Getting back in gear

Sometimes following a show I have a hard time getting back in the normal swing of things. I spend weeks getting everything ready and organized, do the event, and then crash at the end of it. I took part of last week off following Art in the Park the previous weekend. This week has gotten off to a slow, creaking start, but the gears are once again moving. Most of the art from the show is still in boxes or leaning up against the wall, but I have gotten a few things back in place.

Here's another look at that piece in progress that I posted a few weeks ago. I am still loving it, which is good. I am not sure yet what the background should look like. I am leaning towards doing a scene around her, as if she is strolling through town. I think I might do it in muted colors, though, so that the dress doesn't get lost in it.

Any Greenville folks planning to be at the VIP party for Fashion on the Town tomorrow night at The Lazy Goat? I will be at the event painting live. Come see me!

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Making paint

My great-grandmother used to paint china. She spent most of her last years painting and taking care of my great-grandfather. It is a huge understatement to say that she painted a lot of china. Any of my relatives on that side of the family who may be reading this are probably looking around the room at their own tea sets, lamps, serving pieces, full 12 piece place settings, jewelry boxes, and other pieces, all hand painted by Nana, and are nodding in agreement that, yes, there are a lot of pieces.

I have had Nana's box of powder pigments for years, but never thought of doing anything with them until recently. Today I pulled out the linseed oil and pallet knives and have been playing with mixing the pigments into paints. Here are a few pics from my first mixing experiment, plus a little 2.5" x 3.5" paper doll dress I painted from the results.

Any of you have any experience mixing paints from pigments? Tips or tricks?

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Behind a Mask

6"x 6"

Oil and Acrylic on wood

$85

This is another piece in what I am calling my Masquerade series. I love the black and white dresses, and the mask adds even more to the anonymity. You don't see the girl at all. All you see is her dress and her mask. She could be anyone at all.

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At the Ball

6"x 6"

Oil and Acrylic on wood

$85

I finished reading a book last night (The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. If you haven't read it, you really should!), and my head was filled with images of beautiful flowing ball gowns with huge rustling skirts. I make my paper dolls for a lot of reasons, which I have talked about on occasion, but a big reason I make them is because I love pretty dresses. 

Sometimes I like to escape from my everyday life of work, blogging, teaching, paying bills, jeans and t-shirts, and running errands, and jump instead head first into a world of gorgeous gowns and the unexpected. The girl wearing this dress is not concerned about whether she will have enough time to go to the gas station before class, or about finding the right health insurance. Much more mysterious and beautiful things will happen to her in this dress. (Although, she is probably concerned with not fainting because her corset is too tight, and not knocking down anything with her bustle, but besides that, her life is magical.)

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