Yet more images...

I finally got to my camera, the cable and a computer all at once. Actually, Chris loaded them for me, but I'm making an effort here, so work with me, ok?

These are a few more photos from last Thursday and from my studio this week...

In the true Guillebeau tradition, here's a picture of someone taking a picture of me. This is Yuriko, another artist (and friend) from the Fat Tiger Show.



My recent work... An old Chatter Phone, mailed from my mom. (Thanks, Mom!) The colors are more accurate here, but the glare is terrible.



Here there's no glare, but the colors are terrible. You see the dilemma.



This (what do you call this thing?) is a toy I loved as a kid. Except I could never get the shapes out once I put them in. And that made me mad. Now they've made it easier to open, or my arms are stronger, because I can get the shapes out pretty easily.



I found it at the Ballard Goodwill for $1.49. I love that. And it has all the pieces.


Ok, I'm off. The next pictures you'll see here will be of sunny skies and ocean views. Meanwhile, have a Merry Christmas and eat a candy cane for me.

Details

Apparently, over the past month a few of my posts disappeared-- it was probably a user error, but I've restored them and now you'll have lots to read at once.

I promise that pictures of my recent work will be here before I leave town on Saturday. I'm heading for warmer weather and sunshine for a week or two.

Fat Tiger Studio Show...

Last Thursday, I participated in a Holiday Show with other local artists for the First Thursday Artwalk in Pioneer Square. It was great. Several people came out just to see me, which amazed me, and I got some really positive feedback about my work (always a good thing).

A view of the crowds...



Me setting up... (notice the walking cast there-- it's off now!)







Showing is still a new process for me, so it's honestly a bit scary, but I'm starting to like it...sometimes.

(Photos credit: Ryan Molenkamp. Thanks, Ryan.)

Small steps.

This is the MRI image of my ankle pre-surgery. It's fixed now. Mostly. So that means I can walk (using a cane) and cook dinner again. I can get on the bus without making everyone else wait, and I can wear skirts again. It also means that everything else I do becomes much easier, so I can catch up on all the other things that matter. Like here. I missed writing. I missed being in this space. I'm glad to be back.

Thanks for being patient-- I hope you're still out there!

Painting pictures and show updates soon!

Election Day!

Kuma Coffee Display

Ok, still short on words, but here are the long promised pictures of the show at Kuma Coffee. My work is up there until the 15th. Stay tuned for more showings...

Lots to say.. .few words

Yes, I know. I owe you pictures of the show from Kuma.
And pictures of my recent paintings.
And maybe just a few words to let you know that I'm still alive.

Well, how about one out of three?

I have so many pictures on my camera. But, I haven't actually had the energy to connect the cable to the camera and the computer lately.

I had ankle surgery 10 days ago. I'm tired. I feel useless and frustrated. I can't even get myself a glass of water without spilling it all over the kitchen. Chris has been wonderful, but it's hard to be so dependent on someone. So I'm following some good advice and choosing what's most important.

Right now that's painting, being with Chris and showing up for work (gotta keep that health insurance). I'll be back here though. Be patient.

Work on Display at Kuma Coffee

My work is on display for the Grand Opening of Kuma Coffee this month. Their grand opening is tomorrow, October 13. My work will be on display through mid-November. They're located at 4110 Stone Way in Wallingford, here in Seattle. If you're in the area, stop by, pick up a good cup of coffee and look at my work.

I'll post pictures here later in the week.

Mirror

Mirror
Originally uploaded by jolieguillebeau

I solved a problem with this painting today. I was really happy with the vertical composition, but it felt a little flat to me. I decided to create space by making the frame in to a mirror, rather than the painting I had intended. So far, I'm happy, but there's still more work to do.

I can't wait to see this.

http://www.whodoesshethinksheis.net

Art, Truth, Child-play

"When we can play with the unself-conscious concentration of a child, this is: art, prayer, love." -- Madeleine L'Engle

The story of Marla has fascinated me for awhile. Here is a child in a crazy situation, created by the adults around her. I don't care about the controversy, but I wonder (and worry) about this little girl.

However, I had never considered this story from this angle before. It makes me think about my own work a little differently.

Letting Go.

I learned something really important this week. It's about Painting and Life. Hopefully I can explain it without confusion.

For the first two years I painted, I struggled with building a good foundation to my painting. I was so intimidated by the act of painting that I never really bothered to set my paintings up well, I just tried to get the canvas covered. I felt twitchy until all the white space was filled in with color. That meant that I just slapped things down without worrying about angles or measurements or composition. Sometimes I got lucky and it worked. Other times, well-- let's just say I have a large collection of wonky looking canvases hiding in the hall closet. It took me a while to get comfortable with the idea of empty space while I worked out the potential problems of each piece.

But, at some point I realized the importance of setting things up well. I realized that if I got the angle right on the first try, then I wouldn't spend hours repainting in frustration. And since we were running out of space in the hall closet, I started planning and drawing things in a little more carefully before I threw the paint on the canvas. Instantly, I saw my work move up a level. More paintings were successful, fewer were banished to a dark room.

Things went along nicely for awhile. But I was still dissatisfied. Other people liked my work, and I wasn't hiding it anymore, but it still fell short somehow. Again, sometimes I'd get lucky, but overall I still felt like it wasn't quite finished--even though I'd planned well and followed all the rules. (Don't ask me what the rules are, I haven't really figured that out yet. I just know when it's right.) My work looked fine, but I wanted it to look like this, or this, or even this. (Have I mentioned my lack of patience already?)

So this week, I figured something out. Painting is like life. I need to plan well and give myself as much information as possible in the early stages of a project. But once I've committed to the right direction then I have to let go of the original plan. See, once I started planning and drawing in detail, I found it hard to move past the drawing. For example, if I got the angle right on Mr. Potato Head's arm, then I would paint all around it, but I'd be afraid to really paint it, because I might lose the part that's working. The problem with this is that it makes for nice drawings, but only mediocre paintings.

See, paintings are all about edges. This is something I've known in my head for awhile-- the eye perceives things and takes in information based almost completely on edges. It's how you can tell the difference between a golf ball and a ping-pong ball. Or a tennis ball and a lemon. But knowing it in my head and knowing it in my paintbrush are two different things. I wasn't happy with my painting because I was afraid of losing the drawing, so I ignored the edges.I might as well have been using a coloring book.

I was holding on to the original plan so tightly, that I couldn't move past it.

Someone told me this week to let go of the drawing. And I realized-- I'd gotten the drawing right the first time, so if I lost it, I could probably get it back. I also realized, that if I didn't paint over the drawing, I'd never have a good painting.

So while I'm still a long way from Chardin, I think my work is about to move to a new level again. Because I'm letting go. And maybe one day, we'll have room for coats in our hall closet.

Another way to find me.

I've just posted some high quality photos of some of my pieces on Imagekind. It's a service that lets you order custom prints of my work. Since some people have requested that I repaint paintings they really like, I've thought of creating prints for awhile, but I was hesitant to make a large order of one or another. So this way, prints are available. I'll probably keep them as limited editions, meaning I'll remove them from the site once I've sold more than one hundred (ha!), but that's not really a problem I anticipate having anytime soon.

Hey! Look!

It's me! Did you forget me? I hope not.

I know I last posted 4 weeks ago, but there's a good reason, I promise!(Really!)

Ok, first good excuse-- no, I mean REASON. Chris took the camera with him. Then when he brought it back, it wouldn't zoom. or unzoom. It wouldn't cooperate at all. And I was tired of whining about it, so I decided not to post until I actually did something about the camera situation. This called for immediate action, so I stopped eating. Well, I stopped eating out. Normally, everyday that I work, I go to Piroshkis on Madison. Dmitri knows me well enough that when I walk in the door, he puts a Spinach Mushroom and Cheese Piroshki in the oven for me. It costs $4.86. I give him a five and put the 15 cents in the tip jar.

So, I started packing my lunch. That saved $20 each week. That, plus a couple of sales on etsy gave me enough money to buy a camera on sale at Target today.

So without further ado: pictures of everything I've been working on for the last month.



See no evil. You've seen this one already.



Hear no evil. You saw the beginning of this, but he's progressed nicely since then.




Speak no evil. Started two weeks ago. Finished? Not yet, but soon.

Don't worry, more to come! I have a camera now.

Internet Ramblings

Just for fun, a bit of me in mosaic form.

I've seen this on a couple of other blogs recently, and I was bored, so...

Here´s how you do it...

Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr search, using only the first page, choose your favorite image, copy and paste each of the URL’s into the mosaic maker (3 columns, 4 rows).

The questions:
1. What is your first name? (Jolie)
2. What is your favorite food? (ice cream)
3. What high school did you attend? (Hazel Green)
4. What is your favorite color? (Orange)
5. Who is your celebrity crush? (Nelson Mandela-- he counts doesn't he?)
6. Favorite drink? (Green tea with mint)
7. Dream vacation? (Antartica)
8. Favorite dessert? (Chocolate Mousse)
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? (Painter)
10.What do you love most in life? (Enthusiasm)
11. One word to describe you. (Sensitive)
12. Your Flickr name. (jolieguillebeau)

Here are the links to the photos in my mosaic above:

1. Angelina Jolie’s recent trip to a camp housing Darfur refugees in Chad, 2. Flickr meltdown, 3. Untitled, 4. Hold me close, under the sunset, 5. Mandela and the others, 6. Green mint tea, 7. Standing Still, 8. three is not a crowd, 9. Eden Park Artist, 10. Our Children Teach Us What Life Is All About, 11. sensitive space, 12. jolieguillebeau

Painting update

Chris and the camera are in Pakistan at the moment, but I managed to get these pictures just before he left.



This is the blank canvas that you saw last week. I've pretty much finished this one. My idea was a key, but no door. Kind of a "Here's the answer, what's the question?" thought. I found these keys at the Frye museum store, and I thought they were pretty.


As you can see, I've started the second in the Mr. Potato Head series. This one is "Hear no evil." I'm still early in, so I haven't thought as much about the ideas behind this painting. The small square painting gives me an idea of the finished product, while I started the larger painting with a value sketch.


The lines around the painting help me with placement and proportions. I have little pieces of plexiglass with these lines scratched into them, so that I can look at my setup in the same way. It helps with composition and drawing, in ways I never really expected. I also like the idea that I'm using a system that some of my favorite artists implemented as well.

A new painting...

I don't know if I've mentioned this yet, but I love my new studio. It's quiet and cool on warm days. It's private and most of all-- it's mine! Having my own studio was one of the dreams I wrote down a few years ago as a Mondo Beyondo dream. And now, it's real. Wow.

And though I miss my studio mates, I must admit-- I'm getting so much done. Last Tuesday, I ran some errands, then painted for awhile, then took a break for lunch and wrote in my journal before I settled back in around 2:00 for an afternoon of painting. I figured I'd paint until around 5pm, then run to the grocery store and go home and play with the cat. I picked up my brush and... just a few minutes later, realized it was 6:15. I had been painting for four hours! I thought it was only 30 minutes.

So this is what I started today:

I know, it's a blank canvas, but not really. I worked for awhile to get the light to move across the background. You'll see why later in the week.



Here's what I'm looking at (though the color is wrong and it's a little out of focus):

See no evil

My newest painting.


Mr. Potato Head. This is the first of a series. I'm going to paint him next without ears, and then again without a mouth. I'm really having fun with this. It evokes a lot of questions. Is he blind by choice? He seems pretty happy without his eyes. Or does he appear to be trying to find them with his hands waving around searching? How did he lose them in the first place?

Someone suggested that I title this "The Bush Administration," and that brings up a whole new set of questions. Is Mr. Potato Head a symbol or our president, or does he represent the American people looking the other way?

I also like the idea of "Our Fearless Leader." It's less political, and open to a wider interpretation. And the idea of "the blind leading the blind" is something that everyone can relate to.

Regardless of the title, it's a painting that opened several doors in my head. I have lots of ideas for new paintings to keep me busy for awhile. Stay tuned...

Welcome.

Come visit anytime-- I'm at the corner of 49th and Aurora in Suite 322. (Call first to make sure I'm there.)

When you come, this is what you'll see at my new studio as you walk in the door:



This is the view from the other side of the room, looking at the wall behind the easel.



And this is my view most of the time.



Yep, that's Mr. Potato Head. It's the first of a series. He deserves his own post, so you'll have to wait for more of an explanation later in the week.

Oh, and the quote from the last post (no guesses?) is from the Liberian National Anthem. The correct words are, "though new her name, green be her fame and mighty be her powers..."

Libby wants me to stop singing now.

Meet Libby.

"Though new her name, grey be her fame...**

Also known as Liberia, Libby is our new roommate. Her job is mostly to keep me company while Chris is away, and to distract Chris from his computer when he's home. So far, she's done pretty well on both counts.

We adopted her last week from a local animal rescue shelter. She was a bit timid for the first few days, but she's quickly found her stride. Last night I came home to find her perched on top of the tall bathroom cabinet. She's playful, but gentle and she loves to lay on my lap and purr as I type.



This picture above shows her color more accurately, but the picture below demonstrates her personality. Obviously, it took a while to get a decent picture.



**Brownie points for anyone who can tell me what I'm referencing in the quote. I'll reveal the answer in the next post, but you can leave your guesses in the comments.

Finale.

It's my final week here at Gage. Next week, I'll move out of this studio and begin to work independently at my very own studio. My little space here will get a bit bigger. I'll have my own key, my own door and my own window. While I'll miss my little community here at Gage, I'm looking forward to working on my own terms. Playing music as I paint. Listening to NPR. Painting without unsolicited critiques. Enjoying quiet when I want it.

My new space is small, with a limited view. I won't have a computer there, so I'll have to make time at home for email and blogging. I won't have a fridge or a freezer like we have here, so I'll have to plan lunches a little more carefully. But I will have North Light and privacy. I will have independence. I will have the freedom to figure out how to be a painter on my own. I will also have a 10 minute walk from my house, rather than a 40 minute bus ride. I will have more opportunities to meet friends for lunch, or walk for ice cream at my new favorite neighborhood place.

I can't wait.

Meanwhile, I'm going to paint. And I'm going to pack. There's a lot of stuff in this small space...

Settling in again.

I'm back. Did you miss me?

I had a lovely visit with family, saw really beautiful scenery, and manned a support team for a marathon at sea. Once again, Chris's determination and drive made life crazy-wonderful for a couple of days. I'm always impressed with him and his fierce ambition. Who else would imagine running 262 laps around a jogging track on a cruise ship? I love that man.

Now I'm settling back in to life. And I'm reminded of how much I like my life. I like my house and my husband. I like my studio and the act of painting (even if I'm not always happy with the product). I like my job at the museum. I like knitting on the bus and the simple familiarity of crazy people on the route 49. I like that I have friends who are excited to see me and I like my rainy, grey-sky city. I like life in Seattle. And I like that we're staying here another year.

Vacation

Just a quick post to say why I'm not posting...

Chris and I went to Portland for a few days and returned last night. It was lovely. Today guests arrive for a family vacation, so I'll be back here sometime after the 15th.

I'll have lots to update you on then.

Thoughts at the Makeup Counter.

Last week I took a rare trip to the makeup counter at Macy's. I went because there was a special and I needed a couple of small things. As often happens (maybe because I'm a sucker), I ended up sitting in a chair while a young woman wearing lots of eyeshadow touched my face.

Now back in my teaching days, I needed a second job for awhile, so I used to work at one of these counters and I remember how this works. The girl with lots of eyeshadow needs to present herself as the expert and to do that she needs to make me feel insecure about my face or my skin or my eyes--whatever will help her sell me something to cover up or enhance or accentuate my features. Those are words the eyeshadowed girls use a lot.

So, anyway, I'm in the chair and the eyeshadowed girl is scrutinizing my face. After a pause, she asks, "So how old are you, dear?"

I smile (I know what's coming.) and say proudly, "31."

"Oh? Really? Hmm..." Delicate pause. "Well, let me show you one of our new products that will help you get rid of those circles under your eyes and get you back to looking more your age."

"Circles?" I think, "I didn't notice any circles this morning--hmm. Maybe I do need to put a little more effort into my appearance. Did I even look in the mirror this morning when I left? I wonder what the rest of me looks like."

I sat there in that chair and began to feel more and more insecure. I decided it was time to change the subject. "So," I asked, "what do you do when you're not at Macy's?"

"Well, I have a three year old little boy and he takes a lot of my time. When I'm not here then mostly I'm doing his laundry." She laughs with a tired smile.

I sense that she wants to change the subject, so I ask how long she's worked at Macy's.

"Oh, on and off-- about a year." Ok, let's change the subject again. So I ask if she had enjoyed the long weekend.

"Well, my boyfriend and I got in a fight, but then later we grilled out with his family, so... no I guess not."

Ouch. A little too much information. She realizes this and changes the subject, but thankfully not to my dark under eye circles. "So, what about you? What do you do?"

"Well, I'm an artist..."

In a effort to steer the conversation away from my facial flaws, I describe my life for her. I talk about my art, our travel, living overseas-- anything but makeup. And as I talk I realize, my life is really good. I look at her perfect makeup and I contrast my life with hers and decide that even with my under eye circles, I'd rather be me.

Finally, she steps back and hands me a mirror. "Now, doesn't that look nice," she says. "What do you think of that concealer? Should I put that in your bag, too?"

"No thanks, I don't need it."

Words fail.

So beautiful.

I know, I know...

I'm behind on posting. But I've been painting. See?



A whole new painting to look at. This is a collection of souvenirs from Chris's adventures recently. There's a painted tile from Tunisia, a terracotta box from somewhere (maybe Syria?), a small carved figurine from Easter Island and a bottle filled with sand from Jordan. The blue bowl is from the far off distant land of Anthropologie, but I wanted something blue-green and round, sort of as a symbol of the world. And looking inside the paper bag was my idea of exploring new places from a different angle. Also, it was pretty. Here's a view of my set-up.



I haven't yet painted the red handles and they're an important part of the composition. I still have a lot to do before that though. The color inside the bag is really important. I want it to glow, so that your eye is really drawn in to the bag. I'm trying to get everything else nailed down nicely before I really work on the bag.

Several people lately have told me that they can see how much progress I'm making. I've been doubtful, but I can see changes in my approach with this painting. I'm much more deliberate about things when I have a problem now. It's exciting to finally push past a plateau.



Also, you have no idea how satisfying it is that I can't see the difference between my painting and the wall in the top photo. I worked so very very hard to get that wall color right!

Goal Accomplished...

At the end of 2007, I made a few goals. I've written about them before, so I won't go in to a lot of detail here, but as we're almost halfway finished with 2008, I'm getting ready to evaluate and see what's going well and what still needs work.

2008 for me was the year Jolie goes pro with her art.. It's still scary, but I've made a lot of progress this year already. For example, I told myself that I wouldn't order business cards until I had actually made some income. Chris helped me figure out what that number would be--though it seemed incredibly high and nearly impossible, considering that I had not made one red cent until that point.

But this week we realized that I had more than doubled my expectations already--and the year is only halfway over.

I ordered business cards yesterday.

Writing this out makes me realize how amazing this is. Sometimes I think I really may be able to be a working artist. (Of course, most of the time I think this is a pipe dream...)

Either way, I'll have really cute business cards.

Is Color linked to Music?

In my studio over the past couple of days, we've been talking about an interesting system for organizing our palette. The Fletcher Palette system is based on the idea that colors and music are linked. It's a pretty complex system (for me at least) and I can't find a link online that explains it clearly, so I guess I'll attempt an explanation. Bear with me.

There are 12 musical notes and 12 colors that the palette is based on. The colors are all really intense chromatic colors, so forget about browns and beiges and grays for the time being. Think of a color wheel with Yellow, Yellow-Green, Green, Blue-Green, Blue, Blue-Violet, Violet, Red-Violet, Red, Red-Orange, Orange, and Yellow-Orange. You're also allowed to have White.

It looks a bit like this:



Ok, now in this example there are lines connecting complementary colors-- colors directly across from each other on the wheel-- like red and green, or purple and yellow, or orange and blue. The Fletcher System insists that these colors mixed together on a painting result in flat and muddy color. However, if you were to connect Orange to Blue-Green (instead of Blue) you would have a cleaner, crisper mixed color. So if you want to paint something that isn't so intensely chromatic, you would mix colors across the color wheel following a set pattern.

Here's where this relates to music. Fletcher's idea was that the 12 chromatic colors can be set up on a scale similar to the 12 tones in music. You then choose a color key for your painting, somewhat like choosing to play a song in the key of C. Once you've chosen your color key, then you mix your colors in intervals based on music as well. Another example: if you were to play a song in the key of C, then you'd play the notes C, E, and G to create a triad--or a major chord. The E note is third in the key and G is the fifth note in the key. (Chris had to explain this part to me last night.) So if you decide to paint using the key of Yellow, then following the circle around, you'd use Yellow, Red-Violet and Blue-Green which are spaced around the circle in intervals of three and five from Yellow. Look at the circle to figure this out. It's a little confusing.

You'd use those three colors mixed together to create a neutral gray, which you'd use similarly to a major chord in a song. It's the predominant harmony throughout the painting. And this system of arranging your palette allows you to have brighter and clearer colors in a painting.

As you can see, it's a bit complex. I'm intrigued by the idea that these intervals are so deeply ingrained that they can transfer from music to color, but there are a few holes in the theory for me. One, this only works with music based on the 12-note scale. Music in China, India and other parts of Asia, use a completely different scale, so I can't really buy in to the idea that this system has a universal appeal. Secondly, it's a bit frustrating and time consuming trying to mix a color that looks like Yellow Ochre when you have a tube Yellow Ochre right in your taboret.

Maybe the results are worth it. I'll let you know.

Etsy Store update...

Look over there to your right. You'll see a small list that says, "look at these, too." At the bottom of that list, you'll see a link that says, "my etsy store." If you click that link, you'll see how I kept myself busy while Chris was away. There are 18 new listings there today. They're all jewelry and they're inspired by paintings I've done.

Feel free to click the order link as well. :)

At long last, an image!

This is the painting you saw a few weeks ago. It's now finished and hanging in a group show at Gage. Hooray for a camera and for friends! More details this week, when I'm at the studio.

Maybe I should do some more reading...

A request from a friend...

These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you've read and italicize the ones you started but didn't finish.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi : a novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
The Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair

The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations

American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West

The Canterbury Tales
The Historian : a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno (and Purgatory and Paradise)
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes : a memoir
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers

Rain.

Friday night was lovely. Lots of friends came and a grand time was had by all, I think. If you didn't RSVP or if you RSVP'd a "yes" and didn't come, then you missed out! Sadly, no one had a camera, so still no photos of the event. However, I did get a photo of the rainbow jello later-- so here it is.



Impressive, no?

So I came home Friday night and really felt grateful for my friends and that they were willing to come out to support me. And even stay to help me clean up! (Thanks, Kelli and Rosie!)

But then Saturday several things conspired to make it a really tough day. And Saturday evening, I just curled up in a chair with my knitting and tried to adopt the "tomorrow is another day" philosophy. But Scarlett O'Hara failed me yet again. Because Sunday wasn't really any better. For once, I really looked forward to Monday. I had a good long talk with a friend. Chris comes home this week. Painting is going well, even if other things aren't. Someone reminded me to cut myself some slack-- and I'm trying. And today has dawned bright and beautiful.

Yet I feel like this--



*Photo Credits: Jenn (Rainbow Jello) NYTimes (Rainy Seattle)

Oh, and one more thing!

This is the most important-- it deserves it's own post.

Mary is 16 today! Happy birthday, Mary Monster. Chris and I are really proud of you and hope you have a great day. You're an amazing, funny, smart, beautiful and fun to be around. We love you a lot! We're looking forward to celebrating your birthday properly in a few weeks with an ice cream tour of Seattle!

Still...

I know I keep whining about this, but it's really hard to come up with something to post here when I don't have a camera to show you what I'm talking about.

However, good things are happening. I had a terrible afternoon Wednesday, but then went for sushi with a friend and managed to salvage the day in to something quite nice. Then the rest of the week has been devoted to getting things ready for my open studio party tonight. It's just a small get together to celebrate my work this year, but I'm still excited about it.

And finally, my amazing husband was mentioned in a New York Times blog today! I'm really proud of him! Only 5 days until he (and the camera) get home! I'll be really excited to see both of them!!

How did it get to be Wednesday already?

Really? Wednesday?
And I haven't posted yet? Well, I better get on that.

So this week...

Well, I made the Rainbow Jello that I linked to last week. Here's what I learned. It's really pretty, but it's a lot of work for something that still just tastes like Jello. I don't really like Jello.

I also made oven-dried tomatoes. That was easy and satisfying. I am all about things that are easy and satisfying.

And I painted. I still can't show you what I've done, but I think I've cleared a new hurdle with my work. I've talked before about how I seem to hit a wall, when I'm ninety percent finished with a painting. Last week, Gary offered a cumulative critique of my work from the year. As we talked about my work as a whole, I was able to see the consistent weaknesses and, more importantly, how I could fix them. So since then, I've been working on details. Straightening edges, smoothing transitions, sharpening perspective lines, adjusting value shapes... it makes for a better painting, but boring blogging--especially without a camera. Sorry.

I love this...

oh, my! How complicated-- but it's soooo pretty.

http://adventuresofafoodslut.blogspot.com/2008/04/rainbow-jello.html

A story... and a reminder to myself.

So, I was 9 before I learned to ride a bike.

Yeah, I know. Most people learn around 6. I had a bike, but I was too busy trying to learn to tie my shoes--or learn to swim--or cut my own food-- uh... wait. I didn't really learn to tie my shoes until last year (it's a long story), I'm still more of a floater than a swimmer, and I became a vegetarian mostly because I'm not so good at cutting meat. Ok, so I don't really have a good excuse.

Anyway, for whatever reason, I couldn't ride a bike. It wasn't that I didn't try. It wasn't that my mom didn't run behind me for hours holding the back of the bike, it wasn't that I didn't know how to pedal. I mean, every member of my family spent hours in the driveway with me, but I just couldn't get past the training wheels stage. Finally, I just started to feel dumb, inept and ridiculous. It was frustrating to me and to everyone else. The bike with its streamers went into the garage and stayed there for months.

Then we moved to a new neighborhood. It was quiet and friendly and a perfect place to spend hours riding a bike. But I couldn't. I just walked or stayed home. The bike stayed in the garage. Eventually, someone noticed. At a cookout one evening I wanted to go with the other kids, but they were all on bikes, so I sat with the adults and looked bored. Our neighbor Richard asked me why I wasn't out there. As I hung my head in shame, my mom gave a long and embarrassing explanation while all the other adults proffered helpful suggestions.

"Yes, we tried that, but she still can't ride it."
"No, it didn't work."
"I just didn't know what else to do."

Richard spoke up. "I can teach her."

"Really? I don't know. We've all tried..."

Richard looked at me and said, "Meet me in our driveway tomorrow afternoon."

I was afraid, but I walked the bike over to Richard's house the next day. I was fully expected to fall, to fail, to disappoint another adult and embarrass myself yet again. I was afraid this was going to end in another visit to the dentist or the ER. Worst of all, I was afraid that Blake and Michael-- Richard's teenage sons-- would make fun of me.

But I got on the bike. After a few falters, Richard said, "Jolie, when you feel like you're going to fall, turn the handlebars in the direction you're falling." Huh? But, if I'm falling that way, then don't I want to go the other way? That doesn't make sense. "Just try it and see what happens."

Fifteen minutes later, I was riding a bike down the biggest hill in the neighborhood with Richard running behind unable to keep up. It is still one of the proudest moments of my life.

I still remember that--"turn towards the way you're falling." There's probably an important life lesson there. But the thing I remember most is that someone believed I could do something, even after I had given up on myself.

Thanks, Richard.

Sock evangelist...

This morning, I was on the bus early. Chris left before 5 to catch the bus to the airport (he's on his way to Easter Island, if you're curious*) and since I was awake, I decided to just get up and go to the studio. So I'm on the bus, the sun is shining and I'm knitting an orange sock. Because it was so early, there were several empty seats, so I was surprised when a lady sat down immediately next to me. She was obviously on her way to work and I was a little annoyed when her laptop case invaded my personal knitting space.

She watched me knit for awhile and finally turned and said, "So I followed your advice. I'm on my second pair." Huh? It was early, I'm not a morning person and I'm generally pretty wary (with good reason) of social interactions on the bus.

I must have looked pretty confused, because she said, "Oh-- you don't remember. I was on the bus with you last month when you were knitting the red and blue striped socks and you told me I could knit socks, too. You told me you could barely tie your shoes and so if you could do it, then anyone could. So I went out and got the yarn and Googled the pattern and now I can knit socks, too. You were right." And then she pulled out her sock to show me.

Another one brought over to the wooly side.

*Note: The camera is on its way to Easter Island with Chris. Don't ask. I'm so annoyed with myself that I don't have any pictures to show you. A solution to this camera craziness is simmering-- stay tuned.

ARGH!

I forgot the camera again. I'm a doofus. I have nothing more to say!

Sugar cookies and... what else?

Last night I made a big batch of sugar cookies. I cut them out into heart shapes. They were really good. Chris ate more than 10.

I'm going to finish knitting my socks this week. They are pink and orange.

Umm...

I'm just telling you this because I forgot the camera again today, so I can't show you the paintings I'm working on. That's frustrating. I guess I'll just tell you about them.

I've done two small landscapes this week-- more views from my bedroom windows. One is the view from my porthole on the Anastasis. Well, sort of. I had so many different views, that I chose to paint a view of sailing. I also painted a night scene, because that's how I remember the view from our bedroom on Water's Edge Lane.

I've worked more on the monumental still life, correcting angles and sharpening edges. And I've started a new landscape--it's a memory of something I saw last fall. The moon was rising through the trees here in the neighborhood and there was a lamp in the window of a house across the street. The brightness of the moon and the lamp in the window were a lovely contrast and I took a picture with my cell phone. And then forgot about it. This week, when I was transferring stuff to my new phone, I found the picture-- so now I'm painting it.

Ok, tomorrow I'll really try to remember the camera to show this stuff. Meanwhile, I'm going to eat a few sugar cookies.

Well, I'm 31.

I guess it's time to take off the birthday crown and get to work.

This weekend was lovely. Jaymi at the Frye made a cake for me, then Chris took me out to dinner, and last night the girls at Hysteria brought cupcakes (thanks, Kiana!). I had many happy birthday wishes from strangers (that's what happens when you wear the birthday crown on the bus) and the weather was beautiful.

Today has dawned cold and grey, though and it's a reminder that it's time to settle in for another week and get to work. Pictures tomorrow, when I have the camera with me.

29 of 30 complete...

One year ago I began an adventure. I made a list of 30 things to do while I was 30. I put some wild and crazy things on the list, and some challenging things, and even some small triumphs. I wasn't sure I would get any of them done, but Chris had more faith in me. He started the year by helping me accomplish three of them on the first day.

This year I have been to the Symphony, had Veuve Clicquot champagne, been to the Grand Canyon, jumped rope, learned to tie my shoes in under 30 seconds, rode in a hot air balloon, climbed a mountain, skied down a hill (sort of), copied a masterpiece, swam half a mile, sang in public and had a fondue party.

I also knit a sweater, drove a stick shift, made bananas foster, made chocolate mousse, learned to kayak, read a short story in French, sang in public, went to New York City, grew my own vegetables and cooked with them, painted a portrait of Chris, read The Message, and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

And I made both of Chris's favorite desserts, published something, sold a piece of artwork (I actually sold three!), mostly conquered my fear of dogs, was mostly honest all the time, and made a quilt (that wasn't even on the list).

This afternoon on my lunch hour, my friend Kathy is going to pick me up, I'm going to meet Chris and we're going to ride a roller coaster at Seattle Center. It's the last thing on my list and the perfect way to welcome 31. Chris says this year is going to be even better, but I'm not sure. Then again, he was right about 30. We'll see.

Out of the ordinary

I'm at the museum today and I normally only post when I'm at my studio, but I think I'm going to shift some things around over the next few weeks and I thought I'd start with this.

It's a gorgeous day out today-- I sat in the sun and drank green tea and ate vegetarian sushi for lunch. I've had a low key week. Lots of painting and getting back in to a rhythm with life. I've been a bit out of my groove for a while now. First I was sick for nearly three weeks, then Chris was away which always throws me for a loop. Then my sister's wedding and the trip to Alabama. I'm hoping for a bit of quiet and order for awhile now. I know I paint best when there's a certain pattern to my days.

But-- warmer weather is coming and Chris is already planning is next big adventure, so I know this respite won't last long. Soon I'll be back to crazy-ness and uncertainty. It's all part of the fun that is my life. I like it that way mostly, but for now I'll enjoy these few mundane days.

Monumental Still life project

A new painting... the idea here is that you paint the still life objects with perspective that makes them look much larger in scale. So rather than having objects look like normal cream and sugar bowls, they look as if they are the size of buildings. A bit disconcerting and not my usual thing, but I decided to be daring. What do you think?

Now showing...part two

And a few more...

Now showing...

Here are a few photos of my show-- most of these paintings will be familiar to you if you follow the blog, but it's nice to see them on the wall.