Grounding

Grounding   2012

...the name of this piece. Not new, but extremely relevant. Thoughts are on: what really makes a difference in life, focusing on my art and surrounding myself with warmth and support, and people everywhere having what they need. This IS what comes out of me, and truly is what is inside all the time. Looking at this piece after having it hang several places, my knee jerk, post-Sandy reaction is "It's A Tree Falling, Noooo!" Enough of that. Move forward; it is time to ground ourselves in whatever matters to us. Hopefully this event has helped those of us who need to see that, do so!

Inchworms...

...Sitting On Wheat! YES! That is exactly what this looks like and it's exactly what I intended to paint when I sat down! Actually I was going for the Irish flag, and NEVER should have attempted this while driving! Sometimes my work is well thought out and really has me dive heavily into emotion - this one, not so much! Either way, it's how I roll and This IS What Comes Out Of Me!

Inchworms Sitting On Wheat    4/2012

Earth, Ash and Sun

Today is such a seemingly crappy day that it's hard to imagine the sun or any bright colors in nature! But when there is a lack of things to do outside, there is an abundance of things to do inside...like paint! I have 13 paintings up at 500 Palisades Ave., in Jersey City for this week to honor the commencement of the Jersey City Is FreeForm Fest! And though this one is not included, it is TINY, probably smaller than these letters, and This IS What Comes Out Of Me.

Earth, Ash And Sun

A Quick Glance Tonight in NJ

Tonight I'll be showing and selling some of my art at Crossroads in Garwood NJ. It's a collective art show and 5 band effort, so it'll be fun! Here's a piece I will have at the show! Please come by if you can; 8pm-1am. Admission is free if you're coming to support the art show!! 78 North Avenue,
Garwood, New Jersey Phone 908-232-5666 is the info for the club; the bands playing are: Morning,
Reese Van Riper, Dad Brother, Brandon (from Cotton) and The Karma Killers....

Rushing Toward Autumn

Duck Soup?

Close, but no cigar. I've been swimming a lot lately at a nearby lake. Sometimes there's a lot of ducks at the beach. On overcast days, I'd venture to say the ducks outnumber the humans often. This is when you get a chance to observe these creatures that have the funniest natural sounds. Quack. Right? Really. Quack. It just sounds like they're confused from the start... then they're walking all over the place, following one-then another; they really are full on ADHD. My homage to the confused Mallard... This Is What Comes Out of Me!

Confused Mallard - 8/2012

Shark Week

Great White   2012

Who doesn't love Shark Week? Cool little piece here about our favorite fascination...The Great White. Interpretive, yes. Explanation needed? I don't think so! This Is What Comes Out Of Me...

A Whirlwind of Movement

It's like a scene from "The Birds", except in nice colors! What do you do when brightly hued birds are targeting you from all angles along with the local trees pelting you with their fruit like in "The Wizard Of Oz?"  Take Shelter, I tell you! Duck! Imagine one of these pointy blue guys sticking out of the side of your neck... mwahahhaaahaaa!  This Is What Comes Out of Me!

Taking Shelter - 2011

Broken Wicker

Maybe it's because it's summer... wicker has been on my mind. "One of those all night wicker joints..." I believe is a line from Police Squad or the Naked Gun movies, but I digress. Wicker HAS been on my mind. with all the newer materials, there's very little call or preference for the wispy woven wood anymore. In an exercise in background painting, I called this BROKEN WICKER. Maybe there's an "All Night Wicker Joint" in my future, too... This Is What Comes Out Of Me!

BROKEN WICKER       2012

This piece is up at Ruthie's Bagel Dish along with 39 other pieces until September. Please check it out if you haven't already! Ruthie's is at 70 Raritan Ave., Highland Park NJ, and closes at 3pm every day.

Would You Feed A Fly To This?

I saw it as an amphibian of sorts, and no one is going to tell me different! I've been approached by some people who tell me my work looks nothing like it's description... I shall politely disagree. It's in the beholder now, isn't it-- not only the beauty but the interpretation itself. I see scales, I see a half digested dragonfly, I see ooze and vaporized wings and I see claws, a tongue and a tail. Feel free to take possession of it, even for a moment and name it yourself! The piece is called Liquid Amphibian. So it goes. This is what comes out of me. It also is one of the pieces hanging at Ruthie's Bagel Dish until the end of summer. I've got 40 pieces hanging there; would love for some of you to see them. Really!

Liquid Amphibian - 6/2011

Blue Lorax

I thought I posted this piece and went through the archive...if I missed it, I apologize, but thought it was worth seeing - if not twice! Called BLUE LORAX, I created this when all the hubub of the Lorax film was happening. When I was young I loved the Lorax and all the bright colors in that particular book. It was all warm colors, and I wanted to reproduce the feel of the motion in the book with this, but in a looser manner. There is no obvious moustache, and perhaps I've failed miserably, but This IS What Comes Out Of Me!

BLUE LORAX   2011

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a ...

Largemouth   5-2012

Largemouth bass? Guess so! I used to enjoy an exercise we did in art class when I was in the 4th grade and still sometimes play with it. I make 2 or 3 lines on a page- randomly, with no thought whatsoever. Then, I turn the page over and over again until looking at those few lines makes sense and looks like something. This is one of those exercises. This Is What Comes Out Of Me!

Minimal Influence

Lots of storms tonight. I learned from my nieces that the most dangerous lightning is red; followed by pink, purple, blue, yellow and then white. We sat looking at the sky in awe of the amazing lightning over the lake. We saw almost every color except for the elusive RED, which was probably a good thing! This Is What Comes Out Of Me!  

Red Cloud    7-2012

If you haven't marked your calendar yet, the Opening Reception for my solo show at Ruthie's Bagel in Highland Park, NJ is this Saturday from 7-11 pm. It's exciting to see all my own work hung in one place! Please join the artwork and me! Ruthie's is at 70 Raritan Ave., Highland Park, NJ.  Their # is 732-640-1040. Woo Hoo!!

Three Martian Army

Three Martian Army     June 2012

...for whatever reason, everything about this piece screams to me Ray Bradbury, who just passed away last month. I remember reading the Martian Chronicles when I was relatively young, and this still reminds me of what was in my imagination then - the colors, the movement, the mood. So be it! This Is What Comes Out of Me  

Beautiful Plumage!

A Monty Python quip. Not the reason for this piece at all, just a good title I suppose. This is called PLUME. Thanks for looking. I think I've activated the Comments correctly on this blog...sorry to anyone who's tried to comment and couldn't. This Is What Comes Out Of Me, and I'd like to hear what comes out of you, too!

PLUME       5/12

The Mark Of Zorro

...is the intro to my radio show. There's nothing deep about it; I just like the sound the sword makes cutting through the air. Many people ask me about it. The song is by The Chalengers. Now there are visual aids for it as well. This is what comes out of me.

The Mark Of Zorro      6/12

Tied, Tide, Thai'd??

You can choose how to spell it; that is the name. Here is what it looks like! In honor of bodies of water, restraints and asian cuisine! This Is What Comes Out Of Me!

TIDE       6/12

Ruthie's Bagel Dish!

NOT the name of any of my pieces, but the name of the next lovely place where I will be exhibiting my work... and what a place it is!! Ruthie's Bagel Dish is in Highland Park NJ, has lots of wall space AND lots of great food! There is a beautiful garden sitting area out back and I am very pleased to have the opportunity to decorate the walls here! The opening will be the evening of July 28th (Saturday) from 7-10:30 pm, I'm excited!!! There seems to be enough space there for 25 paintings, so you may just see this one...

INFRA RED FLIGHT       6/12

This Is What Comes Out Of Me!

Directions in Dimension

Directions   5/12

 If you look at this in one shot it's just stripes on top of haystack type shapes. Imagine, though if the "stripes" were steps into another dimension...Squint your eyes... Well it works for me!!  Maybe I should have named this one "twilight zone" instead! This Is What Comes Out Of Me!

Ever Make Your Own Constellation?

ARCHER   4/12

If you look at the stars some nights you can make up your own constellations and, of course, see many established ones. I sometimes imagine the constellations full of sweeping color. This looks nothing like Sagittarius that sort of stick figured archer horse fella, but I think it would be cool if one day you looked up at the sky and saw the constellation painted like this anyway! This Is What Comes Out Of Me!

I Did A Power Slide In The Taco Stand

...and it couldn't be titled anything else. From time to time, song titles come to me; I don't try to paint them per se, and I think it's a mixture of the two. This came out of nowhere and was not intended to match the song title, which was penned by the fabulous Couch Flambeau in the Milwaukee area some 25+ years ago. This Is What Comes Out Of Me!

I Did A Power Slide In The Taco Stand        6/12

Fountain

To some this may look like a fountain, it has the feel of a fountain to me. Not making a molehill, or a mountain, it's just called FOUNTAIN!
 This Is What Comes Out Of Me!

Fountain     4/12

Scorcher

Appropriate for the weather, at least in the tri state area. So hot everything has steam rising off it and it seems as if all items could melt together and just blend into one steaming heap! This is called Scorcher, and This Is What Comes Out Of Me!

Scorcher   6/12

Ever watch...

Planes taking off and landing? It's an art; a gradual process, although the difference between flying and being on the ground is huge. But when a plane lifts off it already has the speed, and the nose of the craft just tips up slightly and the rest follows trajectory. I know it's physics and jets and power, but if you watch enough of them, it's like coaxing a little animal out of it's nest, or a stream of paint to flow in the right direction. Hmm. Well I suppose THAT is what THIS is all about!  This is what comes out of me!

TAKEOFF    6/12

Swimmers

I haven't been swimming yet this season. It's an activity I truly enjoy; whether just splashing around or really taking lap swimming seriously. I love the isolation the water can give-- one of my favorite activities is to do the backstroke in a lap swimming setting. I find that if my ears are just under the water, I can her this odd "whooosh" and nothing else. It's like my own self generated white noise machine. My swimming is nearly automatic and I could go on for hours. Inevitably someone has to stop me or talk to me for some reason; "Ma'am, the pool's closing now..." What a great headspace. This is what comes out of me!

Swimmers

 

Summer Skies

...always seem more interesting. I'm not sure why, and maybe that's just my opinion. We've had the Venus Transit, a Super Moon or two, and it is as if I am always looking at constellations nightly. Nice to observe although those elements may stay in just about the same relative positions for the rest of our lives! This is what comes out of me!

Sun Moon and Stars

Tilt A Whirl

Tilt A Whirl

Rides are a huge part of summer for me, and although I haven't been to a carnival yet, I'm already anticipating them. My mother's favorite ride was the Tilt-A-Whirl. She took me on it as soon as I was tall enough to get on it. I think I was hooked from there. It's not my favorite ride altogether, but it's certainly been around a long time and really hasn't changed. When I think of carnivals, this is the ride that I think of! This is what comes out of me!

WarmUp

Sometimes a cup of green tea is all I need to warm up. It's been warmer lately, but the nights still have some bite. A nice wide-mouthed cup is just the ticket... This is what comes out of me!

GREEN TEA

Storms

Storms are magnificent. Sometimes inconvenient, and at times worse, but I am always astounded by the collisions of pressure systems and the invisible strength they possess. My brother should have been a weatherman and I probably would have enjoyed following tornados in those extreme weather tv shows. This is called Bending; in the past few years I have seen permanent posture shifts in some local trees due to storms...This is what comes out of me!

BENDING

Vulture

...an Egyptian Vulture to be exact. This is one of those rare times where I envision my subject matter before I paint. I usually paint from feeling, thought or body sensation. Today I chose this creature to render. It's more of a drawing to me than a painting, yet I am using the same tools, but I feel there are many more lines and my dear vulture is foreshortened on purpose. The painting's title is the scientific name (more dignified, indeed) of the vulture. I was a huge fan of anything Egyptian as a child and I remember that some Vultures were buried along with humans and they were fed after they were dead, I suppose to be able to arrive in bird afterlife well fed. I read about one that was stuffed with snails...was that gory? Oh well. This IS what comes out of me, every drop of it!!!

Neophron Percnopterus

Samurai Wave

This is called Samurai Wave. I think it's easy to feel the sweep of the sword, although it's not really bloody; that's what I came up with, or more correctly...This is what comes out of me!

Samurai Wave    4/12

Yum....

Western Omelette       3/12

This one is called Western Omelette... it's one of those where I just hit the paper running without any thought. I guess I was hungry, as I named it after I was finished! Thanks for looking! This is what comes out of me.

Bird Alarm

Yes, that's the name of this piece; Bird Alarm. Gonna shoot a bunch more soon, have a slew waiting to be posted! This is what comes out of me!

BIRD ALARM      4/12

Washington Art Walk

I have four pieces up at Kathy's Kove in Washington, NJ; part of the Washington Art Walk. My pieces will be up until June 13th. Kathy's is a great place; antiques of all types, a tea room, and clock repair specialist. It's a really unique establishment; I think you'd have fun checking it out anytime, and of course, if it happens to be the month when my work is up, all the better! The Art Walk itself is this Thursday, May 17th from 5-8pm; you can get the map and location of the 10+ establishments that are hosting artists' works at Kathy's, or anywhere on the walk. Here is one of my more recent pieces, thanks for taking a look! This is what comes out of me!

STRAW LAIR    4/12

Heat Wave

I think we were going through one when I painted this, but not sure, plus the weather in the last season hasn't been exactly seasonable or predictable. Neither is my art! And yes, this one has a tinted undercoat, it's not your monitor! This is what comes out of me.

Heat Wave   3/12

Vuvuzela

Ha! Painted this one a couple of months ago. Two days ago when out to dinner, sitting outside, someone nearby was squonking on one of these things! Funny how everything in the world connects! This is what comes out of me!

VUVUZELA   2/12

Signature

Everyone has a signature. This piece is called signature. Not sure whose it reminds me of, but it does. There's a handwritten quality to this one. I suppose I have a couple of "signature" styles in my artwork; some people's laughs are their signatures, or their smiles for that matter. So at this point I realize that I am talking about two distinct definitions for the word signature. A cursive name, casually written; and, a style one calls their own. I don't sign my work until it's being framed and I'm intentional about where the signature goes and what color it is. It's all about balance and style, whichever signature you refer to! This is what comes out of me.

SIGNATURE    4/12

Out of Touch!

Sometimes it's difficult for me to get into a regular rhythm. I've always walked my own walk and set my own schedule. Sometimes it feels as if that wasn't the smartest thing to do. It feels like it may have been easier to set myself up where I do the same thing every day (or at least 5 days a week) for some regularity and structure in my life. That's not the case, and, I suppose it could be at any time, but right now it's not. So where does that leave me? Sometimes forgetting to do things I LOVE to do! I look at how much time I have, what I have to do, and not necessarily what makes me happy all the time. So I haven't posted in some time. I actually haven't painted in three days, and the last few pieces I did complete took me longer than usual. It feels as if my output is down. I'm not going to start painting 3 pieces a day to catch up, but it feels odd to have "forgotten" something as important as painting in my life. All it takes, I guess with any habit, is to get out of practice! Here's a piece for you to check out. Thanks for reading, looking and seeing. This is what comes out of me!

MARE     3/12

Hit The Ground...

Running! Wow, after a quick bounce overseas for the mighty Roadburn Festival; I'm back home. I actually had a couple of posts go up automatically and now that I'm back in the States, I've gotten COMPLETELY behind! So much for planning! On my WFMU program last week, I put together my favorite show of the year; the recap of the Roadburn Festival... here is the link; http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/44770 I know I am mixing my arts here, AND music is certainly a huge part of my expression, as is photographing the bands. Hmmm, there's another blog idea. And now to my post for the day. Need to start painting again, yah! This is what comes out of me...!

Barley     4/12

Gratefully So...

That I allow myself to paint and give myself time I need to develop certain techniques. I don't know how any of them are going to come out, and there is no "supposed to" look like or want involved. I am at ease when I paint and at my highest and most basic at once. Enjoy! This is what comes out of me...

Curtseys    11/11

Lucky!

Friday the 13th has always been a day I enjoy. No real reason, it's fun to challenge ourselves to not get caught up in superstition or what others think or what people think about the day because of how the days/dates fall. Not that I go running around to find ladders to duck under, but still - it's neat to notice. And here is another painting. Thanks for looking; enjoy!  This is what comes out of me...

Race With The Devil

Texture and All Of It

Sometimes I can just look at the bark of a tree for hours... OK, I never actually have hours to stare at the bark of a tree, yet am amazed at the complexity of something that we rarely notice. I love the texture, and trees are a large part of what inspires me to paint. Sometimes it's obvious, other times it's not. That's OK, there's no such thing as a bad looking tree, or a tree that looks funny; trees are living texture at their purest form, yay! This is what comes out of me...

Cultivate   1/12

Mardi Gras  11/11

Ready Steady Go!

One posting today; not a lot to say, but let's post it! As always, thanks for looking!  This is what comes out of me. 

September Rain   12/12

Who's On First?

Sometimes I name my pieces after they are created. If I'm sort of fooling around with a technique and watching it unfold before my eyes and I think I see something and try to keep it abstract AND force the piece to look like something, it inevitably heads straight toward the trash. A good number of these pieces I have an idea first of the feeling I'm trying to evoke and I'll pre-name it and work on the piece with the title in mind. They are two totally separate mindsets, and I'm not sure which works better, they are just different! I'm close to catching up with what I have photographed, so I'm submitting one painting a day for now. This is what comes out of me...

WAITING IN THE WINGS      1/12

Opening Night

Thanks to Fred and Sue of PFO Gallery for hosting such a glorious evening for the EQUILIBRIUM group show, which two of my pieces are in. The flow of people was wonderful, the food and beverages were great, and the artwork was really wonderful! The show is up until May 12th; the address again is 399 Route 10, Whippany NJ. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 10-6, and Saturday 10-5. Here's an innocent bystander in front of her pieces!

It's time to photograph another batch of paintings, and I'm catching up fast. I was sick this week (extremely under the weather at the opening!) and produced almost no work. The last 3 days I've been working on one piece which is unusual for me. There are days when pieces pop out and days when they need to be coaxed out. I've been coaxing myself in lots of ways lately! I've got two more for your perusal today- as always, thank you for looking... This is what comes out of me!

TUBA   2/12

GUST   2/12

Creating From Nothing

That's why I paint. I can be having a bad day, the best day, a sad or ill day, and when I sit in front of my pad, it's time to start over. Not looking at the last painting, not trying to "do better" or make a nicer one. I really don't even know if these ARE nice pieces; ha! I guess we will see; the opening at the PFO Gallery is tomorrow and I am curious as to how it will go. Not even necessarily for me, but just how these "things" go... Here are 2 more paintings, from nowhere each time, and as I've said before... This is what comes out of me.

TORRENTIAL    2/12

FIREWIND    2/12