Author: Joy Murray

In March, I engaged artist Gwenn Seemel as an Art Guide, a service she offers to help artists evaluate their work and goals. She also helps her clients figure out how to get unstuck and how to set reasonable goals. I engaged her because I was having difficulty making decisions about a series I’m working on called “Look Closer” on disability and sensuality.

She helped me take me myself seriously, to narrow down my goals (I tend to make bigger plans than I have time or energy to do), and get some focus. She also helped me to come up with a brief statement about the series.

“LOOK CLOSER, paintings on Sensuality and Disability: Passion is a basic need in our lives, but people who have unique or disabled bodies are often left out of the media surrounding sensuality. This series explores ways people express their sensuality no matter how life transforms their bodies.“

I initially wanted to do all nudes, but in discussing my end goals and where I wanted to show these paintings (rehab hospitals, Veterans hospitals, and various places people are dealing with body changes), I realized that doing all nudes would limit where I could show the paintings. So now I’m coming up with ways of showing sensuality without full nudity.

A lot of my paintings deal with the body in transformation anyway. But this is the first time I’ve felt driven to paint about the sensuality and beauty that springs from body diversity. (I was inspired by Ben Duffy’s “Take a Look at this Heart” but wanted to capture still, intimate moments in my paintings.)

The first painting I did for this series was a nude, and when I imagined it, I didn’t have any idea about the way the gold and blue fabric would take over the composition:

I wrote about the series on an earlier blog post. I stated that I wouldn’t share these paintings on this blog until the series was finished, but would show my progress on my Patreon page, to those who support my art and writing. I decided since they are not all nudes, then I’d like the feedback that the blog can provide me with. So my dear Patreon supporters will get first looks and get writings and pictures of the process of how I make each painting, but I will share the finished paintings here as they are completed.

With the help of Gwenn, I am more focused on it. I also am doing more complex compositions than I ever have, and will be making fewer paintings to sell. If you want to help with finances while I’m working on this series, please consider becoming a Patreon supporter or giving a donation through Paypal.

While working with Gwenn, I got distracted by my Mandusa painting and other ideas, but the weekly session kept me grounded. I finished one piece featuring a person who uses a tracheotomy, called The Color of Air.

I planned to paint another in this series in April, but I realized the composition I wanted to create wasn’t something I could manage yet. I also had to have a few medical procedures that threw me off my schedule. (I’m fine now.) I’ve been practicing in my sketchbook and have started working on another painting.

I don’t think I can be cured of my circular way of working and tendency to be distracted by new ideas, but meeting with Gwenn helped tremendously. We’re still living in a world of social isolation, especially for those of us who are mobility impaired anyway, so it helped to have a Skype session each week for both the social aspect, and the deep talk about art. Investing in myself and getting encouragement and constructive criticism was just what I needed to jumpstart this project.

Check out Gwenn’s work here.

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Thanks for reading my blog. Feel free to share it, if you’d like.

This blog is brought to you by the generosity of people who support me on Patreon , buy my art, and who support me in so many different ways. 

If you’d like to make a one time donation, you can do so at paypal 

Cards and prints on some of my art is available on Redbubble.  

If you find a typo, let me know, and I’ll send you a postcard.

Lou Bond was a musician recorded by Stax back in 1974. His music was not the typical Stax sound, he was a unique musician who played acoustic guitar and fit more in the singer/songwriter category. He had an orchestra for back up, and wasn’t following musical trends. But people, he could sing. His songs focused a lot on the injustice he saw around him, that he saw all of us suffering from. He was of his time, and he wasn’t.

I got to know him in his later years. He was a very close friend to the man who commissioned this portrait. I couldn’t find many pictures of Lou, so I used the photograph on his album/cd as a model for the painting. (The CD was re-released by Light In the Attic Records) so his music still available.

There were many struggles and shadows in his life. When I knew him, he was playing in coffee shops in Memphis. He rode a bicycle around midtown. I remember thinking of how hard it is to make a living as a musician if you don’t have the type of personality that can deal with all the confusion and ego of the music business. Lou wasn’t equipped to be a “star” and yet he shone in the life of those who knew him. He’d been abused as a child and hurt in ways he could never share. He was on disability for mental disorders, but the music in his soul still shone brightly.

You meet someone who seems to have so much potential, they could be famous. But Lou was someone who carried the weight of life, who didn’t belong in that harsh and dehumanizing light of fame. He was a man who recorded some songs, who felt things deeply, who was hurt in ways he could never recover from, but who sang any way. He passed away in 2013.

You can listen to his music here.

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Thanks for reading my blog. Feel free to share it, if you’d like.

This blog is brought to you by the generosity of people who support me on Patreon , buy my art, and who support me in so many different ways. 

If you’d like to make a one time donation, you can do so at paypal https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/my/profile

Cards and prints on some of my art is available on Redbubble.  

If you find a typo, let me know, and I’ll send you a postcard.

Each year I give paintings to anyone who supports me on Patreon (except those who specifically say they don’t want one for space reasons, or because they want me to sell the painting to help me stay financially afloat).

This year I decided to paint flowers I’d taken pictures of from my porch garden, but I wound up being obsessed by moonflowers, one of my favorite flowers. The moonflower itself has few lines, but I love the dancing star shape in the center of each flower, so I used blue ink to emphasize that in these paintings. I hope each painting shows the delight I take in these blooms that open in the late summer late afternoon with a burst of perfume, then close up and go to seed in the morning.

Here, then, is the Moonflower series:

And here is a short video I made with my phone of a moonflower blooming.

Now it’s time to plant the seeds from last years flowers. The circle of life and art has been so comforting during this past difficult year.

Thanks again to my Patrons for helping keep my life more financially stable and creative. If you’d like to contribute a small amount monthly to help me get my creative work done, you can see the details here.

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Thanks for reading my blog. Feel free to share it, if you’d like.

This blog is brought to you by the generosity of people who support me on Patreon , buy my art, and who support me in so many different ways. 

If you’d like to make a one time donation, you can do so at paypal https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/my/profile

Cards and prints on some of my art is available on Redbubble.  

If you find a typo, let me know, and I’ll send you a postcard.

So now that the winter is ending and spring is in the air, I’m getting out in my wheelchair (the flying turtle) more, strolling around the neighborhood taking pictures of growing things, interesting human structures and things that make wheelchairs inaccessible. In the past I’ve just kept these photos to myself or shared on facebook. But from now on, I’ll be sharing them on my Patreon page. I’m giving you a preview here, but in future it will be an exclusive Patreon benefit.

I am not a great photographer. I wouldn’t be a photographer at all if digital photography didn’t make it so easy and affordable. I rarely print up my photographs, though I add some to my Redbubble shop for cards and postcards. I take inspiration from the writer Eudora Welty, who took amazing photos with a simple Kodak camera.

Patreon is a membership platform that runs a subscription service. It helps creators and artists earn a monthly income by providing rewards and perks to their subscribers. Subscribers pledge a small amount each month that is automatically withdrawn from their credit card. My Patreon is pretty democratic. I try to provide original art to my supporters no matter what the donation level. So for as little as a dollar a month, you can get all the special content I provide for my patrons.

Today I’ll provide everyone the first post in this photo series but afterwards, it will be a Patreon only publication. These are photos from my walk yesterday. Today it’s raining buckets and we’re having thunderstorms. Therefore, a cat nap.

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Thanks for reading my blog. Feel free to share it, if you’d like.

This blog is brought to you by the generosity of people who support me on Patreon , buy my art, and who support me in so many different ways. 

If you’d like to make a one time donation, you can do so at paypal https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/my/profile

Cards and prints on some of my art is available on Redbubble.  

If you find a typo, let me know, and I’ll send you a postcard.