Alcatraz

Well, I can't say that I did "it," but I did something.  Our escape from Alcatraz was canceled due to San Francisco fog.  We did an alternate swim, which took us plenty into the ocean.  It was exciting and wonderful to swim with the water tossing me about.  I came a long way for this race.  I learned how to swim for one thing.  And, I conquered a colossal fear of the open water.  There was a lot of time spent thinking about how I could get out of this, but I am so glad I stuck with it.  Now, I have to do it again next year!  After talking about it for a whole year, it is pretty unsatisfying not to be able to say I did the real thing.  So, I have one year to get fast enough to out swim the sharks.

P.S. Thanks brother and sister for being so great!  Sari stuck with me the whole swim, even though she is way so much faster than me.  After the race, we biked across the Golden Gate and then some, and ended the long day with a short run so we could call it a tri.  We had a lot of fun.

Found my Camera... few.

Sunday Drawing

Courage.

4

My baby turned four!

H.B. Ezra Petunia.

Country Road

Did a ten mile run this morning.  Threw some John Denver on my ipod before I left and it shuffled into place (right between Jack's Mannequin and Relient K) with the sunshine literally on my shoulders.  I had a moment, luckily I had phone with me to capture it.

2000 meters

Pardon me while I conquer the world.

Strange things happen when I am with my sisters.

Like THIS.  Mark that for when you need a little pick-me-up.  

And I come home with these: 

 And lots of jars of crafty bits and little porcelain doll parts.

It's kind of magical.

Be Mine

Happy Valentine's Day!! I love this holiday. I wish I could decorate for Valentine's day year round. (Hmm.. red is my least favorite color, gives me anxiety. Small doses in the shape of hearts, accompanied with pink - that seems to make it better than OK for me.) I did not get to enjoy my decorations long enough this year - got them up late. Delia suggested we leave them for a while. Right on. We could count them as Easter decor, or better yet, Birthday pizzazz (|pəˈzaz| (also pizazz) noun informal: an attractive combination of vitality and glamour). I can if I want to, it's my Birthday... OK, it's Gavin's too, but do you think he'll notice?

Speaking of decorations, these paper balls were my Valentine project. I got the pattern off a friend of a friend's blog. She does some neat stuff and has a few patterns you can download. They were a little time consuming, and I'm not sure what I'll do with them yet. I'm sure I'll figure something out. Perhaps I'll give them away to some deserving friends who will wonder the same thing but will have to figure something out because you can't just throw a handmade gift away, at least not for a couple months to a year.

We have a super romantic Valentine's tradition. We (kids included) go to Village Inn for a delicious breakfast-dinner and pie. It started when I was big pregnant and was craving skillet sensations, catsup free-for-all, french toast, extra hash browns, and chocolate cream pie big time. It's such a randomly delicious idea that we stuck with it. So raise your glass of fresh squeezed orange juice to romance and gluttony. I hope you enjoy this Valentine's day!

Secrets Revealed

Now that the gift giving is done, I can show what I have been so excited about. I had so much fun making these trays for my family. I was tempted to switch careers from painting to mixed-media collage! Wouldn't that be fun. My mom and dad's tray is entitled "Russle and Barbara are having a Party." Those are their bowling names. Pete, my brother, and Jenn's is a tribute to their love. I used a printed out copy of a painting I did of her and drew a little image of him and hung it on the tree with fruit-hearts. I made queen bee for my sister, Sari. She acts like royalty on occasion (I mean that in a good way), so I thought it would be fitting. My oldest brother, Josh, and his wife Lisa got my favorite, for zen purposes. It has a nice composition that I like to look at. My oldest sister, Cass, and Dan got a modge-podged paper doll, with a little felted coat. I color copied the image and gave them a few copies because I knew how hard it would be not to cut her out and play.

I think they liked them, once they figured out that they were trays. There was a little confusion upon opening that did not ease my homemade-gift-giving apprehension.

It felt good to take December off and just do some creative stuff. I have rejuvenated my creative wells. It's good to switch gears sometimes and start again with a clear head. I have some good stuff about to happen and can hardly wait to jump in and start whipping out these ideas filling my brain.

Craftin'

I love making stuff! I love Christmas!! I have so many projects going this year - that I can't tell you about! I don't want to give away any surprises. These are bracelets with photos that I am making for my girls. Quick stocking stuffers. (Don't tell!) Cloe's has beautiful pictures of her dressed up as a fairy. For Delia's, I did our family so she won't miss us too much when she is at school. I think I'll do a drawing for Ezzie's and use a ribbon with a little clasp. So many projects, never enough time. Little sketchbooks sewn on my sewing machine are next... I'm getting revitalized by all this creativity. I love projects!!!

Flight 3898

I just returned from Utah, a.k.a Winter Wonderland!!! It snowed like crazy on Saturday and stayed through Sunday. I got my fix for the winter and am happy to return to the AZ! I took the short trip to Utah for my fifth art show/print signing with my dad and my sister, Cass. The shows are really fun. As if I am not lucky enough to paint, to express my thoughts and feelings and create beautiful images, but I get to share my paintings and ideas... and lots of people like them, too! The best part is hanging out with Cass and my dad. We get around to all sorts of interesting topics, and we laugh a lot. We have a great time. I love my family! Sometimes we get a little silly. Cass and I wore matching dresses to church today. I had a wonderful trip (did I mention no kids? That's right, I slept till nine and read till noon... sigh). It was super fun to hang out with mom, Sari, Pete (thanks for the fudge), Jenn, Clementine (she could have fit in my suitcase and I seriously considered it), Dan (..is great, he makes us chocolate cake), Sunshine, Fiona, and Talulla sweethearts!!! Can't wait to come at Christmas time!

Purpose in Progress

I am often asked about my painting process. I will take you through one example of how I work. Of course, every painting develops in it's own way, but this is a typical series of events in the studio life of emilyc. So, let's get technical...
I usually start with a sketch. These are drawings from my sketchbooks. I have a couple, one for church, the other I carry around in my diaper bag. You never know when inspiration might hit... or when things might get a little boring ( I inherited, from my father, the inability to listen without busy hands). For this piece I did a drawing in each sketchbook, and some notes, as I worked out the idea. When I'm ready to go for it, I gather some "scrap". In this example, I set up the objects and took some pictures. Then I make a drawing, combining my scrap, fidgeting and fussing on tracing paper till I have it just right. I then transfer the drawing onto my gessoed, masonite panel. And paint!Voila!

A Joyous Crackle Moment

Ahh, the magic of crackle. What a treat! Of course, the photos don't do it justice, but these wacky paintings just went from drab to fab, ode to the joys of crackle!

Art, Life, Etc.

I have had unfinished projects stacking up all around my house. I finally realized that I haven't been finishing any house projects because of guilt. If I do a project it means I wasn't painting. Therefore, neglect means productivity. Well, that's stupid. So, I set out to finish a few things I have hangin' around. I purchased this light fixture in January, but couldn't decide if I liked it... for seven months. I really wanted some color in my living room and the fixture was brown, but I loved the shape and the sparkle. So, there it sat, making a mess of my living room. Then I had the brilliant idea to paint it! Better yet, I painted it turquoise and rubbed in a black glaze.
I liked the off-blue of the chandelier so much that I used the same-ish color to paint the lids of a bunch of jars I have been collecting - oh, I'm green alright. I couldn't stop there. I took an old fixture that we had replaced and spray-painted it mango to go in my lime sorbet studio. Love it. Now I just have to sew a few wacky dolls to tuck into the center... I'll get right on that. I finished a few other projects and chores and it turns out that I feel intense satisfaction - no guilt - every time I look at the fruits of my labors. Besides, I don't have deadlines till October, which means I have another month and a half till sheer panic sets in.

J'aime le craquelleur!

I frequently get asked (making it an official FAQ) how I do that exquisite crackly finish on my paintings. Alas, a magician never reveals her secrets. Just kidding. Crackling is putting the icing on the cake, it is a real treat - I would love to share.
My dad discovered this product and quickly addicted my sister and me when he gave us each a pair of bottles for Christmas. The product, by LeFranc & Bourgeous (very French), is a two step process. I usually finish the painting with a coat of Liquin which makes me sneeze (another topic for another day). The first step is to apply an even coat of the ageing varnish. You then wait two to three hours, depending on how fine you want your crackles. The drier the ageing varnish, the smaller the crackles, yum. You want tacky, but not sticky. I usually wait till the tack is almost gone, I like 'em fine. Here comes the mad skills. You only get one swipe to apply the cracking varnish. Thin, but not too thin, streak free, but don't fuss with it, fast, but keep it even. This layer is water soluble, so if you mess up you can wash it off with soap and water. But don't, it's a pain in the @%$. Wait a few hours, or a day, and then you can make the magic happen. Paint the whole thing over with an oil paint-asphaltum, sepia, and transparent oxide brown are my favorites. Then you rub with kleenex, q-tips, those cotton things the dentist packs your teeth with (thank dad for that one too!). It's so much fun, you can deepen shadows, pop highlights, bring down the tone of an area, leave the edges darker to make it look old, and on and on... It's so much fun. When that is dry, I spray with a gloss damar varnish... and voila!

Today I got a proof for my third canvas print. Crocodile will come out this fall. Having my paintings made into prints has been very exciting. One of my first two, Birdcage, was released a few months ago and has already sold out! It was a small edition, only seventy-five, but I'm pretty jazzed about it. Thanks Greenwich Workshop!

Plein Air Painting

Last month my dad, my sister Cass, and I participated in Thanksgiving Point's first annual Plein Air Festival.

We had so much fun. Which I measure by time spent and amount of gusto to our giggling. I love sharing painting with them. They are great mentors and teachers. I am so lucky to have them around!

I titled my piece "Pastiche Bo Peep." Pastiche is a term for an artistic piece consisting wholly or chiefly of motifs or techniques borrowed from one or more sources. An apt word to describe what I felt I was doing - imitating a plein air painter with a Bouguereau-like figure. At the end there was a silent auction and we all sold our pieces. Not bad for a few days work.