Uncomfortable Beauty…

Uncomfortable Beauty

I wish that I had an epic poem to go with this one… This was painted on my vacation in the Catskills, in Andes, NY… This was my view for a week!  It’s interesting how the eye sees one thing, the camera another, and the canvas, well, something vastly different.  Each day I read/sang a hymn, poem, or bible reflection.  I pointedly engaged with the entire day and the entire spectrum of senses to deeply be in the moment.  Meandering, kayaking, reading, painting, eating, all mindfully… After I pulled the canvas out I started by blue-taping the cross onto the canvas… at the time not knowing where I was going with the rest of the project. When I was done, I almost didn’t pull the tape off… the painting was epically beautiful… I didn’t want to destroy all that work… My heart tugged… The uncomfortable beauty of what Jesus did for us… Having a simple 11″ x 14″ acrylic painting to represent that in such a small way…

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Catskills, the many flavor views of one site

Daytime the reservoir was silver colored and the sky almost white..

The night coloration change was fascinating!

The Catskills Friday morning, as I prepared to leave, the clouds descended and rolled in…

This was my view for a week! It’s interesting how the eye sees one thing, the camera another, and the canvas, well, something vastly different. Each day I read/sang a hymn, poem, or bible reflection. I pointedly engaged with the entire day and the entire spectrum of senses to deeply be in the moment. Meandering, kayaking, reading, painting, eating, all mindfulness. (The next post will have my paintings that I created that week.)

Art Shows and Sales

Mindstrong – Art & Vendor Faire
Saturday, May 6
9:30am-12:30pm
Midtown Athletic Club
200 E Highland Dr, Rochester, NY 14610
(Sale, one day sale)

11th Annual NAMI Rochester Walk
for Mental Health with Art & Vendor Faire
Saturday, May 20
9am-12pm
Village Gate Courtyard
274 N. Goodman St, Rochester, NY 14607
(Sale, one day sale)

Living Bravely, Annual Art Show
Opening Friday, June 2, 5:30pm-7:30pm
Creative Wellness Opportunities
320 N Goodman St, Suite 202, Rochester, NY 14607
(Four paintings here.)

The Bridge Art Gallery
University of Rochester
300 Crittenden Blvd, Rochester, NY 14620
May – September 20
(One painting here.)

The Artists Cave
4639 Culver Rd, Irondequoit, NY 14622
(Six paintings here.)

Healing is a journey; art makes it more fabulous.

Art Sales: May 6 & 20

Mindstrong – Art & Vendor Faire
Saturday, May 6
9:30am-12:30pm
Midtown Athletic Club
200 E Highland Dr, Rochester, NY 14610

11th Annual NAMI Rochester Walk for Mental Health with Art & Vendor Faire
Saturday, May 20
9am-12pm
Village Gate Courtyard
274 N. Goodman St, Rochester, NY 14607

Listen… God is speaking…

There’s magic and beauty in…

Phoenix Rising Art Show

“Relieved, Rising”

Crushing contained
Exoneration engaged
Relieved, rising

Encouraging easement
Spiritually surrendering
Relieved, rising

“Lighter, Lifted”

Ethereal callings capture it's attention
Burdens falling off winged promises
Lighter, lifted

Raw beginnings
On the precipice of understanding
From the heart, I fly
Lighter, lifted

The Phoenix Rising art show at The Artist Cave will be from March 26-April 8. The reception will be March 31 at 6:30pm. I am entering these two 11″x14″ acrylic paintings.

My creative friend, Fred, delved deep into these painting, the poetry and the photo below. The conversations ended up contributing to the finished-ish product poems.

! Smile !

“Top o’ tha mornin’ to ya”

“Christmas Reflections”

This 11" x 14" creation is unique in multiple levels. Let's skip why I was crafting on Christmas Day at RMS. Let's delve into using a foam board as a canvas.  First coating it with a layer of gesso.  Once dried, I dripped Christmas Eve candle wax onto the surface and used a pallet knife to "spread" the wax. Later I used a pallet knife to scoot the acrylic phthalo blue over the wax.   A couple of people and I were sooo enamored by how this stage turned out, that I did not create another painting over it like I did the other piece "Crafting Christmas Hope".

The frame... That was a "God-moment"... When I was ready to load into my car the 50" painting, "Stormin' Cloud Leap," no one was in RMS... I looked up, pondered, prayed... And then he appeared, I smiled and asked for help, he obliged nicely... When done loading, we chatted about one item we had to move to make space.  I mentioned my intention for the corner molding I bought from a big box supply store to be made into a frame.  He said that he could teach me how to cut the corners to make it into a frame.  He ended up spending a good chunk of time cutting these.  Thank you!!!  To secure the frame's corners with wood glue, my neighbor Kathleen nicely loaned me her dad's ancient metal corner clamps.  Painting the frame was as fun and as challenging as the rest of the project.  This time I dripped another Christmas Eve candle's wax on the inside and outside edges of the bare wooden frame.  Later I put two watered down layers of pthalo blue and one of pink to make a kind of purple tone.  Then later I put two gloss coatings to seal it.  I asked many people at RMS for their input along the way. It is such a lovely interactive community.

Why is this piece called Christmas Reflections...  One of the people I was supposed to be with on Christmas got kidney stones... Oye...  So those plans were canned... So instead I invited the other "adult orphans" to join me for a creative day at the RMS.   This in itself led to reflections and ruminations ... 

I'm also calling this art creation a "Metaphorical Mess"...  When I went to put the painting into the frame, a week later, I was a mess, and therefore created a mess... I put a ton of glue on the frame and then ended up cramming the art into the frame...  it was more than just a little snug.. it stuck and bent and scraped some of the lovely wax and paint layer right off the frame.  I should have cut the piece down to size... and placed it in, then glued if I needed to...  I've left the piece as is... part of the process is to let it go... someone may actually be intrigued by its uniqueness... and want to cherish it and take it home...
ahhh, faith...

Crafting Christmas Hope

This 11″ x 14″ creation is unique in multiple levels. Let’s skip why I was crafting on Christmas day at RMS. Let’s delve into using a foam board as a canvas. First coating it with a layer of gesso. Once dried, I dripped Christmas Eve candle wax onto the surface and used a pallet knife to “spread” the wax. Later I used a brush to smoosh the phthalo blue over the wax. If you look at the photo below and then above, you can see where I got the idea of for my landscape. After a week or so I went back to it to paint the scene, seen above. I let the acrylic paint, the brush, the wax and the atmosphere dictate how to manipulate the project. In the sky I even used a scrunched up paper towel to lift off paint and texture the surface as well.

The frame… That was a “God-moment”… When I was ready to load into my car the 50” painting, “Stormin’ Cloud Leap,” no one was in RMS… I looked up, pondered, prayed… And then he appeared, I smiled and asked for help, he obliged nicely… When done loading, we chatted about one item we had to move to make space. I mentioned my intention for the corner molding I bought from a big box supply store to be made into a frame. He said that he could teach me how to cut the corners to make it into a frame. He ended up spending a good chunk of time cutting these. Thank you!!! To secure the frame’s corners with wood glue, my neighbor Kathleen nicely loaned me her dad’s ancient corner clamps. Painting the frame was as fun and as challenging as the rest of the project. I started with lightly applying an acrylic wash twice to match the landscaping and then later a gloss coating to seal it. I asked many people at RMS for their input along the way. It is such a lovely interactive community.