Sunday, May 24, 2015

Artists Who Live in the Woods; Lord Von Schmitt

Lord Von Schmitt, aka Schuyler, has an immense capability to create surreal and lusciously 60s retro art.  He is a clothing designer, collage artist, photographer, model, musician and dj extraordinare.
I quite enjoy hanging around him and his unapologetic and colorful sense of humor.



He creates these amazing clothes out of afghans, and he listens to the best retro dance music 
in existence.




I designed this graphic logo for him, that now appears on his lovely gold tags.  




His love for randomness can be seen by observing the scattered re-purposed art that decorates his barn studio.  He gives meaningless objects a new life and makes them into sculptures.  Frivolous art is a sign of enjoyment, and brilliance!  He is indeed seeking something vast and loves to go on quests, even if its just a trip walking through town.





 I love wearing his clothes, I often feel like myself in the style of hideous fashion, and can satisfy the bohemian weirdo in me.   Somehow nobody stops me and tells me I look like I am walking around wearing what resulted in an explosion from my grandmother's closet. And if they did, I would thank them for the high compliment.  Find his original designs here.


Saturday, May 16, 2015

Home Portrait with Oils

Today I wore my favorite green furry sweater, and posed in a fort made of my paintings.  Its not every day you get to be hugged in a world of many magical beings.  *Feeling really good*


Sunday, May 10, 2015

Golden Owl Speed Painting





I begin this by making a free hand sketch of an owl using a colored pencil on arches hot press paper. I use Daniel Smith watercolor paints, and do several washes, and add layers over dried washes. A lot of my work is detailed, and I draw colors and lines with my brush. Then I paint around the owl with Designa Size, a sticky glue used for applying gold leaf. The gold leaf goes on after 15 minutes of applying the size, then I gently tap the leaf and lift it off with a soft brush. The final layers are details using FW liquid acrylics, gouache, sennelier inks and tiny gemeralds. This painting took many days to complete, as I kept it propped up in my studio where I could decide what it needed and could take the time to add to it until it was complete. 







Friday, May 1, 2015

Art and Nature

  Nearly every night I awake to quench my thirst.  I step out of my bedroom and onto the deck where I blindly feel for the door handle to enter the dark yurt.  I immediately reach for the light switch and walk across the cold floor to the sink where I fill my glass in a somnabulant state.  After gulping down refreshing water, I walk back outside to my bed in the little dome.   I see the moon glowing silently on the horizon, and I frequently remember my dreams after greeting this eerie bright light rising from behind the trees.

     In the morning I heat water for tea.  My tiny furry kitty Falena, aka “dainty monkey” greets me as she prances swiftly from the cat door to her food dish.  I rush to put on my clothes, I have to hurry out the door to greet a new friend today.   I swiftly dart out the door and Falena follows me to the car as usual, curious as to where I disappear to in my travel pod.  Driving down the hill, I can see the revitalizing view of the mountains.   Colors are bright, the landscape presents a crisp and detailed panorama of slow creeping clouds and dancing yellow spears of pine and madrone trees.  My heart fills with joy as I behold the land the morning after a fresh rain.

     Driving fast on the windy road, I embrace the hypnotic pulse of light from the tree shadows hitting my windshield, chiming to the beat of my music.  As I pass through the country side admiring the glorious view, I come to a stop where I see a huge grandfather tree smashed and blocking the highway.  I gasp and wonder how powerful the winds must have been, and take in for a moment the weight of the huge beast lying across the road.  I turn the wheel, now warm from the sun, towards my destination where a new art patron awaits my arrival.

  We meet at a little restaurant in the country, and while sipping our coffees at the European style tables, share our love for the plant kingdom.  We have a very interesting conversation, one where you can understand where the other is coming from, on a very specific level.  Such a unique conversation, you feel like it is a story being written or a new idea being born.  He is anxious to be the new owner of my oil painting, "Two Bird Tribe".  It is still morning and my coffee is jolting through my system.  I don’t normally drink coffee, except when I’m socializing, which gets me really excited.  I go into the room and gaze upon my oil painting.  Its eyes meet mine again, and I look into their beings as if I am seeing them in a new light.  They almost seem to give me a high five, and I thank them for visiting my dreams.  I am filled with gratuity for having met a new friend and patron who adors my art and feels a similar affinity for the characters in the pictures that I paint.  I remember the moon on the horizon, and the delicate state of dreams and their significance.  Nature is always guiding me with beacons of light, and still moments of darkness, signaling my need to paint.  I can still smell the morning rain on the grass, and am filled with delight that my day is just beginning.