Showing posts with label Dan Lacey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dan Lacey. Show all posts

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Virtual Art Picnic - Creative Every Day



Picnic Collage, Recycling
mixed media on 12" by 12" canvas board
made during Tele-Conference - Virtual Art Picnic

Fun afternoon! Just what I needed - in fact, probably need one everyday! The host, Leah, joined a group of women together by a tele-conference. Leah has a smooth, soothing smokey voice that instantly inspires comfort. She tell us that today we are to just "do" without any fear of failure and without the need to create our masterpiece.

Leah then goes through a short meditation session to get ourselves center for the task at hand. I light a candle and lots of good quality art-lamps. I have been gathering clippings from the recycling box all morning. I look for old crafty things like raffia, rubber stamps, glue sticks, ribbon and even glitter (couldn't find glitter). I'm watching the clock for two hours ahead, but still manage to arrive four minutes late!

The conference lasts two hours. The first 30 minutes we are on the phone together. Then we work alone for the next hour and finally return together to share what we have done. One woman used Pink as her theme, inspiring me to add a lot of pink - mostly because it just looked good on the black background. Another woman worked on a project she had set aside. Everyone was inventive and enthusiastic about the project. But my favorite of all was the location of one of the participates; she was in the backseat as her husband drove home from a family reunion. I can't imagine having supplies enough to work in the car, but she did say it was a favorite travel method for her, so I assume she was experienced in what supplies would be needed. Little did she know she is in the company of my friend, artist Dan Lacey, who recently blogged with pictures about painting in the car while his wife drove, another favorite place for him to paint!

Sometimes I'd like to have a husband, I wonder, would mine drive me around so I could paint? My late husband was not known for his driving skills - on land, his skill was on the water and there he was a Master Chief! But mostly, I am lonely. Companionship is a thing to be treasured coming easily to some and briefly to others.

You never know what you're going to get in this life, so don't miss a thing!

I'd like to join another VAP, Leah hosts them every few months. It was a relaxing "just-for-me" time. Thank you Leah and the other participants for a lovely afternoon!

ADDENDUM: 3/30/11 I just got a new comment for "credit card casino" which prompted me to reread this post.

Oh my, I have let so much slip by. I need to renew, long-term thinking, Forward-thinking. Get up Beckie, it's not too late, but the sun is lowering closer to the horizon -

Thank God I love the night!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Paint Beckie in the Shower!

This may be the craziest thing I ever do, but I wanted to have a nude painting of me! The story of how it came about is probably the best part of the story.


This is Self Portrait #7

acrylic on 6" by 8" canvas board
This one I painted.




I used layers of wash in light blue permanent, medium magenta, and raw umber. I then put 2 thin coats of iridescent gel, 1 coat of blue interference and finally coated it with a coat of glass bead gel, wiped it off ? and then put it back on!


The next painting is by my artist friend Dan Lacey. It is oil on 8" by 10" canvas sheet. I didn't think I could paint water and he does know more about painting water than I do!





The last picture is the reference photo I took myself!




I posted a note on Facebook regarding nudity. The upshot of the replys was "I don't understand what your problem is, Beckie, nudity is part of the body. Would you hesitate to paint an elbow? a belly button? a nose? Why then would you have a problem with nudity?"

I thought about this and realized that limiting paintings to "dressed-only" was denying one's self to a limited view and "all that God intended".

That, however, was not the intent of my note. I wanted to have a nude painting of myself done. I was just concerned about sending a nude photograph through email - AND - how far could you trust the artist you were sending it too?

I set up my tripod, ripped off my clothes and jumped in the shower! It is not easy taking "timed-release" photos of yourself in the first place, try doing it - multiple times - dripping wet - in & out - in & out - of the shower. My bathroom was a sopping mess!

So my challenge to any artist reading this, send me your rendition of Beckie in the shower. I promise I will post anything (I think) that you send. Let's see how long we can keep me wet!

Goodnight

Thursday, May 7, 2009

President Barack Obama

I love the presidential art that is so prolific now. I started buying it right at the inauguration. I believe the inaugural ball was what captured my attention. Once caught (my attention) I couldn't get enough. I love the portraits of Obama and Michelle and the family. I love the scene's which show formal and informal situations.


So, of course, I had to paint one of my own. It is a pastel done very early in my experience of daily painting on February 16th. It is on a scrap of pastel paper, 8" by 8.9". I sent it to an artist acquaintance who gave me tips about painting black hair. Apparently, it is not black at all! I need to do another using the colors she suggested.




I have a whole wall dedicated to my Obama art collection. It is not something everyone would want or even be interested in, but it gives me pleasure and I enjoy the installation.



Artists included in the "Obama wall" are Gretchen Kelly, Kim Roberti, Candy Barr, Joshua Budick, Austin Maloney, Dan Lacey, Dean Haven, Peter Fowler and Walter L. Hardy. I also have paintings from JoAnn Gerard and Joyce Kenny but they are not yet displayed on 'THE WALL'. Each of these paintings can be seen in detail by going to an artists blog or website, or they are all displayed in an album on my Facebook called "Barack and Michelle Obama".


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I'm including this photo because it is most interesting.




The shadows in the background tell a whole story, don't they?


Goodnight