Weekly Challenge- OR, What I would have Submitted, Had I finished in Time.....

Time seems to be becoming more and more of an issue for me these days.  I don't understand but I need to fix it!  It was a little embarrassing to not have an entry for this week's challenge at Inspiration Avenue since I was the one who set the prompt.....but my daughter was sick all week, and I was down with a cold and add that to de-Christmasing the house, I just didn't get done on time!
However, I can show my painting to you as a WIP......I'm back on a temporary Tulip kick and my prompt was Color- do you dream in color and if so, which one is the one that sings for you?  My favorite colors have ALWAYS been purple and green in varying shades at various times in my life.  What's funny, is those are probably my least favorite colors to paint with!
For now, it's hot rich passionate VERMILION that sings it's voice into most of my work.  I'll vary it a little sometimes with pinks and magenta but it's always there in the background.....
SO.  Here is what for now I'm calling Rococo.....

So the only thing about vermilion is the fact that it's translucent and to get the brilliance I see in my head, I have to create layer on top of layer on top of layer....like I said, this is a WIP but I'm hoping to finish in the next day or two.  Because I'm feeling inspired to get moving on some new pieces!
Happy Creating,
Stephanie

Reflections, Ruminations and Resolutions......

I've been inspired lately by all the personal reflecting and musing going down on some of my favorite blogs. Which made me think of how I've been considering my art style and possible ways of changing it and THAT led me to think about where I was this time last year in bloglandia........So, I've decided to start a new series where I'll choose one post from last year and compare it to where I am right now and where I'd like to be this time next year.

For my first post reflecting I've chosen my entry at Inspiration Avenue when I introduced my "Muse in the Garden" for the theme of Mystique........

Here's the link to that post:

http://dragonflydegignstudios.blogspot.com/2010/01/weekly-challenge-at-inspiration-avenue_23.html

This was the first of my looser, more "free" paintings and the first glimmer I had of what direction I wanted my art to move towards. I've always loved painting people- women especially and I've always been drawn to romantic art.......

So for today;

My Reflections: at this time last year, I recognized that I wanted to see a change in the art I create. I love my flowers and will continue doing them, but I also want to create more of my women paintings!

Ruminations: Right now, I have 3 pieces in the works, plus 2 on the back burner they range from 2 tulip paintings to a red heided woman to a mossy statue of a woman in a garden. I feel like this is the right direction for me- I always see where there needs to be improvement, and one goal is to not be too hard on myself......

Resolutions: In one of my most recent posts, I opened up A LOT (for me anyway) and I got so much feedback telling me that you guys enjoyed hearing the more personal side of me. I am a very shy person in general and a lot of times I have a hard time believing that anyone would be interested in hearing about my life outside of the artist part......so, I'm working on being more personal here in my blog.

I had to share this picture. I like to call it; "Cat and Mouse" :D

And that would be our cat, Latte- the family ham!
Until next time, have a wonderful day!
Stephanie

Weekly Challenge- "What Direction is Your Art Going in......"

I thought this week's challenge at Inspiration Avenue was perfect- at least for me.  It hit home in terms of my own recent self reflection on my art- i.e. where it is now and where do I go from here......and I think my newest painting fits the theme perfectly.  No I still haven't finished it (I've been painting walls instead of canvases this week- our daughter wanted a room makeover for Christmas, so I'm living in the land of PINK and zebra stripes.....REALLLY ready for some canvas work, let me tell you ;))
Anyway, my own goals are to keep on the track I've been on of late- stay loose and keep focused- do more paintings of women and find a way to combine the  flowers and women into a new series.....
For now, here is my Feminine Mystique 2 I haven't even titled her yet, tho that doesn't mean I'm not pleased with her.....

Here she is, and writing this post reminds me that next week's challenge is up to me........eeeeee, I guess I'd better start thinking!  For the time being, be sure to pop over to Inspiration Avenue for a peek at what everyone else did for the challenge.  As always, it's sure to be wonderfully diverse!

Cheers, and Happy New Year!

Stephanie

What's UP in the Studio- Switching Gears to a New Painting......VERY LONG!

I am almost ready to go back to my tulip painting, after studying it for a bit I think I know where I want to go with them.  It's funny or weird that as an artist, I'll focus on working at one kind of subject or style, only to find myself moving beyond it to other things.  When I started painting again 3 years ago, I didn't want to paint people, I wanted to paint flowers!  We'd been living in the Caribbean for 7 years and tho' there are many charms of living on an island, tropical flowers really don't do anything for me!  So I was obsessed with roses, and pansies and oh the TULIPS.......and so, that's where the flower thing came from.
At this point in my life, I'd also kind of forgotten HOW to paint so I needed an easy subject that I could paint over and over again as I relearned how to "see" the colors and textures and shape relationships.....

This was my first attempt and though you probably can't tell what kind of flower it is; it was during my "Moonflower obsession".....I can definitely see a difference in where I was as an artist at that point.  These pieces are much "flatter" than what I do now.  I suppose at that time, I was looking to create exact replicas from my references.  Not very creative, but I felt it was useful for what my goal was at the time- remembering HOW to paint, create good compositions, and building a body of work.

I think I've come a ways in my color choices- this remains my least favorite of any painting I have EVER done!

In my mind, this Nasturtium piece was where the "lights came back on" for me and I really turned a corner with the quality of my work.  I was finally seeing some improvement!  Even though, I was still not making progress with creativity at this point- I was getting closer to my goals :)

These two, were a bit "daring" for me at that point in that I started moving away from matching exact color palettes to my references and began using my own color choices whether they were part of the reference or not.   It's also where I became a bit more abstract in my comps- less concerned with the flower being recognizable as what KIND of flower it was and more interested in the shapes, colors and inflections of light.

This is probably my favorite of my flower paintigns.  It's also the last flower I did where I was completely inspired to DO a flower as my subject.  BUT I was at a loss as to what direction I wanted to move towards.  And for me, it's really important to paint on a regular basis, whether I'm inspired or not.  So, I kept doing flowers, and more flowers, always waiting for inspiration to lead me where I wanted to be- even though I didn't know where that was!

One of the reasons I joined my Etsy team, Inspiration Avenue was in hopes of being guided towards new areas in my paintings......I was still feeling so uninspired.  I knew I wanted to change, but HOW?

This was from an IA challenge, and the first painting that sparked a glimmer of recognition that I was moving in the right direction for me- it felt RIGHT and poured off the brush onto the canvas.  I wasn't worried so much about detail- I just knew I wanted light and movement- the suggestion of a garden....

After that, I went back to more flowers, and more flowers......and some MORE flowers- always waiting for another inspiration.  Then IA's theme was coffee or tea- something along those lines.....I wanted to do a lady, and I wanted her to have lime green in her face and this reminded me of Matisse's portrarait of his mother which I decided to use as a reference....which led to my "Mocha Mama"

And I knew that THIS is where I want to be as an artist.  

I felt like I was finally figuring out how to "spark the muse"  And I now know that it won't happen every time.  It's important to keep painting and to keep loose.  I've come a long way, and still have further to go.  But I'm (slowly) getting there, and that gives me a measure of peace :) 

So, here's my new painting, I'm not done with her, but I'm VERY happy with her!  She was inspired by a Klimt painting, and I tried to follow what I did with Mocha Mama in taking inspiration and then going my own direction.......

So there you have it- I really didn't plan to write a novella this morning, it just kind of poured out.  So if you've stayed with me for this long, I must thank you for your patience and promise that my next posting will be more along the lines of "short and sweet"!

Have a bright and beautiful day!

Stephanie





Decking the Halls.......Part 2

This is one of my favorite ornaments made with a footprint, 2 handprints and a thumbprint for the nose

The last thing I did before getting sick was to start decorating my house for the holidays. Actually, that should have been my first sign that I was going down, because this is usually one of my favorite things to do! And it wasn't. At least not at the time. But I've been tweaking here and there, and it's finally about where I want it, or at least at that point where I can say, "Good enough!"

So here's your mini holiday tour of my home.......

I always try to make a new wreath- this one was actually a Summer wreath centered around a HUGE sunflower head- I just added fresh berries, greenery and a favorite ornie.... 

My little antique mannikin always shos up in my seasonal decorations- so here he is sporting his yule tide offerings.....
That's all for now-
Stephanie

Decking the Halls- Part 1

This is our Christmas Angel that Emmie made with a self portrait and handprint wings when she was three-

today is her 15th birthday- yes, her "golden" birthday :D

This is actually the second posting I've done this morning, but due to technical difficulties with Blogger's photo editor, I've given up and set it up as 2 separate posts........

Here is some of the "Holly and Ivy" I've added in around my house.  I haven't been quite as enthusiastic this year with everyone being sick and all, but at least I've got *some* green and glitter around...enjoy :)

I love this Father Christmas- he is so magical to me!

My little mannikin always makes it into the holiday decor....

Emmie's Baby Foot Reindeer



When Caroline was in Pre K- the teachers did a bulletin board of "What they wanted to get Mom for Christmas" 

I very happily removed from the display for my own keeping :D

My art teacher and her sister made this Santa for my Christmas Ornament wedding shower- it is one of my FAVORITE things!

You might recognize this painting- I like to keep my favorites close until they sell- that way, I'm able to part with them....after spending so much time with them, they become almost like on of your chldren!

A bejeweled pomegranate and some mini ornies to accessorize my Lady......

Can I blame the cord showing on the fact that I had a high fever when I was on the ladder hanging this?

O.K. that's by far enough (probably too much) but I have to say in my defense, after fighting with blogger and the image editor so much lately, I finally caved and did it through Picassa- SO much easier, civilized and there was NO teeth grinding occured in the process.  Picassa- I LOVE you!

AND, now, I'm feeling much more Christmassey- maybe even enough to get the ladder out and fix that cord.......:)

Have a bright, blessed day!

Stephanie

I'm off to start my Victorian-ish piece......

Just Checkin' in.....

Hello all, I can't believe how long it's been since I posted anything!  The flu hit our house and hit HARD.....first my daughter got sick and was out of school for three days at the beginning of last week, then my son got it and was sick from Friday through the weekend.  I managed to to pick it up somewhere between the two of them, and I'm sure, those of you who are Mom's remember how hard it is to stop "doing" and rest even when you're sick. So I pushed and pushed over the weekend, managing to get little things done and crashing by the middle of each day.  Real smart right?  Anyway, I am finally on the mend and only one kid left home sick- my oldest succumbed on Sunday.  I HATE the flu!
I did manage to hold a paintbrush for a little while yesterday and attempt to finish my tulip painting.....at this point it could be technically called "finished" but I'm not listing it on Etsy until I've had it set aside for a while, 'cause I'm just not happy with it.  Could be the remmnants of fever instead of the actual painting tho', so I'll wait. 
Meanwhile I have a lady in my head calling to be painted......I watched the Titanic on Sunday, nothing like a reaaallly romantic tragedy while you're tucked up in bed sneezing, fevering and all the like :)  Anyway, the "vision" of Victoriana (hope I'm in the right era:)) has stuck in my head, so that's where I'm going next.  Hopefully getting moving on a new painting will get me out of this funk I'm in- something has to!

It doesn't help things that this isn't the best picture- there's a lot more detail in the white tulips than shows up

I am happy with the red tulip- "Rose Red" and the leaves.....

So that's my "check in" just so folks know I'm still around.  I've been managing to visit some blogs- if I haven't made it to yours yet, I promise to stop by soon :)  

Have a great day!

Stephanie