Some Blog Updates...

    Blogging is motivating to craft and share. It is also record keeping; and I can return to posts for information. I have some updates here.

     On Valentine's eve, Joe and I attended the reception for Winter Break! at University Place in Cambridge, saw painting friends from years ago and picked up Books 'N Laps (see August 29 post). The book club painting finally goes to a new home this week!

     February 14 is Erika's birthday so I made her a soft card. Previously quilts, this time the "card" is soft sculpture, to go with the chef's birthday gift of marble board and rolling pin. Hooked on a Netflix Spanish movie, VELVET, I could binge watch the show guilt-free while embroidering. There is room for Erika to sew well. She closely examined how I had made the rolling pin which pleased me. I stuffed a stitched rectangle for the tube, gathered little stitches at the ends of the stuffed tube to insert the simple handles which I had distractedly shaped backward

    Assigned the birthday cake for the family party, I Googled an easy vanilla cake with chocolate fudge icing at Errenskitchen.com. Beautiful, it fit Erika's order for vanilla cake/chocolate icing. I had to borrow the 8" cake pans and cake decorating spatula or palette knife. Must get because I will make again. Those sculptural  fudge roses were an easy circular swirl explained by Erren at her blog!
Click to enlarge photos.

     Back to Serial Selfies (see February 5 post) chosen for the juried Unconventional Means with some photo updates here. I learned new techniques from theother entries at the show. I'm pleased that CAA publishes a book at Blurb for documenting the show. I ordered the $15 book on-line, because the Unconventional Means was provocative. Mine was an unconventional presentation.You had to hold and touch the paintings to see them all. Not the usual in museums or art shows.










     Adding chocolate paint (fudge influence) , I focused the "yellow house" on the frame for Cacophony (see June 23, 2015, formerly Family Portrait) The painting was fortunate to get in the juried Small Works at the Chandler Gallery in Cambridge. More on that to come, but I like how the frame improved!...Now to think of a painting for a Truth to Power show and another for the Selfish competition. Time flies!

Back to Painting...a new start

     Friday before last, Joe and I drove into the MFA to see the colorful quilted 6" x 8" flags sent in from six continents to celebrate Boston. Ahead of me, I had the quilt challenge of "CELL" by my Material Maven international art quilt group. Synergistically, Joe and I had just returned from a stop at the Neue Gallerie in NYC where we viewed "Adele Bloch-Bauer" which is always on permanent display. I happened on a movie of Klimt's life via Netflix and found an unread book in my library titled The Kiss about a Klimt painting. As it turns out, Klimt viewed a lot of cells under microscope which appeared in many paintings. The power of Klimt's paintings inspired me to pick up the brush again.

       Just at the hero and heroine in a romance novel are at odds before they fall in love, I had never liked Klimt's paintings as much as my other favorite painters. Absorbed in his work, I became semi-obsessed.

 
       At Costco, I saw a painting kit, a little more challenging than paint by numbers, and I painted Klimt's "Tree of Life" to get a feel for his cells or signets (an excuse to be a child again). I found some ideas for getting the grands to create their own trees at YouTube. Back into painting, I set up two portable easels to oil paint (alkyds) the grandchildren from photos. I prefer painting from life, but distance is a problem. Whereas I once painted 9 am to 9 pm, after two hours, I had had enough. The next day I realized I needed my BIG easel so I could brace my arm and Joe got me a tall stool. Painting became fun again.  I am looking forward to painting less traditional portraits inspired by Klimt, my teachers at the SMFA Boston and art history...now that I rediscovered my old, but bigger, easel.



       Here are the first day and the second day...MORE TO GO on both. Hannah begins to look like herself, I think; but Erika's is a major miss. But I won't give up! Try, try again, now that I am comfortable. I will save those portable easels for painting landscapes in the open aire, also inspired by Klimt and art history. Click photos to enlarge.