Mother of Exiles, Statue of Liberty, Crying, Pencil Drawing on Paper, 9x9 inches

The plaque on the wall of the Statue of Liberty reads, in part:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

This used to be America. It didn't say, "We will snatch your children from you and store them in an old WalMart. We will return you to your abusive husband or to be killed by drug cartels. We don't even know what we will do with your children." 

My own great-grandparents would never have  come here if they thought this would happen to their family. Have we completely lost our humanity?

Carmen

 

Ten-Minute Paintings, 5x7 Oil on Panel Still Life

I've been doing lots of practice paintings to loosen up; first, 30-minute ones, then ten-minute ones. As I previously mentioned, my painting group did ten-minute exercises the last time we met, and it was a lot of fun.

I also did a yellow pear, and I'm not showing that one. Ick. It was, however, delicious.

Carmen

Yellow Posies, 5x7 Oil on Panel, Floral Still Life

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During a previous meeting of the Pieces of 8 painting group I challenged everyone to do a painting in 30 minutes. This week I challenged them to do one in only ten minutes. We put flowers, fruit, and an onion on a table and we each painted one object in ten minutes. Then we turned the table so we each had a different vantage point and did it again. We did five paintings this way, and it was wonderful practice in so many ways. This was my first painting, and my best one.

Carmen

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

Fairy Cottage, 8x10 Pen and Ink Drawing, Zentangle-Inspired

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When I am making up my own little fantasy world like this it is almost as good as reading fairy tales as a child. I start with a simple drawing, then let the patterns take me where they want to go. I try to use different values to add interest and form. 

I put my drawing in a double mat, which really gives it a nice finished look. It is ready to frame now.

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.

Zentennae, 8x10 Pen and Ink

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I haven't posted for days, because I am working on a complicated larger painting right now. It even has a horse in it. Last night I indulged in some meditative zentangle as a relief from the detail work in the oil painting on my easel. I just drew a line and let it grow from there until I had this quirky piece.

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. 

Witch of Zendor, 8x10 Pen and Ink

I was just doing Zentangle type designs, very freeform, when I realized I was drawing a witch. I put the hat on her head and got her all ready for Halloween. I put her in a double mat, outside size 8x10. This is my first holiday drawing. Wonder if a Zentangle turkey will come out of my pen for Thanksgiving?

PURCHASE

Zenya, 5x7 Pen and Ink

PURCHASE

My Zen Pen just goes off on its own sometimes and I never know what will come out. This was a lot of fun. This pen and ink drawing is matted in an oval double mat. I just finished a large oil painting commission, so this is a nice way to wind down and still be creative.