Spooky Infirmary Door

Happy Halloween all you goblins and ghosts!  I had some fun creating a door mural for the school nurse's office. A Booboo ghost with a Mummy nurse sporting a giant syringe of love. Our nurse has to be one of the hardest workers on campus seeing over 65 students a day!

Love painting quick like this on brown paper... just black and white and a little red!

Tulips

Michael brought me a tulip.
I think I could stare at it all day and night. It glows. It smiles. It fills the apartment with beauty.

What little things bring you joy?

Do you ever ask yourself if you are enough?

I would never ask that of my friends, but even through a morning of deep breathing yoga, and an afternoon prone under lights for a facial, I keep asking myself if I can allow myself to just "be". Should I not be working? Planning? Promoting? Creating? Connecting? Cleaning? Catching up?

Collage portrait in greys

I reach the weekends mostly exhausted from days spent being a teacher engaging high school students, attending meetings, modeling good behavior, planning, planning, planning. Then I try to do the drawings and paintings that allow me to capture what it feels like to be human.
My art practice captures Time for me in a way that affirms my existence. So I do that... But is that enough?
Everything around me, (politics especially), in this city and state, seems to be spiraling into the darkness of economic, spiritual and environmental disaster. Shouldn't I be working harder to save the endangered, to shelter the homeless, to feed the hungry, to inspire the hopeless? I stand in a place of privelege, yet I am haunted by the responsibility to give back and do more.
When I am breathing in the park, or allowing someone to slather ointments on my body, I am guilt ridden because my Time is so limited. I am living longer than the days given to dear friends, and yet what am I doing with those days?
Is it enough to just Be?

Should I do Palms as a Series?

It is dawning on me that the inspiration of a few palm fronds is endless. I need to stick with my goal of #100favfloridathings and not get sidetracked. But the tree, as a topic, is juicy and vivid for me.
What should I do? (I realized recently that I cannot read comments left on the blog! Do not know why. But if you have an idea or an opinion or thought, please email it to me- tillystudio@aol.com)
Thanks

Palm Trees are my fantasy trees

I keep trying to capture the essence of a palm tree for my art series of #100favFloridathings, and I keep falling short. They never turn out as whimsical or funny or breathtaking as I want. I think Dr. Seuss did a good job of it with his Truffulla trees.

Each day the trees clap in the breeze calling me outside to my balcony. They refuge squirrels and parrots and frame jets leaving for Europe or Africa suspended in the sky. They cast purple shadows on the beach sand and beckon us to tie up our hammocks. Rising out of a turmoil of shrubbery and tangled flowering trees, the palm appears like a bursting frozen firework, hovering above the traffic light....a celebration of the day.

They make me smile.

Student artists make a gesture for Veterans

 We are gathering to paint rocks as thank you tokens to Veterans who have served, or are serving, to protect our liberties. It is part of a Kindness project that believes one kind gesture can improve somebodies day, and hence the world at large. It is also stress relieving for the artist to change channels and work this way.

Hilma af Klint rocks the history boat!

I just got back from NYC where a couple of my sisters and I experienced the fall fantastic Solomon Guggenheim exhibition of little known abstract artist Hilma af Klint and her Paintings for the Future. Don't misunderstand. She was well respected in her time (the early 1900's) but died into obscurity and left all her art, more than 1000 paintings, 125 notebooks and instructions to hide her art, to her nephew. That was in 1944.

 In 1906, Af Klint,  an award winning graduate of the Royal Academy in Stockholm, was earning a living as a scientific illustrator. She taught and took commissions for portraits. The loss of her sister and the social hobbies of the times drew her to spiritual investigations and seances. In these seances 5 voices repeatedly visited her and instructed her in painting.

 

Af Klint and four of her friends formed a group to meet regularly and communicate with the spirits and channel messages for an artistic temple of abstract art bearing messages from the spiritual world.

 My sister Annie was struck by the predominant markings of mathematics in the paintings. She also shared knowledge of the Rosicrucions, who believed messages were passed down from ancient sources, and Illuminati symbolism.

My sister Lise was also struck, like me, by the colors, the line work, and the similarities to Haitian Voodou art. There is something very universal in the paintings that seem to identify with our basic meditative musings.

Af Klint's work in series made me itch to run home and paint. I could feel the playfulness of each variation on the theme and yet stood in awe of the serious searching contained in each of the works.

Hilma af Klint was convinced that a woman's voice in the art world would be destroyed ignored and she was not sure that her society was ready for abstract art, so she instructed her works of art to be hidden from view for 20 years after her death. It actually was hidden for 40 years. But in her lifetime af Klint exhibited her paintings and she carried a small notebook with a photograph of each of the large works she painted, with watercolor notes to share with interested people. She documented everything in Swedish and now I cannot wait for a good translation of her notebooks for us to buy.

I got the postcard collection of her giant tempera Paintings for the Future series.

                                   And merchandise included this lovely silky sheer tunic!
Everyone who can, must see the show. It rewrites art history. Hilma af Klint's abstract paintings were painted years before Kandinsky or Malevich or Mondrian removed the representational in their works. Yet THEY are called the founder's of Abstraction.- up through April 23, 2019

Miami, love in three attempts

My favorite thing, hands down, about living in Florida is actually the city of Miami. It holds a unique place in geography, at the tip of this peninsula, with a vibrant cross section of diverse ethnic citizens creating the fabric of each community. We have Persian restaurants, Little Haiti, Little Havana, and multiple places where you can enjoy the arts of South America or dance to the Latin beat. I would not want to live in any other Florida city- To me, they all pale in comparison, literally- from the skin tones to the food flavors!

 Downtown Miami is like a wall of tall buildings cupping and reflecting the waters edge. The highways, especially I95 (route 1) straps against the architecture high on pillars along the backside. There is the latest (and her last) Zaha Hadid Condo , almost finished overlooking the lovely Perez Art Museum next to the Patricia and Phillip Frost Science museum. I actually live 88 blocks south of downtown, where, in the picture, you see a few tall buildings now going up. That is about 10 miles. But I can get to the museums between about 45 minutes and an hour on the Metrorail. Same time as  to drive, but without gritting my teeth as hard or the need to park.

The bridges to the left lead to South Beach, the Cruise ship port and Crandon Park (lighthouse) beach on Key Biscayne.

In the final drawing, I tried to capture the vibrant energy, with the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts anchoring the picture, but my ink got away from me. It is #Inktober
#100favfloridathings  #Miamiliving

Life at the Pool

Sketchbook page

Couple singing and dancing with baby on shoulder, and cross tattoo on back

Pool is quiet, then a Boom box. Neighbor does laps

One of my small joys living in the city of Miami, is the view I get over the community pool. All sorts of people congregate at regular times and the joy is palpable. There is music, and splashing, laughter, grilling, and shrieking. Of the two pools at our complex this one allows children. I wouldn't want to miss that!
Still working on visually documenting the things I love about living in Florida. Please share with me your joys. I need #100favFloridathings  #artistseries #artproject  #gratitudeattitude

The Fairchild challenge

the Poinciana tree

detail of the Poinciana seed pod

One of my favorite places to escape to is right down the road at the Fairchild Botanical Gardens. Inside the walled property are rain forests, butterfly pavillions, fruit gardens, desert cacti, waterlillies, lizards and more. I love breathing in the fresh air and marveling at the constant shifts in blossoming species.
Every year Fairchild sponsors educational challenges, "The Fairchild Challenge", for area schools. My school participates with gusto. This week I worked with the science teacher to help two classes create unique and accurate botanical drawings of plants featured inside the Gardens. I love working with other teachers across the curriculum, and being the one to bring in fun art supplies.
My class demo illustrations featured the Poinciana and the Cannonball tree flowers. Both are my favorite, and I think the loveliest species both in the Garden and in our neighborhoods.

The Cannonball tree flower

the Cannon ball tree flower

What darkness and light look like in the art studio

My big take-away lesson this week, (this month), has to be, that in order to depict light, you need darkness. And to convince a viewer about darkness you need to place it against a light shape. As an aside- I wish I could transfer this to a life philosophy!

My students worked with the Japanese concept of Notans using cut paper, and then moved on to  constructing an actual still life and playing with light and shadow, as if the lights and darks were shapes that could be played with.

Each student photographed at least five arrangements. Of those, they picked three to sketch out the relationship and patterns of shapes in the dark and light. Of those, they picked one to... (stay tuned for more teacher joy coming soon!)

I Need Help

I am feeling homesick for life back up north. It could be the seasons, the family, the love of the woods... all the things lacking in Miami. Now that I have been here 8 years, the adventure has worn thin, and I need help coming up with what I do love about it here.
Gratitude lists have always been a way of shifting the blues to a more cheery mood. I am proposing to paint or draw at least 100 things I love about living in Florida. #100favfloridathings (I could have put "Miami" instead of "Florida"... but that seems too limiting right now).
Please help me with ideas of what to be grateful for.
#1 The dramatic Florida skies. I think they get their power from not having to compete with a horizon, and from having the ocean and bay waters reflect colors back and forth.

Acrylic on paper 12 x 9 inches. $280. Paypal, check or credit accepted via Square

New paintings on throw pillows (and more)!

I have been posting my art for public licensing on Fine Art America for a dozen years now. My Sketches traveling in the South of France are there and are a hit for notecards. Prints of my Empty Nest Series always sell well, but think of a pillow now....(couldn't you just snuggle up to that one?). You can find my Month of Sundae Ice cream series on there as well for fun posters to brighten any room. Last night I uploaded some newer work. Check out my newest road trip paintings and how cool they look on totebags, notecards, shower curtains and even throw pillows!
Also the roads are fun images to put on a $20 Iphone case... just don't text and drive on the highway!

Here is a sample idea and possibility for unique holiday gifting. I got my son's each a printed pillow two Christmas holidays ago, and they are of great quality and still holding up really fine, even competing with a cat and a nomadic lifestyle!

1 - 12 of 12 throw pillows for sale

https://fineartamerica.com/artists/tilly+strauss

 

Underpass At Nighht

Tilly Strauss

$24

Three Trees In The Median

Tilly Strauss

$24

Underpass Z

Tilly Strauss

$24

Starry Night Traffic

Tilly Strauss

$24

Unladylike protest of the Patriarchy

With apologies to my dad, who is a great guy, I am seething green with anger towards the PATRIARCHY.  Privileged profiteering white men have steamrolled and destroyed my faith this week (and in recent months) in the US Presidency, my faith in my state representatives, my belief in the purity of the supreme court, my faith in the press, my faith in the FBI and my faith in the balance of powers for a true and equal citizen based democracy.

This is not my government. I cannot trust the system. Women still do not have equal rights in the constitution (my mother and aunts marched for the ERA), no rights for equal work pay-scales or for autonomy of their own bodies! The insults stack up, such as the extra tax on basic needs like tampons, and the constant hits advertising media spreads telling women that they are not being beautiful enough, soft enough, skinny enough, white enough, or ladylike enough.

Well I bought Unladylike by Cristen Conger and Caroline Ervin. It is a "field guide to smashing the patriarchy and claiming your space". They have it at our local independent bookstore, Books and Books. As well as on Amazon. These authors are bright podcasters of humor, hope and activism

and I need that today. The newest Supreme court judge was just sworn into his LIFETIME job with the least amount of supporting votes ever. I am so sad. I believed his perjuring himself and his belligerent, rude, blatant partisan attitude during the senate questioning made him clearly unfit for the position. I am- like a statistic of 1 in 4 college women- a rape survivor. I believed Dr. Ford who bravely testified that Judge Kavanaugh held her down, covered her mouth (and laughed) and attempted to rape her. This confirmation of a justice, in spite of the outcry, to the highest court is a dog whistle to all the men who benefit from objectifying women and assaulting girls. It confirms and unveils the power men wield and their profiteering over women in this non-democracy capatalist country.

Being born white, American, and upper middle class, I am a beneficiary of many privileges that my sisters do not have and suffer from many inherent biases as well. But all women, all of us, have been struggling for fair representation for hundreds of years. And like Justice Ruth B. Ginsberg said in a court case before she was confirmed (by a wide margin of 96 to 3) for the Supreme Court 25 years ago, ‘I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks." Now... we are given a court that leans toward holding us down and clamping our mouths shut.

In the mail yesterday (from my donation to Moveon)- arrived copies of the DVD RGB!!! I am just getting fired up and unladylike. Know anybody that needs a copy?

Can we have faith in the voting booths? Those rights and systems have also been under assault!