Creepy eyes watching you painting

This is a fun piece- fit for halloween- I tell children it is my "security camera"... the eyes follow you.
But the thoughts tend to wander...

Small White nest and ideas

on to ANOTHER NEST-this one featured is about 6 1/2 x 6 1/4 inches on birch wood. I am officially, as of this painting, out of my Pyrolle orange tube of paint.
While dancing my brushes across the surface of this, it felt as though the white twigs were hair and the center was less a depression than a freshly conjured egg. It's given me an idea for another nest! One floating above a crown of white hair--- like an idea being born by the Wisdom of ages.... White hair, to me, can represent age, or it can be pain, and it can be Time.

I love painting on anything. (Which is good as I'm definitely going into an economic depression). Playing in my studio on alternative materials I'm working on a disposable cookie platter for the next nest. It's got a lacey embedded pattern of twigs and leaves already, and the paint can be added and scraped away or semi-rubbed off in the process. It looks as though I should change my brush water more frequently! 

Well- enough blogging and more painting! I am heading back to the studio and then to the Dutchess County Arts Council's awards ceremony tonight!

Nest small on panel

this is 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches.
Just loving the brushstrokes and the light on these...

Nest with Text

SOLD- thanks Elmore!
11 x 13 inches, collage and acrylic paint on wood panel.
I like this one- I tried to use up all my hoarded headlines... such as- Families are Shattered, Coasting Water's Edge, Barcelona Can Seemingly Strike at Will, etc...
I always told my kids if I ever went missing, they could look for me in Barcelona.
Though I am gaining confidence in the nest- yesterday my girlfriend Emmy and I mowed the lawn (mulched the leaves), switched the dining table to a smaller one, and gave away two televisions. I am cooking lasagna now in partial payment for a new dishwasher!
Checking my vital signs, I am still alive and well! So many angels to thank: Ann, Bibiana, Beth, George, Jimmy, Emmy, Suzy, Michael, Rosemary, Krisse, Leesah, and my dad. And more ... every day!

Antlers in hair salon Art event on main street

Last night was a fantastic art event in our community where each business invited an artists to display their work and the town threw a party. Even in the pouring rain people came through in droves! Art brings people out. Artists are the economic revitalizers of communities. Pay attention! Support the arts!!!! Respect the artists.

Self Portrait at 19 with brushes

Painting 40 x 30 inches, oil on canvas
My son helped me uncrate a bunch of paintings that had been stored since the 1980's! Among them I found this self portrait that brought me back to the time I first lived on my own. I was so lonely. Must have cried everyday for three months! I was so full of doubt. In the process of painting this, I tried to destroy it half way through by brushing another color over the face. Yet I remember the next day I saw myself still peering though... so I saved it. After this piece I cheered up and felt much stronger. It is a time capsule for me now- and brings to the front memories parallel to what my son is going through living on his own for the first time too!

Also I collected a smattering of self portrait canvasses made over the years, at 19, 24, 29, and 31years of age and in the pile of them is a clue to something that can give me strength. I am taking risks to live a full life the way I want and the pain and doubt great me as daily warriors outside the door. These paintings show me at each stage of this journey.


Just so I don't come off completely weird- we also found in the crate a self portrait by my best friend friend Krisse, done in prisma color pencil. Both of us self- searching. We were like spirits.

Alchemy in Art

Emmy boils the bones... These will eventually become structures to hold paper lanterns... there is alchemy in art...
who could question it?

Finally I am in Berlin

BOTH SOLD

So I can officially say I have work in an exhibit in Berlin.

www.bluetenweiss-berlin.de

at the Kunstraun Kreuzberg/Bethanien
Mariannenplatz 2
10997 berlin
germany

Nest in black and white

SOLD- thanks kim
This is a small panel- I am working on a few smaller pieces, recovering from the weekend still and feeling artsy with value scale and brush strokes. 6 x 6 inches

Hen and Rooster divided. Empty nest and road

Could be titled: For my husband, this is the moment. Lots of miss-understanding going about as we file for legal separation. I can show it in a painting... and yet he would never look for it there. This painting is truly about where we are. I think the rooster does look sad, shocked, and yet, in a colorful way, full of his own potential. The hen, who stands opposite the road from him, has the words to the right of her saying : "moments that really matter".
Acrylic Paint and collage on wood panel measuring about 17 x 26 inches.

And the Winner is...???!!!

.... Steven S. from Pawling!!! He gets the print of my painting "It's a Good Day" mounted on canvas frame.
Thank you for coming by the studio. It was great having so many people- about 78- 80 total. I enjoyed the feedback, insights, ideas, connections, company. Today I feel a very rich person indeed.

OPEN STUDIO 11-5 SUNDAY

CHECK OUT THIS PHOTO taken today OF ME BY Lazlo-A REAL ARTIST -http://lazlo.us/blog/




Had a lovely day. Lots of dear friends stopped by as well as some really, really, nice total strangers. It was a constant flow so I haven't had a chance to actually count the signatures in the guest book. I feel happy about it-centered and also a bit stronger in the warmth of so many good people.
Tomorrow might rain so I am posting some pictures of the studio walls for those who can't get there!
There was a nice exchange today too- plenty of great ideas to mull over, some incredible pumpkin pies to chew on, my gourds from Chris to decorate with, and a handful of new homes to hang my art in. Everything and more than I asked for!

OPEN STUDIO 11-5 TODAY AND SUNDAY

 I hope to transfer ideas and artwork with visitors today. Also have a large pot of chili and the promise of a couple pumpkin pies to offer. It's a bit nerve-wracking to fling open the doors. As if  I presume to rest on some laurels. There is still so much to do- so much to paint. I am humbled... and no where near where I want to be with my skills and my images. If I am not careful, it can be deflating to see the massive amount of work that I've been attempting to work with. Attempting to make material spiritual, and spiritual material. God help me. I want to do good. I want the work to be of service. Most of the time I am completely lost.

EMpty nest CUT OUT:text "no reason"

This is about 7 inches tall and 9 wide. I tried to use up all the headlines I had been storing... I am trying to clear the studio so I can break down what I have learned into a simple sufficient stack of ideals. 

OPEN STUDIO TOMORROW

My gosh! I am not sure what to expect now that I have cleaned up the space and hung out the work... I guess I need some answers- though I have been painting with my eyes and heart I feel a bit lost as to the meaning of it all.

If I don't get answers, I'll at least get a couple days of socializing and snacking.

STOP BY

TINY NEST cut out

Don't forget this is a big art weekend- I will be opening the doors at 11am Saturday and hoping to see you. Looking at art is fullfilling the second half of the artist's process. There needs to be a viewer. Don't let me live in a vacuum!

This small nest is about 4 inches across and 3.5 inches tall...cut birch with collage headlines and paint. I like what is written front and center; "blueprint for trouble"... that could be the mixture of a midlife crisis, a spiritual awakening, and an empty nest.

opEN STUDIO TOUR COMING UP- free artwork!

I will be raffling off a small work of art over the weekend. It is a print of a painting mounted on canvas 6 x 9 x 2 inches. I had it done through fineartamerica.com and they did a really nice job. The back side has cushioned pads and a sawtooth hangar. No need to frame the work! If you cannot stop by the studio, email me your contact information and I will throw your name into the suitcase of contenders. You could be the lucky winner.

This piece is about the choice we have each morning... and even at any moment through out the day.
tillystudio@aol.com

Icon nest or my home with lesson plans

I've been working with collage and paint on these little cut out birch luan nest-shaped panels. Tossing in words from my collection of un-used headlines and listening to country music... I could write my own songs about 12 hours of loneliness, misunderstood gestures, financial free falling, and the best way to light your own fire. While I conceptualize that project- I keep my hands busy and my studio humming with these little icons of "home".

This flat art object measure about 5 inches tall and 7 inches across. 

shadow nest

My sons have wings. I keep telling my heart to be still. It leaps and lurches and wallows. 

Put miserable Max on the plane this morning covered in poison ivy rashes. So much for feeling good about saving trees!

This nest image is a photographic "collage" of my woven branches from the yard, a heart sculpture I own of Pat Lasch's and then, just the nest and my shadow.

Found on the internet:

Pat Lasch describes her recent work as being propelled by "autobiographical urgency."  The domestic and personal have consistently been central to Lasch's work. She became known in the late '70s for wedding-cake-like sculptures embellished with acrylic paint squeezed from pastry tubes. She wrote a book with her baker father called If You Make a Mistake, Put a Rose on It. But a rose won't do the trick here: the sequence of sculptures with accompanying text penciled on the wall tells a sad story of marital unfaithfulness...

NEST sculpture glass house

I was just playing...

wire from the attic heater filter, glue gun, Los Angeles Times...

It is like a glass house!

Today my youngest son has come home for a visit. He fills the place with music and balls. Basketballs roll off the dining table. A used stereo is fixed and installed in the living area. He plays the piano. We rake leaves and walk to the trees and pray. Then my wonderful son, with the idea and some bolt cutters, cuts four trees free from disturbing invasive (random) electrical wire wrapping them. It was hard work... the wire already cutting deep into their barks... the trees seem to grin at us with the dark polished gashes. We've worked up an appetite so now I am cooking... apples and sausage... a steeping fall meal. Today would be a fine day to live in a clear nest... words feather my soul. Who can say what tomorrow and the farewells will bring. I hope I can hold on.

NEST empty in fog

I went through several phases with this one... several days... several colors... even wiped the whole image out with house paint and then dragged it back. I wanted to capture a sense of the empty nest dissolving into a sky of indistinct forms and yet containing some bright hope. (yellow?) What makes this situation so unique? Nothing. I strip away illusions and find myself, my nest, no different than everybody else's!

Medium size, have to get back and actually measure it!

NEST OF NAILS

This is a little different from my other work- I found a block of wood and painted a quick "egg" symbolic, to me, of a "new idea". Then I took about 57 nails and screws and pounded and twisted them in...as I thought about how every idea takes work and lots of small parts to make it a real big idea. So this was sort of magical for me ... more about the process than the product!
It is about 5 x 7 x 2 inches... maybe 4 inches wide with the nails!!!!

Where I live is divine

I am procrastinating!
Need to focus, paint, clean, pay bills...
But its very beautiful outside and there is a soft breeze...