Georgia Cabin, 8x6 Pen and Ink Drawing

 

I have been viewing a class on Sktchy.com on crosshatching and this is my first effort. In retrospect, it was a little crazy to start with a such a complicated subject. The class is taught by David Morales and his beautiful drawings inspired me. I'll find a simpler subject next time. Can't wait to do this again.

Carmen

Steve Jobs Collage in Word Play Exhibit in Winter Garden, Florida

This collage is in the "Word Play" exhibit at the SoBo Gallery & Art Center in Winter Garden for the month of January. The theme is artworks with words incorporated in them. I am really excited about this, because I used to live in Winter Garden and I always call it my "Happy Days" stage of life. It was a lot like the TV show, just a carefree time of life with some very interesting characters. For sentimental reasons, I am very happy to be in the show, and after about 30 years away from Winter Garden I was happy to see that the town is smart enough to keep up with the times and become a very nice place to visit. The downtown area has managed to be quaint, beautiful and trendy all at the same time.

P.S. The collage just sold!

Carmen

Batten Down the Hatches! Dorian's Coming.

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I'm scheduling this drawing to appear on the day we will most likely be evacuating this island because of the powerful hurricane that seems to be bearing down on us. We've put up shutters, stocked up on water, filled the tub, bought non-perishable items, brought in anything loose in our yard, etc. Meanwhile the storm is out in the ocean building strength in the warm waters. If it does as predicted and pounds us for three days, we've never experienced anything this bad, so your prayers would be appreciated. To my friends and family here, please stay safe.

Carmen

Paris Crosswalk, 5x7 Oil on Panel, Daily Painting, France

This is one of my favorite paintings. I took the photo from the window of our hotel in Paris, and I love the simplicity of it. I love Paris in the Springtime...I love Paris in the Fall...

Carmen

Celeste, Graphite Drawing on Paper, 8x10

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I've been so busy on a big project with songwriter Bobby Braddock that I have had no time for new items to post. I did manage to find some time to do this drawing and had fun with the hair. 

Carmen

At the Movies, 30x40 Oil Painting on Canvas, Transformations Exhibit

 

Several years ago I participated in an art show called Transformations, in which each team consisted of an artist and a poet who collaborated to produce a painting and a poem. It's amazing how well-paired each team was, because many never met before this project.

My poet partner, Jean Shepard, lives in Jacksonville, so we met in Ormond Beach to toss around ideas for our collaboration.  When I was born, we lived in an apartment inside a movie theater, and my father managed the theater. She was fascinated by the idea of living inside a movie theater. She wrote her poem from my father's perspective and also made interesting observations on time and motion. All of this gave me the idea for a painting with my mother in the center, sitting on a crescent moon, surrounded by movie stars.
Here is Jean's poem, "At the Movies."

Being two with the hope of three,

it was all they could afford,

an apartment above the cinema

where for hours each day he was a god

at work, turning day into night,

night into day with a flipped switch.

Where he revealed moments

snatched out of time

and run through a light

for believers who sat in silence below.

When two became three,

they ascended the narrow stairs

carried a pink bundle to an empty crib

watched with fascination

the arms waving, the legs kicking,

the unknowing, introverted face.

But others waited below.

He descended to darkness and the machine,

the sour smell of celluloid,

its tiny pieces of the past

curled on themselves like a  shell.

As he turned the switch on

and watched the relentless streaming

he suddenly saw how we move in the world,

how we run forward while

looking back over our shoulders

caught up in continuous flight.

Then he thought of the pink bundle above him,

the new skin, curled fingers,

the tiny feet that had not touched earth

and he was afraid.

Three Portraits, 16x20 Graphite Drawing

This was a long-ago commission, graphite on paper. I haven't done a portrait in this style for quite a while.

I have been devoting too much time to marketing art and not enough time to doing art lately. I don't like that. I start thinking of my painting time as a guilty pleasure, and that is warped thinking. That's my job, and if it happens to be a pleasurable job, well, good for me. I've also been neglecting my health by not exercising enough. I told my husband I was going to suffer from flabosity if I didn't change, and he said there is also danger of gelatiny (pronounced jel-at'-nee). Such a wiseguy.

Carmen

Portrait, 16x20 Pencil Drawing, Graphite on Paper

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Yes, it did take a long time to do the hair, but I enjoyed every stroke. It's very different from the way I work in paint. 

I have discovered another New Zealand artist to admire--John Crump. Plein air at its best. 

Carmen

The Little Bridge, 5x7 Pen and Ink Drawing

$30, Click to Purchase

Every time I draw one of these cottages it takes me back to my childhood, reading Grimm Fairy Tales. Those were my favorites The ones that were really grim were the ones by Hans Christian Anderson. They used to scare me to death. He was Stephen King for children. One title I still remember: The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf. Terrifying.

The brothers Grimm had some scary ones too, but fortunately my book had such winners as Cinderella and Rapunzel. There's nothing wrong with a happy ending.

Carmen

Daily Painting Book by Carol Marine

I am so happy to report that my zentangle drawing above is included in Carol Marine's soon-to-be-released book Daily Painting. Some of the most amazing artists are in the book, and I am so honored to be included! Release date is November 4th on Amazon, or you may pre-order now for a discount of about $8. Here is the Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Painting-Creative-Productive-Successful/dp/0770435335/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412907428&sr=8-1&keywords=daily+painting

This is a really bright spot for me during what I call the Month of Worries. My loved ones have experienced eye surgery, knee surgery, bypass surgery, pneumonia, and blood clots. I myself am still recovering from my knee replacement and it is going well, so I have no complaints. The meds make me really stupid but that too shall pass. I hope.

Zennacle, 8x10 Pen and Ink Drawing, Black and White Fantasy Art

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I am  becoming obsessed with tree designs. When I paint in oils I have to see the finished painting in my mind before I start. When I do zentangle drawings I just let the pen take me where it may. I may decide to draw a tree or a bird, but after the initial outline the whole creation is about patterns and values. It just gradually grows until I am satisfied with the result. I highly recommend it as a meditative exercise with sometimes surprising results.

Carmen

Still Life with Zen, 9x9 Pen and Ink Drawing

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I haven't been doing much artwork this week, except for illustrations for a memoir I am working on. It's now time for me to paint the cover art, and that will be a relief, after sitting at the computer for three days straight getting the book laid out.

The drawing above was our challenge presented by Kathy Garvey to the Pieces of 8 last week. The challenge was to make everything look flat and one-dimensional. I think I slipped up with the zentangles inside the mango (between the glass and the teapot.) They are giving it some shape. I admit that's my favorite part of the drawing.

No. 10 on my list of things we should not put up with, yet we do:

Grocery products are getting smaller, yet costing more. There is either less in the package (like coffee and sugar), or the product itself shrinks (like toilet paper that is getting narrower and narrower in width), yet the cost is higher. You might say less is more.

Madame X, 5x7 Pen and Ink Drawing on Paper

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The attitude of this haughty bird reminds me of the original Madame X, the masterpiece painted by John Singer Sargent. It's like she's saying, "Here I am; yeah, these are funky shoes. So what?"

No. 6 on my list of things that make me grind my teeth and want to scream:

Negative political ads, especially the ones with the low-pitched, sarcastic, gossipy-sounding voice that sounds like they are sharing a nasty little secret about the opponent.

Tangletree, 6x9 Original Pen and Ink Drawing

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This is a really good day, and that is because any day you are not having an intestinal virus is a really good day. I started my week in South Beach, a good way to start, but got sick after that. I still haven't the strength to stand at the easel, but I can still be creative with drawing. I did get to draw with my painting group today and that was really fun. Kathy gave us a good challenge, which we will finish next week.

Mary gave me a good one to add to my list of "why do we put up with this?":

No. 5: Packaging that cannot be opened no matter how you try; its clear plastic taunts you with a view of the completely unattainable product inside, mocking your frustrating attempts at entry.

Zentangle Tree, 8x10 Pen and Ink

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Getting all Zen with a pen. Sometimes the only thing I have time for is drawing at night, and I find Zentangle drawing very meditative. I need that, because I am still listing my most irritating things we put up with, and here is my latest: went to a furniture store, took pictures of sofas and their prices, then returned later for the "40-80% off sale" to find that the prices have been marked way up, then slashed to appear to be a bargain.  The worst part is, they cost more than they did two weeks ago when we took the pictures. Deceptive and disgusting. I'm not buying from them, period. 

So, No. 4: Deceitful practices in retail stores.

Brett, 16x24 Charcoal Figure Drawing

NFS

Once a month I participate in the Stephen Perkins workshop at the Artists' Guild in Melbourne, Florida. I need to do life drawing at least weekly, but I just can't squeeze it into my schedule. I need to do better, because it is available both at the Guild and at Ralph's Art Supply in Eau Gallie. If you can draw people, you can draw anything. I should spend a year of my life drawing and painting people from life. Yep, that's what I should do. 

The wonderful artist Karin Jurick painted 200 mug shots, an impressive body of work. The colors, the brushwork, the expressions--every time I saw a face I wondered what the person's story was. Karin captured defiance, sadness, hopelessness and other raw emotions on her small canvases in a very dramatic way.

Zenfish, 5x7 Pen and Ink Drawing

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I will be going to Mexico soon, so my posts may be few and far between. I am going to visit San Miguel de Allende with my sister, and I expect to get some interesting subjects to paint down there. I hear it is a beautiful and historic city. I will be fresh off the Qiang Huang workshop, so I will have all my artistic juices flowing. 

Does Zen Roses, 5x7 Pen and Ink Drawing

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I guess I got tired of round roses. This is a Pen-and-Ink Zentangle drawing. matted in an 8x10 mat. People frequently say, "Painting must be so relaxing for you artists." Really? Well, it sure can make me tired, depending upon how complicated, elusive, or aggravating the subject. I must say, however, that when it goes well I get that artist's high that means I really like what I've done. Zentangle drawings are the truly relaxing forms of art for me. I can be as fanciful as I wish and it's like a form of meditation. It's even better than those trays of sand with little rakes in them. 

Tanglefish, 5x7 Pen and Ink

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Sometimes I have a plan for these Zentanglish drawings, and sometimes I don't. I started this one as freeform curves and went from there. It made itself into a drawing that looked very undersea to me to I went with that.

I've been cleaning closets, purging mercilessly, and stopping occasionally to do Zentangles. I also tried an absolutely different technique which I will post next. I will be knuckling down to doing some serious oil paintings soon, and in February Qiang Huang will be here to teach, so I should be pumped up for months after that!

Flamingo Dancer, 5x7 Pen and Ink Drawing

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Every time someone says, "Flamingo Dancer" this is what pops in my head. So nice to be able to put it on paper. I like the rose in her teeth (if she had teeth). Alas, my Flamenco Dancer fails in the castanet department; one really needs fingers for that.