Of things with wheels, little dogs, and green slime

'Keep Up'

6" x 9" watercolor

click here to bid

I sometimes think that I am more like the little dog in this painting than the woman. Trying my best to keep up with my ears flapping in the wind. Well. . . maybe not the ears flapping, but you get it right?

I've been sitting here staring at the computer for nearly an hour (in between packing lunches and kissing loved ones goodbye for the day) trying to come up with something clever, motivational, or funny to write about and I just. . . got nothing.

This could be because of all the angst I felt yesterday while painting. I kept going back and forth between loving the painting I was working on and hating it. I even hid it in the closet at one point.

Oh yes, I really did.

It made me think of the Wizard Howl, from Howl's Moving Castle, who has a complete meltdown and turns himself into green slime when Sophie rearranges his potion bottles in his bathroom causing him to accidentally change his hair color.

Green Slime. That's me when I feel like the painting I'm currently working on is not working.

Having spent all my life being an artist I have yet to figure out how to not be overcome with feelings of "I am the worst artist who has ever lived. Period. The End." (or as I shall call all such times henceforth: Green Slime) whenever I paint something that is less than what I think it should be.

Even though, now, in the light of day, I know that one bad painting does not a bad artist make.

But today is a new day, a new chance to paint something extraordinary, and slam the door on any and all Green Slime-like feelings.

Huzzah!! 

Until Thursday friends. :)

Isabelle Lightwood

Isabelle Lightwood

character study from the book City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

graphite on Strathmore 400 11 x 14"

I'm working on having some giclee prints made up of this drawing. They should be available in my etsy shop by the end of next week. An 8 x 10" will be $30. Smaller sizes will be coming soon as well.

 'Shadowhunters: Looking Better in Black Than the Widows of our Enemies Since 1234' - City of Bones   

The other day I had the strongest urge to just draw something. I have been neglecting my sketchbook lately and if I do that for too long I start to feel very unhappy. So I started this drawing from a non-copyrighted photo I found of a young woman with a hefty dose of attitude while I was waiting in the car to pick my kids up from school.

After about fifteen minutes of drawing I realized that she reminded me of someone. A character (Isabelle Lightwood) from one of my favorite books, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Once I realized that, the drawing started to take on a life of its own, and it was SO much fun.

No, wait fun's not the right word to describe it, it was just enjoyable and satisfying to put on paper an image I had held in my head since I had first read these books nearly four years ago.

Drawing characters from books is something that would not have occured to me if I had not found and became friends with Kim Kincaid. She is an amazing artist who draws character studies from books she loves (a fellow bookaholic just like me!). Click here to see some more of the characters she created from this same book.

Sometimes I really feel like drawing is as close to real live magic as I can possibly get. And it is awesome.

Have a great week everyone! See you on Tuesday. :)))

In Which I Paint a Landscape For the First Time

'The Storm Breaks'

6" x 6" watercolor

click here to bid

This month's theme for the Cook-Waller challenge was winter.  I chose the theme this time and can I just say how hard it was for me to finally pin down what I wanted to paint??

I had all these ideas from pink bottles of children's cough syrup and asthma medicine (a constant in my house in the winter for my youngest son) to kids building snowmen, and finally settled on this landscape (cloudscape?). I was driving my boys to school last week and watched these big dark clouds get broken apart by the sun rising over the mountains and it was SO pretty.

It had a very optimistic feeling too I think. The light was stronger than the dark and was smackin' it upside the head. Take that darkness!! Hi-yaaah!

Seriously though, I love images and themes that have to do with light overcoming dark. It makes me feel hope. Because I think that all of us, whether we're aware of it or not, are fighting our own internal battle of light vs. dark.

And here's Carrie's painting and take on the theme. So clever right? For as much of a sweetaholic as I am I have to admit that this never crossed my mind. And look at that contrast. Snap! I love it. :)

The Original Blizzard

6" x 8" watercolor by Carrie Waller

And I have pictures of another artist's work that I simply have to share. Here's a shot of the artist at work:

My middle child (who's seven)  painting a project for his first grade class about Komodo Dragons. He worked so hard and was so proud of himself. He had the choice of how he wanted to represent his animal from dioramas to sculptures, and everything in between, and he chose painting.

Can you tell how proud I am? :)))

And here's the finished painting:

Komodo Dragon by MC (middle child) Cook 

acrylic on canvas panel 11" x 14"

Hope you all had a great weekend! See you guys on Thursday. Huzzah! :)))

On Being True

latest WIP - untitled

8" x 10" watercolor on aquabord

I've recently started working on aquabord, just to try something new. This is a very tricky surface to get used to. It is super absorbent so there's even less time to manipulate the paint than I usually have when I work on paper. I'm determined to master it though, no matter how long that takes me.

And during this last year I have found out that in order to keep artist's block at bay I need to constantly be challenging myself with new subjects, surfaces, mediums.

Maybe it's not so much to keep artist's block at bay as it is that I don't want to admit that I have a very short attention span. In honor of that short attention span I'm keeping my post short and sweet today. (I know you are *shocked* right?? ;)

There's been a lot going on in my mind lately about the life of being an artist. We live a life of extremes I think, we have passion for what we believe in, and what we do, in nearly excessive amounts, and because of that when we feel despair we feel it deeper and with more intensity.

But what else can we do? In order to be the artist we are meant to be we need to be who we really are, we need to be true. To the dictates of our own heart.

No matter what anyone else says.

"Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish." John Jakes

Happy weekend everyone. :) See you all on Monday for the reveal of the Cook-Waller monthly painting challenge. Huzzah!

 

Beneath the Surface SOLD

'Beneath the Surface'

6" x 6" watercolor

SOLD

Something that always appeals to me (as far as what I want to paint next) is light. But, I think this is kind of a given for most artists. For me, specifically, the appeal is sunlight. And when I saw the sunlight shining through that top row of pomegranate seeds I thought. . . Huzzah!!! Must. Paint. Now.

My son loves fruit. He has since he was a tiny baby and I fed him mashed up bananas and squishy peaches. One night, when out looking for snacks with my husband, he decided he wanted a pomegranate. Thaaaat's right. My kid. Me. The son of the Queen of sugar and chocolate consumption chose a fruit as his snack.

Now it must be said that I do promote healthy eating and being active around here just so you know (I go to the gym every morning, see what a good example I am? And we do Tae Kwon Do as a family. And I'm constantly looking for healthy meal recipes. . . so I can indulge in chocolate of course. . . and because it's good for you), no need to be concerned for the welfare of my child.

When my son brought this treat home I was so excited, because of course, A) he was making good snack choices, and B) it sparked the fire in my artist's brain that's always on the look out for what I should paint next.

And it also forced me to google 'how to open a pomegranate' because apparently one does not just hack into one of these babies with a knife willy nilly.

Yep. I learned that the hard way. They're much, much prettier if you open them the correct way.

Until Thursday friends!

Huzzah!

Salvation

'Salvation'

6" x 9" watercolor

$75 plus $6 shipping

Once upon a time there was a girl who loved horses. She loved them so much that every waking moment was spent reading about them, drawing them, and tracking them down wherever she could find them, just so she could be near them and twine her fingers through the tangles in their mane and hold her palm under their velvet soft lips to feel the blast of heat from their sweet scented breath.

Then one day the girl received a horse of her own and they grew up together. She taught him to follow at her side without a bridle or lead, and to stay in one spot, like the most obedient dog on the planet, until she called  for him.

He learned the sound of her footsteps and the call of her voice and waited at the gate for her every day after school. He pressed his face close to the fence, leaving behind a trail of long white and red hairs from his forelock, waiting for her to come home.

She learned empathy, understanding, compassion, love, and finally how to deal with the grief of losing your best friend when he died.

They were each other's world, and salvation. He was my best friend, and I still miss him.

Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride,
Friendship without envy,
Or beauty without vanity?
Here, where grace is served with muscle
And strength by gentleness confined
He serves without servility; he has fought without enmity.
There is nothing so powerful, nothing less violent.
There is nothing so quick, nothing more patient.
-Ronald Duncan, "The Horse," 1954

In honor of Skye, my niece's horse in the painting above, who was rescued from slaughter by my sister and her family, ten percent from the sale of this painting will be donated to an equine rescue group. 

Painting this piece stirred up a lot of emotions for me as I reflected back on the relationship I had with my horse growing up. The story is about me, the painting is of my niece and Skye, but it feels like it could have been me as well. :)

An Interview With The Artist: Taryn Day

 'Daydreaming at the Cafe' by Taryn Day
7" x 7" oil on panel

"For many years my habit was to spend two or even three months on one painting, trying to create an image without flaws. I've begun to realize that painting is not about the absence of flaws- painting is about being fully awake, and fully aware of a larger world outside yourself. At best it is an act of spiritual renewal."   - Taryn Day

This is Taryn. She is awesome. :) I first discovered Taryn through browsing the Daily Paintworks site and instantly fell in love with her very thoughtful and poetic figure paintings and portraits. Her still life, landscape, and animal paintings all have this same quality too. Everything that she paints seems to tell a story about what it is to be human. Even if it's a portrait of a sheep. And to top it all of she is so nice and genuine. You'll love her. :) To see more of Taryn's work you can follow her blog Awake and Painting by clicking here. And visit her website by clicking here.

Welcome Taryn! I’m so excited to have you on my blog today. I’m a big fan of your work. I’d love to get to know you a little better. Could you tell us a little about your path to becoming the artist you are today?

Thank you Crystal, I’m a fan of your work too! I’m pleased that you’ve chosen me for an interview, because I get to spend some time navel gazing, something I love to do. My path has been somewhat long, as I started painting in oils at the age of 16, thirty six years ago. I started out loose and painterly, feeling excited and inspired just about all the time. In my mid-twenties I started to slow way down, using tiny brushes and spending two or three months on a small painting. I was after the way light caressed surfaces, and usually painted interiors and the way light from a window would create beauty in an ordinary room. This worked well for a few years, but then for some reason my drive and excitement over painting turned slowly to dread. I would often begin a painting with enthusiasm, only to eventually paint the thing to death, losing my initial feeling.

Then I married and had two kids, and began to work a series of part time jobs and desperately tried to fit painting in when I could. Sometimes it would work out, but too often I would overwork a piece, probably out of a lack of confidence. A few years ago I began to be aware of the Daily Painting Movement, and thought that trying to paint small pieces in one day might help me to get out of my perfectionist bog. Many small and quick paintings later, I found that my work was improving, but most interestingly, was usually not as bad as I thought. I mean, I used to think that my work was not fit for anyone’s eyes but my own until I’d worked on them for a long, long time, but having to finish in one day and put it aside, then come back to see it the next day was a real eye-opener.  It dawned on me that while my first impression of a subject was full of small inaccuracies as compared with a camera’s, it was often an interesting and valid statement.

I do find that my most current work has slowed down a bit, where I spend 2-4 days on a small piece. By painting so many one day pieces, I’ve learned a lot about getting the most important elements down quickly, and to focus on what I am most moved by.

'November' by Taryn Day

7" x 6.5" oil on panel

You post new work regularly to your blog, which I think is very impressive. It’s not easy to be consistent about your work. What inspires you to create your art and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?

I love blogging. It is so great to finish a piece and get feedback within a couple hours. As far as being inspired, usually an idea will smack me in the face, so to speak. When I try too hard to find the perfect subject I come up with nothing. When I relax and become more open to my environment, often I feel that a great subject just hands itself to me. Case in point, recently I went to the Philadelphia Mummers Parade to take pictures to use in paintings. For the first hour I felt frustrated and impatient that people were not getting into poses that I thought they should, but finally relaxed and sat down on a curb and just waited. That’s when things started to come together. Once I spent two hours trying to pose a half a watermelon, gave up and sliced it into many small wedges for my family to eat and put them in a bowl, then realized I had exactly the composition I wanted.  So I think inspiration is kind of accidental.

The times that I feel I need a kick in the pants to get going on a painting is first thing in the morning, when I have a big cup of coffee at the computer and am sifting through my favorite websites, or sending emails. I’ll say to myself that I must start painting by a certain time, and then I’ll stick to it. It’s easier for me to work than to not work and have to call myself bad names. Lol. :)

If I paint a painting I’m not happy with, I do get a little down and am not the best company, (me too! Just ask my husband :) but that makes it especially great to be able to start something new the next day. I love that positive spin. No use crying over painting disasters.

'Leah at Sea' by Taryn Day

6" x 6" oil on panel

Some of my favorite pieces of yours are your figure paintings and portraits. I think you have a real strength for conveying emotion through gesture and expression, something that isn’t easy to do in my opinion. What is it about figures and portraits that inspire you to paint them so frequently? And what is it that draws you to paint a specific scene?

Thank you Crystal, that is just what I want to try and achieve- to say something about what goes on inside a person by their face or gesture. I’ve spent much of my painting life concentrating on still life, interiors and landscape, but I’ve always wanted to paint the kinds of scenes I’m painting now. I did spend seven years working exclusively on portrait commissions of children, but usually from photographs. I didn’t enjoy working from photos, and thought the end result was stiff and unpainterly. Just this past year I began to paint from my computer monitor, and although at first I hated it as compared with painting from life, I have started to absolutely love it. The subject matter possibilities have just expanded for me to an amazing degree.  I can avoid the stilted, photographic look by standing ten feet back from my monitor, as a way to focus on the essentials, and I can turn the image upside down and sideways to get a fresh view. I can lighten the shadow areas if I need to see what’s going on with the structure, then darken the image again for a highlighted area.  I’m really having fun.

I grew up in a family with seven children. There was a certain amount of necessary discipline just to keep the crowd under control, and my parents, being mid-Westerners, preferred understatement to letting it all hang out. There was lots of stimulating talk, and my brothers were quite witty, but I would feel a little cut off from real feelings. I developed a habit of studying people closely to try and figure out what they were really thinking and feeling.

As for how I choose a specific scene, I like introspection and even a certain healthy amount of melancholy in a person or scene.  Simple happiness doesn’t do it for me. I like to show a person with more ambiguous feelings, or if they are happy, it should be a deep sort of peaceful happiness, as if they were contemplating something outside of time. At least that’s my goal- not sure I’m there yet. Well I certainly get that feeling from viewing your work. I'd call that a success. :)

 

'Patience' by Taryn Day

6" x 6" oil on panel

I also love the way you are able to simplify the detail in your paintings, to focus on the essence of the subject. You really make every expressive brushstroke count! What tips do you have for other artists who may find themselves getting ‘lost in the details’ and forsaking the big picture?

I’d say to paint one painting a day for a few months. Use only large brushes, at least ½ an inch across. Think of the subject in the simplest possible way. If you are painting something that is round, just keep thinking about the roundness. Squinting can be good, but even better, as you paint a brushstroke, look at the entire subject. Never focus on just one thing. How a detail fits into the whole is what matters, not that detail by itself. Love your subject and know why you love it, and aim to get that into the painting. If you can trick yourself into seeing the subject as something, anything, other than itself, it will help. In other words, always look for the abstract pattern. Try and forget you are painting a face, a flower, a tree. Just see shapes, and see big shapes. The little shapes can be added later, they’ll have a lot more power if the big shapes are correct.

You often quote poetry on your blog, which I love, is poetry something that inspires your paintings? And is there a favorite poem that you turn to again and again?

I’m not sure why I’ve added poems to my blog. It just seemed a natural thing to do. Painting is about the meaning behind surfaces, isn’t it? And poetry is about meaning hiding behind this daily life we live, isn’t it? I go through phases of reading poetry, usually first thing in the morning. Finding out about a good and exciting poet can be quite inspiring for me. I don’t have one poem that is a favorite, but I sure do like Galway Kinnell, Robert Lowell and Robert Frost. I’m no poetry expert, but I like a poem where emotion and meaning trumps beauty.   I love poets with deep originality and a sense of humor, like Billy Collins and Kenneth Koch.

Life as an artist is pretty awesome. But it’s not all glitter and rainbows. What do you think is the best part of being an artist? And the worst part?

The best part for me is loving what I do, to think I have something to say and to be sometimes be able to say it. The worst part? I think I get a little too intense sometimes, too focused on this one thing I do.  And of course money is always an issue.

'Protected' by Taryn Day

6" x 6" oil on panel

What has been your biggest challenge as an artist so far?

Having to work full time for a while and still consider myself a painter. That drove me mad. My biggest challenge as a painter? Getting rejected by many galleries over the years really shook up my self-confidence. Starting a blog was a way to have people see and then buy my work, and now finally some galleries are expressing interest. I’m happy to have the independence to sell online, so I’m not sure what will happen.

What is one thing you want viewers of your paintings to walk away with?

Oh, to remember a time when they felt the same way as a person I’ve painted, and to realize the ordinary can have something to say. Beautifully said. I love that. :)

Let’s talk about artistic influences. Who has been your biggest source of inspiration? Dead or alive.

Oh, this is such a hard question.  I tend to get personally inspired by female painters of my generation, but it would be too hard to choose one.  I love Diana Horowitz’s work. She has a wonderful lofty way of seeing the world, with such great color and light, but there are so many others.

'Watermelon Bowl'

6" x 6" oil on panel

What do you like to do when you’re not painting?

I like all the normal things; I like to take long walks, read, watch movies, practice yoga. Of course I like spending time with friends and my large extended family. I like to travel, but money is usually too tight. I work part time at the library, where I enjoy staying in touch with people in my local community. I like to cook and I like being organized. I like to be organized too. . . I'm just not very good at it. Can you teach me? ;)

What are some of your goals for the future?

I’d like to continue in the direction I’m headed, meaning to gradually increase the size of my panels and paint more complex, involved subjects while keeping my brushwork loose. I’d love to eventually teach art more seriously. I’ve taught one or two classes at a time for years in small art centers, but it would be great to teach in a college.

Let’s say life as we know it is about to end and you’re in charge of creating an artistic time capsule for the aliens who recolonize Earth to find. What art - both classic and contemporary – would you insist on including?

Winslow Homer, Van Gogh, Vilhelm Hammershøi, Howard Hodgkins, Antonio López García, Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Robert Capa, Josef Sudek, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Pieter Jansz. Saenredam,  Giotto, Michelangelo, Titian, Catherine Murphy, Alice Neel, Edwin Dickinson, Paul Matthews, Diana Horowitz,  - it’s hard to know where to stop.  You might mean music and literature too, but I think I’ll stop here.

And finally what tips or words of advice do you have for beginning artists?

Don’t look to others for validation. If you feel you have something to say, work on saying it, and look at lots of good art. I absolutely love that. Words of wisdome for sure. :)))

SPEED ROUND!

(Off the top of my head, and sometimes I couldn’t just pick one)

Dawn or dusk? Dawn.

Sweet or salty? Salty.

Winter or Summer? Summer

Zombies or Unicorns? Why yes this is an important question. Answer please. :) Unicorns.

Dine in or eat out? Dine in. 

All-time favorite book? Huckleberry Finn or Pride and Prejudice.

All-time favorite movie? On the Waterfront, The Verdict or The Year of Living Dangerously.

All-time favorite food? Popcorn. Oh my mom would love you! That's her favorite too. :) It would be mine but only if the popcorn was chocolate covered and in the shape of a cupcake.

All-time favorite song? “I was made for you” by Rivers Cuomo or Beethoven’s 32^nd piano sonata.

Thank you SO much Taryn! It was such a treat to have you on my blog today. I loved reading all of your answers and you've inspired me (and so many others I'm sure) so much. I wish you the best of luck with your art career and can't wait to see your next painting! Once again you can visit Taryn's blog Awake and Painting by clicking here.

And just in case you all were wondering what the score is for the Zombies vs. Unicorns in these artist interviews it is: Zombies: 2 and Unicorns: 3. Sparkly white horses FTW!