Mother's Day- Artist as Mom

(In a nod to Mother's Day, this is a repost of a previous writing. To bring you up to date, my daughter is now going to be 23 in a couple of weeks and preparing to go off to Thailand with her boyfriend for a summer of teaching English and adventure. I'm so proud of her and her fearless spirit and miss her terribly at the same time....)


My life is never seperated from my work and I have created a plethora of paintings around mothering as I journey along in one of the greatest adventures of my life.  I thought I would continue with this subject in this month when mothers are celebrated. 

Most of my paintings come from a very personal place. Even some of my cow paintings tell stories about what's going on in my life, such as in "Eat Your Broccoli" which depicts a momma cow and her  calf in a surreal field of raining broccoli. (A nod to Magritte) This painting was inspired by my Kayla who wouldn't eat broccoli as a little girl.

Before I even knew I was pregnant, I painted "My neighborhood", which depicts myself, my husband (in between the two houses) and our neighbors on their respective porches. There I am talking on the porch, very preggers, while my husband looks on.

 When I was actually pregnant, I painted this one, "Pregnant Artist." I have to laugh when I recall my pre-teen girl begging me to take it off the wall so her friends wouldn't see it. So much for being sophistcated about a little artistic nudity even though I tried to not actually show much :0) Note the Van Gogh calendar in the background and the rooster in the window. Van Gogh is my favorite and the rooster is symbolic of my husband whose last name in German means "rooster".

Sometimes I run into women who tell me that they were artists until their kids were born and then they stopped. I would just as much have stopped breathing. I don't know how they could do that, maybe they were less driven than me, but I never stopped. It helped that she was such a good, easy baby. I used to get up around 4:30 in the morning before she woke so I could paint a little, or sometimes she would sit and watch me in her little bouncy chair. At 19 months, she had her own plastic easel, paint and tam. She too created very colorful works, though she was an abstract expressionist at that time :0)..

As wonderful a baby as she was, just the shock of becoming parents can be overwhelming. The shift that takes place in your life from self centered to other-centered, and the responsibility of it all is all encompassing. I have depicted these feelings in the painting "New Baby", where the beautiful little diapered one is a giant in the space, overtaking the picture and the lives of the Mommy whom she holds in the palm of her hand and her Daddy by a string.

Having a child also was bringing up a lot of stuff for me as she grew. It was like she was holding up a mirror that reflected my life, causing me to worry and wonder about if I could make her life bettter than my upbringing had been. In this painting "Toddler" she is a hybrid of herself and me. She stands, again overwhelming the picture, but she is standing off the curb in a street between two houses, representative of the New Jersey street where I grew up. (Boy, did I have fun painting that bunny)

I painted her many more times as she has grown up, less as she approached her pre- teen and teen years when I could barely get her to be near me or smile, until this one (Flying through Life) which I painted last year, when she was leaving to go to college. It was so hard to let her go and I couldn't believe that that she was leaving already.

She and I are depicted flying through the air in our matching Mommy-Daughter dresses that I had made, through a world of things that I had taught her about or that we had discovered together.

 As I write this I am tearing up again......I know there are plenty more paintings to paint and the journey with her is not over. I just miss my baby.

Mother's Day-Pt. 2- Artist as Mom

(In a nod to Mother's Day, this is a repost of a previous writing. To bring you up to date, my daughter is now going to be 23 in a couple of weeks and preparing to go off to Thailand with her boyfriend for a summer of teaching English and adventure. I'm so proud of her and her fearless spirit and miss her terribly at the same time....)


My life is never seperated from my work and I have created a plethora of paintings around mothering as I journey along in one of the greatest adventures of my life.  I thought I would continue with this subject in this month when mothers are celebrated. 

Most of my paintings come from a very personal place. Even some of my cow paintings tell stories about what's going on in my life, such as in "Eat Your Broccoli" which depicts a momma cow and her  calf in a surreal field of raining broccoli. (A nod to Magritte) This painting was inspired by my Kayla who wouldn't eat broccoli as a little girl.

Before I even knew I was pregnant, I painted "My neighborhood", which depicts myself, my husband (in between the two houses) and our neighbors on their respective porches. There I am talking on the porch, very preggers, while my husband looks on.

 When I was actually pregnant, I painted this one, "Pregnant Artist." I have to laugh when I recall my pre-teen girl begging me to take it off the wall so her friends wouldn't see it. So much for being sophistcated about a little artistic nudity even though I tried to not actually show much :0) Note the Van Gogh calendar in the background and the rooster in the window. Van Gogh is my favorite and the rooster is symbolic of my husband whose last name in German means "rooster".

Sometimes I run into women who tell me that they were artists until their kids were born and then they stopped. I would just as much have stopped breathing. I don't know how they could do that, maybe they were less driven than me, but I never stopped. It helped that she was such a good, easy baby. I used to get up around 4:30 in the morning before she woke so I could paint a little, or sometimes she would sit and watch me in her little bouncy chair. At 19 months, she had her own plastic easel, paint and tam. She too created very colorful works, though she was an abstract expressionist at that time :0)..

As wonderful a baby as she was, just the shock of becoming parents can be overwhelming. The shift that takes place in your life from self centered to other-centered, and the responsibility of it all is all encompassing. I have depicted these feelings in the painting "New Baby", where the beautiful little diapered one is a giant in the space, overtaking the picture and the lives of the Mommy whom she holds in the palm of her hand and her Daddy by a string.

Having a child also was bringing up a lot of stuff for me as she grew. It was like she was holding up a mirror that reflected my life, causing me to worry and wonder about if I could make her life bettter than my upbringing had been. In this painting "Toddler" she is a hybrid of herself and me. She stands, again overwhelming the picture, but she is standing off the curb in a street between two houses, representative of the New Jersey street where I grew up. (Boy, did I have fun painting that bunny)

I painted her many more times as she has grown up, less as she approached her pre- teen and teen years when I could barely get her to be near me or smile, until this one (Flying through Life) which I painted last year, when she was leaving to go to college. It was so hard to let her go and I couldn't believe that that she was leaving already.

She and I are depicted flying through the air in our matching Mommy-Daughter dresses that I had made, through a world of things that I had taught her about or that we had discovered together.

 As I write this I am tearing up again......I know there are plenty more paintings to paint and the journey with her is not over. I just miss my baby.

Like Art? Like Wine? How About Music?

Sounds like the perfect grouping to me! Come on over to Paradocx Vineyard tomorrow- Saturday, Oct. 15th for Community Day. Look for these fine folks -Caryn, party maven extraordinaire and Dave, wine maker to the stars (that's you and me).

Enjoy the day sampling local artisan chocolates, cheeses and honey among other things. Of course I will be there showing my paintings, as well as Karoline Wileczek, who will offer her adorable felted sheep, along with hats and gorgeous knitted scarves. Kick back on the grass and listen to the free, (yes, I said free) music and enjoy what is supposed to be a beautiful day.

Painting Demonstration

Every artist has their own certain style and way of painting. I have often been asked about mine and I thought that it would be nice to share how I do a painting, more or less step by step. This is a Blu Hen cutout given to me by the Newark Arts Alliance for a fundraiser they are doing now through September. Please go to my Facebook page for bidding info.

After applying gesso to the plywood cutout, I draw my images with a light pencil. I start by mixing acrylic emerald green with a little cadmium red for a deep green background and paint in around the images. Next, I mix that same cadmium red with a transparent rose and white to lay the middle tones for the flamingos

.

Next, I mixed a little ultramarine blue into the pink and red to paint in some of the darks on the flamingos and some cadmium orange light into the beaks.

Next I mix a little viridian with yellow and start painting in some background leaves

overlapping the flamingos in some areas.

From this point I start working the painting back and forth.

I mix some emerald green with some cadmium red to create dark darks in the back ground that will give depth to the painting. I mix cadmium red with the ultramarine and rose to get deep shadows on the Flamingos also adding to the depth and creating a 3 dimensional feel. The transparent rose is just that, so I mix it with some white and go over the flamingoes to get them to give them a solid pink .

Next I go back into the leaves, having mixed highlights with cadmium yellow light and viridian. I start to add flowers, overlapping them in places with leaves and flamingos approaching them in the same manner as the entire painting. Lay in the middle tones, add the darks, then the highlights. I want the flamingoes to kind of glow, so I go over them with a thin wash of the transparent rose a couple of times.

The last thing I do is add the little details of the eyes. I painted the whites, let them dry and used a black sharpy to draw them in, then added the little reflection with white paint. Voila! Done and done! Please let me know what you think of my painting and ask any questions you might have :0)

Artist Salon Evening at Home

I Broke the Chains

Mother: Saint or Sinner?

My newest couch painting "Nashville Skyline"

Telling the stories of my paintings

Future couch painting?

Playing "Karen's Art Game"

Last Saturday, I had such a wonderful evening. Encouraged by my daughter's piano teacher Sara Samuel, I hosted a "salon" evening with a small group of ladies in my home where I showcased and talked about my painting and life as an artist. I collect work from other artists and usually hang my daughter's amazing art along with my own, but for this evening, the walls were covered "salon" style with my paintings, from my most recent to my earliest family paintings in black and white. I even devised a game to occupy the ladies while I tended bar making apple martini's. I gave prizes and talked about my life as an artist and the inspiration and stories behind my paintings. Much of what I showed was work that rarely sees the light of day as it is more personal than the cow and "people on the couch" paintings that I am known for. Some are memory paintings (Mother:Saint or Sinner?) some were couch paintings with deeper stories in them such as "I Broke the Chains" which depicts myself on the couch with my parents in black and white, each of us wearing the broken chains of dysfunction on our wrists. I got a lot of wonderful feedback, comments and suggestions for future work and feel inclined to start re-entering older pieces in gallery shows. It was also great because as I talked about each painting and reflected on what I had done, I was able to step outside of myself a little bit and see what others might see in my work. We had a lot of fun, yukking it up for the camera and taking turns snapping "couch" photos- future fodder for more paintings perhaps. Several commented that I had also inspired them to open up more and explore new medium or work. All in all, it was a fun and inspiring night for each of us.

January Giveaway

I hope everyone enjoys getting in the act to win this print. This is my most popular painting by far. The winner will get this print 11x14 matted in a plastic sleeve.

There is no cost to this giveaway whatsoever! You only need to do two things to enter:

“Like” me on my facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/risingstarart

and leave a comment

“Follow” me here on blogspot and leave a comment

The contest will run until Jan 31.

I will put your name in a hat and let someone in my house pick it-If they pick you I will send you your awesome prize!

I will publish the winners name in my next newsletter (as long as it is okies with them)

If you are already a facebook fan or following my blog, just leave a comment like “I want PEZ” !

GOOD LUCK!