This weekend I learned a valuable lesson. I learned to paint like Matthew. He’s one of my students and you can read about him here. Go ahead. Read all about him. You need to do it to understand what I’m going to say. Do it now, I’ll wait.
CAN YOU STAND THAT SMILE??? OMG, I get PAID to hang out with him. Little emoticon hearts here. Lots if I knew how.
And by the way, that wonderful art program is a non-profit agency. Always strapped. Just sayin’…in case that smile made your give o’meter start ticking.
Now back to my weekend. I had the itch. And the only cure was STUDIO TIME. I needed to paint SO MUCH that I willingly braved rain and snow and a wind so fierce trees and birds were falling out of the sky.
I HAD to do it. There was a big canvas calling my name. And when a canvas speaks, it’s best to listen.
This one was 40×40, that’s inches for my Aussie friends. I’d done a number of layers on it a week or so ago. I didn’t have a plan, just knew it was time to add some definition. So I did.
Now, about painting like Matthew…I hooked my laptop to some speakers. Opened up the R&B folder in iTunes. Cranked up the volume ’till the walls shook.
I danced like no one was watching.
I sang like no one was listening.
And I painted like no one was home…
I. Did. NOT. Think.
The bird up above? He just evolved. As did the other shapes.
Evolved into this. Which is still a work in progress. Very much so.
My ego began kicking in around the same time the light got bad. Figured it was time to call it a day. Don’t know if I’ll be able to get back to it until next weekend. The night lighting in Studio Grande sucks. Ahhh, but the soon-to-be-new-Studio-Grande will have lighting conducive to working all through the night…if I’m ever so inclined.
So after a day of music and painting I curled up on the sofa with Mr. Spouse and a couple of dogs. Basketball. March madness. The Final Four playoff. He was very much into the game. And I was very much into the players. Umm…hmm… Sweaty young men…great shoulders…. What’s not to like?
I’m in bed. Almost asleep. My body is exhausted. My brain fried. Been a long day and I’m TIRED. But I’m letting it all go. Breathing slow and deep. Melting into the mattress, sinking into the pillow. Slipping into the sweet surrender of total relaxation
And it feels soooo good.
I’m so close to almost asleep I might even be asleep.
And then…The. Stories. Come…. Ideas. Sheer brilliance, BRILLIANCE I tell you, as sentences write themselves. Twenty-four caret gold sentences dripping with gemstones of pure genius. And I think hot damn, I AM a writer. And I’m such a GREAT writer, I will remember this in the morning. Word for word.
Yes, I will…
Umm…you see where this is going, don’t you?
Uh-huh…a post so glorious, so stupendous, you would’ve dropped to your knees in awe. You would’ve (rightfully) annointed me the Queen O’ Blogland. You would’ve heaped upon me cyber praise which I would’ve graciously accepted.
Because it was that good. You’ll have to trust me.
It’s RANDOM ACTS of ART Wednesday, my sweetums…and you know what that means. PAR-TAY time!!! Yes indeed. Get to see where I spread the luvvv this week, one arty token at a time.
And since this is a BLOG HOP, you can share your own RAA adventures in the link down below.
But….you have to be patient. I’m doing things a little differently today. For a couple of reasons. First I’m going to show you how EASY it is to make a little something to hide. I know a lot of you are artists and maybe you’re over-thinking the process. Like, oh man, I would LOVE to do this but I just don’t have the time. Because it would take so long to make a MASTERPIECE. And then there’s the other camp, my other most best beloved readers who swear you don’t have a creative bone in your body, WHICH I KNOW IS NOT TRUE, and you think you can’t possibly make anything good enough to join the party.
Wrong. False. Not true. ANYONE can do this. ANYONE.
I’m going to show you the process from start to finish. My process of painting rocks. You, of course, can make anything you want.
First, get some rocks. I just buy a little bag at the local craft store. They’re in the floral department. This latest batch are supposed to be river rocks from China. CHINA? Imagine that. They look like glass to me, which is fine. They’re fairly smooth and that’s what I’m looking for.
Next, make yourself comfy. Put on some music or the tube. Make a cup of tea. Better yet, pour a glass of wine. Then bring out the acrylics.
These rocks needed an initial coat of white paint as a base before the gold paint. Two coats, actually. How did I know this…well, trial and error. I tried painting the gold first and it disappeared.
Next the gold paint. After that a simple red heart. We’re talking arty rocket science here.
The last step was to highlight with a Sharpie. Simple, right? I didn’t have a Sharpie at home so I took about a dozen rocks to work. Shhhh…don’t tell. I guess I’ll find out whether my boss reads Arty Life or not.
And because I was at work, I just HAD TO give one to a little old lady I love and adore, one of my most special students. Her smile and absolute delight were enough to make my day. I work here, by the way. In case you didn’t know. The new website is still under construction but you can get the idea.
So that’s the first part of the post. The how-to part. The behind the scenes part you never see.
And now it’s time for PART TWO…Ta-Da…The devious adrenalin rush hiding-da-goods part. But like I said up above, this week I did something different. This is a difficult time for me. Feelin’ a little…off lately. Because it was a year ago this week I realized it was time to bring Hospice in for Mama. Sigh…
Pause here while I eat another chocolate bar and indulge in a few minutes of the weepies.
Okay. Much better. So with Hospice on my mind this week I decided to spread the luvvv in their direction. I pocketed the rocks I finished at work today and headed out to the offices of Hospice of the Foothills.
This was NOT easy for me.
I’ve never been there before. They always came to us. I drove through pouring rain, knowing basically where it was. I parked the car and went to the door. It was locked. Then I noticed the intercom and realized I was at the Compassionate Care Center, the place where patients come for a few days so their caregivers can have a brief respite.
What was I doing? People were dying behind those doors. I had NO business being there.
So I left. But as I was driving out of the parking lot I saw the door for the In-Home Care office. So I parked the car and went in. Approached the nice lady behind the reception counter. I told her that last year they helped me take care of my mom. I put the rocks on the counter. They were in a plastic sandwich bag, wet from the rain. I took the rocks out one by one. Told her I painted them, that they weren’t very much, really. That they were an on-going art project I usually hide around town but I wanted to give them to Hospice this week. I blathered on and on as she picked them up one by one and said they were sweet, very sweet and thanked me.
It was awkward. But I did it. I never told her my name. Or told her this wasn’t my only donation, that I gave them a lot of cash last year. I just came in off the street, wet and bedraggled and handed her a bag of painted rocks. Which she graciously received.
And I trust she will help spread the luvvv.
Now it’s your turn. Got any stories or photos to share? I’m having a little problem with Linky Tools this week but you can link the URL to your post in the comments below.
If you don’t have a blog you’re always welcome to send your photos to me and I’ll post them next week.
Been playing with the iPad tonight. Whoo-ee. Playing, okay…because I DON’T KNOW what I’m doing. But I decided it’s time to learn.
So I checked out Magic Painter. As painting apps go, it’s pretty basic. You have a choice of brush effects, sizes, colors and background colors and textures. You can erase. And you can go back one. That’s it. Works on the iPhone too.
Oh, and it’s FREE!
Seemed like a good place to start. When it comes to all things digital, I prefer the easy learning curve. At least in the beginning.
Disclaimer: These are all quick ‘n dirties. Ten minute practice pieces. Don’t judge the app by the quality of what you see here.
Okay, so first I decided to mimic the technique I’ve been doing with acrylics lately. But the canvases I work on are MUCH larger than the iPad screen.
And the paintings are MUCH better. Then again, I’ve been painting for years. And they take longer than 10 minutes.
This is the second. After this one I decided to just go to sketch mode. Which isn’t an actual mode on the brush menue, it’s a brush called ‘rope’.
This took less than 30 seconds. Probably more like 10. Looks like it too.
The last thing I did was a combination of background ‘sculpting’ and sketching.
I like the feel of this one the best. The feel of the line. I can see doing some sketching this way, black and white. Exploring this style further. Reminds me of pen and ink.
So that’s Magic Painter.
Cons: It’s simple. Basic. Colors are limited with different brushes. Brushes are more special effects than actual brushes, which could get old real fast. No layers.
Pros: It’s simple. Basic. Easy to learn. And you can’t beat the price.
This is Jen. She’s going to show you how to use purple eye shadow so you can look like JUST. LIKE. ME. Except I have green eyes. Sometimes they’re blue. But this week one of them was black. Which means it was purple, just like Jen’s.
You don’t have to play it. Unless you want to lear how to look like Jen. And me. Just look at the picture. Yep, Umm-hmm…I’ve been walking around with one of those this past week.
You want to know how I got it? C’mon, of course you do. Say it. Just say it say it say it. Holy crap, Susan! How DID you get that black eye???
Heh…heh…well, I’m not gonna tell you. Not straight out anyway. I’m gonna make you guess. You’ll appreciate the answer much better if you have to work for it, trust me. And you’ll find it in one of the questions down below.
Was it a bar fight with a biker chick?
Maybe….
A few too many green beers on St. Patty’s and you don’t remember? Honestly don’t remember? You’re not being coy or anything?
Umm…quite possibly….
Close quarters in the Tae Bo class?
Could be….
Knocked heads with one of the ponies?
Perhaps….
Umm…you and Mr. Spouse…?
Don’t. Even. Go. There. No no nada nyet!
DaughterDear did the dishes UNASKED (Gasp!!!) and you were so taken aback you moved quickly, slipped on the wet floor (because Daughter Dear is an enthusiastic rinser) and FELL FACE FIRST into an elbow. Hers?
Umm…shrug….
There was only ONE Monkees CD left at KMart and things got, umm…a little out of hand? And it was in the Policer Blotter on Tuesday? Go ahead, look it up. I’ll wait.
Feasible….
Harriet didn’t believe you got 66 points for PHIZ without cheating in Scrabble?
66 Points? Even I wouldn’t believe that…
They’re REALLY starting to enforce that 10 items or less rule in the express line?
It’s about time….
Took ‘Head to Knee’ pose in yoga a bit too literally?
Could be….
So tell me which one you think it is in the comments below. Better yet, come up with more to add to the list. Because as the theoretical physicists would say, they ALL happened. IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE. So really, there can be no. wrong. answer.
