Art for Musicians and Entymologists

I came across wild stag beetles in Germany. As I handled them and observed them walking on an oak tree, I fell in love with the delicate animal. Their giant horn-like mandibles are not strong and sharp enough to take off a finger, as one might think. In fact they are very gentle and use their mandible to remove other beetles who are invading their territory on the tree. They just pick each other up and throw one another, its pretty funny actually.

The trick to these Winsor and Newton water mixable oils is to use the glazing medium and glaze layer after layer for a luscious and luminous effect.

Many, many hours later the painting is done.  It usually takes me days to do a piece like this.  I am working in such detail that I need to take breaks to come back and look at the painting as a whole.  Things that need to be fixed or touched up are more obvious when your head isn't spinning from staring for hours at a picture. 

Mandibles arched into a Lyre

Notes strung into golden wires.

Walking on tiny segmented feet

The Beetle'll be humming the key of C.

On the darkest of nights, these are the golden hours.  Email me to inquire about purchasing my newest painting, "Stag Beetle Harp"

Photoshop and Watercolor Process

I am used to just winging it when it comes to painting, but this time I tried a more controlled approach.  My vision was of a fox spinning gold inside his winter home, where he could feel warm and cozy.  Here's the process behind the painting, "The Golden Thread" -- a sequence of photos taken for your wonderings.  I left little notes here and there about what mediums I am using and what the heck I'm doin' drawing with crystals.  Never a dull moment out here in the woods. 

Prismacolor colored pencil on bristol.

4B Graphite pencil on bristol.

Here I am transferring the pencil drawing onto the watercolor paper.  I lay tracing paper over the final drawing, ink it and flip it over where I coat the tracing paper in graphite.  I flip it graphite side down onto the watercolor paper and begin to trace over my lines with a crystal wand.  The wand is comfortable to hold and rolls over the lines smoothly.

 

This view.  These colors!  Out the window of my foxes den!

I wanted to get the most luminosity from the watercolors as possible, so I had to plan ahead with the color scheme in photoshop first.  This took away some fear because I was playing with colors that I had not yet worked with.  It turned out to be really a fun process.

A friend of mine recently told me how much she loved working with parchment paper and watercolor.  Do a wash, wrinkle the paper and lay it over the wet wash.  Set books on top and when dry, peel off and be marveled!

Working with the first layer of color wash.  I love love love watercolors! 

Drawing in the details with a squirrel hair #5 brush.

 

Adding gold watercolor to the frame designs.  

I had a nice texture behind the piece by using parchment paper, but it felt too empty at the bottom of the image.  I took kitkitdizzy fern leaves and painted them with gold and brown acrylic paint, then stamped them into the piece. 

Complete!  A thorough experiment in control over watercolor, and I loved the process of using photoshop to map out the colors.  Final piece measures 11" x 14".

 

Artists Who Live in the Woods; Relics of a Fulfilled Life

 Step into the enchanting home of my friend Debbie Dean.  You will be greeted by rooms that echo a happy and fulfilled life of an artist who has always loved life in the woods.   She is a vibrant and courageous single mother, enthusiastic and full of gratitude for her children and her home.  Although she relishes her quiet mornings huddled by the fire withe a cup of coffee, a smoke and a notebook, her days are spent actively helping others.  She is friend to many people and creatures alike.

Warmth and dance of the fire,

  Shells strung into beads

Bells rattling on the front door

  Wind blowing through trees. 

  She is a wild woman with a loving heart full of random magical stories of exotic travels.  You can step into the wild forests of India or be part of a hand made puppet show.  Relics of travels through Mexico are arranged among the crystal altars that surround her studio.  Dried flowers, framed portraits, instruments, collage furniture, patterned rugs mirrors and windows gather around her own creations.  Life is art, art is life.

Debbie's daughter, Belle Star, is much like her mother; a very strong and beautifully talented woman.  The two have a close relationship and I have always felt much warmth and love during gatherings in their homes.  They compliment each other in both art and cooking.  Visiting Debbie, we enjoy expertly cooked and lavishly seasoned meals both delicious and nourishing.  She is well educated about herbs and grows her own culinary and medicinally mystic garden.   This kitchen is a kind of ultra glorious studio where her love for herbs and food are assembled. 

  

Debbie is currently loving her newest body of work, a series of acrylic paintings that were created using bursts of blown breath to move pigment.  Her thoughts were deep with the drought and fires that consumed the Sierras and moved into the time we are now grateful for, the rains.  Her abstract paintings are full of life and infinite stories.  Her studio is bathed in sunlight inside her home that was built from the trees that stood on the land.  She tells me she loves to greet her newest creations in the morning.  "They are my babies"

I asked Debbie how living in the woods has positively impacted her life and her art.  She responded "It's so peaceful and quiet.  I grew up in the woods.  Since I was little I knew that I always wanted to live in the woods and to have my own children and a studio to make art.  Now I have all of those things.  It is incredible and wonderful to know that you can manifest what you want, you just have to know what you want"

I've noticed a pattern in many people who know what they want and often exercise the meaning of life in a simple way.  For those who are still searching for their dreams, a walk through a tunnel of trees is a kind of hallway to follow those dreams.  Taking a long look at the sky and the land around a meadow is an open book of stories.  An exposure to the natural environment can reveal magic that is happening all around, and has the potential to breathe life into our incredible and short lives.

Many thanks and gratitude to the fantastic Debbie Dean.   I will keep you guys posted about her next upcoming art show.

Self Publishing a Children's Book

Act 1: Conception and Fleshing Out; I'm totally stoked on the act of self publishing a book. I did a lot of research in how to make the book great, and that involved talking to other people. I had a classic concept in mind, and knew that I wanted very small children and adults to enjoy it together. This character Moon Bunny came to me, and he was grateful to be alive. So I just listened to the fun stuff he liked to do, and drew him acting them out. Then I took the writing skills I have been developing and threw rhyming words to the actions. That was the easy part.

 

Act 2:  Revealing the Book, asking for Criticism;  I asked multiple people to read the text, look at the pictures and give me reviews.  This took years of attending SCBWI conferences, Press Expos, festivals, and sharing with people who were in the publishing industry.  I turned this idea of Moon Bunny into a 12 page calendar postcard set and vended to my friends and family.  They got back to me years later with stories of how their grandchildren, children, and even aging parents cherished the little cards and wanted to know what Moon Bunny was up to next.  This is where things get juicy.  Getting feedback from people who love your work is fuel for the fire.  And bookstores would buy Moon Bunny postcard packs, but  more and more they wanted a book.   

Act 3:  Reformatting;  I spent another year or so reformatting Moon Bunny to make him into a 32 page picture book, and having researched layout, cover design, copy editing, etc..the book came to be.  I had a Create Space account on Amazon, and ordered my first proof for quality checking.  I received more help from people who filmed promo videos and took photographs for the release of Moon Bunny.  And once the final copy had been approved, I informed my social media platforms that something exciting was coming their way.

 

 

Act 4: Selling and Sharing;  People bought my book and left awesome reviews on amazon.  The ball was beginning to roll.  Since I have trouble distributing the book on a mass scale, I still rely on expos, festivals street fairs and craft shows to sell.  So while I'm working on becoming a bestseller for children's books ;) , for now I enjoy the faces of the people who buy my book, hearing a class of kindergartners laughing at my pictures and getting letters from little kids.  It is something I get to enjoy for as long as I live.  And the book is forever in my family and eternally on the web.  And I'm sure I left out many other details about this process, but my main point is to give people inspiration to go for it themselves.  Happy researching and follow your heart!

Tiny House and Yurt Party Prep with a Sprinkling of Art

 

 

 

Cats, Galaxies and Kate Bush

My kitten Lyra inspired me to name her after a constellation because she boasts symmetrical bright white spots on her ears chest and belly. This post is about all the wonderful things I discovered about the constellation Lyra so read on! (This is a taste of what sparks the interest for my paintings, what could be a story behind the mysterious stars? .)

 

In Greek mythology, Lyra was associated with the myth of Orpheus, the musician who was killed by the Bacchantes. After his death, his lyre was thrown into the river; Zeus sent an eagle to retrieve the lyre, and ordered both of them to be placed in the sky. There are actually a zillion different versions of the Orpheus story, most seeming to point towards one god being jealous of another's gift.  I appreciate only the symbolism of the instrument, and how the contemplation of music and the constellations can transform the spirit.

 

The brightest star in this small constellation is Vega, which is also the fifth brightest star in the night sky. It is a beautiful blue/white star, look for this star in the very early evening in June – high overhead on autumn evenings – in the northwestern quadrant of the sky on December evenings. Vega is a huge star 2 1/2 times the size of our sun, and is millions of years older. There are stars, nebulae and galaxies within the constellation captured by Hubble.

 

Ahh, the beautiful things we find looking into the eyes of a cat.

 

...And! Kate Bush wrote a beautiful song inspired by the character Lyra from the book the Golden Compass.  Wowness kitty, we picked one magical name!  

 

Summer Magick

"Falena Black Foot", a memorial cameo done in colored pencil.

Parrot Vision. I babysat a green cheek conure for 4 days, and it was very inspiring!

Watercolor illustrations for my next book on the horizon.

Drawing down the moon.

My new little puma mew.