Sudden Flight

This is my painting for Paint Party Friday. It's 12" x 12" mixed media on panel. I'm getting it posted early! It's a tribute to my mother. Her birthday is April 2 and she would have turned 71. She died suddenly seven years ago April 4. I am now able to view it like a sudden flight. One day she was with us and the next, she was gone. I wish I could have said goodbye but at least we had talked on her birthday a couple of days before.

I try to do some kind of art piece each year in honor of her birthday. Even though Spring is here, the colors seem a little muted right now. I usually cheer up and get in the flow of things after the first weeks of April have passed. So for right now, the girl in the painting is dressed for Spring but not quite feeling it...

Be sure to check out all of the participants for Paint Party Friday tomorrow. Last week there was a big response! It's fun to check out the blogs and see what everyone painted.  :)

Thread: Journal Page

The Thread

Something is very gently,

invisibly, silently,

pulling at me - a thread

or net of threads

finer than cobweb and as

elastic. I haven't tried

the strength of it. No barbed hook

pierced and tore me. Was it

not long ago this thread

began to draw me? Or

way back? Was I

born with its knot about my

neck, a bridle? Not fear

but a stirring

of wonder makes me

catch my breath when I feel

the tug of it when I thought

it had loosened itself and gone.

-- Denise Levertov

Jagged Bitter Jill

"You live you learn...You scream you learn"

-- Alanis Morissette

This is my painting for this week's Paint Party Friday. I'm often inspired by music and this week I've been listening to a lot of it. Some of my friends and family are going through rough times right now and I don't blame them for being a little bitter. We've been able to laugh and cry together through some of the pain but there's still healing yet to get through. This was my attempt to work it out on the canvas. I will say this: it certainly was therapeutic! ;)

Check out the other entries for this week's paintings by clicking on the button in the sidebar. Last week there was a great turnout and some awesome art! I met a lot of new friends and had a wonderful time looking at every one's art.

Visual Poetry

"Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?"

--from The Summer Day, by Mary Oliver

Discordant Echoes

Today is the first day for Paint Party Friday. This is a painting I have been working on so I thought I would put it in today's party.  :)  It's 8" x 8" acrylic on canvas. I've been wanting to do another abstract and these colors were calling to me. I love the Cobalt Teal and the Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold...YUMMY!! Those are probably my favorite colors that Golden makes. I think I have a good stash of these two colors for a while. ;)

I like to clip phrases from vintage poetry books and then use them in my art journals. I put them in a little baggie and when I'm searching for inspiration I'll look through the baggie and see what sounds good. They also come in handy as titles for my art. As I was looking through the bag, the phrase "discordant echoes" caught my eye. I just liked the sound of it and thought it sounded like a good theme. So I took it from there and this is what I ended up with.

Check out the link to Paint Party Friday to visit the blogs and see all of the paintings. It should be a good time! I'm excited to see what everyone did this week.

Confession: Journal Page

More work in my BIG Moleskine. I did a version of this before in another big journal but the pages ended up being too thin and started falling apart. :(  This time it was more therapeutic just to work the paint with my fingers. LOVE to do that; smoosh the paint around and let my mind wander. :)  The title comes from my favorite quote by Camus: "A work of art is a confession."  This is how my mind has been lately: full of jumbled thoughts going everywhere... So I thought I'd just throw them all down on a page.

More painting is in the works. If you notice the sidebar I added a new button called Paint Party Friday. It's a new blog. Check it out. Starts this Friday. Everyone is free to join in the fun. I found out about it through the awesome Victoria's blog. Folks will be adding their paintings and linking to their blogs. I'm working on my first painting for that. We'll see how it goes! 

Perspective: Journal Page

I have been back from my trip for a couple of days now. It was a wonderful time with my friend! As always, it was hard to say goodbye  :'(    But we've already made plans for spring.  And there is MUCH to look forward to this summer, including many trips to her place up on Lake Erie.  :)

One thing I really noticed on this trip home was my tendency to not view things in the proper perspective.  I do need to work on that. It can become quite an eye opener when you lose your way on this one...

But I DID have myself a little adventure at Blick Art Supply. I went in there with my eyes wide open! Came out with lots of goodies: encaustic paint in many new colors to try, more acrylic paints in colors I can never find (graphite, cobalt blue, stainless steel!) and my favorite 2" cradled panels...FUN! :) Oh, and an over-sized Moleskine sketchbook. Yay! This is my first page from that journal.

And after the Blick adventure we made our way to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. That was probably my favorite day of the trip. That cheesecake was absolutely sinful and I loved every bite. Hmm... looking back on it now, there were a FEW things I managed to keep in the proper perspective. ;)

Broken Doll: Journal Page

I always start thinking more about my Mom this time of year. Her birthday is coming up in April. She will have been gone seven years. Unbelievable. Grief can still grab me at the strangest times, even now. The photo at the top is one of my favorite of me, although it's cropped for this page. I'm sitting at a table with my Mom. I just like my expression in it.  ;)

I'm heading to Ohio for another visit with my very good friend today. This is a great time to get away. But I need to get packing. I should be on the road right now. Always the procrastinator, waiting until the last minute. Is that a Taurus thing?  ;)

Of course I'll have to make another stop at the Blick store while I'm there. I can't pass that up. I've already cleared the car trunk. What treasures will I find this time? I'll let you know when I get back!