Hooked on Painting

 Collective Dream

Multimedia, 2012

So I have a new obsession (Geesh!  Like I needed any more!)   I love to paint.  In the past, I took some painting classes, but I've mostly just painted as a part of a larger project.  Furniture that I'm going to mosaic, for instance, often needs to be painted first.  But now, all of a sudden, I can't get enough of painting just for the sake of painting.  

The painting above is actually a multimedia piece.  I did it for an upcoming event here in Truth or Consequences that will happen in November.  An organization called Bountiful Alliance does all sorts of healthy things in our community, including heading up the local farmers market and providing a community kitchen where bakers and chefs can produce salable products without having to get their own kitchens certified by local health inspectors.  

In November, Bountiful Alliance is holding a month-long event focusing on Recycling called the T or C Trash Bash.  It will open with a fundraising exhibit of artwork at Grapes, a gallery on Main Street, with artwork made from recycled, repurposed or salvaged materials.

I'll definitely be bringing some of my mosaic works to the show, but I wanted to try some other media, too.  I literally rescued the stretched canvas for the above painting out of a dumpster.  It was an acrylic painting by an amateur artist who was giving up and throwing away his work (I also managed to wangle his left-over gesso and unstretched canvas from him).  To add to the recycled character of this piece, I also used three of my scarves that did not sell on eBay as part of the work, cutting them into pieces and gluing them to the canvas.  Then I added acrylic painting that echoed the motifs in the scarves.  Not surprisingly, in a mandala shape. 

I like the end result, and I named the work Collective Dream.  It reminds me of my dreams, which are usually never just about one thing.  My dreams are both enlightening and mysterious, uplifting and brooding.  Contrasts that somehow manage to coalesce into one entity, like this multimedia work.  

I can't wait to paint some more.  I mean it, I can't wait.  Today I need to sell stuff on eBay so I can afford to keep doing artwork, but first thing this morning I went out and bought artist board and talked with Ruanna at Hot Springs Frame Shop about board vs. canvas so I can decide which to buy next.  But, for now, I simply needed surfaces on which to paint, so I bought a couple of canvas-covered artist boards. 

I will try to abstain from painting today until I at least get a few scarves photographed and listed on eBay.  This craving to paint is a lot like how I used to feel when I still drank, and I would have to try to wait until 5 p.m. in order to be somewhat civilized.   
   

  

Sunrise photo taken from just outside my apartment door

Look at the sunrise!  How could anybody NOT want to paint?  

And then there is my cat.  Every day, she makes herself the subject of artwork yet to be executed.  

 Sonja in the big chair that Barbara gave me

My apartment is coming together.  I've become a lot more invested in it recently, now that I know I'm going to stay here in Truth or Consequences for a while.  I had borrowed some furniture from my landlord and my employer.  Almost all of this has now been returned, and I've replaced it with pieces I've either purchased or been given.  

My friends Barbara and Kathleen are moving away to Maine, to a smaller home, and they have generously given me a nice big living room chair and ottoman and some shelving.  Then I bought a futon last week to use as a couch in the living room and as a spare bed for when my son Sly comes to visit.  I bought a big work table for photographing my eBay stuff and working on big pieces of art.  I have a smaller table/desk for drawing and a computer desk.  My dining room is, in fact, an office and art studio, and I usually eat in the living room while reading or watching TV.  I've gotten a bookcase from my new employer, January, and I'll also be buying a dresser from her out of my first paycheck.  I am invested.

I have even bought a couple of really snazzy fresh design items online at Fab.com, including a wall clock and a pendant lamp.  If you haven't tried it, Fab has really juicy daily offerings of modern and vintage design, at all price points, for everyone.  If you decide to go check out Fab, please go through this link so I can get some points towards future purchases.  Thank you, and you will also thank me.  Fab is irresistible.  Like painting.