Chair with message

This small acrylic painting is done with OPEN GOlden acrylics- and so it has a glazing effect that captures a luminous light unlike regular acrylics. This is a test image so offered on ebay.
Sometimes we should just sit down...
BUT... there are those doing incredible work- read the Hopital Albert Schwietzer's (HAS) blog about earthquake relief in Haiti. http://hashaiti.blogspot.com/
Very poignant and touching stories of patients and families in outlying regions of the country. My parents worked at HAS for many years when I was a child. My sister was born there. My heart goes there right now. I want so much to reach out and help, and nothing I do conveys the sincere investment I'd like to make. This is something I have to continue to think about. Does anyone have any idea? Does anyone feel the same way? What can we do?

Thank you

Thank you to the artists who responded to my question of why they make art... there is tons of stuff, a lot of variation, and yet a common thread...

I am so thrilled to be part of the Dutchess County Arts Council...Thursday night was the annual meeting and election. Everyone was so fascinating. It's a wonderful and artist-empowering organization. Every artist in the county should join. For the basic membership of $50 there are so many opportunities and skills strengthening sessions available, not to mention a calendar of events, a regional magazine subscription, and a network of professionals. If you have questins feel free to ask me- there are no stupid questions....

Why do we make art?

Why?
Gosh, this is a constant buzz in the back of my head... it's different from the question of what I want my art to be. Here is a "map" called no way around it, that started with a close up of a wing drawing... and became a maze to walk through to the other side... still in process.
So, why did I start this?
- Carolyn Carr, Alice Neel, page 5. "Art was the arena to which Neel retreated when she was confronted with an emotionally troubling situation or an event she could not control. It was the source of her psychic salvation. As she candidly admitted, "the minute I sat in front of a canvas I was happy. Because it was a world, and I could do as I liked in it."
I make art as a way to express things that would make me go mad if I couldn't get them outside of me. I make art to find answers to things that bother me, or gain insights to situations at hand. Most of the time the finished artwork is less important than the act of making it. That is why I so readily sell them inexpensively. I make art almost every single day. It's a way of proving I'm alive, of marking the time as it flies by, of saying something only my soul can speak.
I believe artists make art for a million different reasons. And that's interesting.
Why do you make art?

thoughts from the studio

SOME THOUGHTS FROM MY JOURNAL-

KEEP ALWAYS ONE FOOT ON THE GROUND

THE STARS ARE JUST OLD LIGHTS

DON'T FORGET 2 MAKE A LIST OF WHAT MAKES ME FEEL RICH.(my kids, heating oil,money, paint,organic food, museums, buying gifts for others,...)

REFINE MY VISION

KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THE GUIDE, HE/IT/SHE COULD BE AT THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AS I GO WHIZZING BY...slow down.

INVITE GOD INTO MY DAY- I can barely see the road!

DEPICT TRANSIENCE, ABSENCE...DEATH

PAINTING IS AN EXORCISM OF GRIEF

DARKNESS SPREADS OVER THE SNOW at 5pm

"POVERTY MEANS NOTHING TO a MAN WITH A DREAM"- -joseph beuys

WHAT'S YOUR THOUGHTS?

One winged woman

It's still changing.

Spent the day learning about Gamblin paint history and tricks to using Golden Open Acrylics. There is so much to learn. That's one of the fun things about being an artist. Just browsing an art supply store can incite you to go mad in new directions and charge down roads of new techniques.

This painting already has about 4 layers where I could have stopped. The process has been like dancing with different partners... you switch, and sometimes feel a bit wistful about the previous partner, but the current partner is carrying you across the floor...

Just uploaded new images from my MONTH OF SUNDAES series to my Fine Art America account. It is a good place for printed cards and posters. Check it out.

Blowing in the wind like a chicken

SOLD
Today started out with an intense wind- then warm rain. Now, most of the snow has been washed away. I have to confront someone who was blowing cold, then hot, and now cool again. The unpredictability has me unsettled. I am terrible at holding my ground, especially at the expense of someone else. Just don't have the courage to do it.

So I painted this little rooster weather vane with directionals...

5 x 4 inches, quality acrylics on canvas, on eBay

Chickens at side of road

This is a block of wood I started in 2007 and only (THINK) I have finished today (2010)

It measures 4 x 5 1/2 inches with a depth of 1 1/2 inches.

The subject is a question of risk.