Truth and denial in art

I found this painting done a few years ago, stashed in the basement. I remember making it- I started by using a sharpie pen and just writing words all over of what I wanted, what felt right, what was "my truth". Then I flipped it upside down and wrote the words to my shadow side...the words of fear and loathing and status quo.
Decided I might hang it over my bed.

Studio in transition

You'd think after the studio tours my place would look pristine- but instead there is a cacophany of calls... from the desk that is loaded with attention getting detritus, to the signage waiting to be installed for the new classes. 

And I have to head to NYC tomorrow...

never ever is enough time to do all that I want to do.

NEST out on a Limb

Oooh look here! This is a nest from years ago... like decades ago...
doesn't the branch look fragile and the frame of the nest so teeny and what was I thinking when I painted all that sky!
22 x 24 inches acrylic on masonite

Nest on round aluminum tray

This is a recycled cookie tray about 24 inches wide.
I always knew being an artist would be fun because a studio can (and should) be a place of play. When I was a child my grandmother exposed me to Alexander Calder. He had a studio near her home in France. Once in proximity to Calder it was obvious to anyone, even a shy child like me, that here was a grown up who knew how to play. I didn't see many other adults with that skill intact.
The week after my open studio has been one of playful abandon.

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...