Overall...the weekend was a blur of art activity...but one thing is for certain...I had big DREAMS...'bout makin' more art.
I thought, hey...I need more work for my show...so I started 10 new paintings on canvas inspired by Miss Matchy Matchy and in my looser, 'fashion illustration' approach....and I started some small mixed media pieces...inspired by my love for leopard...each piece including gold accessories. Then...well, I made some angels. And I wrote the word dream on every one of them...because I share the DREAM and I know that many of us do...
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John and I made a trip down south for the Downtown Hollywood ArtWalk to support Lori Pratico's Girl Noticed mural project...and to leave some bday love for a local gallery owner who took a chance on a gal from NC and her art! If you don't have any idea what I am talking about, please, PLEASE take a minute to click on the link below; This is an AMAZING mural project all about noticing all the amazing girls out there for their unique talents and awesomeness...noticing them before you miss the chance! And it is a NATIONWIDE project...which is kinda cool! And believe me, if you miss 'em, it's your loss honey!! (and if there are any young girls out there reading this ol' sparkly blog...don't you ever forget that you are worth noticing...and anyone that doesn't realize that is missing out...and aint' worth your time...so shine on sister!) Happy Birthday to a special lady, Elizabeth Sanjuan of Gallery 2014 in Hollyood, Florida!
...sorry, couldn't resist! Today MMM's gal pal Jewel and her cat Gem went to the...wait for it...gym. Hence the title. Get it? (Crickets.) Oh well...for more about the leopard, pink and sparkly pieces that inspired this piece, click here! Aside from working on my daily art (and watching football!) I also tackled a pretty large project with the help of my friend Sof...we framed up some of the work for my upcoming show at Dada in Delray! I am showing my current series...and I have the crazy idea...don't want to get ahead of myself so will just stop there.
Thank you again Sof for helping me!!! I love you! ...two more intros are in order...please allow me to introduce you to Jewel and her cat, Gem. Jewel is a friend of Miss Matchy Matchy and Gem is Trinket's sibling. Spoiler alert- Gem is Trinket's fraternal twin, and you can tell'em apart because Gem somehow aquired some Tiger stripes...hey, let's just say their cat mom had some WILD times...oh geez...
So anyway, this is Jewel. She has a head of big ol' natural hair and I am obssessed with it. Seriously. I love how it is rowdy and refined all at the same time. I think I may take a break for a few days and hang out with Jewel and Gem, they are fun...and they also share my love for leopard print. To see more gray leopard prints that inspired this piece...click here! My favorite color is leopard print. Seriously? You didn't know it was on the color wheel? Well, it is. (mine, at least!) The past few days I have been focusing on my some of my leopard print accessories as the inspiration for my daily art pieces and I gotta say...having fun. This is the new home for talk on sparkles and what not. If you're are into that kind of thing. And I totally am. For more about the fashion inspiration, please visit my jewelry blog! Daily pieces, Jan 13-15...inspired directly from my Instagram images tagged #MissMatchyMatchy. For the pieces from Jan 13-14 I took direct inspiration from elements in the photos...and I added a little something extra to the Jan 15th piece...made this one while watching the Project Runway All Stars ' Avante Garde' challenge...created a gown inspired by a Leopard Wrasse fish, since the designers were looking to the ocean for inspiration :) For my Jan. 16th piece I kept the leopard print theme...adding a little color. Also, I took some inspiration from my favorite art history themed tshirt- it has artists' signatures all over it. I pulled from this image for signatures...and added some additional artists that I love! And side note...when I finished this piece it made me think of a super fun- artist teacher lady in TN...ohhh Cassie.... Congratulations to our cousin, Krista and her husband Mike on the birth of their little boy Jeb...my youngest #AngelDrop recipient to date!
...today's piece has a kind of vintage, bohemian, gypsy, flower child vibe...
To find out more about the piece that inspired it, click here!
Aunt Nancy is Lucy's sister (John and Maria's mother, she passed in 2005) and so she is the closet thing to Lucy that we have, in female form anyway. I could go on and on about how much I love her , how much fun she is and that she is an amazing person...wait, I kinda just did. But one thing about aunt Nancy- she always looks put together. I have always thought that she was one of the most stylish people I have known, usually dressed in all black and at least one thing sparkly...I went into this on the Miss Matchy Matchy blog...but...just...okay, just look at these pics. So I am doing something a little different...something I did not plan on doing...I am introducing another character into this month's series...not sure if she will be a reoccurring character or if this is just a one-time appearance... Please allow me to introduce you to 'Fancy Nancy', Miss Matchy Matchy's stylish aunt. She liked to wear black and dark colors...'nails did'... 'hair did'...some type of sandal, usually with some bling...and some type pf jewelry. ...the best part of today's art was I started the piece (unbeknownst to the actual Nancy!) at her place tonight after dinner.
By the way...she's Italian and she makes amazing homemade sauce. ...And meatballs. ...And chicken cutlets. ...And even beef stew, which is what she invited us over to have tonight. So,thanks aunt Nancy...for dinner...for the inspiration...and for being amazing. I love you. And I think I need to go and scout out the leftover that we brought home. I wrote about the items in the picture to the left on my Miss Matchy Matchy jewelry/accessory blog (OMG...why am I writing two blogs...I...love...it!) To find out more about these pieces, stop by there and see...there is even a funny video clip... But let's talk about textiles. I love'em. I double majored in Art Education and Textiles in undergrad and then focused on that again in my studio classes with I went back for my MAEd. Its funny because I started off in my artistic journey with drawing and painting...then discovered textiles and went INSANE in college...hoarding yarn, felting in the bath tub at the dorm (no one used it, it was pretty gross!), saving scraps of fabric and trims, stirring pots of hand-dyed fabric (and running around with dyed hands!), standing on tabled to layer screen prints, getting very fine glitter everywhere (ummmm...and getting banned from using glitter and being dubbed 'tinkerbell' and 'sparkle' by my studio mates)...then the BEADS...do...not...get...me...started!!! So yeah, fibers- I love 'em. And sometimes I forget how much I love all things fiber. My daily art and what I create is usually based on drawing and painting with the occasional collage/mixed media. It's like I made a full circle back to where I started. But there is something about fiber arts that touches my soul, I really love it. Yesterday one of my morning stops was the World Quilt Show in West Palm Beach. I knew about it from my art friend, Trina...and I needed to see her anyway...so I just went. And I am SO GLAD that I did. Just....just LOOK. Stop and LOOK at these amazing pieces: It was honestly all I could do not to rip them all off the wall and bury myself in a gigantic pile of color, texture, stitch, pattern and sparkle. And that is the thing about fiber art...sometimes I see a painting or drawing that I have a strong reaction to, but with textiles I want to touch the work, I want to be in the work. Its time I just admit it...I have a sickness...it lies dormant...like a beast...but when it awakens- WATCH OUT. Don't believe me? http://www.jenniferlovegironda.com/blog/fiber-fever This fibers fever isn't anything new...it's just that I get caught up with my drawing and painting...due to the time it takes with bead and stitch...it's just an area that gets neglected...I wonder how the experience at the quilt show will impact this part of me...hmmmm.... One immediate inspiration/impact- I decided to #AngelDrop on some 'Sisters in the Cloth'...not 'cause that was the name of their booth, but because that is truly something that unites them...and even me! Trina is a fellow fiber-lover and supported of the arts and ARTISTS and Kianga is an super sweet and talented fiber artist that contacted me (several times!) with carloads of stuff for my art students! Friday night I stayed up painting three special angels (I wanted to make one for Barbara, too, even though I had not met her yet!) For these angels I looked at images of African textiles to try and give them a more unique dress. The gals were happy to be a part of this special #AngelDrop! ...thanks again Trina (see you soon at the Continuum event...already have some ideas for my sneakers!)...Kianga I cannot thank you enough for all the AMAZING items you have donated to the art program at LWHS...and Barbara, nice to meet you! One more stop...ARTHOUSE 429 to see Raquel, a songbird that I know...also a fellow friend of fibers (she makes handbags!) Not too much to say about this stop...just I just knew of an art friend that was in need, so...I gave my #heART. ...and now to my daily piece...the story of Miss Matchy Matchy continues. In today's episode, MM and Trinket travel to the quilt show, to fall in love with textiles all over again. This piece is for all you friends of fiber... makers of fashion, knitters, crochet people, textile designers, quilters, embroidery artists, bead makin' divas (and divos!), screen printers, felters, hand spinners, weavers, folks with dye covering your hands, doll and soft sculpture makers...men and women, young and old, all over the world... we are all eclectic and colorful and intertwined like the warp and the weft of the most amazing tapestry. I could dedicate a whole blog to my love for Art Hive Magazine...it has been such an important part of my life and I am so thankful to my friends (the QUEEN BEES!)- Jessie Prugh and Angela Yungk for letting me a part of it since the start. There are no words. Well...wait...just one.
'Lerv' So...I just try to incorporate a bee-themed piece every now and again in my monthly series...usually those get nabbed up pretty quick by Jess...and luckily I had some BEEautiful jewelry that went along with not only the theme but the whole 'inspired by accessories' thing I have been doing here...in case you didn't notice that is what I was doing :) |
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