About a month ago I was out walking & thinking about 3 close friends & the pain they were all in, in different ways… one with an illness and the the other two with tough stuff in relationships. As i walked, I thought about the few times in my life when I felt I was in the darkest depths of my soul-  which then led me to reflect on how to create a painting inspired by these thoughts & what would it be about? I decided the best thing during these sorts of time is to nurture the soul- so, I created this painting: “Nurture Your Soul, My Dear”.

It has a lot of depth to it- the words “nurture your soul, my dear”  are collaged on the background & then covered with a thick clear gel medium, that was then painted on in areas so that the words do peek through, then there is a layer of painted crackle medium with other images on it and our guardian angels flying around her head.

She is tenderly holding the plant ( represents the soul- meaning shapes seeing) which blossoms in the vintage postcard at heart level.

On the postcard there is the poem:
“In the desert a fountain is springing,
In the wild waste there is still a tree,
And a flower in the old garden blooming
That speaks to my spirit of thee.”

I take the thee to be hope, the light at the end of the tunnel, God.

Yesterday my sister, mom, dad & I went to the Great Western Stock Show in Denver.

I love going with my family because they are the only ones that I know that will spend hours experiencing & enjoying the culture of the Stock Show. It started with the food- my only regret being that I did not leave room for a fried Twinkie or Snickers Bar- food items I have heard of but never experienced-I know it is probably not politically correct but I figure if I am up for trying iguana pizza in Costa Rica, fried grasshoppers in Mexico or guinea pig in Peru why not a fried Twinkie?

First stop- the cow/calf/bull show. The owners spend hours, bathing, blow drying & sprucing up their cows.

They all had Mohawk upper tails with a giant dread lock ball on the end of the tail.

We noticed that the “in” fashion this year was bling bling belts for the women- Project Runway take note!

Some of the bulls were impressive

But it is the chickens I love- each breed is so different- maybe I’ll become a chicken portrait painter:

the greys in this one were beautiful- made me want to try to capture it in paint!

big red combs- I wonder what the evolutionary reason is behind these?

slightly demented:

fluffy like an angora bunny

proud

curious

the look in their eyes not unlike a rehabilitated eagle that was there:

A lot of my world revolves around art & living in a rural area where I see elk, deer, coyotes etc. daily but not farm or ranch animals or people. I am fascinated how we develop our own sub cultures within the general American culture. As artists -in general- we wear more “arty” clothing- brighter colors, hand woven or embellished materials etc. Funky, unusual jewelry… At the stock show we saw mostly cowboy boots, western snap shirts, cowboy hats, blue jeans & the women sporting the sparkly rhinestone belts. Here is a fellow  waiting his turn to show his pig- which is in the pen below him- checking messages, reading a book.

What a fun & interesting day off!!

P. S. There was an awesome western art show there- the Coors sponsored show- I was thrilled to see about 75% of the paintings sold- in price ranges up to $20,000.00!! No picture taking allowed so unfortunately I can’t share any with you.

Joe & I

walked around frozen Estes Park Lake under the full moon, the Blue Moon- quiet, beautiful, romantic. Got the year off to a good start.

I am having fun playing with new – to me- art materials- I laid in a heavy matte medium gel on the gold background of my “Nurture Your Soul, My Dear” painting & textured it with big rubber stamps. Painted some more gold on top then laid in some greens-liked the texture- did not like the color- but now it was deep in the recesses of the texture.

Got out the belt sander & sanded it down- still too gold & green

so laid in some crackle paste last night- you can still see some of the layering underneath- like it! I think I will stain the crackle paste a faded aqua. I am definitely riding the waves of “oh, I really like this painting” and as the wave curls over & crashes down”Oh I really, really don’t like this painting”; the wave starts to rise:” Oh, this painting has possibilities- I think I’ll just PLAY!”

Mostly finished with the Transformation Assemblage:caterpillar into butterfly- don’t know what I will title it- any ideas?  I want to put special totems in the metal boxes-maybe having to do with chakras…

I wish every one a VERY HAPPY, HEALTHY & FUN New Year!!!!!!!

I