Second verse....same as the first

Still haven't had the chance to create anything new. However, I'm working on a few things in the community.

I have a painting up for sale in the El Reno Youth and Family Services fundraiser. August 15th is the date for that. It will be held at the OCU Norick Art Center 5-8p.m.

Also I am really really excited about an opportunity that came to me today.. I get to be a mentor artist for a group of at-risk teens. The project is down in the Paseo district. This group of kids and I get to chalk it up on the street. I get to come up with a fun peice of art to be drawn on the sidewalk/street.

Oddly, my stuff is still up at Beatnix, however, I have graciously decided that I will remove my paintings in order for Russ to display his wonderful mirrors..David at Beatnix has been anxiously awaiting their arrival. I will more information when we get a more firm date.

Last week I replenished my art supplies...still having a hard time with energy and brain power to think up some new work. I need to find some time to really clear my head and put a spark back in my creativity.

Where does the time go?

Creating a human being leaves very little room for creating anything else..... however, I'm still keeping myself in the game...as much as I can.

Somehow my work is still up at Beatnix Cafe..minus one painting that I donated to Carpenter Square Theater for their annual fundraiser, which I still don't have information for..but I'm working on.

I also did another painting that is being donated to a fundraiser for the El Reno Family and Youth Center...Romy Owens is curating this one..she was the curator for Momentum, fascinating woman. She has her hands in some of the coolest projects around.

Side note: for those of you who've known me for years....Tori Amos has a new CD out..With each of her cd's ( I think there 7 now) i get the same feeling when that first hammer hits the string and pours out of my speakers... ...Like when two old friend haven't seen each other in a while meet up for lunch...she tells me her stories and i say "holy shit! i totally understand what you are saying!" and its like we've seen each other all along....I have always felt that we see things on a similar plane...from Little Earthquakes to Sleeps with Butterflies, there was always at least ONE song that i swear she wrote for my life...it got so freaky i almost filed a restraining order :) Anywho, Her last three albums have left me a little disconnected from her...they happen to be the albums she produced after having a child, and since i have one of those myself, i can understand how one's psychi can change and create a period of odd behavior...and just as I returned to my passions she has given us Abnormally Attracted to Sin....no techy weirdo electronic stuff...just her, her piano, and some other traditional instruments....and of course one song just for me "Welcome to England" google the lyrics...its spooky relative.


Every now and then someone has to really get back to their roots and remember who they really are...I believe that is when we are the most inspired, the most alive, and the most motivated to be better people...use it wisely!

Runnin in Circles

Solo Exhibition

Beatnix Cafe
136 NW 13th (between Robinson and Broadway next to Floral and Hardy)
APRIL 27-May 11

Come check out the new art and some old favorites. Grab a cup of coffee in the morning or hop in for a wonderful lunch! The staff at Beatnix are wonderful and friendly. Beatnix has become a great hub for not only caffeine and food, but is a great supporter of local art and musicians.

The Next Chapter

LIFE09 RESULTS: I sold the chair! Fortunately, my mother is the wonderful new owner of that creation. $175 straight to the Maisha Orphanage. She knew I didn't want that painting to wander far...and the best thing is that I can still use it if the set needs to be displayed.

We will find out how much money was raised at the event for the Maisha organization. Was very honored to be a part of this event and to help such a great cause. Thank you to everyone who came out and supported the event.

So what happens after you share an extremely personal experience through a set of four paintings? First you thank your awesome family and friends and all of those for giving me the inspiration to complete this story. From the muse who now watches from the glass box to the love that came along and rescued me, and everyone in between telling me that I will make it through.

Then you clean your brushes and do it again..

There is a next chapter, things in my life are moving along WONDERFULLY. I have crawled out of the dark, and was met by pure energy.

I have noticed that in the last six months of my life something, call it God, call it Fate, however you would like to describe it, has been putting blatant signs out, opening very big doors, and taking me somewhere that it really believes I should be...I see things lining up and I want it to know that I am paying full attention...

So how coincidental is it that the day after I finalize the series, do the show and purge that demon that Biting the Apple sends out its call for entries????? An opportunity to express myself in the most perfect event for this chapter of my life. The theme: Redefining Red: Exploring the Color of Eros.....

Who would have known that the series would have a fifth painting :)

The Cycle of My Light: Abandoned, Hung Up, The Big Catch, and Cracked Open

People, things, ideas...we are all inspired by something.

If we have nothing to wake up our senses, drive us through life and make us choose paths we will end up wandering aimlessly in the dark.

I found myself wandering around in the dark one day, more like running through the dark really fast tripping over my own fears. Lost little burned out lightbulb.

All I needed was a voice in my corner. To be picked up and turned on so that I could see again. So I could feel confident about where I was going. And in it walked.

But, I wasn't ready to be cut off and left alone. I was hung-up and scattered in a dead tree. Hoping and wishing that I could untangle this mess.

So I regrouped and waited. Secretly fishing in dimmer light, yet not giving up. Never give up. Baiting for something huge, something that would bring back the inspiration and let me know that I am going the right way.

So I picked a place to stay a while, content without a cord. No tangled mess. Next to opportunity, to the future, to more that is unknown.....waiting for a knock.....and then it came.

Abandoned

18x26

Acrylic on Textured Canvas

Hung Up

24x48

Acrylic on Textured Canvas

The Big Catch

36x48

Acrylic on Textured Canvas

Cracked Open

30x40

Acrylic on Textured Canvas

On Exhibit April 2 at IAO Gallery for LIFE09 6:30p.m. to 10:30p.m.

www.nightofartandmusic.com

50% of proceeds go to Maisha Orphanage in Kenya Africa

Next Exhibit

LIFE09: A Night of Art and Music
A Silent Auction Benefit for the Maisha Orphanage in Kenya
www.nightofartandmusic.com

April 2, 2009
IAO Gallery
6:30-10:30

The Event is Free, but there is a $10 suggested donation.


I am really excited about being a part of this event. I will be featuring the "Creative Search" series (the lightbulbs). I plan on having four peices and as far as I know, 50% of the sale of my art is going to the orphanage.

Hope to see you there!

I Found A Tree

I FOUND A TREE

24x48 Acrylic on Textured Canvas

Finally! Jumped the Creative Block...I've had this in my head for a while, but for some reason I hit a creative block and ruined anything I attempted.. For some reason this one called me out of the office this afternoon and demanded to be done.. So here it is.

The Chicken or The Egg

I've been reading all of these bios about artists who are explaining what their art means and what they are trying to tell the world. Everyone has these wonderful paintings full of symbolism and metaphors for the things they create. Most of them have it all figured out before the brush hits the paint. It kinda made me question the authenticity of my work. I am a speed painter..I'm too impatient to mess with oil, I don't have the dexterity and focus to paint the hair folicles on a man's chin...Its the same reason I play the piano rather than the guitar..

So I sat and contemplated...if I can't ever explain my art, then what the hell kind of art am I creating? And then very simply after looking at one recent sketch of one of my many men..it appeared. My art comes from that certain spot in my head where I can't figure things out...so I let the brush do it for me, or the pencil, or the piano keys. I just work it all out on the canvas.

All my life I have had difficulting playing written music, however, my music theory teacher said I had an outstanding knack for writing music...I've always been able to sit at the piano and just produce sounds that have been navigated by my emotions. And my art is the same. Sometimes when I'm feelign something and i don't know exactly how to lable it, or what is causing it, the best thing for me to do is something creative and then reflect on the product.

The complicated part is explaining what it all means to someone else...I have no idea what caused me to create that work...but I hope that if a complete stranger can comment on a painting maybe they too suffer from the same inability to understand how they feel all the time.

These two pictures compliment the story.....

I'm standing there and this gentleman (whom i do not know, and who does not know me) walks up...he says "this one is really good...i've been by here several times and if you stare at it from straight on its like it goes on forever...its amazing how the artist was able to create the depth with the circles...do you see it?" as he is talking he's close talking about the texture and the wash yadda yadda... then he looks at me ... looks at my name tag.... and goes "oh wow...how embarassing"

i think i was more embarassed actually...that was the very first time any one has really talked about my art and i KNEW he meant it... (not that i don't think my friends and family mean it...but its different) I'm still not exactly sure how to describe what happened to me at that moment...but I'm sure canvas shopping is in my near future :)

anyway...GREAT NIGHT!!! fantastic work all around...

Updates...

I have some new art out...Dunno what has gotten into me with the more lifelike stuff. I don't get to pick my demons I guess...

MOMENTUM!! Friday 8-Midnight Saturday 8-Midnight
320 SW 5th (Old downtown post office)
go to the Momentum website for ticket locations
$10 in advance $15 at the door...

Free Public viewings March 11-14, 5-8...
I think the times on the 14th are different, so go to the website and confirm that.

I have tanktops and magnets for sale in the Momentum Market!! Make sure you check those out..

Hope to see everyone out there!

"Wake Up"

"Wake Up"
16x20 Acrylic on Canvas

Strong and Everything

16x20 Acrylic on Canvas

"I Wasn't Done....But I Am Where You Left Me"

Not a member of the Circumvention family .... but its definitely an offspring

"I Wasn't Done....But I Am Where You Left Me"
18x26 Acrylic on Textured Canvas
NFS

Remember in Stand By Me, Wil Wheaton put his hands on the tracks and could feel the train coming before it was in sight...thats me right now.

My Gazette Horoscope....Verbatim

When Ireland's top bookmaker first opened the betting on the existence of God last September, the odds were 20-1 against, and quickly rose to 33-1. But more recently they've been down to 4-1. Is this evidence that the Supreme Being is close to a big disclosure? is some concrete proof about to appear? If i were evlauating the state of your imminent destiny, I'd say yes - maybe not in a way that would satisfy a raging atheist, and maybe not with the blatant splash of an obvious divine intervention. But don't even dismiss those possibilities, Taurus. It is the season of miracles and epiphanies for you. You should expect sublime help and inspiration.....


My Response:

When a really good horoscope crosses my path, I cut it out and carry it in my wallet the week that its good for...some people carry around a rabbits foot...

My recent entries have generally been about loosing my musings. Yesterday, I reported on the upswing...but I'm still not feeling creative...

Today I confessed to my best friend a deep dark secret of what "flips my trigger" (which i will not be sharing here) it gets me really inspired to do great things. .... and as luck would have it, the day my doors to success opened happend to fall on the expiration date of my current muse..so i've been standing in the midst of greatness with no inspiration....its a horrible consfusion of how to cope...

and i should throw in that last saturday, after mulling around the Museum Gift Shop for an hour feeling compelled to buy something, I grabbed a small book, half reading the title "blah...blah...for artists...blah blah..." Get home and the full title reads "The Not-So-Lost Soul Companion: More Hope, Strength, and Strategies for Artists and Artistist-at-Heart"

I'm like a Parrot the day before a massive tsunami....

but why on earth is Rob Brezny corrollating my epiphanic tsunami with the apocalypse...should i be spending money i don't have on buying canvases...or taking my father's advice and stocking up on ammo and canned goods?....Please Rob...which one is it?

The Brain is Storming

My mood is starting to pick back up. Maybe it was the good long walk I had this morning with my doggie. It could also be the realization that while floating on cloud nine is a fantastic feeling...so are normal everyday happenings. I'm not a bipolar person by any means, because my lows aren't THAT low, and i'm pretty good at managing lifes ups and downs...but I can't help to notice that things in my life run like a faucet....and one day everything just kind of turned off and it was quiet...BUT THATS OK! doesn't mean there isn't any water!!! Just gotta turn it on again...


So on to new news...I've got a new fun project underway. Going to do some PR brainstorming for the Plaza District. I'm in research mode right now and realizing how many people have no idea what/where the Plaza District is. So I've got some creative juices flowing...

Red is My Favorite Color

Its makes a statement.






















It makes me feel strong.

















It gives power to its object


























It refuses to be idle.

Verdi Cries - Natalie Merchant

The man in 119 takes his tea alone.
Mornings we all rise to wireless Verdi cries.
I'm hearing opera through the door.
The souls of men and women, impassioned all.
Their voices climb and fall; battle trumpets call.
I fill the bath and climb inside, singing.

He will not touch their pastry
but every day they bring him more.
Gold from the breakfast tray,
I steal them all awayand then go
and eat them on the shore.

I draw a jackal-headed woman in the sand,
sing of a lover's fate sealed by jealous hate
then wash my hand in the sea.
With just three days more I'd have just about learned the entire score to Aida.

Holidays must end as you know.
All is memory taken home with me:
the opera, the stolen tea, the sand drawing, the verging sea, all years ago.

Case of the Mondays..

I saw this poster and immediately thought of my business communications class from last semester.....Motivational posters plaster two of the three walls (the other was glass)...that entire class was a joke...I've worked in corporate America for over 10 years now..and based off what I know, the only thing that class tought that was valuable, was how to format a letter, use power point, and constructively tell someone they cannot have a refund....

Here is what I think Business Communications should put in their ciriculum to better prepare its youth for the harsh reality of 9 to 5 ladder crawling..

1. Staying 10 minutes late will never get you off the hook for being 2 minutes late.

2. You will often do more crap work than you will fun work.

3. Your boss really doesn't care that you're plumbing burst at 2:00 a.m. Your emergencies aren't real to him.

4. They DO know that you spend all your time on the internet .....

5. Your boss is your boss because he really IS smarter than you. no matter how much of a moron he is...

6. You can't fool anyone. (even if you are the one bringing donuts every monday)

Random Pair

I have a thing for elephants.

Today I am taking my son and my two little sisters to the art museum. Its kids day and I'm really excited about doing something creative.

New Studio Plans

So I moved a couple of months ago. And the new house has a detatched garage with electricity (which is rare for my old neighborhood).

Its going to make the perfect studio... The trick is climate control. So, my step dad came through on some carpet and I'm going to see what I can do about wall insulation. And at some point i'm going to put in a window unit air conditioner/heater. Then i will need some work benches, flood lights, extension cords, boards for shelving, yadda yadda. It will be fabulous!


If anyone has some scrap items they think could be useful, let me know.

Its the best medicine

There's a lot of "girl stuff" that i didn't get exposed to growing up with 12 boy cousins...i fly airplanes, i get messy with paint, i like to ride my bike through mud...yadda yadda..

but if its one thing that i know....SHOES....can really make a woman feel fabulous.

even the toughest of women can't deny that a great pair of heels/boots/WHATEVER is enough to make you stand up straight and be seen.

I'm taking the rest of the day off and Carter and I are going to the mall....its time for shopping therapy.

Pluto wasn't good enough...but I am...

so as a wise man has said..my planet is "way different (better)...in terms of talent"

i have spent so many years trying to find myself...first moving to Dallas, then marraige..then motherhood (which was my most challenging/rewarding feat)........ then finally.....

.... independence....

i never knew what independce was before things started spinning and falling into place...and for the first time in my life...i am crawling out of my box..(even tho that box seemed rather large to begin with)

I am feeling life...feelilng my boundries...feeling my growth..and feeling the area around me that has been so empty for so many years. Its been patiently waiting for me to inhabit what it has available for me. ..i am awake now..and i am here...

Its amazing what one can accomplish when you have the fog lifted...


I have been selected for Momentum!!!!! An exciting honor that i know i cannot duplicate, because next year i will be "too old"..... but i finally made it!!! and no matter how insignificant that is to you folks...i'm f()cking estatic...so elighten me with your thoughts....this is the painting ..look for it...(crappy picture, more awesome in person, which means you MUST come see it)

Because I have a second....

I love love love mornings that I get to go walk/run Sushi. I'm still working on training her to be an exceptional walking dog..her long stride tends to pull me a little and she gets excited around other dogs. If the park is empty I let her off her leash and she does well with sticking around and following me where I go. But, today, i was so envious of this lady jogging with her Doberman who wasn't on a leash...that dog didn't even FLINCH at Sushi.......that's dog-owner bliss right there.

Anyway, being able to go on walks and get a little excellerated heart rate keeps me in a great mood for the day.

I'm going to sign up to volunteer for the planning of the Plaza District Festival. I think that would be really fun and exciting. Still waiting for Friday to find out if my Art is going to be in Momentum...say a prayer.

Well, back to work.....

Hi-Jacked

Kinda forgot about this lil blog of mine for a while. About a month after my last post my world did a 180 and on to bigger better pastures. To briefly debrief you, the "cool" guy and I split up..had to move...and my ever jaded heart has left me with no room for foolishness anymore...so i'm submersing myself into what I want from now on.....

First order of business...i have begun doing art again..and i've never felt more liberated in my life. The rust has come off and i'm producing things that i am really really proud of. In fact, i crawled out of my box and submitted three of my favorites to a very popular art show in OKC and Tulsa...maybe you've heard of it...Momentum hosted by OVAC. I turned in my work today and I have to wait till the 20th to find out if my work was selected or not. say a prayer!

My new collection is called Circumvention...by definition means "to avoid artfully" I'm artfully avoiding a few things these days..relationships for one. My dad told me today that Natalie Merchant's song Circle Dream comes to mind when he looks at my art work...so i googled the lyrics and man..dad knows how to pick music...like the time he hand wrote the words to a Candlebox song when i was 15....or the time when he called me "uptown girl" when i was 5....He's my father, its only par for course that he develops the soundtrack to my life...but thats a whole other blog post.


Anyhoo....i'm not a pro (yet) with taking pictures of my artwork, but here are two of the three that i took the gallery today....( i can't locate a pic of the other one

Circle Dream - 10,000 Maniacs

I dreamed of a circle,

I dreamed of a circle round.

And in that circle I had made

were all the worlds unformed and unborn yet.

A volume, a sphere that was the earth, that was the moon,

that did revolve around my room.

I dreamed of a circle,

I dreamed of a circle round.

And in that circle was a maze,

a terrible spiral to be lost in.

Blind in my fear, I was escaping just by feel.

But at every turn my way was sealed.

I dreamed of a circle,

I dreamed of a circle round.

And in that circle was a face.

Her eyes looked upon me with fondness.

Her warmth coming near,

calling me "sweetness," calling me "dear."

But I whispered, "no, I can't rest here."

I dreamed of a circle,

I dreamed of a circle round