A friend of mine recently commented that I was on a pink painting roll- my last painting “Do It! Don’t Do It” about the dream with the devil whispering in my ear did have quite a bit of pink in it- see my blog on 1-14-2009. The Proverb Painting that I am working on now: “Water Under the Bridge” has a pink figure and snake- though the snake color will soon be changing. Actually part of my painting process is to pick a color in the postcard that I will be using as the background color and to paint the whole canvas that color first. The main figure and the border around the postcard usually remains that color. The background color also peeks through -here & there- all of the subsequent painting layers. In “Water Under the Bridge” the pink background color was chosen to match the roof of the building in the postcard.

I love going to the Great Western Stock Show in Denver every January!! My head spins around trying to take in the “westerness” of it all-muscular cows being washed, blown dry, and hair sprayed before being lead off to the arena for judging; children hugging their 4H animals one last time; the chunky hind quarters of a pretty, very pink pig swaying to and fro down the aisle; the cowboys and girls all decked out in hats, boots and giant flashy belt buckles, the aroma of BBQ in the air; the high quality of the art in their Western Art show. I have been doing a lot of PINK paintings lately-hmmmm….

Congratulations to Karen F. and Leslie S. who are the WINNERS of the vintage postcard give away from my show at the Artist’s Nook in Bellvue, Colorado. Thank you for participating!!!

Speaking of vintage postcards, I have been turned onto the Krampus postcards from Michael deMeng’s blog. Krampus is the antithesis of Santa Claus- the old devil himself. The word Krampus originates from the Old High German word for claw (Krampen). In the Alpine regions the Krampus is represented by an incubus demon in company of Saint Nicholas. Krampus acts as an anti-Saint Nicholas where instead of giving gifts to good children, he gives warnings and punishments to the bad children.                         Maybe it has something to do with the vivid dream I had about the devil whispering in my ear- see my previous blog-anyway,  my interest in devils has been sparked. Here is the photo of that painting finished :                                                  The Eye in the Sky:

 Anyway I have gone on line & just ordered 2 vintage devil post cards- can’t wait to see what ideas are inspired by them! (meaning shapes seeing!) Here is one of them:     

What is the devil?-yeah, I know evil incarnate & all of that but if you were to define the devil what would you say? and where did that idea come from? why the red color? the forked tail? the horns? When Joe & I were in Mexico City last spring I bought the cutest little paper mache diablita from a vendor in front of Frida Kahlo’s house:                                            

 From Mexico city we went up to San Miguel de Allende- San Miguel is almost always portrayed as stepping on the devil- squashing him- it is there that another “angel” in my life earned the nickname Hose Diablo and I bought this red glittery devil couple:

I recently had a dream where the devil- seductive & vivid red -was whispering in my ear- “Just do it!!” (no, he was not wearing Nikes!) I was inspired to do a painting based on that dream- first I had to find  just the right postcard: I chose one that shows a woman with the focus on her eyes- on the postcard it is written “To My True Eyes”- Hmmm… what are the “true eyes”? Why the window to the soul, of course! And where the devil is there are angels too- so I had to give an angel equal opportunity to whisper in my ear- a little confusing because both are saying the same thing:”Do It! Don’t Do It!” I guess once again “meaning shapes seeing” or perhaps in this case hearing! Here is the beginning of the painting:

(that’s blue painter’s tape around the edge of the postcard- the card is in a plastic sleeve so that it does not get damaged). I start with a base color that I choose from the colors in the postcard -that is the color that will be revealed when the tape is taken away. (the smoky blue in this case)I have also started painting on artist’s board with the 2 inch sides- a more contemporary look , I think. And here they are painted:                                  

This is not finished yet-Yesterday I added an eye of the Goddess up in the sky because I thought “What could be a truer eye than that?” I’ll post the finished piece soon.

Speaking of angels & devils- I have had an angel-  in my life recently- my creativity coach, Vicki Schroeder , who has helped me immensely in my journey as an artist- she has the knack of asking the right questions, offering support materials that have made a difference and by making observations that resonate with me so that I have been able to grow creatively, clarify and accomplish goals, and feel excited and inspired about my art work. Check out her website if you are looking for help along those lines.