myself adding this element to a lot of paintings. I think it represents her passions, her voice and creative expression. It is grounding, it is truth, it is honest and essential to her happiness.

Poor Job

I had way too much fun putting this lesson together for the kids in church today (sharing time). These are people from the scriptures who testified of Christ. Job is my favorite, up front. He is ever so sad. And, according to my girls, he looks a lot like my brother, Pete. So, they made the lovely Mary Magdalene Jennie and played for a while. The lesson was a hit - definitely worth staying up till one last night.

Apis mellifera

Last night a bee crossed my path
across the dimly lit kitchen floor.
In a heightened state of emotion
I had just exclaimed loudly in my mind,
"This is hard! Being a parent, being
a wife, it's so hard!"
And there it was,
ominously under my foot.

The bees in my paintings
represent a dichotomy -
they sting and they make sweet honey.
My friend had come to remind me
this dichotomy exists in all things.
Sweetness and sorrow,
pleasure and pain,
courage and fear.

Then I squashed it.

Survivor Art Girls

OK, here it is. Survivor Art Girls take on Youngstown, Ohio. Enjoy.

Buckeye, the Nut

Boy did we have fun in Ohio. My sister, Cass, and I went there this weekend to do a show in Youngstown. I met lovely gallery people, made some fans and discovered buckeye cookies - yum. If you judge a show by the the gift basket waiting in the hotel room, this one wins! We like Ohio.

Cass and I made what we think is a very funny movie. Stay tuned, we'll post it soon.