Virgin a Day: 10

Hello Violets! Today's virgin is a mixed media painting I made a few years ago: spatters of ink and candy wrapper bits. From the very beginning I have always loved her image--especially the fleshy fragrant roses that rested upon her head or near her heart...

"Oh Immaculate heart of Mary,
full of Goodness--
show your Love towards us.
Let the flame of you Heart,
Oh Mary, Descend on all people."

Join the pilgrimage here. <3

Virgin a Day: 8

Good morning Creampuffs! I apologize to those of you have seen this image before. This particular Virgin is a watercolor I started for an artists book. She will eventually be cut into pieces and sewn together as a quilt with images of other modern goddesses and mothers of Earth.
"Like most people in modern culture, my first experience with the goddess unbeknownst to me, was with Mary...I met her with I was seventeen in Mexico in the purple velvet, candle lit churches of Sinaloa. The Sensuality and warmth of those rooms greatly comforted me."

--From Carolyn McVickar Edwards' book The Storyteller's Goddess: Tales of The Goddess and Her Wisdom from Around The World.

Join the pilgrimage here. Many Blessings! <3

Nose Candy: Paint Diary

Hello Kittens! There's gold leaf on the ceiling and green acrylic on my sweater-- getting new pieces ready for "Kitschmas" a group invitational exhibition we're hosting in a few weeks. The theme for this show is Kitsch: the gaudy, the gross and giggle inducing. It's been liberating being able to really experiment and get silly. Here is the progress of my totally tasteless contribution:

My process always starts with a photograph.

Next, I start "carving" out the figure with broad strokes--most of the under-painting is still exposed. The patterns really needed to pop--I'm finding myself being inspired by fashion magazine spreads and obnoxious dubstep remixes. It could be weirder. So, I pushed it further--

One gold-leaf unicorn horn and a snort of silver glitter later, I came to this. It got gross...and I'm pleased. I've never made a painting quite like this: it's tighter, smaller and stranger than anything I've made in recent history. I'm excited to see where the tacky train takes me. :}

Destroyer Day Dream: Art Journal Entry

Hello cherry bombs! Went the the journal today with day dreams of wasting the city with rainbow laser vision and white lighting. I'm going to ride around on a big black raincloud fulla sour candy--smash up some parking meters and swing around on bridges. A new painting perhaps?

What are your fancies today?

Dance Party Portraits: New Work In Progress

Hello Peaches! These blustery autumn days are dynamite for being a hyper productive hermit in the studio. I'm working on a small series for a group show I have coming up in December. Here's a peep at the progress !

Untitled mixed media 24"x36"

I'm playing with happy accidents and unequal resolve in my newer pieces. These weren't as meticulously planned as previous works. I took a reference photograph, decided on a pallet (if you can call it that...) and went in guns a blazin'. As far as materials, my method was "see what sticks."

Untitled mixed media on masonite 12"x12"

This is the latest effort and by far the smallest painting I've ever attempted. Here you can see the first layer, I'm working out proportions and building up some volume in the flesh.

Here we are a few hours in and several coats of ink and nail polish later. I'm excited to get that unicorn horn in there. And possibly another evil monkey... :) My goal is to crank out one more piece for the exhibition. I can't wait--it's always a treat to show with friends!

What have you been making, my pretties? Wishing you much Love, Paint and Rock&Roll!

Broad Strokes: Lady Artists to Peep: Volume 4

Welcome to another edition of Broad Strokes: Celebrating female artists of past and present. This installment is all about the surreal: ghosts, goddesses and day dreams. Let's get to the gallery!

Audrey Kawasaki
Status: Alive and Kicking
Medium: Painter























Alma Lopez
Status: Alive and Kicking
Medium: Painter























Maria Flore
Status: Alive and Kicking
Medium: Photagrapher



















Do you have a favorite in the round up? An artist you'd like to see featured? Discuss!

Updates: No Rest for The Wicked!

Hello Puddings!* I'm not dead--just down the rabbit hole again! The candle has been burning at three ends for the past month. Here's a quick recap at what's been brewing here at HerSpeak Headquarters:

The Barn Owl Ballyhoo was a complete success! A night brimming with local art and awesome musical performances. You can peep the details on the Drippy Lip Productions page.

I had the pleasure of doing make up for a collaborative lingerie runway show with Beauty and Project M. The designer envisioned a pin-up look: cat eyes, ruby red lips. My Favorite! You can check out the scene here.
I've also started my special events assistant internship at the Milwaukee Art Museum. We host some of the most extravagant events in the city--I get to go behind the scenes, be in the guts of the museum and see how the magic happens step by step.


Headquarters is covered in glitter dust again as I begin a new series for exhibition this December: "Kitschmas"! We're excited to present a punchy show to cure those too-cute-Christmas blues. It will be grounding to get back to the studio this week. :)

I've missed all of you, my blogosphere bunnies! I hope to find time to visit each one of you soon! This week is mayhem in the making: time for Halloween! What have you been up to, my pretties?

Wishing you much Love, Paint and Rock&Roll. <3

ITALY -- acrylics

I have two days to finish these paintings.

The top one is new-- started yesterday... and being worked on this week.

The bottom one is giving me trouble. I don't know why-- but it isn't grabbing me as it should.

Somewhere along the way -- I lost the spark.
I know I will get it back-- but I have to set it aside.. and let it fade in the background of my desire and consciousness.

Then.. after a while... I will bring it out again... and see it with 'fresh eyes." Immediately -- I will know what to do~ !

It's always easier to solve paintings after you are dispassionate about the conclusion.

Sometimes I think -- we fall in love with what we "paint"..and not with what we "see."

Italy 123
acrylic
21" h x 21" w
2010
unfinished


Italy 120
acrylic
30" h x 40" w
2010
unfinished

PAINTED

Lynda of ArtByLynda.etsy.com uses polymer clay pendants as tiny canvas for her acrylic pendants. The resulting pendants are as original as they are lovely. From my own experience, I can add that painting on such a small scale is a very special skill, way more difficult than it looks.

IMPASTO

Test yourself. What do you think this is? What material?

After seeing Mary's polymer clay paintings (yesterday's post), I was absolutely sure these were done in polymer clay as well. Turns out, these works are created with oil and acrylic by Susanna from ModernHouseArt.etsy.com in her signature palette knife texture style.

I like the texture in this paintings so much that my hands are itching to try this technique in polymer clay...

PAINTED

I bet you thought I am playing another trick on you and wondered what are these painting doing in my blog.

Well, this is actually polymer clay, believe it or not! Polymer clay paintings! Amazing, aren't they? I found them in WonderfulWire.etsy.com. Mary, the artist behind these works, has many interesting creations both in her Etsy shop and in her blog, www.livingwithwalls.blogspot.com.

NOSTALGIA

I was going through my photos and found a few of interest. The top one was taken in 1965 at the Dalby Kindergarten. I loved painting at kindy...although I don't look that happy in the photo!

The second photo was taken in 1993 in Goondiwindi [4.5 hrs drive west of Brisbane] in my old shearer's quarters studio. The cute little child is my eldest daughter who is now quite grown up. This photo was taken just before I had an exhibition in Maleny. You can see the tree-of-life was a major influence even then. Readers of my BLOG know I still love this motif.

When I had small children I would go straight to my studio to work as soon as they had their morning or afternoon sleeps. I had a baby monitor attached to me so that I knew when they awakened and needed me. Mothers become very adept at discerning 'I want you now!' screams or just playful whimpers or 'Mum I am bored' grizzles!

This photo was taken in 1977 when I won first prize in the senior section of Queen Elizabeth Silver Jubilee Art Award for children. Part of the prize was meeting the Queen at Government House in Brisbane. My whole family travelled to Brisbane for the event and I was taken out of boarding school for two days! The Queen had chosen the theme of the art award. This theme was The Family and my painting is the one slightly obscured by the Queen's head. I painted my family! Unfortunately of the 3 photos taken of me at the event this is the only one of me with Queen Elizabeth...and we can only see her back. This was well before people could take a thousand digital images. I am just over 180 cm tall and the 'teenager me' insisted on wearing high heels. Of course on the day I realised my mistake and I felt like an amazonian standing beside and talking with Her Majesty.

This photo was taken in 1981 when I worked as a curatorial assistant at the National Gallery in Canberra. I am standing beside a Monet Waterlily painting. I got the job in Canberra straight out of university.

Painting and art have been part of my life since forever. Over this time I have come to believe that art's agency [rather than purpose] is to give to those who are keen and open to receive. Art can be reflective and/or affective. As I have said before on my BLOG I believe my paintings are finished not by me but by viewers and the conversations they have either with others or...inside their heads.

Cheers,

Kathryn

ANSWERS

I have been very busy lately. Apart from feeling like a yo yo Mother I have been exploring the possibilities of widgets, Twitter and other online distractions. I have loaded a Widget called FEEDJIT onto my BLOG and it detects visitors to my BLOG. I have revamped my TWITTER http://twitter.com/brimblecombe with a background of one of my paintings. I am also on FACEBOOK which embarrasses my children as I am too 'old' for these sorts of things. Well, apparently we 'oldies' have taken over FACEBOOK as well as the TWILIGHT series of books. If you have not heard of this series...well ask any 11 year old girl and she will tell you about them! Actually ask any woman on the street and she will also be able to tell you ...probably!

But, I have also been painting. I am working on the large oil which I talked about in my BLOG post 'SOAKED'. The painting is progressing and I am completely absorbed with it when I am with it! Hours pass by and I am looking forward to, but also anxious about, seeing it finished. Painting is also an bit of a yo yo experience. One minute everything is going well....the paint glides off the brush, my arm stays steady, the colours meld well and then...all of a sudden....I realise I've put too many lines, or I've been thinking without looking, or the paint does not behave as I would like it, or I get up to move away from the painting to see it from a distance and I realise it is not quite right. The process is a constant movement from contentment to...sometimes the extreme of hopelessness.

Yet, I love it. The positive and negative aspects of creating a painting stimulate a movement which feels right to me. The problem solving stretches from practical issues to conceptual concerns. On the one hand the paint might not have the right consistency, but when I look at the painting does is actually 'say' what I want it to? Both the practical and conceptual fuel each other.

I know I must love what I do because when I have a problem it does not get me down. I don't become stressed in a way which makes me wake in the middle of the night to ruminate and catastrophise. In a way I enjoy the problems as they stretch my intellect and imagination. I remember my Mother telling me something a doctor once told her. That is, if a job or activity causes the kind of stress which leads to sleepless nights then it is unhealthy. But, if a job or activity causes the kind of stress which fuels your energy at all levels then it is a healthy place to be. It has taken me awhile to sort out what jobs and activities are really suited to me, as sometimes parts of a job or activity do satisfy, but how one copes with problems is the litmus test I think.

The gouache on paper painting above is called 'Answer To A Prayer'. it is from my "Water" series. But like most of my work it says a lot more than its obvious intention which is about being grateful for rain.

SOAKED

In the last couple of weeks I have received some really good news. My entries for the Prometheus and Moreton Bay Art Awards have both been selected as award finalists. The two exhibitions and the announcement of the awards both take place in May.

My painting 'Sending Love' oil on linen 80 x 180 cm has been selected for the Prometheus Award and 'A Frisson With Distance' oil on linen 85 x 147 cm has been selected for the Moreton Bay Art Award.

I am working on another large oil painting and so far I have created the underpainting. This process takes time and lots of mess. The time is because I layer paint and each layer needs to dry before I pour/paint the next one. The mess is caused by the highly diluted [with turps and oil] paint spilling and dripping onto the floor and me walking in it! I do have the garage door open when I am doing this as the fumes are strong.

This afternoon I will start painting the surface image. I have ideas running through my head. I want to paint an image which from a distance seems to be almost moving waves of colour, but when up close the colours are distinctly discernible. I will use my tree-of-life motif to create this vast yet intimate image. I am thinking that a map of the world loses its manmade boundaries when viewed from a distance because they just cannot be seen. Yet, up close the boundaries are clear reminding us of difference. Perspective is a wonderful thing...as long as you keep moving. With my new painting I want to show that whilst the colours are distinct they actually grow from their neighbouring colours. In other words I am replacing borders with a fusing of colours to indicate connection...of all kinds. And, from a distance the sense of wave-like movement suggests a connectivity that is vibrant and fluid. An alternative to the rigidness of a map.

So, it will be intersting to see how the painting works out. Generally if I have thought about it for awhile it just flows...with the odd moment of frustration!

The painting above is a recent work on paper again focusing on my previously mentioned interest in water. However, I have loaded it up today not to talk about water, but to describe how my works on paper influence my oil paintings. Some of my thoughts for my new large oil painting have grown out of the processes involved in creating my water paintings. As I have said before I actually use water to help create the effects ie: wetting all or part of the paper before applying colour, using a spray to 'wash' the paper and to generate changes in the way colour performs and so on. I really give the paper a work out. The idea of a wave-like work in oil came to me after working with watery effects on paper.

So as the weeks ebb by I will keep the BLOG updated on progress with my new large painting.

Soaked Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm unframed 2009

Sacred Commissions

It's a blue gray afternoon here near the lake--a perfect day to be tucked away in the studio with a "kick-in-the-pants" cup of coffee catching up on commission work. I've been doodling and googling all afternoon working on gathering notes and getting down initial blocks of color for a special custom altar piece. I always feel incredibly honored when someone asks me to create work for their sacred spaces! Such a treat!
Though most times it is an invigorating experience, sometimes being asked to make an intensely personal piece can be a little overwhelming. For example, this past summer I had a client ask me to create a Day of The Dead inspired memorial piece for her mother and auntie who passed away a few months prior. They died together in a tragic auto accident in the spring and she wanted a work that illustrated their friendship as sisters and impact as mothers.

Woah.

That is Heavy...

"El Dia des Los Muertos" by Molly Roberts 2008

As we discussed the details of the work it was obvious that her hurt was still very fresh. I scratched down notes trying my best to keep up as she recited memories and lists of her mothers favorite things: "violets, butterflies, lilies-of-the-valley..." As much as you try to relax and be creative while working on a piece like that there is a pressure that is present. You want the work to be perfect--it has to be perfect. It's not only a decorative artwork that needs to be aesthetically pleasing and functional within the living space. You know what you are making is part of the family's grieving process. You're not just drawing and gluing--You are an active part, you are helping in the healing. Every bit of foil, every spot of ink counts. Needless to say, it can be intimidating.


Fortunately, this current piece is being created for a more joyous occasion and magickal purpose! And after a fruitful visit to the natural museum yesterday afternoon with my Muffin, my brain is full of scaly wings, star fish spikes and primal cave paintings--a festoon of new patterns and visual rhythms just waiting to spill out onto canvas! Back to work!

What sort of objects or images do you have in your private,meditative or sacred sanctuary space?

*~Many Blissings & Merry Making, Friends!~*

I'm it!

I’ve been tagged! How fun!
Alrighty, here is my Mighty List of Six Secrets:


In my daydreams my alter ego is a to-die-for darkly
semi-vampiric vixen, Delilah Van Tassel.

*
My hair is not black, pink, blue or white as it usually is—
I’m a dish-water blonde. (Don’t tell anyone!)
*
Every time I smoke a cigarette I am terrified
I’ll die the same way my grandmother did.

*

Even though I am the screamer for a metal band, secretly, I’ve always dreamed of being an opera singer
and performing Madame Butterfly in a beautiful hall.

*
In my mind I have personified my “wellness”
as a cluster of fireflies that live behind my lungs:
When all is well they glow a vibrant green.
When I am in a dark place, they go dormant.

*
If had to make a wish and world peace and solving
world hunger were not options, I would wish for a
full fledged soundtrack to follow me for life.


So--now I tag:
http://www.bohemiansinglemom.blogspot.com/
http://www.reality-insanity.blogspot.com/
http://www.rickaloza.blogspot.com/
http://www.chezsacredsuzie.blogspot.com/
http://www.thebeautifulwitch.blogspot.com/
http://motherhenna.blogspot.com/

(If you've already been tagged or tagged recently--my apologies!)

"Creatrix" by Molly Roberts

Locust Leaves: They're Speaking

At this point in autumn, I usually feel a little anxious—like I can feel something smoldering. There is always that strange damp, earthy, burning smell that permeates everything. I purposely miss the bus so I can make the chilly trek home and sift through fallen locust leaves, trying to read them like they mean something. My guts tell me it’s time to start nest building, that nightly frosts are just the beginning. I've seen 21 autumns and the bouquet of colors and textures never ceases to amaze me. Between the pallets of pumpkin patches and mums there is something that whispers, "Go forth and finger paint!" So, I today I set to work on a swirling autumn goddess…

What does your autumn goddess look like? What are the leaves telling you?