Little things - woof

Woof! Woof woof...woof.

Today I woke up painting. Indeed I went to sleep painting and watching that cool Euin McGreggor motorcycle video. The contrast was nice -me sitting on the sofa studying the tiny details of one after another of my friends daughter's tiny toys...  

Euin and friend lighting farts and braving dust storms in Africa.

I'm thinking about the haves and the have nots. I'm thinking about stuff and desire and need.

I'm thinking I like this stuff, but Im going to like collecting the remains of this stuff in the next two months at the beach and thinking about it's benefit to humanity then. Stay tuned....i've got a plan!

Oh hey - and I've just put my first things on Etsy! I have no idea how it works but am giving it a go any how.

Linkage

Upcycled Advent Calendar

Yesterday my boyfriend told me that he had looked - but that all the stores were out of advent calendars.

 He hadn't ever really used them growing up but he wanted one for his daughter.

 So I went down in his basement and made one out of the first box I found.

 These are it.  

Super simple. get two pieces of cardboard and cut however many holes you want out (this calendar has 31...) and then put the other cardboard underneath, open the wee doors, mark where they are and paint away.

Watercolor with a white is good for cardboard and I used a sharpie EVEN though I know they fade with time. 

recycled painting

I had forgotten how fun it can be to recycle paintings. This one is collaged old oil paintings of mine with a thick layer of wax on top. Mmmmmm. Wax.

Split

Painting. Squishy messy throw the tube down in the grass without it's lid and not care. Use 57 different brushes and stick to them - stick to everything. One small spot of thalo blue spreads like a fungus from handle, sleeve, arm, face, skirt, furniture, glasses.  Uncomfortable fingers and endangered clothes, hunger, stubbed toes and sunburnt arms, fruit flies sticking to the surface and dying like it were the LaBrea Tar Pits. Small oak balls pop and  cover the surface, the wind takes it down and nearly punctures it on a corner of some garden furniture. The taggers miss it 3 nights in the front yard. It goes 50 on the top of my car, still wet - fibrillating as the brand new mercedes tails me impatiently. 

But...but...what does that/this have to do with anything?

You. Me. You. Me. You. Me.

Them. Another other. Another one of the many.

With chocolate sauce and a little whipped cream and no nuts.  Your concoctions are spectacular.

On your trips back and forth between them there you are...wildless and reckless and full of audacity and pleasure behind the steely doors of your little craft...traversing their bodies in your own way.

Take that rocket ship somewhere good.

That's part of the story. 

Opening last night

Thank you to all the  great people who turned out for the Brad Nack curated show at Michaelkate last night! Fantastic event- and everyone who works there is so sweet! It's a great art venue, and a great local business.

Here are links for some of the talented people I saw there...check out their work! Then tell me who I missed and I'll link them too! I'm still a bit blurry this morning.

Kristen Hawkes

Maurie Lord

Sabra Weber

Rob Taylor and Aaron Campos

Rita Ferri of the SB Arts Commission

Hugh Margerum

Mollycules

James Van Arsdale and Kimberly Hahn

Rey Villalobos

Parry Gripp

Aylene Rhiger

Ted Mills

Jim Connolly and Anna Abbey

Brad Nack

Dan Levin

Madalena Fossatti

Greg Eliason

Leon Olson

Diana Healey

and there are TUNS of people who I can't find websites for! Wayne and Penny McCall, Anna Abbey, Elaine Esbeck of Frame, Rebekah Lovejoy, Sean Kennedy, and all the rest!!

Thanks everyone!  

Yet another carnivorous plant! Woo hoo!!!

My eyes are about to shut  but I promised this to two people so here I am, 4 parasitic or carnivorous plants in...loving it  but thinking that both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods must put a waxy something on their bags because my paint keeps separating...like bad milk in tea.

These are made from paper bags, children's water color and staples. I continued with the project because it was  satisfying but I need to remember the greater objective - models for my daughters first grade class...and I want to get away from the recycled bags only thing.

I'm not even going to try and name them either because Megan of RADMEGAN fame (check out her blog and website) knows EVERYTHING about carnivorous plants and she keeps chiming in. It's so  cool. 

I wouldn't be surprised if I stumped her with these though because they look quite different than the real ones...but at least they really do eat flesh! Really!  They do! And they poop too! OK...it begs the question...do carnivorous plants poop? Anyone?

More carnivorous plants for kids!

The somewhat ubiquitous Venus Flytrap. Carnivorous YES, but does it live in the  rain forrest? I DONT KNOW! The color in these photos is rather disappointing...but I've had one of Ian's martinis...and they're looking sort of pretty to me any how.

They were made from part of a paper bag doubled over (for strength),  a children's watercolor set and 1 staple. How much easier can it get? 

Paper bag carnivorous plants for kids!

I told my daughters first grade teacher that I would make recycled rain forrest flowers with the class...sooner than I'd realized. It's sort of tricky because allot of materials I gravitate towards need heavy duty glues or cutters or pokers and as far as I know there are rules against letting first graders, at least in the public schools, use heavy duty industrial equipment. 

In the absence of the possibility of real drama in the class room, I decided to go with flesh eating plants...the carnivores...stinky and conceptually exciting. These are a rafflesia and the little pot like ones I discovered are not named on the photo I was looking at. So much for at least appearing to know what I'm talking about...let alone doing.

They are made out of paper bags, staples and tape. Under the big flower I hot glued two containers -  hummus and cream cheese. I was bummed that the contents had molded, but excited to put the carcasses to good use.

The paint is water color - which I've always LOVED on brown paper bags. I bet if I spray lacquered them  the color would pop - and chalk pastel would look great on them too. 

It's just a first thought...I'll try again tomorrow.

Doughnut Paintings

This is my doughnut series. I did them last year in a

studio I had with Saul, Steve, James, Kimberly, & ELizabeth.

It was a super cool set up and they all do great work,

unfortunately I couldn't afford to keep it...but I'm

glad I got to do these. They're oil on board and 8x8

I think. Mmmmm. It sure was good having a reason

to buy allot of doughnuts!

It turns out that doughnuts are kind of complex things

and if one were trying to learn to paint, they might

a good subject.

Travel Sketches from the 90's continued

I love these ducks! They were in the middle of the block

in the middle of the city in Salamanka, Spain.

This was our first breakfast in Prevence, St Paul de Vence

 

This was Patrick on a train. Not a bad likeness at the time.

For whatever reason I loved our bathroom in St Remy.

Hmmm...looks like an airplane drink.

Grandpa penned on a milk box. He was telling me how he was hoarding pills to do himself in if things got too bad. 

I think thats the Edinburgh Castle...scottish friends...?

Again, Edinburgh cafes this time.

Thorntons of corse. 

I like this one and am not sure where I did it.

Same for the tea bag

And finally, we find ourselves in ireland with some sheep.

Travel Sketches from the 90's

Breakfast in St Remy, France

These are sketches i did, mostly in Europe and mostly in 

the 90's. They're mostly done in little sketchbooks with 

india ink, whatever nib I could find and a travel windsor 

Langoustine in Port Isaac, England

and newton watercolor set. Oh, and some chalk pastel 

Leith, just outside of Edinburgh

too. If I used pencils I like a 4b.

Things going into St. Ives, England

Keep in mind these were all done very fast,

sometimes in a moving vehicle, 

Santa Barbara Pelicans 

sometimes under threat of being attacked (above)

Scottish twigs

sometimes with fingers that had just been frozen

Bruges, Belgium

and sometimes trying to escape the scrutiny of

Sleeping boy on the train to St. Sebastian

onlookers. Allot of time the people moved,

San Sebastián, Basque Country 

or my brother was pleading with me to get moving, 

Somewhere in Salamanca, Spain

or it was so hot I thought I would die. But I never did.

Cannes, France

Mostly though, I remember places better by 

Niece, France

sketching them. I remember how uncomfortable it was

Interlacken, Switzerland

or what we were doing that day

Paris, France

and I'm so glad I have them. There are tuns more...

St. Remy, Provence, France

but this is a start, a taste - and I did it for Jennifer who

Somewhere in Provence, France

wanted to see more.

Somewhere in Provence, France

Port Isaac. Cornwall, England

Plymouth, England