Category: Uncategorized

I started this painting while we were waiting for the elections results, which was taking an anxiety producing amount of time — though I really believe it’s a great feat getting them all counted so quickly. Thanks to all those ballot counters.

I mounted some red gampi paper — a highly textured paper — on to a canvas some months back. I knew I wanted to paint either a forest or a tree. Tuesday I went with the tree idea. I’ve done several trees where I don’t used local color. I seem to enjoy painting blue trees. I also wanted a leaf pattern that was more like an arc, with vague leaf shapes not necessarily attached to the tree. These ideas came as I was working on the painting.

I did some background abstract shapes then painted them over in red, so they are like distant shadows. I began with a twisted blue tree, then leaves of many colors. At some point, circles made their appearance. I indulged my love of shiny colors with gold, and silver paint, as well as gold foil flakes.

There’s a lot of detail work and I used a nib pen and ink for a lot of the lines — not necessarily a good choice for such roughly textured paper — but a good one for filling up long periods of time. I hope the jagged lines add a bit of dynamic movement.

So I finally finished it today, and I’m happy with it and the election results. Maybe even exuberant.

Thanks for reading my blog. If you like it, share it.

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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 at my email address joyzmailbox @gmail.com

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.

“They said she was hard headed but she thought that might be a good thing.” Words outside her halo/aura: Fear, Judgement, Distrust, Greed, Hate.

Girls are pressured to be compliant. I always enjoy it when I see a girl speaking up for herself, not seeing the world through jaded adult eyes, keeping hope alive.

This is the latest painting for my Written All Over Your Face series of 5×7″ paintings, that I will be turning into a book. You can read about it here.

Thanks for reading my blog. If you like it, share it.

~~~

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 at my email address joyzmailbox @gmail.com

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.

The melancholy and remembrance of death — the playful scariness of Halloween, the acknowledgement of the link between the living and the dead on Day of the Dead — this year it’s brought some new kinds of art to me.

My son, who is a more abstract and intuitive painter, has been sharing my studio with me. We collaborated on this painting:

And today I finished an intuitive painting, laying on paint and smearing it around. I let it sit for a few days and waited until it told me what direction to go in — I’m going in circles, reminiscing on lost love, and wondering what happens when we become ghosts.

One of the interesting things about an art practice is that it wakes up new things in you. Your vision improves, your mind expands.

Thanks for reading my blog. If you like it, share it.

~~~

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 at my email address joyzmailbox @gmail.com

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.

I know practically everyone is obsessed and worried about the elections, and Covid-19. It’s a terrible time to have an open studio art show, but I’m doing it because it might help take people’s minds off all that for a while. It’s a good reminder that creatives go on creating, too. Haters gonna hate, creators gonna create.

So I’m having an open studio with a few other artists — Darlene Newman, Tim Allen, and Frankd Robinson.

I have a great sign on my front door that was made for me by a young person while I lived in Portland. She was one of my art students. I have had to repaint it a few times because it gets battered by the weather.

This year it was so waffled, I had to soak it and weigh it down to flatten it out. Then I adhered it to a canvas, gave it a new border, and ta-da, a great reminder of the worth of each of us:

I’ve been painting a lot, but had a few commissions that I finished. Now I’m working on pieces for the show. I have created two 5×7″ skulls since it’ll soon be time to celebrate the Day of the Dead and Halloween.

I’ll have about 14 pieces of various sizes on sale, some new, some older. Here are some examples of the work of the other artists. Prices will range from $25. to $400.

For those of you who can’t make it, or who don’t feel safe, we’ll try to put pieces online for purchase. If you are in the Memphis area, we can probably deliver to you. If not, shipping and handling prices will be added.

Stay safe. Stay creative. It’s always been a crazy and scary world, yet on our tightrope of life, we can find balance. Treasure yourself. You are a piece of gold.

Thanks for reading my blog. If you like it, share it.

~~~

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 at my email address joyzmailbox @gmail.com

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.