Cooling Down with Fountains

This might look to you like a random image, or maybe you thought I'm devolving into potty humor? In fact, it's the famous Mannekin Pis (little man urinating), the Brussels landmark. Although it's not widely known in the U.S., Belgians are renowned for their sense of humor. My daughter is in Brussels right now and she said that everyday the little man gets dressed up differently.

image via travelpod.com

Pyramids of Color

While working on a website and reading blogs, I came across this image on a writer's blog. A while back, I needed to source an image like this for another site, but never did find what I needed. Then today, I found it out of the blue (no pun intended!).

I really really want to go to India to see their vivid colors so I wasn't surprised that this photo was taken at a market in Goa. All these pigments for sale. Although I do wonder about their toxicity...

If anybody reading this wants to share stories about favorite places in India, or living there, or anything to do with India at all, this is the time. Comment away!

photo from Wikimedia

Outdoor Art Fairs

A Wing and a Wave, 2008, mixed media on found wood

Having counted on getting into an upcoming juried art festival, when I found out that I didn't it kicked my bum into getting a couple new places in one day to hang some art. What was I waiting for? So now I have 2 new local venues for getting some work out there. One is a very charming coffeehouse, Wild Rabbit Cafe. It's only ten minutes from my house--so convenient. The other one I'll find out about in a week or so.

I'm still thinking of applying to another juried festival coming up in October. It's sort of with a heavy heart though. I hope for great weather and lots of sales, but these things are obviously not guaranteed...grrrr

This festival has more traffic than the one that didn't want me (really?) so maybe it was all for the best. If I even apply, lazy me. Stay tuned. I'd love to hear what you think about art fairs/festivals, whatever you want to call them.

The Lovely Pipes

Black aluminum vase from recycled pipe, 2010, Paula McCullough

If you're never been to PaulaArt's etsy shop, you are in for a treat! Besides a whole variety of vases made from reclaimed pipe, this talented artist has created candle holders and clocks from found materials like railroad fish tie plates and rusted railroad nuts.

I love these industrial and rustic materials used in sophisticated ways to showcase their wabi-sabi qualities. If you're into wood, you will not be disappointed, as Paula is offering a series of collectible assemblages from reclaimed pieces of redwood.

Check out Paula's blog too. She's inspiring!

p.s. That vase in the photo is MINE now! the precioussssss

New Work--at last!

Scarification, 2010, 18x24"

Golden State, 2010, 18x24"

I finished these two a couple weeks ago. They're 3D collages on stretched canvas using paint, fabric and paper. Both are 18x24" even though they seem larger. And I really do wish they were larger...

I stopped working large when the economy went south, although that's where my real preference lies. Actually, I stopped making anything to hang on the wall and began working with assemblage, a choice which had nothing to do with sales/non-sales. It's just the direction I'm being pulled in right now.

Are any of your current formats or media choices linked to the soft art sales of our current times? Or do you not let it bother you, instead building up inventory for better times?

Buried Treasure

It's time for Buried Treasure! Seth over at The Altered Page is doing a project that encourages bloggers to dig through their archives for lost nuggets that can then be reaccessed by readers looking through Seth's blog list post today.

Although my archives are easily perused as I've only been blogging since March, I've rooted around and come up with this post: Texturaphilia, if you want to see the original post.

I didn't do any cropping or fixing the lighting or color afterward, so these photos make me happy!

Camaieu

Freshly picked!

Old farmhouse shutter

Heat loving baby birds

In the paintings from my not so distant past, I had a heavy hand with color--lots of it, and all at once. You really should now be marveling (yeah right) at my newly restrained notion of using color. Picking just a few colors actually makes sense to me now.

My new favorite color is blueberry--Payne's gray is another, so there could be some interesting things happening there, probably in painting my house interior. Not my favorite chore, but it's another of the delights of a hot, humid summer.

I found a shutter from a mid 1800's farmhouse today when we went blueberry picking. It has some really cool color layers and I hope I can turn it into something!

camaieu- image using shades of a single color