Cay Denise

What fun our group had in meeting after 14 months to reconnect and do an artsy project.  The goal...to cover a terracotta pot with fabric, decoupage and bling. The outcomes were so fun and varied among the four of us who gathered, and the weather couldn't have been better.   So glad that all of us have been vaccinated and could gather safely to lift one another's spirits through art!

I've completed part of a pre-assignment to Ardith Goodwin's upcoming Narrative class that starts next week.  This includes choosing a painting I love, and writing a story about it. I love the work of Rob Gonsalves having first seen it in a children's book titled "Imagine a Night".  He considers his painting genre as 'Magic Realism' -- a mix of reality with magic.  His work really does spark one's imagination by way of optical illusion. This is my short story about one of his pieces titled 'Ladies of the Lake'. Story:  We always camp on full moon eves -- along a nearby lake under the cover of a great circle of elder pines.  They stand so straight and tall as if sentries guarding a great gate.  On overcast eves, we know the ladies come, but we can't see them.  They make no sound, and there is no other light than that which comes from behind the cloud-cover above.  Soundly we sleep, while the silent footfalls of parading dreamers awaken. #narr

I recently finished adding the beaded dangles to this piece and love the colors!  It will make a great statement necklace because of the way it catches the light with its sheen.

Again inspired by Paul Klee's 'The Lamb" painted in 1920...here is a second version of my take on it using a face as subject and incorporating glazing (face, and background base layer) and gradients (background).  The gradients have been made by applying brushstroke rectangles in colors ranging from dark (nearest face in a similar color to the face) to light in that value range. Based on comments from a separate critique group, some shading of the face was suggested and is now a next step.  I'll use glazing for it to show shadow on the face and neck. The first version is the smaller one below---for comparison purposes.

  This is a superb article about the woman who was a driving force in introducing Van Gogh's work to the world and developing appreciation and a market for his works.   New York Times - Article Link

I just finished watching this interesting 2018 documentary about a remarkable female artist from the 18th century, Elisabeth Vigee Labrun.   She was the portrait artist for Marie Antoinette, completed over 660 portraits of nobility and others during her lifetime, and is lauded as France's last great portrait artist. Amazingly self-taught, this is one of her multiple paintings of Marie Antoinette.  Beautiful, isn't it?  (The fabric draping and shading are so exquisite!)

Using a palette knife, I've made a quick face painting from leftover paint after working on another piece.  It looks like a face, even though it's a bit messy.  (Using a palette knife to paint with is an adventure in itself.) Then, using the app called Prisma, it has been transformed into an interesting digital art piece.   What do you think?