A New Blog Post!

"Tess and her Dear Friendly" merle 2011

Finally! I have realized that I am just not the kind of person who can write about the art they create. I can't write about it before, my process, the story, or what it means when I am done. So, I am not going to ever be a great blogger. It is all a private and quiet thing for me. I am my own worse critic as well. Someone else will have to get excited and promote my art. I feel that if I could do that, I couldn't creat my visual art. When I am done with it, I am really done. Then it is off to all of you-you take from it and see in it what you want. Here is another one of my recent paintings, "Tess with her Dear One"-A lovely lady who loves emerald green, Pre-Raphealites, has long dark hair, and who is missing her little cat who died recently. I do love painting these portraits for people. I like that they can help in a small way.

I make most of my gifts. It would be easier to buy something, but I just dare myself to make something out of whatever is in my studio. Both of my nephews had Harry Potter Birthday Parties this year. I made them both gifts like the ones in this photo-a photograph I took at Glastonbury Abbey and edited to look "magical" like it was Hogwarts, a vintage glass bottle with white glass glitter in it, stopped with a cork sealed with white wax with a little note saying, "Phoenix Ashes", a large Peacock Feather dyed orange in a chiffon bag, and a little leather eye kind of patch thing that I made(on of the characters had something like it?). I didn't know what I was doing, I was just happy that they both liked their gifts.

Progress?  I do many sketches at one time and then paint 2 or 3 paintings at a time.  I wear moccasins all the time.  This all makes sense to me!

My home is one huge stack of art, books, altars, textiles, vintage clothing, very old pieces for props in my photos-too much antique furniture for my little place, but furniture I use in my photographs, tons of different kinds of lights, things that glitter, things that are shiney, things that are turquoise or robins egg blue, did I say books? I also have Dorothy's Ruby Red slippers under a glass closque(among other things-the bones of saints, relics from ancient Sumaria, I also have plans for building a Cemetary for Mermaids in here-still working that one out)-I can't get any of this organized and I need to have most of it out so I can see what I am doing and what I can do next.  This is just one little corner where not much is going on.  There are many more areas just like this one with framed art ready to be hung without a wall for it, stacks of books and boxes of this and that, more antique shelves or dressers with all of my treasures-this is the stuff that can't be cleaned up-I have tried!  The large piece is a 3 plate colour reduction monotype I made on my printing press of my Dear Donkey Rosebud(we grew up together and she died when we were both 27).  This piece is a shrine to her.

"Selkie"merle 2011

Finally, I have been working on 2 new series of self-portait photographs-one series is about  female creatures of myth and legend(for that series, I built a "beach" in my house-no big thing).  The other is exploring different themes about what makes a women look like a "Lady"-see!  I am talking to myself in my head again!

"Wearing Pearls" merle 2011

Passing on lots of Love and Light!