Curious Cat

“When you get the choice to sit it out or dance…
I hope you dance… I hope you dance.”
–Lee Ann Womack

 

Curious Cat
5″ x 7″ Gouache on Black Ampersand Clay Board
 

This painting was so much fun to do!  I started with the black clay board and used wet juicy brush loads of paint.  There are a lot of layers, in order to achieve the opacity over the black.    I wanted to leave a lot of the black and keep it pretty loose.  I had a great time!



Today is the day that I send out my very first monthly newsletter.  Why would I do that, you ask?  Well, I have owned my sign shop for 18 years.  I want some additional challenges in my life.  (Some good challenges are things I can do from a chair in my later years.)   Since nothing happens overnight, I am laying some of the ground work for some ideas I have.  To keep happy, I think we must constantly take a look at our lives and make room for revisions and opportunities.   Thank you for reading my blog and hopefully my newsletter.  I appreciate the friends I have made out there so very much! 


Lee Ann Womack (born August 19, 1966 in Jacksonville, Texas) is a country music artist whom may best be known for her 2000 crossover hit, I Hope You Dance.
Her 1997 self-titled debut album brought her onto the country music scene as a herald of a more traditional country music sound, in a genre that had begun to sound more pop-oriented with the likes of LeAnn Rimes, Faith Hill and Shania Twain topping the charts. The hits from that first album were “Never Again, Again”, “The Fool” and “You’ve Got To Talk To Me.”
Her second album, 1998′s Some Things I Know brought us “A Little Past Little Rock”, “(Now You See Me) Now You Don’t”, and “I’ll Think Of A Reason Later”, while her third and possibly most successful album to date, 2000′s I Hope You Dance featured, along with the award-winning aforementioned title cut (which Sons of the Desert supplied the backing vocals) also featured the hits “Why They Call It Falling” and “Does My Ring Burn Your Ringer” as well as covers of the 1980 Rodney Crowell hit “Ashes By Now”, and the Don Williams’ 1970s classic, “Lord I Hope This Day Is Good.”
Womack’s fourth album, Something Worth Leaving Behind, released in 2002, was seen by many as an attempt by her to cross-over to the very pop-sound that she was the antithesis of five years earlier. The title cut was the only track on the album to reach the Top 40.
Her most recent album, 2005′s There’s More Where That Came From features her current single, “I May Hate Myself In The Morning,” and is popularly viewed by many as a return to the traditional sound that brought her success in her earlier career.
Womack has two daughters; Aubrie (with ex-husband Jason Sellers) and Anna Lise (with current husband Frank Liddell). Both daughters appeared in the video for “I Hope You Dance”.

Sleeping Kitty

“Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Sleeping Kitty
5″ x 7″ Watercolor on Ampersand Clayboard

I painted this little slumbering cat on clayboard, then scratched the hair into it.  I really enjoyed this!  The watercolor floats wonderfully on the surface for a bit, giving you a chance to blend and play. 

The cat in the reference was actually sleeping on a pad of newsprint in an artist’s studio.  That gives a new meaning to studio assistant.

About Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson helped spark the transcendentalist movement with the essay Nature, which described his belief in the spiritual essence of humanity and the natural world. He was born in Boston in 1803. He was a Unitarian minister until he resigned in 1832 to become a philosopher and writer. He suffered the untimely deaths of many of his loved ones: three brothers, his first wife at age 20, and his eldest son at age five. Emerson died in 1882.

Mate for Life

“Courage is the finest of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all the others.”
– Winston Churchill

 

Mate for Life
4″ x 6″ Watercolor attached to black greeting card blank.

My husband’s aunt and uncle are celebrating their 65th anniversary tomorrow.  Their daughter sent out a mailing to their friends and family, hoping to generate 65 cards arriving in their mailbox on their anniversary.  Here is my contribution.  I hope they are flooded with warm wishes on their special day!  They got married in a time when people married for life, unlike today.  I am blown away by their successful union!

Winston Churchill

The English statesman and author Sir Winston Churchill led Britain during World War II (1939–45) and is often described as the “savior of his country.” Sir Winston Churchill’s exact place in the political history of the twentieth century is, and will continue to be, a subject of debate. But his strong personality and forceful determination made him a popular figure during the war years.

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Art House Co-op Canvas Project 2

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
– Seneca

 

Art House Co-op Canvas Project 2
3″ x 3″ Watercolors mounted onto Canvas

I thought it would be fun to share the paintings I did for Art House Co-op’s Canvas Project 2 last year.  My words that I had to paint from are Destroyed, Giddy, Tenacious, Insolvent & Genteel.  Can you guess which one is which? 


I’m getting a bit of a late start this morning, because  I went to the grocery store to stock up for the holiday weekend.  When our little town goes from 2,500 to 25,000 people, places like the grocery store are a bit of an adventure.    I like to go ahead and let the tourist have the town.  I stock up early and when I’m off work, I head 13 miles out to the quiet comfort of the house.   I am really glad they are here, don’t get me wrong.  They are the life blood of our little economy.  But… they are impatient and in full party mode and I may just be getting too old to jump right in the middle if them. 


I hope that whatever plans you have for the holiday weekend are wonderful and safe.  Happy 4th of July! 

Seneca

(born c. 4 BC, Corduba, Spain — died AD 65, Rome) Roman philosopher, statesman, and playwright. He was trained as an orator and began a career in politics and law in Rome c. AD 31. While banished to Corsica for adultery (41 – 49), he wrote the philosophical treatises Consolationes. He later became tutor to the future emperor Nero and from 54 to 62 was a leading intellectual figure in Rome. An adherent of Stoicism, he wrote other philosophical works, including Moral Letters, a collection of essays on moral problems. He also left a series of verse tragedies marked by violence and bloodshed, including Thyestes, Hercules, and Medea. His plays influenced the development of Elizabethan drama during the Renaissance, notably William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus (1593 – 94) and John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi (c. 1613).

Beary Pink

We have the power to direct our minds to replace the feelings of being upset, depressed, and fearful with the feeling of inner peace.
–Gerald G. Jampolsky

 

Beary Pink
5″ x 7″ Watercolor

In this painting, I was practicing something I saw in Don Andrews’ book.  I wet all the paper around the bears and then added colors, tilting the paper to let them run into each other.  It was fun!

I had a great flying lesson last night!  I think I am getting closer to soloing.  My flight instructor is letting me have total control, to see how I work through things that come up.  My landings are getting better and I even stalled the plane (on purpose) at 2000 ft, to practice how it’s supposed to feel in the flare, before the wheels kiss the ground on landing.  It was so cool!!!  I only have 13 hours and I really want to solo soon, so I can get more hours in on the weekend, when my CFI is unavailable.  He doesn’t seem to have much time for me.   


Gerald G. Jampolsky, M.D., a child and adult psychiatrist, is a graduate of Stanford Medical School. In 1975, he founded the first Center for Attitudinal Healing, now a worldwide network with independent centers in over thirty countries. He is an internationally recognized authority in the fields of psychiatry, health, business, and education. Dr. Jampolsky has published extensively, including his best-selling Love Is Letting Go of Fear. He and his wife, psychotherapist and author Diane Cirincione, Ph.D., have worked in forty-nine countries and currently reside in both northern California and Hawaii.

Blue Jay

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.”
– Amelia Earhart

 

Blue Jay
5″ x 7″ Watercolor Greeting Card

I painted this little blue jay for my mother-in-law’s 85th birthday on Sunday.  I think she liked it, as she was planning to put it on her bulletin board.  My mother-in-law, Ruby, is a hoot!  She is a smart,  pretty lady with a wonderful sense of humor.  I really lucked out in that department.    Even though my husband just doesn’t “get” my normal goofy painting style, I bet she would love it.  I’m going to have to try it on her next time I see her.

About Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart, who was born in 1897 in Kansas, became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean and gained renown as a woman in a field dominated by men. Earhart worked as a nurse’s aide during World War I and learned to fly after moving to Los Angeles in 1919. She first became famous as one of a crew of three to fly across the Atlantic in 1928, but her best-known flight was her last. As she was attempting to fly around the world in 1937, her plane disappeared over the Pacific Ocean and was never found.

Dive

“We are, each of us, angels with only one wing, and we can only fly embracing each other.”
– Luciano Decrescenzo

 

Dive
4″ x 4″ x 1.5″ Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Wooooo hooooo…… watch out below!  he he   This is my 3rd “word” depiction for the Art House Co-op Canvas Project 3.  I had so much fun with this one!  Have you ever noticed, the brighter the color… the more fun I have?  Here are some more views.



My words for the project are Dive, Oboe and Pineapple.  We are supposed to paint our version of the words we are given on 4″ x 4″ x 1.5″ canvases, provided by Art House Co-op.  You can see the other two entries here and here.

About Luciano Decrescenzo

Luciano Decrescenzo, the Italian writer, filmmaker, and intellectual, has published 28 books on subjects ranging from Greek philosophy to his own childhood in Naples. He was born in 1928 and worked as an engineer for IBM for several years before turning to philosophy and writing. He has also directed, written, and starred in a number of Italian language films and received honorary Athenian citizenship in 1994.

Party Pineapple

“Always do the things you fear the most. Courage is an acquired taste, like caviar.”
– Erica Jong

Try as I might, I have never acquired a taste for caviar!  …bleck! 


 

Party Pineapple
4″ x 4″ x 1.5″ Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvas

This little painting was fun!  This is the second of three for the Art House Co-op “The Canvas Project 3″.   I received 3 words to paint onto 3 canvases.  My words are Oboe, Pineapple and Dive.  I showed you my oboe here.

About Erica Jong

Erica Jong, the American author who made a splash with the sexual frankness of her first novel, Fear of Flying, has written several works of fiction as well as nonfiction books, including the autobiographical Fear of Fifty. She was born in New York in 1942 and now splits her time between New York City and Weston, Connecticut. She has been married four times and has one daughter.

Puma on Alert

“Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have, or sleep all you want.”
#693 in The Complete – Life’s Little Instruction Book
– H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

 

Puma on Alert
5″ x 7″ Watercolor

I had a great time studying the form of this critter.    When I got this far, I couldn’t bring myself to put a background in, as nothing seemed quite right.  So I will call it a study and forget the rest, for now.
Yesterday afternoon, I had the opportunity to teach a one hour class as a volunteer artist for the Eufaula Area Art’s Council.  I had 5 students (ages 5-12) and we did vinyl collage, using materials from my sign company.  I gave them each a couple little pieces of coroplast (corrugated plastic) and plenty of vinyl in different colors.   They made some wonderful collages!  I took a picture with my phone, but I have not figured out how to get the pictures from my phone to my computer.  (I am NOT a big cell phone girl) 


Here are mine, which I scanned in when I returned to the sign shop.  We put sticks on the back and made them into fans.

 

H. Jackson Brown, Jr. 

Jackson Brown was born and still lives in Middle Tennessee. His numerous books are in 35 languages and read throughout the world claiming 158 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list. It is sometimes noted that he graduated from a prestigious university and is the recipient of one of their most distinguished awards but, who knows? If you were to phone the administration office, they would probably deny that he ever attended. It seems hard feelings still linger regarding Mr. Brown’s insistence that the campus clock tower he pledged to help fund be in the shape of a 300-foot ukulele.

Currently, Mr. Brown writes in a remote log cabin high on Hatchet’s Ridge in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. There he retreats to observe, ponder, resharpen No. 2 pencils and train his parrot to squawk, “One more step and I’ll shoot.” Should you want to visit, get an early start. Take the gravel road east out of Crowell Corners to the end. There it becomes a dirt road switch-backing up the ridges. A hand-lettered sign nailed to a hickory tree teasingly identifies these last fifteen miles as Broken Axle Trail. The cabin is not the first or second on this dusty corkscrew but the third. You’ll think you’re almost there, but you’re not. And count the creeks. You’ll cross two. The first on a tricky two-plank bridge. The second, unfortunately, offers no bridge at all. Now look for the weathered tin roof and the trellised front gate crowned with honeysuckle.  Pay no attention to the dogs Dan, Hoover and Hot Ticket asleep on the front porch couch; Hoover hasn’t bitten anyone in years. But be careful where you step. The copperheads, rattlesnakes, and wild hogs love this bit of heaven as much as Mr. Brown does.

P . S .   As Mr. Brown instructs in one of his books, “Don’t believe everything you read.”

What a bio! 

Eras in Bloom

“Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all of your energies on a limited set of targets."
–Nido Qubein

 

Eras in Bloom
5″ x 7″ Watercolor on Strathmore cold press

In the reference photo, this guy was actually a statue in front of McDonalds, somewhere in France.  Isn’t it fun that we can just do whatever we want, when we paint?  I gave an ancient mammoth a free place to roam.  If that statue could talk, he would probably be horrified to be standing in front of a fast food restaurant in a bustling metropolis! 

Nido Qubein


Since 1974, Nido Qubein has given more than 5,000 presentations, received every award in professional speaking and is represented by the best speaker bureaus. He is considered both a motivational speaker and a business speaker with a range of topics covering everything from time management to branding.

Nido Qubein has written more than a dozen books on leadership, sales, communication, and achievement; recorded scores of audio-visual learning systems; and hundreds of client-customized products.

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