blog update

oh heavens!

i've been away! 

are there still any blog readers out there in cyberspace? 

i've been tagged by donna at mice and moon beams.... i try to really NEVER do tags as a rule ..... but, since i have no art to show you .... i will do as she asked and tell you three non-essential things ..... 

1 . i just spent nine days away ..... my family took my parents to yellowstone national park ...... i'd never been to wyoming before .... we went to montana for lunch.... twice .... and we went to idaho just so i could say i'd been ....... we did nothing but get to idaho and turn around.... we had to rush back to yellowstone ... SOOOO much to do and see there!

2.  i have about 150 pounds of stinky laundry to do ..... i got a slip in one of our bags ... i feel bad for the poor soul who randomly selected my stinkiest suitcase to search ...... it smelled when i opened it ...i'm sure they weren't pleased! .... the only bomb was a stink bomb of dirty laundry smells .....

3. i think the bison is the most under appreciated animal EVER .... i am in love with bison .... i want to come back as a bison in my next life.... i'll live in yellowstone and pose happily for tourist photos ..... especially if the tourists speak kindly to me .....

art? art blog? 

i am washing my second load of laundry .... when i dig myself out, i'll probably paint some buffalo or something ..... 

re-nest

see any art that you recognize? 

this is what lola's gallery looked like last night at my re-nest .... there was mostly a big crowd there the whole night .....i talked to loads of people about my art ..... all in all, a grand evening .... now? whew..... an art reprieve for a bit .... by next big deadline is two huge canvases due to lola to show at the roswell art center in september ..... 

blue

tonight i am going to be at lola's for my nest show .....

it's been hanging a month, but today there is a street party in the neighborhood so we are doing another "opening" .. a half way thing .... a re-nest ...... so wish me luck there tonight ..... 

there is one fresh painting that i haven't shown you yet ... i took it up to lola's yesterday so it'll be in the show .... 

this piece is called "a pair's one pear"

does that make sense?

a pair's one pear .... 

so... the pear is part of a pair ... but we are only seeing one... where's the other half of the pear pair? 

it was a bright cheery blue pear painting ... and then thinking of its other half missing makes it kind of desolate ... gives a blue feeling ... but ... optimist that i am .... i hope the other half is just at the grocery store or something .... coming home soon with some ice cream ...... 

what would you have titled it? how's it make you feel?

oh no!

oh no! 

i'm worried that my lovely readers are going to be mad at me!

eek!

please don't be disappointed ... buy everyone who took the test on the last post? you failed! 

a recap? 

what should i do with this painting? 

your answers? 

diverse, kind, well thought out, interesting ..... 

the right answer? 

paint over it girlfriend .... 

you haven't liked it for two years? ditch it!

don't fret over spilled milk... spill paint on it instead! 

so ... i changed it ALL together ...leaving only the central red heart .... 

is that ok? 

are you mad at me ..... 

are you disappointed that i didn't follow any of your wise advice? 

eek!

but....done is done! 

and so it goes .... 

ok.... now you have to comment on this post .... on a scale of one to ten, how annoyed are you? if you are barely speaking to me, you can just leave a 1 .... i understand ..... 

party, party

look at the huge haul of stuff that i got in a sweet little box from 3rd eye muse .... she sent out party favor packets to celebrate her own birthday....little.e.beck.artist was covetous of the skeleton key chain

i think we'll make god's eyes this summer .... way cool looking .... 

i've already worn this groovy necklace a couple times ... here, it is not shown at its best ... since i'm wearing a painted shirt ......
and do you see the green in the middle? it is a thin beaded necklace and it is my FAVORITE ... i usually only wear bracelets for dress up cause they get in the way of real life ... but not this one ... i can wear it all the time .... 

thanks 3 ... you rock ... e

this is a test ..... you must answer the ONE test question .... it will be multiple choice, with the opportunity for an essay section for extra credit

so.... background: 

kristy at lola's has ALL my art for a show .... more than 50 pieces .... i had an opening about a month ago .... and this week i got an email that she needs MORE .... she's sold enough that it is looking thin .... my response? oh no! no art! ..... i had such a push to create and finish pieces for her show ...and then i slowed down dramatically with the kids getting out of school .... and there are pools to sit by! ...to date i've sat by four different pools and one ocean this summer .... 

but, i'm always up for a challenge .... and painted yesterday for a bit ....then ... oops, went to a pool with some friends ..... where i talked about art .... she, wisely, said: you have other art in your basement ... what's wrong with it? .... and i went on and on about not wanting to send art out into the world that i didn't love .... wise friend said: go look again .... some of them are great and you are too picky .... some of them you maybe can work on .... you don't have to start from scratch .... 

so, i did .... i came home and looked through some art .... and found this one .... done about a year and a half ago ..... 

so ... historically, it fits into my growth as an artist ... i did it amidst a long series of heart art .... you can see my heart set on flickr ...... and see where it falls in my heart art continuum .... 

when i did it, i hadn't done many big canvases at that point ... and this is three feet square ... my now favorite size ..... you can read about it here ... i guess i was never sure how done it was ..... i don't even know if i ever displayed it on my mantle or took it to a show .... it never quite sat right for me .... friends said nice things about it ... one friend LOVED it ..... 

so.... here is your test .... 

i was looking around ... 

i found it ..... 

i decided i needed to tend to it .....

what should i do? 

a. throw it away

b. take the canvas off and stretch new canvas for a fresh painting

c. paint over it

d. keep it cause someone will love it... give it to lola's for the show

e. something else ..... this answer entails an essay answer.... what would the something else be?

that's the test .... go ahead, answer it!

and a quick update of my art day .... i did not dawdle by any pools today .... i think i had about nine hours of studio time .... mostly with two girl artists working on their side of the table .... 

i worked on five canvases 

3 feet square: mostly turq.

30 inches squre: burnt umber .... to be a blue pear, i think

30 inches sqare: bright blue ... i think it will have an monopoly board

long thin: light turq. lettered ... not sure what it will be

long thin: dark turq...... the least far along ..... 

so .... take the test .... you will be graded .... who knows what glory will be had by the brightest test taker!

have a happy weekend .... i'm painting tomorrow during the day .... and sitting by a pool in the evening .... what are you doing?

just a video to dilly-dali over

When giants walked the earth and game shows were amazing
The Surrealist Life 

this just cracked me up .....salvador dali on what's my line .... he was an interesting artist, huh?  

art plans.....

so much for summertime blog-lite ..... i've been pretty artsy busy .... 

this piece finally dried .... so i got a pic of it .... 

and here's my mantle .... with collages 63,64,65 and 66 of this year ..... 

my house is so, so, so, so, SO very bare .... i usually have a good bit of art all over the place .... but for my show at lola's, i really emptied the house of all of my art.... so these four new pieces are about it! and that's allison's gifty collage in the middle ..... 

....and here's my interesting thing .... i got an email from kristy at lola's gallery ... and she needs a bit of a restock before my re-nest show next thursday night .. what? a restock? restock with what??? these four tiny canvases sure won't take up much wall space! ... ha .... but ... no way can 

i argue with some one who wants to sell MORE of my art ... so .... in the next three days, i hope to complete three paintings ....i've done way harder than that before.....right? i think a nest, a pear and a happy home ... or some hearts ..... we'll see!! 

here are two paintings that have sold at lola's recently : a monopoly bingo flowers ... and the four hearts canvas .... both pretty BIG .... so i'm going for big this week .... 

quick! what should i paint ... your vote counts! 

quick, quick!!

no time to blog much ... i'm on my way to family night at boy scout camp .... to see my boy.beck.artist ..... he's away for the first time ever .... a week ... at least it's broken up by me going to him .... i baked for family night: 

140 choco chip cookies and a triple batch of brownies .... that was my a.m. artistic endeavor ..... 

and here's my afternoon .... i did a bit on all of these canvases .... and finished one .... the orange pollen bingo flowers .....

if you pop over to flickr, i have this pic with lots of notes about what's what .....

here's a close up of  65 and 66 for the year together .... 66 has glue drying still ... i can't stand it up for its formal portrait .... so i'll give you the official pic of that tomorrow .... 

and last .... i've started working on a house assemblage ....  

no telling how long it will take to complete ... i usually lose momentum while i wait for the glue to dry!! 

off to scout camp to embarrass my boy with hugs and kisses and missing yous .... 

and perhaps we'll be eating something choco yummy .... rah!

bingo flowers ....

this is the collage that i finished today ... on one of the four backgrounds that i did last week ....

it is  12 inches square ..... i went a bit dotty spotty .... with yellow dots ... that i think are pollen or seeds or buds .... the red disks are poker chips ... their yellow circle centers are wooden bingo markers with the same yellow paint ..... and the bingo numbers are from a vintage bingo set ..... cheery flowers, eh?

this next pic is of the next painting that i'll probably finish tomorrow ... i did orange spots and got the first coat of orange paint on the bingo markers ..... so, it'll be similar to the first painting... but with orange pollen instead of yellow ...... 
i've been a happy blogger lately .... two blog posts ago i asked for website advice ... i got nine comments and LOADS of emails back and forth .... lots of advice and things to think about ..... that's why i blog .... well, one of the reasons ... the feedback ... the nice helpful things folks have to say .... the regulars! ... so ... if you are one of my regulars? thanks for that! 

this morning, we had two play dates over .... little.e.beck..artist had her best pal over...best pal painted a penguin with a purple spotty egg on a snowy plain under a sunshine and lavender clouds ...... while little.e.beck.artist finished this project as a gift for ME .....
she painted a lavender wooden box last week .... but my fluid acrylics didn't all fit in ..... so she painted another one ..... it is a work of art .... turquoisey green and orange with lots of drawings and messages on it .... 

this next drawing is my favorite ..... it is me after i get two more dogs ... apparently little.e.beck.artist thinks i need two more dogs .....
girl.beck.artist also had a pal over ... and they went to town on canvases ... acrylics and collage and lots of laughing .... so ... the studio was crowded .... and i didn't get too much accomplished ... but it sure was fun ..... 

what have you been doing for fun ..... 

drum roll, please .....

i checked the radio sandy springs web site on friday, saturday, and sunday .... since i'm not the patient sort, i checked more than once some days .... looking for my radio interview .... and today, just back from a tennis match in 90 degree heat with 237% humidity, i checked again .... and, rah! my radio interview is on the web .....

on friday, melissa galt of sandy springs radio interviewed me for thirty minutes  about my art and my artsy self..... have a listen! 

i don't think i sounded too squeaky or too giddy or too dim .... it was interesting to hear it and not be sure what my answer was going to be! .... clearly it was a bit more of an out of body experience that i knew ..... clearly, also, i don't have a career in radio in my future! ha ..... but i sound like i might enjoy being an artist ..... tra la la .... 

video killed the radio star

i'm certainly not a radio star .. but i had this song humming in my head all day ... i'd say singing in my head ... but i didn't know any words besides the chorus.....

well... i did it .... 

.... i was on a radio show ... the art full life with melissa galt on radio sandy springs ...... 

how was it? 

well.... i had fun .... it was a charge ... a kick ... fun and happy .... 

how'd i do? 

i have no idea .... i really didn't think about it being a radio show once we got going ... i was just having a happy chat with melissa ... she'd be great at a party .... i'm sure she can talk to anyone about anything ..... but since i forgot i was on the radio, i wonder if i sounded all giddy and goofy like i was at a party ..... and not thoughtful and reflective and intelligent .... eek!

and the show isn't listed on the website yet .... so i can't listen to it to find out how i did ..... and neither can you .... but .... once i hear it, if i don't sound too ridiculous, i'll give you the link here, so you can put a squeaky voice with this blog self and my happy paintings ..... 

my day started with errands with little.e.beck.artist .... then some painting .... i worked on the backgrounds that i had started yesterday ..... i'm working on four of them .....i worked on the background glazing a bit and then did some letter stamping for textual texture over the map backgrounds .....

not much painting and then it was time to go to the radio show ....i'm not a fixy girl ... i'm kind of what you see is what you get ... but it momentarily crossed my mind that i wasn't sure what to wear to an interview ... granted, radio, and no one would see me ... but i still had a moment of wonder .... i got out of my painty clothes and just put on some usual stuff .... but i wore my favorite orange shoes and the orange ring that little.e.beck.artist gave me ...any day gets upgraded if you wear orange shoes ..... little.e.beck.artist told me i was beautiful and asked to take my picture .... i've cropped it to just the important orangeliscious bits here:

one question that i remember being asked on the show was how does being an artist effect my family .... looking at this last picture make me think, oh, i'm so busy painting that my dog goes a little longer than she should between baths .... eek! ..... i guess that's what i'll be doing this weekend ... how bout you? any grand plans? 

p.s ....the next thing on my artistic agenda ... my next goal ... my next step on the journey as an artist known as e ...... is to make a website .... so ... let's hear it ... give me advice ... do it myself somewhere? where? get someone else to design it? whom? help me .... give me advice .... 

art bloggage for thursday ....

i'm thinking my aim for summer will be two or three times a week blogging ..... as opposed to my school year aim of monday through friday blogging ..... during the school year, i try to do art every day .... so i have plenty to put down in the art blog ..... but that's just not happening this summer .... but, i've done a bit ..... and will continue to document the bits .... even if they are few and far between .....if i hear a wild uproar from my faithful followers that i'm not blogging enough, i can always fill you in on the lovely moments of my summer days ... for example ... i could write a long, long post about going swimming at a friend's pool .... and my dog? she fell in the pool ..... it was something! ... but not something, necessarily, for an art blog .....

so, i'm sticking with art, as usual ..... and here, a picture of a painting i finished this morning .... 

 and then here's a studio shot ... you can read about it on my flickr site ... there are lots of tags to read as you scroll your mouse over the picture there ..... it will help you identify some of the bits and piles .....

i have some small backgrounds that i could have worked on completing ... but i wasn't feeling it .... so i started some fresh backgrounds .... while putting on the maps i was listening to one of melissa galt's archived radio shows with an artist ..... it got me thinking about MY upcoming interview on that show .... and what my art is and how i started and what it means .... and ...eek ... head swimming .... it made me think about the path or paths that my art takes ..... i mostly work in series ....numbers of series at a time ..... and then sometimes unknowingly i leave a series ...stop exploring that path ..... so .... with these four i am going to go down an old path ..... i used to do so much work with keys and bottle caps and chunkier bits .....chunkier than paper ......but haven't lately ... in fact, if you go to my 100 set where i am chronicling the 100 canvases i made a new years' resolution to complete this calendar year, you'll see NO chunky ..... all vintage papers ... not much but paper .... so, i'm going to back up .... whip out that e6000, the stinkiest strongest glue EVER, and make some chunky art .... we'll see how that goes .... if it lasts....or if it is just a small diversion til i get back onto a more recently trod path ...... 

tomorrow, i am going to be interviewed on melissa galt's radio show, the art full life ...... you can listen to her archived shows here ..... 

on friday, june 6th, her show starts at 2 ... you can listen to it live on the computer, even if you aren't local .... go here to radio sandy springs ..... or ... don't really ... it might make me nervous if i thought someone might actually be listening ....eek! ...... wish me luck ! 

sunday art

i finished one small painting today ... a six inch square... i gave you a titch of a preview in yesteday's post .... here's finished: 

and i've dug this out again .... big green... a four by three foot canvas....that i've been working on...and dithering about ...... for YEARS :

i dug it out with the hopes that i'll work on it this week .... mr.e.beck.artist saw my uploading this picture and asked if it was mine .... yes, dear .... and he said??  .... he said ...oh, i really like it .... 

then we argued over whether it was done or not ... i say not nearly .... he says it could be ... what does he know? ha! we'll see ..... 

boy.beck.artist and girl.beck.artist have basketball camp all week .... so little.beck.artist and i will have mornings full of art, i hope ..... 

what's your plan for this week? something artsy, i hope.....