Christmas Baking

I've begun my Christmas baking... so far it's Toffee Bars, Chocolate Chip and Russian Tea Cakes (although my daughter calls them 'Snowballs' after her first taste ever...I think it's a pretty good name!) This weekend we'll likely make the sugar cookies. They are the most work with colored frostings and rolling out the dough but with kids, it's a must - they are insisting this year, so I will oblige. What else? Anybody got something different and creative to share?? We are having a big snowstorm right now... our first of the season and quite late for Spokane. Happy weekend!

The Good Mother Series

Painting yesterday, I had an idea to paint a 'good mother' series (and perhaps bad mother too). These are a few beginnings from the easel. I'm really excited about these, I think they're going to be really fun to do. (I have an obsession with doing faces).

On another note... one of my great, old friends is coming into town tomorrow. I've been cleaning like a mad woman! It'll be great to hang out with her and I'm taking her to my favorite place to eat. It's kind of fancy but lunch time seems to be OK to bring kids... we'll see :)

Yorkshire... & Ramble

My great-grandparents came from Yorkshire, England in the 1920's to Los Angeles, CA. They never returned. I have a love of all things British (and French)... the rolling hills and stone fences of England are no exception. Maybe it's the phenomena, 'Primordial Ancestral Imagery'** that drives me to paint these kind of landscapes. I've never been to England but have heard about it all my life and know many customs that we've practised in our family. I could be totally 'off' but somehow in the back of my mind, I'm seeing what my Great Grandma saw through her eyes in these paintings.

**This comes from a theory of Carl Jung... having to do with social anthropology and psychoanalysis. I learned about it in a fabulous cultural anthropology class...back in my social work days.

The images are inborn forms of intuition.

Primordial images originate from the initial stages of humanity and have been a part of the collective unconscious ever since. The images are apparently located in an inaccessible part of the brain. In my class we studied more details about this theory that included discussion about our own ancestors having more specific, cultural imagery - not just pure, primal human experiences from the initial stages of humanity.

Whew! That got way more detailed than I'd planned... but I wanted to explain myself instead of just throwing the term out there :)

Sunshine and Televisions

This little painting is close to being done... it's another in the repetition series. I was actually thinking of fabric and quilts when I was making these - they came out very spontaneously! The quilt pattern, New York Beauties and went on from there... I'll try to find a photo of NY Beauties and post it later today just for fun. I'm hoping to get some Christmas shopping done today... So far I have bought one gift. Better get busy. Happy Sunday!

New Painting Progression...

OK, so I should be posting new paintings on my painting blog... but I think I hear crickets over there so far. Must install stat counter to know if any one's visiting!! I'm doing a little series (these are about 6 x 8" or so) of repetitive, patterned paintings. I love those 2 elements, so it's a lot of fun for me. This one started with bobbed-hair ladies, a favorite subject of mine. I've added cameras, handbags and some chairs. Sunday will probably be the next day painting might happen... I'll have to wait until then to see what happens .
On another note... I delivered my goods to another 'trunk-show' style show at another artist's house. Hopefully I'll sell something, you never know with these tight economic times... but I'm happy to participate!

Wild Card Day...

This post is totally unrelated to artmaking and the like... but I thought it would be fun to have a 'Wild Card Day' once in a while. (Unplanned, naturally or it wouldn't be a true wild card!)

When I'm not making art and doing mama stuff, (which is a very small amount of time!) I love to play the piano. Anyway, these 2 pieces are so lovely... my kids adore The Snowman (by Raymond Briggs) book and movie. There is a gorgeous song played during the part when the snowman and the boy fly in the air and see all sorts of magical things. It's sung by one choir boy - it's one of those pieces that gives you goosebumps! In the Bleak Midwinter is also a beautiful piece... a very old song, I believe. Sarah McLaughlin does a version on her Christmas CD that is divine.

A Little Announcement...

Flower Market - acrylic on canvas (??about 26 x 30? can't remember!) - a work in progress.

Well, I was trying to keep it separate... but I just can't keep the secret! As a way to get myself back into painting on a more regular basis, I opened a new etsy shop just for my paintings as well as a painting blog to document my process. Call me crazy, like I have the time to manage 3 different blogs?! We'll see how it goes... I just thought it may be a bit more organized and less distracting to have separate places for different mediums/projects.

So, this painting is featured on my painting blog, http://www.takefivepaintings.blogspot.com/. My plan is to post about once a week over there. You can visit my new painting store at http://www.take5paintings.etsy.com/. The shop is a bit empty but hopefully it will fill up slowly over time!