One Thing Leads to Another

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Sometimes, when I need to loosen up or shake a mood or search for my muse, I make nutty collages. Always have. Inspired by the art of the day or a friend's favorite quote, I just grab whatever flotsam and jetsam are at hand and go for it.  Lately, it's been file folders.

It started over the summer as I was cleaning out files, getting ready for the school year.  I swiped a stack of 1/3-cut, standard manila file folders from Mr. Right and organized like mad.  At some point during my ship-shaping, folder met paint. And gesso. And stencils. And Adirondack sprays. And juicy inks. And Sharpies. And gel pens.

That was a dozen+ file folders ago. Sigh. Heaven.

I've been thinking about painting interiors again and this happened.

I've been adding quotes I sometimes think about I would want to remember while sitting in meetings.  Will I really take these folders to business meetings?  Probably not. 

I've also put a coat of sealer on them so they're tougher than your average bird.  

A quote on the inside too, a favorite of one of my twisted sisters.

Could This Be My Closet?

Could This Be My Closet?

11x14 oil on canvas
SOLD

I wish. I think my stuff looks right at home here. There are my yellow purses, my perfume, and Lavagirl's new cardigan sweater. Yes, I hang art in my closet and that's my slipper chair -- it's pretty darling right now in leopard print with black ball-tasseled fringe but for this painting I reupholstered it in pink velvet. I included the burnt orange cowboy boots I secretly covet but know I'd probably never wear. In real life, the longest wall in my closet is painted lipstick red and I like it alot. The black and white harlequin floor used to be in my kitchen and I absolutely loved it though it was hard to keep. The high heels, the hat, and the Burberry bag? Not mine.

Where Did the Day Go?

My Space
11x14 oil on canvas

Or at least a space that could look a bit like mine with a spot of paint. I love the brown/turq combo – it would definitely be my next favorite home interior choice – but the painted white furniture and chintzy upholstery will have to wait until Mr. Right and I are empty nesting. Our house runneth over with books – I may have mentioned that – and it was almost as fun to paint them as it is to live with them. However, she says brushing her hands together, the level of detail here was… well… let’s just say enough is enough. For now anyway.

And, to any family members reading, I'm not about to paint Uncle John's table.

Is Pink My New Red?

In the Pink

11x14 oil on canvas

sold

This was loads of fun. Thoughts of arranging traditional furnishings in a conservative house and then painting the walls radish pink kept me giggling. I'm drawn to using pink in unexpected ways. Isn't the effect color can have on your mood amazing? Check out Sherwin Williams #6859: Feverish Pink.

Finger Painting

Untitled (Finger Painting)

12x12 oil on panel

SOLD

I learned somewhere that, if you want to paint loosely but accurately (I do), you should always finish a painting with your biggest brush. The opposite of my tendency. Mr. Right asks, "What do you think about when you're painting?" Just that, plus other pearls like it, written on post-it notes and stuck around the art room. Scribbled into the corners of sketchbooks. I'm trying to remember and practice. And so, after I tidied up but was still piddling around, everytime I passed by the easel -- the biggest brush now clean -- I couldn't resist finger painting.

Small Painting, Big Lessons

Quiet Corner

8x8 oil on panel

sold

I'm learning alot with these roomscapes. Being forced to work details on a small canvas is teaching me efficiency -- with shapes, values, and the number of brushstrokes. Good lessons. The hero of this painting, for me, is the monotone palette of walls, drapes, furniture, even the King Charles spaniel, which is then punctuated by the plant and its reflection in the mirror. I started with a lipstick-pink toned canvas (one of my favorites), counting on that to warm up all the yellows and browns and grays. Fun, fun, fun.

Lavagirl is home from camp and all our chicks are in the nest. This weekend was one of those times I really remember how blessed I am to be Bliss Following.

Happily Looking Through Old Magazines

Pablo's Palazzo

12x12 oil on panel

I was attracted to the table base - a pair of Italian gilt cupids - and the strong cast shadows of this photograph. Still using a limited palette and now wondering: are all my colors are starting to look alike? This subject matter tangent has led me on a delightful scouring (and dusting!) of old books and magazines, searching for inspirational interiors.

I tend to save stuff like books and magazines. It's true - they are yellowed and dog-eared and I've thumbed their pages a dozen times. But never twice in quite the same way. This week I'm looking for something entirely different: subject matter for a painting. So they feel like new. I am certain I have *never* before been inspired by Count Paolo Michelangelo Zappi-Manzoni's Central Park apartment. Known as Pablo, he was a fashionable make-up artist with Elizabeth Arden back in the day. The book is an old friend: Architectural Digest's Celebrity Homes (1977).

Comfort Zone? What Comfort Zone?

Thibaut

12x12 oil on panel

One of the books on my bedside table right now is Dakota Mitchell's Finding Your Visual Voice. Check it out here. I've read through it once and now I'm skipping around. Last night I re-read the chapter on discovering your sources of inspiration and choosing subjects to paint. Mitchell encourages readers/painters to experiment freely with any and all subjects that stir passion or joy. Okay... just the push I needed. I inherited a love for all things "interior" through both nature and nurture. So today a "roomscape" inspired by an ad I'm seeing in lots of current mags for Thibaut Design fabrics.