Crows In The Belfry
Crows everywhere this morning! A group of crows descended on our oak tree this morning, squawking and making such a ruckus they woke me up.
As I peaked out our kitchen window I saw two squirrels making a run for it over our neighbors rooftop. I didn’t see anything else out of the ordinary, so I went back to bed.
Later I met a friend for coffee and we spent some time catching up on whats going on.
“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” – Anais Nin
“We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best that we find in our travels is an honest friend.”
–Robert Louis Stevenson
In the Studio
Spent the morning working on a painting and I’m almost finished! Hallelujah!
Later I played around with a couple of new ideas I wanted to try. As with all things, especially related to art, there are no guarantees.
After a couple of hours I finally had one painting which kind of worked for me. I’m not sure how I feel about it, but I had fun creating it
“Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the Phoenix.” – Christina Baldwin
“It’s best to have failure happen early in life. It wakes up the Phoenix Bird in you so you can rise from the ashes.” – Anne Baxter
Creative Play
Creative playtime is often one of the most important activities we can engage in as artists. I believe taking the time to play with new ideas, new mediums and color palettes, keeps us in touch with our creative child. After all, our child just wants to have some fun. Taking risks and experimenting is key to our growth and makes us feel alive, and rejuvenated.
We all know that it’s fun to create and make things, and yet we tend to go straight from the idea to the finished painting, without giving ourselves some precious creative goofing around time in the studio.
You know what I mean, maybe your a water-colorist or oil painter, and those pastels you bought way back when, has never been opened . The time for trying something new is now, for later seems to never come.
Go ahead, give yourself permission to goof around with something you have always wanted to try, but never did.
Just Breathe, let go, and flow!
Edge Dwellers
A couple of years ago while we were flying back from visiting my dad in the Midwest, we were enjoying our flight and took some wonderful aerial shots with our camera.
While sitting in my window seat watching the landscape below change and shift, cities became tiny islands of humanity in the midst of large expanses of land. The roads appeared as a multitude of tiny web like strands crisscrossing across the land like a giant spider web.
It reminds us that no matter how evolved and technological we become, each of us are only ever a few paces away from the edges of the wild forest and the living storied land.
I wondered what stories would this land be telling about humanity if the earth could speak, and what would our ancient ancestors make of our world. What kind of stories, art, songs and myths would they create about us.
Edge Dwellers – Combined Media – 5 X 7 inches
Myth Makers
“Myth must be kept alive. The people who can keep it alive are the artists of one kind or another. The function of the artist is the mythologization of the environment and the world”. – Joseph Campbell
“The job of the storyteller is to speak the truth. But what we feel most deeply can’t be spoken in words alone. At this level, only images connect. And here, story becomes symbol; symbol is myth. And myth is truth.” – Alan Garner
Computer Glitch
It has been an interesting weekend. I’ve been without a computer since Thursday, so I haven’t posted for awhile.
My hubby was able to repair it over the weekend and I am one happy camper to have my computer up and running again. The down time gave me a chance to clean my computer desk which really needed it, and I found a couple of watercolor tubes that have been missing for awhile.
This weekend I found two Mayan masks at a local thrift shop while we were thrifting on Saturday. I was hoping to find a jaguar statue, but there were none to be found. For the Maya the jaguar was a powerful symbol of authority, as well as an integral part of their religion and mythology.
The Maya revered jaguars and often gave their Gods jaguar attributes. They believed the jaguar had the ability to cross between worlds and for them daytime and nighttime represented two worlds. The daytime was associated with the living and the mother earth, and the nighttime was associated with the spirit world and the ancestors.
It has also been said that shamans regard the jaguar as a spirit companion or guardian which protects the shaman from evil spirits while they move between the earth and spirit realm.
As with so many other cultures, the Maya have a vast and rich history of folklore and mythology.
The Guardian – Combined Medium – 8 X 10 inches
“Into the House of the Tapir no one goes. Woven into its walls,
nightblack and amber motifs become anaconda gliding along a
branch of water, jaguar loping across the savannah. The shaman
waits at the entrance, in a dream or trance.” – The House of the Tapir – Jan Conn
Wednesday Musings
I hit the wall! I’ve been working on an abstract painting for a few days and have been feeling more frustrated with each passing day. Arghhh!
Today, I was having great fun splashing paint, and collaging elements onto the canvas, until I stepped back to gauge how it was going. It was one of those moments when you know your stuck in the middle, staring at a half-finished canvas and self doubt begins to creep in.
The flashing neon warning signs were there. Either this is not working or I’ve reached the outer boundaries of my comfort zone. Now the question is which is it?
I could push on or just gesso and start over. Tomorrow is another day and I will decide whether to work on it or not.
Finished My Painting!
Today I finished the painting I’ve been working on for awhile and it was nice to finally be done. The limited edition prints will be available soon on rosearizmendi.com
The Awakening – Combined Media – 11 X 14 inches
Whirlwind Monday
I was a busy little bee today. I started the morning with the ATC project I’ve been working on lately, then I moved on to an acrylic painting that has been waiting in the wings.
Afterwards I finished up a watercolor painting and then cleaned up the mess I’d made in the studio. Whew!
Kuan Yin – Watercolor – 16 X 20 inch
Touch The Moon – Acrylic – 16 X 20 inches on canvas – Work in Pogress
August is here!
I can hardly believe August is already here! During this time of the year the local farmer’s offer a plethora of fresh vegetables and sun ripened fruit, and who can resist the sweet and succulent taste of ripe strawberries and plums. Yum!
September is right around the corner, and soon enough the leaves will begin to turn and fall. Until then enjoy the wonderful bounty that the last month of summer has to offer.
Happy Lughnasadh everyone!
Autumn Spirit – Combined Medium – 4 X 5 inches
“August creates as she slumbers, replete and satisfied.” – Joseph Wood Krutch
“Then let us toast John Barleycorn
Each man a glass in hand;
And may his great posterity
Ne’er fail in old Scotland!” – Traditional Scottish poem