Jessie at work...hey, I think I know that girl.... Battled the rain to get down to Jessie's for some art time and hanging out. Took care of some official Art Hive Business in Delray...the magazine keeps getting bigger and better, one confirmed launch party, some event planning and watching Angela work her marketing wonders. Came back and marveled at the wonders of Photoshop at the hands of my graphic designing diva friend, Jess. Wow. FINALLY filled in my planner with the dates for each month and the beginnings of, well...planning. Then...came on home to make CED #219...lack of sleep starting to kick in...
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Yesterday...I was at the gym and I saw the story about the Sikh temple shooting. I felt like I needed to throw up. I kept fighting back tears. I don't know if it is because of the recent shooting in Aurora...but this story really spoke to me. So, late last night... I made a piece of art in memory of those lost. I don't know what I am going to do with this piece. I think I am going to send it to Wisconsin. Seems like the right thing to do. I have a hippie heart and I like to think that on some level good deeds and beautiful things can help to battle all the hate and evil in this world. I can only hope that I can make a piece of art that can help someone heal in my lifetime. I put love into this piece, and I will send it out with love, in memory of the innocent people that died yesterday in this senseless act of violence. And...as I am writing this I realized that today is the 67th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. My feelings came flooding back from my trip to Hiroshima in 2009, where I was led around the Peace Memorial with a group of Japanese students...an experience that truly moved me. There was a book at the park, and I remember signing it with the students. I wrote, 'Peace is the only truth'. And I believe that. Still. And love is the only way to get to that truth. And my art is my love. As you know, or if you didn't I have been working with some images that were inspired originally by Elisa Mazzone, creating works in my style inspired by elements that I pulled out of her work. Some of the things that initially attracted me to her work were her use of color, and also the contrast of the color with areas of tight rendering, in what looks to be pencil or black colored pencil. Add that contrast to the finished and unfinished, I was hooked. Amazing, simple amazing. What totally made my day? I sent Eliza a message via Facebook to let her know that 1) she was awesome, 2) her work was an inspiration to me and, 3) to let her know about the pieces I was creating based on this month's challenge. Folks, she sent me a response. I got art kudos from my muse. Seriously? Wow. So...with that bit of background...here are the images I had created from August 1-4th (below), all based on her work. Good and Evil by Innes McDougall After I am done jumping up and down and celebrating Elisa's message, I am on Pinterest, pinning some images to my 'Inspiration' board...and I come across this image (below). Holy crap. Those eyes looked right into my soul. Amazing. The quality of the rendering, the eyes look so realistic...the contrast of the black against the color...add that to some splats and drips...which I love...where do I sign up? The piece is called, 'Good and Evil' by Innes McDougall, of the United Kingdom. Here are some more links where I found more work by the artist...
Of course...I have gotta make some art after seeing this, right? I had started a piece late last night, decided that I needed to go off on a detour and focus on eyes...and I was really feeling the butterfly imagery...so I was thinking that I would add a dragonfly wing, and just focus on one eye. That is where I left off that night, and the next morning I come across this image? Meant to be. Sunday morning, I finished that eye poolside. Some detail drawing and shading on the eye and then watercolor on the wings. Honestly, I wasn't going to add any drips or splatters yet, I was thinking after I saw this piece by Innes McDougall that I would gradually work towards this after a few pieces. Then I got a smudge on my paper. Can I digress? Okay, thanks. Being a left hander. I am forever smudging. I know, I know...I should just pay more attention, or keep a paper under my hand....blah. It turns out, my accident gave me permission to go ahead and try to add some of this style to my work. I started another one, this one with a Monarch butterfly reference...then another one, using a red butterfly as my reference. Here is what I came up with; (below) Oh goodness...then I worked on CED #218...girl meets monarch butterfly...still inspired by Mazzone's work...and Alphonse Mucha's hair...started her poolside, but came in because the sky looked pretty dark. I escaped the rain but not a little sunburn. Anyway, here is a slideshow of my Sunday artin'. (below) ...went to bed at 3ish? ...woke up at 7 with a drawing in my head...which turned out to be CED #217... After some morning drawing time...it was time to, well, teach some drawing. (yay!) I subbed for another Bak prep class (aka 'art teacher heaven') today at the Armory. It was mostly the same group from last week, and we were still working on self portraits. I noticed that some of the students were rushing a little, so I added the challenge today of starting a second drawing that would show the student holding the mirror, and then the drawing would be the reflection in that mirror. Does that make sense? Ummmm....the picture might help; Really great class today. It still takes me a little time to get used to the quiet...to realize that nothing is wrong, they are just that focused. A-ma-zing. I really enjoy working in this small group setting on portfolio pieces...might have to start promoting my art tutoring services... The rest of the day...gym, grocery shopping and my typical coma...er, nap. And here it is, almost 12am and I am still up, thinking about making some more art. Go figure.
So...originally my intention was to pick a new artist or work each day...but I have become fixated by the work of Elisa Mazzone. The reason that this particular piece (below, left) inspired me is that I feel it shows the construction/process of the work. I can see the underlying structure, the sketch, then more solid line...going into detailed rendering...and finally...full rendering and color detail. I love the progression...and feeling like I can sense the artist's hand in the work. Ms. Mazzone, wherever you are...your work is amazing. Wow.
Well, here is what I came up with... CED #216, inspired by Elisa Mazzone. Good night! So...last night as I was finishing up my self portrait for July I peeked at the CED main page to see what August would have in store. The theme? It is shadow. I went to sleep...thinking about shadows. Woke up and got ready...thinking about shadows. Went to cheer camp with my new JV team...still thinking about shadows. Went to Zumba...still thinking about- you guess it...shadows. Hmmmm...well, I could do what came to me first- include shadows in my work, I thought. Or... I could work with light and dark. Wait, no, I should work in charcoal all month. Then... I thought about working with the idea of creatures that might live in the shadows...but, alas, nothing seemed to capture my attention. Then I started to think about my 'Inspiration' board on Pinterest. Almost every day I login and look for art and artists that inspire me. I choose images because I like the colors, or the use of line. For some it is the subject matter. Regardless of whether it is a formal quality or a more expressive quality, something about that image struck me, so I pinned it...storing it away like a little art squirrel that one day might need an image to motivate me to create, my own work a shadow of some image I saw some time, somewhere, putting myself into the new creation...one of these days anyway. Well, today is that day. This is the month. My goal for the month is to choose one of the images that I have pinned onto my 'Inspiration' board, to create my own piece based on something from the work and then to write a short reflection on what inspired me about that image. Now, a few ground rules...because I like structure:
My inspiration for today. Today...I was inspired a piece by Elisa Mazzone, pinned by my friend Laura from art school. The first thing that I saw was the contrast of the positive and negative spaces. Then, the movement of the hair. The tight rendering of the eye, nose and mouth...and I guess I don't even have to mention that the fact that it is a picture of a female's face...love. What an amazing piece of art. Is the black a cloak? Is it some weird shadow that will eventually drown out the light and envelope the figure completely? I don't know. It is just amazing, haunting even. More links to Elisa's work; Website: http://www.elisamazzone.com.au/ Blog: http://elisamazzone.blogspot.com/ So...started the day off with my final drawing in this 'round' series...in the final piece I zeroed in on one eye and contained the image within the circle motif. It felt good to finish up the piece early in the day. Then, after some AMAZING networking with the Art Hive crew, which included a trip down to the printer and then to the Art Institute, I came home and settled down to start working on my July self-portrait, working within the style of my daily pieces for this month. Can't stay up late tonight, I get back to my coaching gig at 10am in the morning...gotta be awake and alert for my team! Will post a fun slideshow tomorrow evening! And...drumroll...I just peeked at the Creative Every Day page... and the theme for August...is...'shadow'.
Oh, my. I have no clue what to do. Guess I will figure that out tomorrow! Alright...so far so good...I might get some extra sleep tonight...(eyes gleaming with hope)...because it is a mere 1am and I am almost done for the day. As predicted, I was up by 7:30...pesky internal clock...so, well...what else is a girl to do? Yep, art. I stared CED #212 by the pool this morning then finished it up after dinner. I have my last piece in this series to complete tomorrow...have a few ideas, nothing concrete yet. One thing that I need to do...my monthly self-portrait. I think I am going to complete it in the style of the Klimt-pieces that I made earlier this month. ...another art-related happening... JULY INVENTORY. Some of the chaos that is my art inventory. ...blah. It's my own fault, I really should have been updating the inventory and organizing the photo files as I created each piece...but...well, I didn't. Shoulda. Woulda. Coulda. So this evening I took it upon myself to update my inventory list, create an album of the works on my Facebook page with information regarding size/materials and availability of the work, which I also updated on the CED blog, then prepped some of the 'pending sale' items for shipping. I think I have a better handle on everything now. It was intense, but it's all done for now. Side note...got some bad news this evening. One of my friends from college found out today that she has stage 2, possibly stage 3 breast cancer. She is 32 years old. Today's artwork goes to you, friend. I am putting it in the mail tomorrow, I hope it will help you heal.
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AuthorArtist and Art Teacher
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