life is good

another amazing week of full circle.  i have learned volumes.  one of the major lessons learned is the use of charcoal pencils and the importance of layering paints.  i had always worked in more or less of a flat way, self teaching myself from observation but taking a class has really opened up so many roads for me artistically.

i have been quite obsessed as a matter if fact, in a zone.  so much so that when i ventured out of the house after four straight days in the studio i felt strange, confused and out of place like i had been in a coma.

you see, full circle workshop is filled with assignments and tutorials. and not only about painting and drawing but about writing, poetry, photography, journaling, music, collage, mixed media.  there is enough fun for a decade.

i have really enjoyed the new photo apps

different filters and layers can make a photigraph so much more interesting.

but it's the painting that i most enjoy

at the moment, i am just playing in my moleskins and a large mixed media strathmore journal book

practicing, practicing , practicing

i also made a card for easter

for a dear artist friend

on watercolor paper

and worked some more on the cover of my moleskin

even made a handbound book as per instructions in the workshop

a little book that will be all about me at 58

an occasional excursion always ends up witnessing beauty

as evidenced at this amazing mexican restaurant in thousand oaks near the civic center

where the food matched the decor

ofcourse the best was yet to come as we made our usual stop at the bookstore

where i was particularly inspired by these images inside the art magazines

so home it is again

making mischief

and enjoying the 

picture window

and back to painting it is

and perpetually inspired

yo soy me digo en mi propio reflejo corporeo

yo soy en cada instante pasajero

soy un todo de a pedacitos

lo que me hace pensar

que hace el todo?

lo que queda grabado de lo que absorbo?

o no soy nada

ya que en cada instante

me evaporo?

in the art studio most of my evenings these days.  spring was slow in arriving. even the sweet pea seeds are questioning me? 

but two days ago 82 degrees and an escapade to the beach where i found large shards of clam shells to draw on and one perfect flat rock.

alot has gone on since march 17. a trip to the city to take an assemblage workshop with molly meng at french general, among others.

i love what they have done to the city

modernizing it and making it people friendly.  so much so that i invited my daughter and we spent the night.

 i just had to show her and have breakfast at porto's no matter how long the line.

plus they have the best fresh squeezed orange juice in the world. you see, they use the whole orange.

ofcourse we brought home tons of pastries from the bakery.

at night, americana.

with its beautiful water display and a visit to all the expensive shops we don't have locally such as anthropologie.  fell in love with their etched glasses but at $12 a piece had to control myself.  also a pair of reading glasses but they were $32.  crazy.  

and then home again filled with inspiration.

so straight into straightening up the studio a bit more and prepping the tools for a new phase of Full Circle.  

and it's been creative bliss ever since.

photo apps

intentions

a tribute to cezanne

face practices

and a painting or two or three

or four

with a lot of randomness in between