I confess I have been quite distracted and unproductive lately. I don't know if it's due to summer, pregnancy brain (we just found out we're having a girl), or what, but I vow this week to get back track. I've done pretty well so far and, I must say, I feel better when I'm productive.

When I was a little girl my Memaw gave me a tiny brass vase. I didn't really think about or notice it much growing up, however it is in my mental snapshots of every place I've ever lived- from my childhood bookcase, to teenage dresser, to college dorm desk, to my current spare room studio.  It's held a wide array of flowers from remnants of bouquets to weeds that I thought were pretty. It makes me happy. I know it's just a vase, but I like that it's been with me so long. I like the millions of different colors I see in it. And I love who gave it to me.

Recently my little vase has found its way into my art. I have wondered if I should polish it, but I like that if you look closely there are millions of fingerprints on it. I wonder if I would see all the reds, greens, and lavenders in it if I cleaned it up. So, I think for now I like it just the way it is. My sturdy, loyal, little vase. 

Featured artist: Sunny Carvalho

Art by Sunny Carvalho- mixed media on plywood

Paperclay dolls with moveable joints

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to Sunny Carvalho, an amazing artist and a dear friend of mine. Though our artwork is as different as night and day, she never fails to inspire me both with her ideas and her frustrating ability to do EVERYTHING well. Her work spans several media
while somehow remaining consistent. If I didn't love her I'd hate her. I'll quit talking and let her art speak for itself. Check out her website by clicking her name above, or click here to check out her blog, Sparkle and Spin.

Sunny uses images from her art in handmade necklaces

Sunny also makes purses and cuffs depicting her artwork

Life is just a bowl of... doorknobs?

Bowl o' Doorknobs

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I have a degree in counseling and worked at Mitchell's Place here in Birmingham as a one-on-one behavioral therapist for children with autism for a few years. I have also led social skills groups for teenagers with autism and Asperger's  syndrome as well as taught art classes to children and adults with various developmental disabilities. I'm telling you all this because I think that working with this population has had a profound impact not only on my art, but also in how I view the world in general. 

One of the hallmarks of the autism spectrum is a tendency to notice and be caught up in small details rather than the big picture. For example, it's not unusual to see a child with autism staring transfixed at the way the wheels move on a toy car rather than driving the car around, crashing into other cars, etc like his or her classmates. While it's important that the child learns to socialize and take part in what his or her peers are doing, I think there's also something to be learned from that attention to detail.

I don't know whether I learned to notice things like the way light shines on a brass doorknob or the way reflections change when you move your head the slightest degree from working with individuals with autism or if perhaps I already looked at the world that way and that's part of why I'm so drawn to that population. Whichever came first, I'm glad that I can get distracted by such everyday things. There are too many beautiful details in the world around us that we forget to notice.
So look around you. Notice the spiderweb right outside your kitchen window or the way your shadow looks distorted and alien. Notice the cool, pink light cast on the counter when the sun shines through a glass of juice or the way the dining room looks reflected in the bowl of your spoon. Go ahead. Be amazed. 

Practical stuff

I'm teaching a friend how to oil paint. I don't really think of myself as knowing a lot or being an expert in painting- it's just something I do. However, in trying to teach my friend I realized that I not only know more than I realize, but also that I have so much information that has become such a part of me that trying to organize it in a teachable way is a good challenge.

There are so many things I don't even think about until I have to explain them to someone else. Laying out my palette is one of them. So, for anyone who's interested, here's how I lay out my paints so that I can find them without breaking my concentration.

Ok, so I separate the paints by warmer colors on the top row and cooler colors on the bottom row. The neutrals go along the sides.
On the top row I have (in order) crimson, red, orange, yellow, yellow ochre, and burnt umber. Though burnt umber and raw umber could probably be considered neutrals, I separate them so that I don't get confused- they can look so much alike on the palette! Burnt umber has a definite reddish tinge to it, though, so it goes up top. I love transparent colors, so I have a special place for them on my palette that many people may not have. My transparent reds and oranges go under their more conventional colors. So below my top row of warm colors I have brown pink, transparent earth red, transparent earth orange, and Indian yellow.
On the bottom row I have my cool colors. In order, they are Paynes grey, dioxazine purple, ultramarine blue, phthalo blue, manganese, phthalo turquoise, and raw umber. As I said, my neutrals go along the side. On the left I have Caucasian flesh tone and zinc white. On the right I have titanium white. I rarely use black, but if I did have it out it would go on one side or the other.

Of course your palette will probably look different because we use different colors or simply because you have found that another way works better for you. I just know that this works for me. People have asked, so I'm happy to share.
Have a great day everyone!

And now for something completely different...

MaryLizIngramArt.com

There are so many amazing artists out there- and more than people realize in Birmingham. So I'm going to start featuring a few other artists I admire. The cool thing about art is that it can be so different and still be incredible. My first featured artist is Mary Liz Ingram. Her pastels never cease to amaze me. She specializes in Alabama scenes and in portraiture. I love in the picture above how she balances the dark sky and dark earth in the edges of the picture with brilliant whites and golds. Her portraits are incredible as well. She never fails to capture beautiful likenesses of her subject.

In addition to her website and various shows around the Birmingham area, Mary Liz's work can also be found at her blog Somewhat Daily Paintings. Check her out. She'll be one of your favorites, too.

Big news and why I've been a flakey blogger lately

Maternity stamp I carved

Wow, I've been REALLY scattered lately. So, it's been a little while since my last post. However, there's good reason for that- I'm pregnant! I read the other day that studies have shown that women's brain cells volume actually decreases during pregnancy then returns to normal in the months after birth. So, pregnancy brain is a real thing! I have an excuse! Still, I will try to be better, I promise.

Mother's day flowers from
my sweet hubby :)

In addition to just feeling scattered, I truly have been crazy busy lately. It's annoying and it's gotta stop. I can't remember the last time I had a day in my studio when there wasn't at least one other thing I needed to do or place I needed to be. Today, though, I'm taking (ie. stealing) the time to paint. I find that when I do that, everything else seems to fall into place. However, then I get busy and I seem to forget this truth and neglect my artwork (my career, my soul!) for too long and I end up feeling non-productive and depleted.

So, adieu for now. I'm off to paint and feed my soul.

(Somewhat) Quick Paintings

Most recent quick study

I've been having a hard time focusing lately (more on the reason why in a later post). My typical reflection paintings on metal take SO long to do- several layers of paint, each taking several hours, with drying time in between that they just seem daunting when I'm so distractible. So, in a quest for more immediate gratification I've been doing a series of short, quick paintings on gessoed particle board. I'm normally such a careful, detailed painter that it's good for me to do "fast" paintings once in a while. I put fast in quotes because I still spend 1-2 hours on them. I've done about 10 of them now and I think I'm getting better at getting my subject down quickly. What do you think?

Quick study #1

Floater frame- finished picture

Wow! I must be THE worst blogger ever! It's been forever since I posted. Sorry! There have been lots of other things distracting me. Don't worry, I'll try not to let it happen again. As promised (AGES ago), here is the final picture of the finished floater frame- complete with artwork inside.

I have some exciting art news- the Energen corporation (the Alabama gas company) has bought one of my paintings for it's permanent Alabama art collection. If I understand correctly, it will hang in their fancy building downtown with a plaque with my name on it. Awesome :)

I don't have much more to write about today, but I have some more exciting news that I hope to be able to share with my next post. Stay tuned.

How to make a floater frame- Part 3

 After leaving your frame to dry in the strap clamp overnight, it should be firmly and beautifully together. Take off the strap clamp and sand the corners, and any other seams where two pieces of wood join. Next, smear wood filler into the seams like so:

If you look closely you'll see tan woodfiller smeared into the seam on the front corner.

Once you have the wood filler on all the visible seams, go do something else for a little while- read a book, eat a sandwich, take a nap, work on a painting, make up a song and dance to entertain your dog or cat- whatever you like while the wood filler dries. 

Now, go back and sand the wood filler so that it's nice and smooth. The point is that when the frame is painted it will look like one solid piece. It's a much more polished look without the visible joints. 

You're ALMOST done!! Feel free to lay your picture into your frame and admire how well it fits before the next step.

Time to paint the frame! First, I suggest using a spray primer. For one thing it helps the paint adhere and for another thing, if the paint should ever get chipped, it won't be as obvious. This part is moderately tiresome just because of drying time. Just allow for the time and relax. It's all part of the process. You didn't work this hard until this point just to get impatient now, did you?

Ok, so lay your frame down on a cloth or something to protect your deck, garage floor, driveway, or wherever you're doing this. Whether you start with the back or the front is up to you. Spray a nice, even coat of primer and then walk away and do something else. The primer should be completely dry in an hour or so, so that you can do the other side. I like to go ahead and prime the whole thing first rather than prime and paint the same side before priming the other side because sometimes little imperfections you missed when the wood was bare show up when it's primed. Now's a perfect time to fill, sand, and fix them. 

You'll need a few coats of paint to really get it looking good. Pay attention to the directions on your spray paint. Mine says to reapply within the hour OR wait 24 hours. I'm not sure why that particular timing is important, but I'll trust them. I really wanted to be able to show you my finished product in this post, but it's not in a good spot to photograph and it's still too wet to move. I promise- it's coming soon. Not that you need to see mine- you've got one of your own! Go ahead and play this while you present your finished frame to your friends. Tada!

How to make a floater frame- Part 2

Ok, so you've done as the bottle of wood glue instructed and dutifully waited overnight for your two pieces of wood to glue together. Now time for cutting! First, measure the sides of the painting you're framing.

This particular painting is 5"x7".  Think about if you want some space between the edge of your picture and the frame so that the picture looks like it's hovering (hence the name "floater frame") or if you want the frame to butt right up to the picture. Is that the right version of "butt" to use? Maybe it's butte. Anyway, I digress. The measuring will be a little easier if plan on the picture hovering because you have a tiny bit of leeway. 

First, you're going to cut one end of your board at the angle that it will need to be to make the corner of your frame. Set your miter saw (or miter box) to a 45 degree angle. Obviously, it's important to make sure that the cut is angled in the correct direction. You want the cut to slant toward what will be the inside of the frame (see picture below). 

Since I want my painting to float in the frame, I'm going to mark my board at 7 1/2" for the 2 longer sides of the painting. It's important also to clamp your board to your saw (see below). Please please please don't get near the blade. Clamping the board enables you to concentrate on what you're doing rather than worrying about holding the wood in place. Also, don't forget your goggles. I actually wear goggles, respirator mask, and earplugs. Not stylish, but I'm well protected. 

Don't forget the clamp the wood to the saw. If the piece is long you may need two clamps.

Now it's time to make your cuts! You'll have to swivel the saw to cut 45 degrees in the opposite direction for each end of each piece. Make sure your cut pieces match the piece that will be opposite them in size. Once you have all of your pieces cut, add glue to one end of each piece and put your frame together.
Your strap clamp will keep everything firmly in place while the glue dries. Don't forget to wipe up the excess glue! Once the clamp in on the frame and tightened, it should look like this:

I admit, I had a hard time tightening the clamp all the way at first since it didn't come with instructions, but then I figured out that after the crank is turned as far as it will go, you can then turn the long red wooden handle to the right to tighten it further.
Once again, be patient and let it dry over night. I think I forgot to mention wood filler on our supply list. We'll need that for the next step, so go ahead and get some. I'll go back and add it to the initial list for those of you just joining me.