Category: Artists Thoughts

Gloria and Éponine

Posted on by Faith
Gloria ( Éponine ) - SOLD
Gloria ( Éponine ) – SOLD

When I painted little Gloria I was thinking about the production Les Miserable, about Éponine specifically. That character touches me. She loves intensely but quietly. She needs to be recognized yet she is always in the shadows. She has mastered her environment but her heart has been shielded from decay. She’s rough and fragile, equally.

Good news. The painting Gloria is being packaged to travel half way across the United States to a wall waiting just for her.

Although the original has been placed, you can purchase prints from my Redbubble shop in the section for children. Please see the sidebar for the Redbubble link.

I love moments like this, I really do. Continue reading “Gloria and Éponine”

Watercolor Play

Posted on by Faith

As I said, I’ve been exploring watercolor. I haven’t done that well with proper techniques but I have played a lot. Here are some abstracts created in watercolor after a session of trying to do stuff right. Play is important. 🙂

Color Rush and Deep Purple Paper are my favorites. In a few of these I dipped stamps in watercolor and stained the paper then began to pile color until I was satisfied. I used a pallet knife to create texture and one had alcohol sprayed on it. That was fun. Three of these have an acrylic finish but two do not. They feel like they could be a small framed painting or even the background for an encaustic art piece.

All are roughly 4 x 6 and are on cardstock, watercolor postcard paper and sketchbook paper.

Faith

Dollhouse Update

Posted on by Faith

The manager sent me a sugar sweet letter and a new lease to sign. I’ll be in this apartment at least another year. Having that much stability, I’ve moved forward with the dollhouse plans.

Wallpaper Bedroom 1Although the dollhouse looks the same on the outside, much planning is in the works. I’ve chosen carpet and wallpaper for each room and I’ve pulled out the box of parts to finish the roof. The roof is still going to be living succulents which I’ve been babying over in the plant area for a while now.

I’m combining three Greenleaf Dollhouses. These houses aren’t terribly expensive. You can buy them anywhere from $22 to $999. There are a lot of options. Greenleaf offers additions for the house in the form of cheap looking furniture to a new wing on the house. They’ve got a lot to offer I think. Continue reading “Dollhouse Update”

DIY Encaustic Tools and Painting

Posted on by Faith

Awhile ago I did an encaustic mixed media piece created with Crayola and acrylic paint. Though I liked the way it turned out I thought it might be even better toned down a bit. I decided to go back and make it less abstract. The first step was to gather all my tools.

DIY Encaustic Art Tools

All you need is above and they are easy to acquire, household tools I used to melt wax and crayons for encaustic art. Since these are household used in encaustic painting, you will have to be careful to monitor the heat.

  1. Small glass jar or empty aluminum tea candle
  2. Coffee mug warmer or tea candle oil warmer
  3. Crafting iron
  4. Toothpick or small scraper such as clay tools
  5. Wax paper or Parchment paper

With those basics I was able to warm blues and greens then smooth them over the crafted canvas.

.Dollar Tree oil/wax burner .Small glass bottle of Crayola melted crayon

I mentioned in the original entry that the painting is on Viva Paper towels. Let me explain; the paper towels were layered with wax then gesso and Mod Podge until I had a nice surface. Continue reading “DIY Encaustic Tools and Painting”

Copyright Revisited

Posted on by Faith

Well, Facebook is going to close the account I’ve been using for quite some time because I won’t upload ID to them, however, I’ve had a second FB account since around 2015 that has been unused for months. I went ahead and transferred friends and groups to the 2015 account. Lets hope this is enough to satisfy FB because I don’t have a 3rd account. If FB decides to close down the 2015 account then I’m off FB for good. As I changed things over, a copyright issue came up.

I made a girl mad because I told her she can’t put my art on her blog without written permission and a small user fee. She said she gave proper credit. I said, the art says All Rights Reserved. She thought I was upset with her and said it’s not like we’re talking about Monet. I ignored her snark. She told me it was exposure. She used that word exposure as if somehow that word makes everything better. My eye is twitching right now. lol

Question. Would you be okay if a random company took your FB photo or a photo of your kid you put on your FB page and put it in their ads without telling you? You let them know that you’re in business and that using your image for free is against your long stated policies. They say they can use it because they found it on the internet. Continue reading “Copyright Revisited”

Encaustic Rise – A Heart of Fire

Posted on by Faith

Encaustic Rise - Available

Earlier in the day I said, “I have no reason to be awake.” Let me correct that please, and introduce what was done with the anger instead of internalizing it.

A reason to be irritated was that, after turning my phone to do not disturb, I still got a call from Dr. Yes who wants me to come in. I can’t block his number or anyone close in my care team but I blocked most people. Sooo, tomorrow at 1 pm I need to go in. I’m like, what could he want? I though to myself, Faith, you can control the way this appointment goes by the way you speak and respond to him. You can go in there with an attitude or you can go in there with concern and desire to sit down and talk about things. I have that choice..After a short pep talk I painted. I was mad, good and mad. I don’t want to see him but I also didn’t want to lay in bed, facing the wall burning up inside.

The process - Sundrip StudioThis painting was calming for me. It’s also another painting done in one day. I love wax art.

In addition to this piece I was able to scan 19 art pieces that will soon be in the Etsy shop.

It’s funny because, when I was working I kept losing my pen. The first time I got irritated by it I was reminded of our desire to not badger ourselves. It’s a pen. I mean, look at my desk, that pen could be anywhere!!! I eventually found the pen then lost it again but I didn’t abuse myself, didn’t talk down to myself for losing that dang on pen, or the cat !!

Continue reading “Encaustic Rise – A Heart of Fire”

Art Tearing Out

Posted on by Faith

The first time I remember nearly losing my mind over art was in the year 2000. I settled into a nice apartment with a woodland name and set up an area to paint. There was an image in my head that needed to be painted, but I wasn’t ready to let it go. I kept holding it in until I had what I needed to put it down in paint.

I’ve been going to the same Hobby lobby since 1999, here in Indy. They knew me as the artist who would pace the canvas isle searching for the right size. Sometimes I’d find it but it wasn’t time to put it on canvas so I’d wander over to the paint section and choose something just right.

The art felt like it was boiling inside me, just swirling and rolling around. It was bliss and burden put together. But that was the point, I didn’t want that art piece on canvas until it broke out of me.

Continue reading “Art Tearing Out”

The Silent Loud One

Posted on by Faith
Ariel Knew it Would Rain - SOLD
Ariel Knew it Would Rain – SOLD

I did not expect this painting to ever be chosen, to be taken home. I couldn’t believe when I got the email telling me of the sale for “Ariel Knew it Would Rain.”

She’s art that’s difficult to look at because, though she is silent, her face tells you everything. What use does one have for a few words when they are the picture worth a thousand? I’m amazed and touched that she was purchased, and humbled too.

Sometimes I am so raw with my art. It is clear I’m not a happy camper. It’s clear the painting came from pain. When I do that I worry about saying exactly what the painting was about but recently I’ve taken more risks and just saying, hey, this is what I was thinking, this is what I felt before, during and after. It’s a risk I’ll continue to take because with art my voice is most authentic.

Faith

Risk in Art. The Comfort Zone.

Posted on by Faith
Fall Tree - available
Fall Tree – available

There’s an art piece I labored over posting but that piece got the strongest reaction and ‘sold’ very quickly. The reason sold is in quotes is explained in a separate entry.

When I looked at the piece I liked it, a lot. I like the texture in the turquoise, I like the way the colors at the bottom came together. I like that painting, but I didn’t think others would. I questioned my abilities because I was viewing other blogs and felt so inferior. I posted it though, and I was surprised by the response both public and through email.

I don’t know if I’ll be the type of artist that puts her work on the net with full confidence, but I will keep taking risks in my art, keep trying new things and keep to the styles and media that I am most comfortable with. I can risk and keep my comfort zone. There’s nothing wrong with a comfort zone, it’s not a bad thing to be comfortable. Continue reading “Risk in Art. The Comfort Zone.”

The Courage to be Authentic

Posted on by Faith

How cool. This just happened. A person who purchased art from me a few years ago contacted me to be part of a group of artists she knows. I love it when my art isn’t just a passing fancy. I want it to touch people. I want them to enjoy the art or be moved by it.

A person going through tough times purchased a piece because it gave her hope that she could pull through. That was amazing to me. Another lady purchased my absolute favorite piece I’ve ever done. She wanted a large print of it to put in her bedroom, her own private space.

It makes me smile and I want even more to keep slapping paint on canvas in the most authentic, heart felt way possible. The lady who asked me to join the group made my day. 🙂

I worry, ya know. Is my art too raw, too wild, too emotional? What if I scaled back on the surreal or tried to stick with one specific style? What if I tried to be more tame to appeal to a wider audience, maybe I’d get more sales? But I can’t fake this. It wouldn’t work. Art is the language where I am most honest, most vulnerable, truthful, uninhibited. Continue reading “The Courage to be Authentic”