Unexpected ART

It's show week. That means a level only slightly below hysteria. Last minute paintings are finished and often started. Crisis spring up right and left. Of course it always works out. What gets done is done. Yes, I will be hanging a wet painting but it is finished.

In my hustle and bustle of my day I walked back down in the studio from the house and saw this gorgeous image. I have giant ART letters sitting on my window sill. The sun was giving me trouble at the easel so as much as I hate to do it, I dropped the shade to block out the light. What a cool 5 foot by 5 foot image!!

I love when nature gives me moment where I drop everything and grab a camera. With fall in the air don't miss the amazing palette outside your window. Nature always has something to share.

More Yellow Please

Ahhh the humble pickle. Well, I assume they are humble, I have never actually chatted with one. The point is, they are delicious and I LOVE them. But here is my problem.

As an artist I LOVE color. I am known for bright and bold color. I don't think I could paint muted if I tried. I use to wear a lot of black. One day I decided I wasn't giving color the respect they deserved. Now my black rarely sees life outside my closet. I am all about color. I am guessing you are with me so far but wondering what pickles and color have in common. Great question!

I tried to buy pickles the other day. Just pure, tangy, yum pickles. Did you know with every jar of pickles you get bonus? It's true. Read any jar in the pickle isle of your store and note the added prize, Yellow 2. It's like cracker jacks but this prize gives you cancer! The pickle makers of the world want you to have color not only in your art, not only in your clothes but also in your pickles.

It's not fair. Not only to me but to the pickles of the world whose only goal is to fill my tummy with deliciousness. So thanks anyway, but I have enough yellow 2....in my art studio.

Art Heroes

It's easy to have a lot of heroes in the world of art. Not just the masters from the Renaissance but those that are here today. I have already talked several times about Chris Ayers. (oh great creative master) And I could fill quite a few blogs about my colleagues. But today we talk about Holly Hobbie.

When you read 'Holly Hobbie' did this image pop into your mind? If you are my generation or older I bet it did. As a little girl I LOVED Holly Hobbie....not the person but the character. What do I mean? It's a great story.

Holly was a high minded art student living with her husband in a happy (sort of) poverty. A friend suggested she send some of her little girl sketches to a greeting card company. It wasn't really the mark on the art world she was looking for but it was desperate times. The card company loved her work and bought a few designs. One day she is in a drug store and sees a display with HOLLY HOBBIE card collection. She was excited, surprised and suddenly realized her name would never be her own again.

Fast forward 25 years. I find this incredible children's book called Toot and Puddle featuring the two adorable pigs you see above. The author/illustrator? Holly Hobbie. I shake my head and think what mother who loved Holly Hobbie as a child grows up to name their child Holly Hobbie? It wasn't until a few years later I realized Holly wasn't a character but a brilliant artist. Holly has gone on to have Toot and Puddle become a cartoon. She also has other equally as charming characters. A few greeting cards just to get by became a wonderful career.

I highly recommend Holly's illustrated biography called "The Art of Holly Hobbie". It is out of print but can be found on Amazon.com. She comes across as quite humble, grateful and seems to be enjoying things as they come along instead of always looking out to the next thing.

Like I said, my hero!

Against All Odds

This is an image of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's Running Fence. It is currently part of the exibitions on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. This fence made it's appearance across Northern California in 1976. It took years to plan and months to construct. Billowing white 18 foot high nylon panels hung from cables. These cables stretched for 24.5 miles.

The artwork's cresendo was its disappearance into the Pacific ocean. This project involved 240,000 square yards of fabric, 90 miles of steel cable, 2,050 steel poles, 350,000 hooks and 13,000 earth anchors. Wow. Keep in mind too they had to get permission from every land owner the fence ran through and every local authority who could raise a fuss. Can you imagine convincing a California farmer to let you place 'art' on his property?

After 2 weeks the piece was dismantled. Was it a success? Did it serve any purpose? Well, here I am 34 years later talking about it. I am sure everyone was talking about it in 1976. I imagine even if you thought the whole concept was ridiculous it still caused conversation about art. Christo and Jeanne-Claude did many such projects. Maybe you remember several years ago when they placed the 'Gates' piece in Central Park. I wish I had figured out how to get there and see it.

Sadly, we won't see any more work by this inventive and ambitious duo. At least their ideas and art continue to spark conversations and maybe even cause a few head scratches.