Alright. Back to the business of making art and writing about it.  My friend Jessica posted the pictures from the Creep Cinema show this past Saturday, so those are included in a slideshow below. (Thanks, Jessie!)  I really can’t say enough about what a cool venue the show is in…a comic book store…but a really big one.  When we dropped our art off a couple of weeks ago we probably lost an hour just wandering the nooks and crannies of this place, checking out ‘Ugly Dolls’, anime, graphic novels, cool art books and collectibles.  I got a few ideas for some grants and art projects…having the kids create a graphic novel or comic book, contacting a local artist, exploring Pop Surrealism, creating our own ‘Ugly Doll’ pillows…and even more ideas for my own art.   I forgot how awesome Wonder Woman was.  Wow.

So, back to the opening….it  was great. We got all dolled up in some fancy schmancy art attire…embellished with plastic centipedes, rats and such for the occasion and set off for the art event at Bear and Bird Gallery.  (Hey, when else are you going to get away with this?)  It was crowded, just as she had said it would be.  The work was hung salon style, really packed in.  I had to make a few rounds to really check it all out, and I am sure I missed some.  We found the event photographer and got pictures beside our work, then just mixed and mingled among the tight crowd of folks there to appreciate the work.  Walking downstairs in my red heels my mind was already spinning with the next event, the next opportunity to create and to share my work.  

I finished up the three ‘Word Fixation’ paintings that I was working on in my ‘Classroom Studio’.  I didn’t work on them last week but I guess they were pretty close to being finished…or abandoned. 

I have two things that I would like to work on…a piece for a show down in Boca, due date is November 30th...

…and I feel like I need to do some just…DRAWING Pencil.  Simple line, selective rendering…accented with some colored pencil details or a light wash…that might be my next project for the ‘Classroom Studio’…which I think I will refer to as ‘Studio C’ from here on out.  Just cause I like the sound of that.

…still a ways to go but getting a little closer to finishing these up.  Hopefully I can finish the faces tomorrow and then next week go back in with some highlights and shadows in the hair/words...

A productive week...the 'classroom studio' model is still working.  I progressed through my three canvasses, slowly, bit by bit.  The students are still responsive to the idea of my rounds and working independently. 

One thing that I started adding on Friday was some black outlines, borrowed from my Zora series that I finished up last Spring.  (right)

Side note....I love black outline.  Makes me think of when I was a little kid, carrying around my coloring books and a Sheds Spread tub of crayons.  I would color the pages, sequentially, page by page.  I liked to leave the pages in the book so that when I was finished I had a book of color that I created.  When I speak with other artists I am usually in the minority, sitting by listening to stories of rebellious coloring outside the lines and preferring white paper...I just sit by quietly and remember how much I love the black lines...

So, the black outline has arrived to my classroom studio.  It is slowly creeping over my largest canvas from the left and I really like the way it makes the colors 'pop'.  (shown below)  We will see where this goes...

It has been a busy week so far...teaching my 8th graders how to stipple, making a contour line drawing of a shoe into an imaginative piece of art with 7th grade, learning about line with 6th grade, teaching how to create values with tempera paint with 5th...and my JV cheerleaders have their first game tomorrow...yep, that has kept me busy.  But wait, this is an art blog.  Why, yes it is, but it is also a 'hey, this is what my week is like and this is how I am trying to find time to paint despite it all because if I don't make art I will burst' blog...so, a minute to paint here...a minute to paint there...and little by little, progress, at least in my classroom studio...

I feel like I had a productive week with my ‘classroom studio’ experiment.  Friday before I left I placed my in-progress paintings on the storage shelf in the back of my classroom and was pleased to see that I was leaving three canvases, and knowing that those paintings will be waiting on my when I get back on Monday is exciting.  I am hoping to finish these next week and start some new work, maybe even a detailed drawing since my seventh and eighth graders are working on their drawing skills.

For these three paintings I am still working with the idea of the text creating the hair/headdress…this time focusing on the words ‘believe, sing, and light.’  I was brainstorming words/concepts that might mentally ‘weigh’ someone down, or that people might directly or indirectly fixate on….for the word ‘believe’ I was thinking about how sometimes it is hard to believe in yourself, or others, or to believe in something, to have faith…for ‘sing’ I was thinking about how people may be hesitant to share their gift with the world, specifically singing, or even someone like me that can’t necessarily sing but I do enjoy it, but when I think someone else will hear me I shut myself off….random…and the word ‘light’…my friend had shared a quote with me a while back that really stuck with me...I found the full version of the quote on-line, apparently repeated by many;

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? ....And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." (A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles", Harper Collins, 1992. From Chapter 7, Section 3).

And then on to a pretty eventful weekend…I love having folks in my life that share my love for art.  I was fortunate enough to have a mini ‘paint party’ with my friend Jessica on Friday night (see pic on right).  A few hours of sitting around and painting while eating some snacks and watching ‘B’ movies?  Sign me up.  I worked on a few different projects, and much like my ‘skype painting session’ last weekend, it was nice to work with someone else instead of by myself.  Can't wait for the next one!

Below: three little canvases that I finished up on Friday night...destined to be baby shower gifts for my cousin Jen on Saturday.  I used her baby shower invitation and nursery theme as the basis for the design.  The triptych can be hung with space in between, lined up so that they are touching or even just stand since the little 4-inch canvases have some depth to them.  Can’t wait to see them displayed in the baby’s nursery!