Imitating Art and a Project 'How To'

 Image found online.

OMG! I found online a painting of the older version of my car -- same color with the black convertible top and all. I'm dying to have a painting of my car just like it. I guess I'd better get out the paint and brushes then, because at this point I don't have the funds to purchase original artwork.

Image found here.

And speaking of getting taking matters of home decor into my own hands, here's another art piece that I'd love to try to recreate. For the longest I've wanted to paint a room in my house either black or midnight navy. I think art like this would look amazing in a room like that.

Since I have home decor crafting on my mind, I thought I'd share another project I'd like to try my hand at. These pillows by Helkat Design look easy enough to reproduce. While I haven't tried yet, this is how I'd do it.

Materials

♥ Raw canvas fabric

♥ Fabric paint

♥ Off white thread

♥ Sewing machine

♥ Crown, vine template

♥ Scissors

♥ Pillow form in desired size, shape

Directions

Wash the fabric first, then press it. Draw lightly with pencil onto the fabric. 

Printing and cutting out a template from online will help, or draw and cut out your own template for symmetry. Fill in lines with fabric paint. Sew fabric around pillow form. Enjoy.

Black and White Doodles

Photo by me.

I live for Saturday mornings, and as this happens to be one that I'm off, I'm in bliss. The photo above was taken on a recent bright Saturday morning. That day, the light streaming in from my front-door port window was a perfect golden and I had to capture it. And, yes, those are my white, scrawny legs.

There is something about extreme contrast between near black hues and light colors that I'm drawn to. So that would explain my latest ambitious art project, below. It's quite a departure from the bright colors I often paint with.

Friday night I had the urge to get creative. Ideas stewed in mind during my 45-minute commute home, so I started working almost immediately after arriving. I painted a large canvas blue-black -- a better shade than plain black -- as it offers more depth and interest.

First I planned to paint white text in a fun font, but the design wasn't inspiring. That's when decided to freehand doodle over the entire thing. It will likely take for-ev-er to finish, but I'm overwhelmingly inspired by this project and can see an entire series of these with variations taking shape in my mind.

My inspirations for this painting were as follows:

♥ Illustration

♥ White chalk marks against black slate

♥ Rooms painted in blue-black

♥ The thought of having to move into a white-walled rental in Austin

♥ The contrast of lace against black or gray fabric

♥Anthropologie's window paintings

Cupcakes: Work in Progress

Here's a peek at my latest work in progress. The cups aren't finished. Nothing is. I'm still abstaining from sweets, and although I did go to a place called Curlz Cupcakes today to finally indulge, it was closed. So, instead, I started painting cupcakes. Now I'm settling in for a "Ghost Stories" marathon on TV. Tonight, Trey and I are going to a Halloween costume party in Ruston. Maybe there will be cupcakes ...

Inspirations: Cake and Cupcake Paintings

Wayne Thiebaud 

I started two confectionery paintings in the past couple of weeks. One day, while working with my friend Mary Drew in her studio, I painted myself into a corner. I was frustrated and didn't know where to go with my work next. She showed me Wayne Thiebaud's paintings, and now I'm obsessed with his work. While I didn't take my painting in the same direction as his with the rows of cakes, etc., I'm happy to say that I did paint myself out of that corner.

 Photo found online. Source unknown to me.

The above image reminds me of Thiebaud's paintings and is so completely inspiring. I found a blog post about a bride and groom in northern California that had replicas of Thiebaud's cakes baked for their wedding. You have to see this. It's too tasty looking. I think I was drawn to painting confections recently because not only do I gravitate toward bright, bold colors, but I've been refraining from eating sugar lately. So instead I've been viewing, painting and thinking about sweets while I burn a sugary smelling candle. I'm sure it sounds torturous, but it works for me.

I recently discovered Thaneeya McArdle's work. Gorgeous and perfect.

The visible brush strokes and texture in this painting make it all the more appealing. I couldn't find the name of the artist. If you know it, do let me know, and I'll add it.

Photo by Craig Stephens

Again, the texture and visible brush strokes attract me to this painting.

Completed Painting

 

I don't know when or how it happened, but suddenly I've been overcome with the need to make art. I used to do this when I was a little girl. I would complete several  small paintings in a day sometimes. And while I painted and drew a lot as a teenager, it was only to solidify a persona I'd fallen into -- Monica -- the artist. After taking "scholastic" talented art classes from ninth-12th grade and into college, I lost my love for it. I was taught the "proper" way to draw and paint. If it wasn't academic, then it wasn't good art. It stifled my creativity and sense of freedom. 

This is the second painting I've finished in the past month, and I began another immediately when I finished this one. I'm done with conform to other people's standards about what art is. From now on I plan to make art only for the pleasure of it. I don't care if no one else likes it. If it makes me happy then it has served its purpose.

Photo of me in the process of painting the latest.

Art and Lies

 The guy who walked into this photo is a ceramics teacher. I took his class years ago.
Small town -- maybe too small.

Last night I passed on going to Artoberfest in Ruston, the city where I work, for a fashion show, live music and art event in the city where I live. I invited my new gal pal Laura, who brought her dad (pictured below) who was in town from Nashville for the night.

I thought for sure this event would trump the two free tickets I was given to Artoberfest where there was an 80s hair metal tribute band complete with a laser-light show and fog machine. Wrong! So wrong.

While "The Palace," as the downtown building is deceptively named, housed creative art and overpriced T-shirts ($58?!) dubbed "fashion," the event didn't live up to it's promise. Oh, no. The event in my hometown turned out to be an undercover revival. It was so well marketed, and they had us completely fooled for the first five minutes. I was rather irked by being duped into attending a come to Jesus meeting, and Laura is an atheist, so, obviously, we left early.

In any case, I took a lot of photos of The Palace, which is my dream version of an art space. There were also the most delectable mini cupcakes with sparkly icing toppings. So that sort of made up for it.

I thought this was a nice corner of the studio. The whole time I was in "The Palace," I fantasized about what I'd do with it if it were my place. This would be the area where I'd have client consultations about the art they commissioned me for.

This light bulb chandelier looked homemade and is so very Anthropologie but for a fraction of the cost, I imagine. Very crafty.

This sign, a nice touch, was placed outside of The Palace. It reminds me of stepping into a coffee shop in SOLA.

A band played, the last of five, while we were there. As it turned out, I actually knew the guitarist. Several years ago we painted a huge mural together in the city when I moved back from South Louisiana.

More photos to come, but this time they will be of the fair ...

Things Change

My breakfast this morning was photo worthy. The sprinkles put it over the top. If you know me then you're probably shocked that (1) I actually ate this and (2) that it was my first meal of the day, which is, of course, the most important meal. See, it's still the same ole me. I only wanted my food this morning to mirror my overall mood this week -- bright and cheerful.

OK, now, swallow down the upchuck if that last part was too Pollyanna for you. I've been on a happy high for the past several weeks, and even I'm shocked that I haven't come off it. I'm not sure if it was purchasing Car (Who says money can't buy happiness?) or  finally making a decision about where I'll live for the next couple of years but I'm suddenly beyond content.

My Dia de los Muertos painting isn't yet complete. 

The only cloud to rain on my one-woman parade is the fact that just two days after deciding to stay in my home town my dad told me he is moving to another state. When he told me over the phone I cried like a little girl. He doesn't know, so, shh, don't tell him. I'll miss him quite a lot, but I'm a very adaptable person. I'm like human silly putty -- malleable. I easily adapt to situations, and I'll get used to his absence. I just didn't want to have to. At least I know he'll be happy, and that's comforting.

And now that I can see the bottom of my coffee cup, it's time to step into the backyard studio and finish my Day of the Dead painting.

Ciao!

Day of the Dead Painting

A painting I'm working on.