“The artist seeks the challenge, the difficult thing to do;
for his basic approach to life is not of work but of play...
Life as an art and art as a game -
as action for its own sake, without thought of gain or of loss, praise or blame -
is the key, then, to the turning of living itself into a yoga,
and art into the means to such a life.”
— Joseph Campbell
Sky's the Limit, 30" x 96"
Taking a break from painting to do some photographing. New studio shot with my new landscape series. I'm having a lot of fun using collage in different ways, along with brighter colors and abstracted subject matter. Let me know what you think!
Fun new showing thanks to Frecklefoot Creative and Mosaic Hair Studio! Mosaic will be having an opening Thursday night, January 30th, from 7 to 9pm. The show will be hanging through the end of March. Come check out this fabulously cool place on Virginia Avenue in Orlando.
Thicket, 16" x 16"
Actually, a ticket Thicket. I had no idea until it was finished and named!
Native Flora, 36" x 48"
Native Flora is my latest adventure in landscape painting. I took an older abstract painting that I've had for years and went to town on it. Felt so good! And I love the results. In my workshops, I encourage people to incorporate old work into new creations. I had fun taking my own advice!
A Poem of the Sky, 36" x 72" on two panels
Here's my latest, A Poem of the Sky. I have been experimenting with landscapes lately and I had fun with this one. It has more paint, lots of ripped paper and less fabric than past pieces. The title comes from a Shelley poem called, Cloud. "The sphere-fire above its soft colours wove, While the moist Earth was laughing below." Enjoy.
The Cloud
BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY
I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,
From the seas and the streams;
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
In their noonday dreams.
From my wings are shaken the dews that waken
The sweet buds every one,
When rocked to rest on their mother's breast,
As she dances about the sun.
I wield the flail of the lashing hail,
And whiten the green plains under,
And then again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder.
I sift the snow on the mountains below,
And their great pines groan aghast;
And all the night 'tis my pillow white,
While I sleep in the arms of the blast.
Sublime on the towers of my skiey bowers,
Lightning my pilot sits;
In a cavern under is fettered the thunder,
It struggles and howls at fits;
Over earth and ocean, with gentle motion,
This pilot is guiding me,
Lured by the love of the genii that move
In the depths of the purple sea;
Over the rills, and the crags, and the hills,
Over the lakes and the plains,
Wherever he dream, under mountain or stream,
The Spirit he loves remains;
And I all the while bask in Heaven's blue smile,
Whilst he is dissolving in rains.
The sanguine Sunrise, with his meteor eyes,
And his burning plumes outspread,
Leaps on the back of my sailing rack,
When the morning star shines dead;
As on the jag of a mountain crag,
Which an earthquake rocks and swings,
An eagle alit one moment may sit
In the light of its golden wings.
And when Sunset may breathe, from the lit sea beneath,
Its ardours of rest and of love,
And the crimson pall of eve may fall
From the depth of Heaven above,
With wings folded I rest, on mine aëry nest,
As still as a brooding dove.
That orbèd maiden with white fire laden,
Whom mortals call the Moon,
Glides glimmering o'er my fleece-like floor,
By the midnight breezes strewn;
And wherever the beat of her unseen feet,
Which only the angels hear,
May have broken the woof of my tent's thin roof,
The stars peep behind her and peer;
And I laugh to see them whirl and flee,
Like a swarm of golden bees,
When I widen the rent in my wind-built tent,
Till calm the rivers, lakes, and seas,
Like strips of the sky fallen through me on high,
Are each paved with the moon and these.
I bind the Sun's throne with a burning zone,
And the Moon's with a girdle of pearl;
The volcanoes are dim, and the stars reel and swim,
When the whirlwinds my banner unfurl.
From cape to cape, with a bridge-like shape,
Over a torrent sea,
Sunbeam-proof, I hang like a roof,
The mountains its columns be.
The triumphal arch through which I march
With hurricane, fire, and snow,
When the Powers of the air are chained to my chair,
Is the million-coloured bow;
The sphere-fire above its soft colours wove,
While the moist Earth was laughing below.
I am the daughter of Earth and Water,
And the nursling of the Sky;
I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores;
I change, but I cannot die.
For after the rain when with never a stain
The pavilion of Heaven is bare,
And the winds and sunbeams with their convex gleams
Build up the blue dome of air,
I silently laugh at my own cenotaph,
And out of the caverns of rain,
Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb,
I arise and unbuild it again.
Detail of the Cloud
The new Studio Visit Magazine just came out! Check out my work in Volume 23!! As of this minute, its not online yet. But its making its way to artists and hopefully THE RIGHT GALLERIES across the country as we speak! I like that the cover says 'Frontier'. This cowgirl is ready for something new.
I have new dates for classes, demos and workshops posted on my site. My workshops began locally in Mount Dora and then Orlando. Now I'm slowly spiraling out across Florida. Looking forward to meeting and creating with new faces out there- come join us!!
Support the arts. Buy original.
Small Things Considered features original small-scale art work in a range of media, including painting, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, and photography from twenty-nine Florida artists.
The participating artists include: Susan Bach, Hope Barton, Donne Bitner, Tom Brewer, Marilyn Catlow, Giuseppe Corazzina, Judi Dold, Lee Dunkel, René Guerin, Ed Harris, Jane Jennings, Riitta Klint, Jan Miller, Larry Moore, Carol Elder Napoli, Gretchen Nass, Lee Nesler, Christine Peloquin, Audrey Phillips, Beau Redmond, Chris Robb, Mary Schimpff Webb, Jo Sinclair, Randall Smith, Trish Thompson, Anna Tomczak, Barbara Wagner, John Wilton, and guest artists Kelly Berning, Trent Berning, and Cheryl Mackey Smith.
The free domestic shipping offer ends on 12/18/2013.
