It's all about the pictures

The 2 above are pieces in progress. I actually have 4 of these I'm working on this weekend. I haven't spent much time in the studio lately so this weekend is dedicated to painting. Today's post is all about the pictures. I think I used up all my words on the other blog. I started another blog because I felt the need to keep this one more about the art. The other one is about adoption and my experience as a first mother. So, if you want to see where all the words are they're here

Prairie Path

7x5

Oil Pastel

This one will go up in the Etsy shop soon.

Mosaic 8

8x8

Acrylic

Mosaic 7

8x8

Acrylic

These 2 acrylic abstracts were listed on Etsy today.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Peace,

Carlynne

Where have I been?

I haven't traveled very far in the physical but mentally and emotionally I've been all over the place. I've been out of this world joyful over my new little grandbaby. She's amazing and lives close by so I get to bask in her super baby-ness on a frequent basis.

I've been learning, reading and meeting people in the adoption world. Meeting another mother of adoption loss can be very healing. It's incredibly sad to know how many other women have walked the same road I have but at the same time it's good to meet and share stories. We had our own therapy session over lunch and wondered what the people around us were overhearing.

In my last post I mentioned starting a painting about the Magdalen Laundries, well here's the start of it....

You might not be able to see it very well in the photo but there's a number carved into one of the stones in the wall, 30,000. That's the number of women that are estimated to have been through the laundries in it's 150 year history. Across the stone wall there will be glass shards and of course hanging above the wall is the Pope's mitre. The design is done in gold leaf, you can see the shine of the gold better below.

I was going to go with a stained glass design in the background with some other symbolism but decided it would be too busy. The sky turned out to be a better idea. Now I'm working on getting the glass shards back in place and I have text to add to the mitre. You'll see the finished piece soon. We'll see if I get any hate mail over this one. If you're not familiar with the story read here

So.... where else have I been? Kelli and I got to take off to the beach for a couple of days. Did I take any pictures while there? No! I brought the camera but never got it out, sorry, no pictures to share but we did have a great time. On the way there we went to the Florida Museum for Women Artists in Deland and met some of the artists participating in the Witness to Creativity exhibit going on there now. As always, it's a treat to talk with other artists, watch them work and get insight into what they're creating. If you're able to get to Deland, check out the exhibit.

With all this running around (a lot of it in my head) I didn't get much painting done this past week so it's time to hit the studio.

Peace,

Carlynne

Finished! TV Project #2

e-flaxbow

Kelli Money Huff

Hey All,

I finally finished the second project in my Work of Art: The Next Great Artist challenge. As you may know from previous posts, I am using the television reality series as a way to stimulate my creative muse by doing all the projects assigned to the TV artists. I am waaaaaaay behind them, they are now doing the 5th project and I have just finished #2. However, as I mentioned before, my goal is different and I am not eligible to win the $100,000 that they are competing for.

The title of this episode is The Shape of Things to Come and it is a sculpture to be built from appliance/electronic junk. This is my interpretation of that challenge. Below is the inspiration for my piece.



This photo depicts a Flax Bow, a American Paiute totem that was hung in the homes of tribal members and was believed to promote harmony and good communication between family and household members. As I was looking at the junk that I had accumulated to work with, it occurred to me that the ubiquitous electronic stuff that most of us now have cluttering up our homes and our lives are all mostly about communication. (Does anyone ever have enough electrical outlets?)



Of course, true to my usual methods, this idea came to me in the middle of the night. While it is frustrating and even scary to not have any creative purpose, it is annoying to have it constantly visit in the night. I would like some sleep, thank you very much!!



Finding extremely little information on Flax Bows, even on the Internet, this was the only photo available and I am drawing my own conclusions about the name. My research turned up the fact that the Paiute used flax for weaving and other purposes and it appears that the lower part of the Flax Bow is made of strands of flax. The top which it hangs from is bow shaped. Thus that is where I believe the name came from. My piece derives it's name (e-flaxbow) from the electronic connection. Pun intended.



I like to use symbolism in my work and this piece is no exception. CD's, DVD's, cell phones, a keyboard, a mouse, and an intercom, form the whole concept of communication, both with the people in the home as well as good harmony with the electronics. The weaving which takes the place of the flax on both sides hanging down, is symbolic of the grid, both electrical and the Internet grid that is a vital and indispensable part of our lives. Numerous cables and wires of all types bind all the elements together.



You may have guessed that this is not my usual media or genre, however, I did enjoy this and even became excited about my idea. The next challenge is to create a book cover for a classic novel. I am using a book that holds lots of personal meaning for myself and my daughter, Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Thanks to ennadoolf, one of our blog readers, for the idea.



As always I welcome your comments and ideas. Wish me luck.
Peace, love and creativity.

Kelli

Birthday Wishes

Birthday Wishes 3

8x8

Acrylic on canvas

Birthday Wishes 2

8x8

Acrylic on canvas

SOLD

The holiday weekend is over, over way too fast in fact. It was a lovely peaceful weekend and I had time to spend in the studio. I'm working on the next piece in the Silent Voices series. This one is about the Magdalene Laundries - tough topic but I have most of the image worked out now. I'll post when I'm a little farther along.

For now what I want to show you are the candle paintings. In a previous post I showed you the the large piece with the 3 candles and the first mother's names with dates in the background. I'm continuing that theme with these small pieces. The reason for this is to support an organization that is working toward reform in the adoption industry. Origins-USA works to increase public awareness of how adoption separation affects mothers and to bring about legislative changes to protect the rights of mothers to nurture their children. Adoptees also suffer as a result of adoption. There's a lot to be done to lessen the pain of adoption and being a first mother myself this is an area close to my heart. I'm selling these small original acrylic pieces for $30 and donating half to Origins. I will personalize the painting with the first mother's name and child's date of birth if requested and I can also customize the candle color.

Please visit the Origins site and see what they're doing. If you or someone you know is interested in helping or if you just have a thing for birthday candles, leave a comment or send an email.

Peace,

Carlynne

TV Project 2: The Beginning

Hey All,

I'm back with the second in the series of challenges on "Work of Art: The Next Great Artist" on Bravo. I have committed to doing every assignment no matter what (see previous posts for more info). The second project is to create a work of art using electrical appliance junk. If you saw the episode, you know that a lot of the artists focused on television sets. I do not wish to carry and store anything that big or heavy. The Realtors mantra is location, location, location. The artists mantra is storage, storage, storage. And besides I make my own rules because I am not eligible to win $100,000 and that is my consolation prize.

I have a pile of junk from computers, cell phones, cameras, cables, electrical and phone cords, etc. And what you see above is only a part of it. I have an idea that is pretty well formed in my brain but I am not going to share it until it's done. The hard part now is determining how to attache these things to each other. Wish me luck.

The next challenge, according to episode three is to do a cover illustration for a classic novel. I am not gong to use the same ones that they were assigned, as I do not wish to be influenced by the TV artists work. I welcome your suggestions and I will let you know what happens. Tune in for more.

Peace. love and creativity to all,
Kelli

Births, Birthdays and Fathers

Wow! Lots of stuff going on about birthing. Kelli did the last post about me, my daughter and the adoption industry (that's not only a topic for another post, I ought to start another whole blog about it). Today of course we're celebrating fathers and how much we love them. And the biggest news of the week ~ I have a new granddaughter. Welcome to the world beautiful little Maxine Ember! It's a very special Father's Day for my son Aaron. And.... the day after Maxine arrived it was my other daughter's birthday - the quarter century milestone for Sarah. And.... today is Becca's birthday - same milestone. Becca is Maxine's mom, how's that for a birthday present! Anyone who knows our family knows we do things in groups. We have our December birthday group, now we're working on our June birthday group.

So, it's been a pretty hectic week. Not a lot of painting going on. This one is not done yet but you can see where it's going. I'm working on 2 of these to submit to Bentley Publishing. For today this piece will have to be content sitting on the easel all by itself, I just want to hug my Dad and go snuggle a baby.

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful dads out there. We love you.

Peace,

Carlynne

Success!

The Scarlet Letters

12" X 12"

Kelli Money Huff

Drum roll.........TA-DAAAAh!! Project number one is finished. And I am still alive. The above piece is a multi-media collage portrait of my creative partner and fellow blogger Carlynne Hershberger. If you read my previous post, I have taken on the challenge of creating every project that the artists on Work of Art: The Next Great Artist are doing and following pretty much the same parameters as the TV artists with the exception of the time limits. (Refer to previous post for particulars.)

Technique on this one is pretty straight-forward, photos of Carlynne, printed in black and white and then glued to a studio wrapped canvas. I have also added printed words, an envelope and stamp and acrylic paint. This portrait depicts my impression of her as she was about to give birth and surrender her child for adoption in 1980. (For more info on this, refer to Carlynne's previous posts.) No, I was not there and did not know her at that time, but have been a spectator as she has become an activist for change in adoption laws.

The photo is black and white instead of color because I wanted to present her as a ghost of herself as she was moving through the months of pregnancy knowing that she would have to give up this child, suppressing her real feelings in order to cope with the impending loss. The color blue represents her sadness. The envelope illustrates the letters she wrote home to her family and is pink because her baby was a girl, and the stamp shows the Madonna and child. The letters BFA stand for Baby For Adoption, the letters posted over her bed in the maternity ward and are the most important part of the piece, thus, the title, The Scarlet Letters.

I am relatively happy with the way this piece turned out, but there were many times during the process that I had serious doubts about the final results as well as my sanity. To give you an idea of how it went:

When the idea gelled: Oh, yeah, this is a great idea and I have lots of symbols to put in it. It will be fabulous. I am so excited I can't sleep! ( I really didn't sleep for 2 days.)

After I took photos and looked at them: These aren't what I thought I was getting. I'll have to take some more. Crap!

After working with the photos for awhile, enlarging and cutting and going from color to B & W: These will work just fine.

After laying them out: These aren't going to work. I'll have to start over. Man, do I have to do this?
Then: These will work better than I originally thought. Maybe it'll even be fun.

After gluing some down: This paper is crap, I'll have to do the whole thing again. I'll never be able to show this to Lynne, much less EVERYONE who reads the blog.

After arranging the smaller elements: Well, maybe I kind of like what the crappy paper is doing.
After adding some paint: This looks so amateurish. What was I thinking, this is going to be awful! What did I get myself into, now I have 9 more projects to do, or ruin!!

After adding more paint and blending it: This is better, well, maybe it's not so bad.

All I have to say is, this is going to be the longest 10 weeks of my life.
Peace and love to all,

Kelli