More Playing with Corel and Wacom Tablet

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Had a great scratchboard demo at Jerry's Artarama here in Austin this past Saturday. I even started a few new ones. Will post progress on those later. Today I'm putting up yet another of my exercises of playing around with Corel software and a Wacom tablet on some of the vintage photos I've collected. Just trying out some different things to see what new direction it might take me in. Blue Genie Art Bazaar ends tomorrow evening. I hope to tear down and get out of there so I can pack up to travel on Xmas day to visit friends in Missouri. Also hoping the 'main event' of the stormy weather doesn't prevent my driving up there. We'll see. Happy Happy Holidays everyone!

I AM DOG

...hear me bark!  This is a 5"x7" scratchboard from Ampersand Art. http://www.ampersandart.com/  I used some acrylic paint on the eyes and tongue.  I'll be teaching a free scratchboard demo at Jerrys's Artarama this Saturday (Dec. 19th) from 12-3pm.  Jerry's is located at 6010 N IH 35, Exit 238A Austin. This is an example of salvaging something that originally did not work for me.  I didn't like the initial line drawing and almost threw it out.  Now it is my current favorite piece.

This piece (and others)  is available for $100.00 from Wally Workman Gallery here in Austin http://www.wallyworkmangallery.com/
Blue Genie Art Bazaar continues until Christmas eve.  http://www.bluegenieart.com/

Playing with Corel Paint

I've started to play around with my Corel Paint software.  This is a vintage photo from an album I bought in El Paso a few years ago.  I know it was taken in the early 1900's and this gal is out in the middle of nowhere with this great coat.  I love the tilt of her head and the straight on into the camera look.  I have no idea who she is unfortunately.  I've done a scratchdrawing of her based on this photo.  And this is just me learning to use the Wacom tablet and software.  I'm needing a change of direction art wise.  I will of course continue with the scratchboard and assemblage, but you know how it is....time to shift for awhile.  I'm still at Blue Genie Art Bazaar until Xmas eve http://www.bluegenieart.com/ .  Group show at Wally Workman in Austin http://www.wallyworkmangallery.com/  and Dahlia Woods Gallery in Dallas http://www.dahliawoodsgallery.com/

God, Guns, & Guts

I know this isn't a scratchboard drawing, but I wanted to put it out there anyway.  I did this collage a few years ago when I was doing an illustration for a magazine article about 'Cowboy Church'.  Needless to say, this was not what was used for the article.  The editor told me 'what ever you do, don't do a 'Cowboy Jesus'.  But if you do one I'll buy it from you!'  So I put this collage together and sold him a scratchboard version.  I've been doing a limited edition of 25 of these as prints that I then hand color and frame. I call it, 'God, Guns, & Guts'. Think of it what you will.  My theory is, that if the belief is that we are made in the image of god...well, I sure see a lot of folks who look or think like this. So there you go.  They are available at Blue Genie Art Bazaar until Xmas eve. http://www.bluegenieart.com/

Drunk Monkey

Oh drunk monkey!  How I do not miss those days of being so blasted drunk, slammed down on the bathroom floor, wanting to die!  This is a 'retired' linoleum block that I won't do any more prints with, that I framed and mounted in a handmade frame.  It's on the wall at Blue Genie Art Bazaar waiting for someone to buy it. And I'm here today, not a drunk any more.  So grateful for that!

Blue Genie Art Bazaar 2009

Blue Genie Art Bazaar 2009 has begun!  Open daily from 10-9 and later on weekends.  Check it out at http://www.bluegenieart.com/art_bazaar_2009.html   This is a photo of my booth for Blue Genie is all set up at the Monarch Event Center N. I-35 here in Austin, TX.  Lots of moderate priced original scratchboards, beadboard boxes and magnets,magnets, magnets mania!  It's a great shopping experience with lots of cool artists work.

Pug with a Problem

So I was knocking out this 8"x10" scratcboard based on an image I saw on a friend's blog, and when I got to the end of the black and yellow tile I realized I had screwed up the lines...thus the 'Oh Sh*t' statement.  Although it seems to fit with this dog, so a happy accident I think!
This is an Ampersand Art scratchboard http://www.ampersandart.com/ with Liquitex acrylic inks, and a bit of acrylic paint.  I'll be at the Eye of The Dog Art Center this weekend for the annual 'home show' with about 15 other artists.  Click the link to get directions and more details. http://www.eyeofthedogartcenter.com/

I Am Not A Blue Dog

One of my latest scratchboards.  This is a 5"x7" Ampersand Art board. http://www.ampersandart.com/  I scratched this out last weekend while doing the EAST studio tour with my friends Aly & Amy. And as usual, I draw what I see.  Luna belongs to them and she was in and out of my sight, so I scratched this out for them.  Folks visiting my booth asked is this the 'Blue Dog' which I figure is just about as famous as Lassie.  And no...Blue Dog is another artist's (George Rodrigue) subject matter (although I think he has taken about as far as can go with tee shirts and other items with the image on it etc...and yet it seems to continue on and on) Therefore,  I thought I would clarify.  Not a blue dog or THE Blue Dog, this is "Luna the wonder dog of Texas!"  I had a lot of fun with this.  Art is good, I am happy.  As long as I can 'scratch' out a living doing this, I am full of joy.

Two Significant Women

No scratch drawing tonight folks...no daily monkey. I'll get back to all that in time.  Just a couple of old photo booth photos of two women who have been very significant in my life.  That's my beautiful mother and me at 3 1/2yrs old and my equally beautiful grandmother and me at 8yrs old.  Both are still alive, Grandma is about to turn 98 and my mother just turned 77.  The reason for this post is that my mother is now gravely ill in a hospital in Northern Indiana and for a variety of reasons,  I can't be there.  So there you have it. Two midwestern women, both major quirky characters,  who had a huge effect on this quirky woman, Linda the artist. 

Just a couple of shots of my booth at Terra Firma Studios (http://www.terrafirmastudios.com/) which is part of the East Austin Studio Tour which continues tomorrow from 10am-5pm.  We'll also be there same hours next Saturday and Sunday.  Today there were quite a few that stopped by, and  I enjoyed talking with a wide variety of folks.  Hope all who can will stop by and see us.

4 Scratchboard Owls

Here are 4 versions of owls. Kind of based on nature, but then went off into my imagination with them! They are all 5"x7" Ampersand Art scratchboard. I'm crazy busy making art 'product' for the East Austin Studio Tour this weekend and next. http://www.eastaustinstudiotour.com/ My first year doing this as a guest at my friend Aly Winningham's studio. http://www.terrafirmastudios.com/ Should be big fun. And of course I want to sell lots of art!

Monkey in a Fez and Bow Tie

I've been a busy, busy girl. Today I framed 14 pieces. This is one of them. A 5"x7" Ampersand Art scratchboard. I've been banging these out left and right. Sold 3 more monkey scratchboards at Wally Workman Gallery. Whoo hoo. I love me some monkeys!
I've been doing other subjects too...fixin' ta post some new photos of all 'em all on flicker and facebook.

2 Monkeys

Finished version of 2 Hugging Monkeys. I've been taking more than a few days off from doing the Daily Monkey Blog . Working like mad on product for upcoming East Studio Tour, Eye of the Dog Art Center Home Show and BlueGenie Art Bazaar. What a great life!

2 Hugging Monkeys

I'm grooving on this scratchboard of two monkeys hugging. Based this on some work I saw by America Martin. It has already been painted since I took this shot. Will post that later. Spent most of the day in the woodshop working on a piece of 'franken-furniture' for my display at the upcoming shows. Will post a photo of that soon too. Also using some scrap cedar that I got for free from my neighbor's fence project to build some little 'houses'. Not sure how they are going to look in the end, but I am so drawn to the house shape I can't help myself. And hey, if I make something I can sell at shows, even better.

More Monkey

Daily Monkey Mania continues. This is a 5"x7" Ampersand Art scratchboard. It's not done of course...adding color as I speak. I've been working on 5-6 scratchboards at a time to get ready for the East Studio Tour coming up in November. I love my life!

Monkey With Snake

Yet another 5"x7" Ampersand Art scratchboard. This one is 'Monkey with Snake'. Just about done with the color on it. Like the post before, I will take a photo and post finished product.
All gone here, finally cool and feeling like fall in Central Texas, at least for a few days...

2 Monkeys in Dresses

I was at Wally Workman Gallery last week getting photos taken of my recent work and I saw another artists work that inspired me. I grabbed a 5"x7" scratchboard and commenced to scratch this out. She of course did not have monkeys in her work...but I just can't help myself! Her name is America Martin. website is www.americamartin.com I love her work. It has a Picasso look to it. Very loose and sweet.
I will be adding color to this soon. Will post the finished piece.

2 Monkeys

Well this is a crappy photo of a current 5"x7" Daily Monkey. I forgot to shoot until late in the day and didn't have enough light. Oh well. You get the general idea. I'll be adding color and finish this later. I currently have about 6 scratchboards going at once. Got to produce for the shows. Last night I heard some creature wailing outside. Couldn't tell if it was a peacock or what but I think a coyote got dinner. Ah, sweet nature!

4 More Monkeys

Here are 4 more monkeys in the same style as the last post. Lino cuts printed on vintage paper and then embelished with prismacolor markers. I need to do more of these for the upcoming shows. I like the way this looks, so I may frame them 4 up.

4 Monkeys

I'm back in the 'Monkey Business'! I just needed to take a few days off from the Daily Monkey. These are some lino cut prints on vintage paper then hand colored with prismacolor markers.

More Dallas Scratchboard Demo

Just a few more images from my Rockwall School demo. I love sharing scratchboard with folks!

Dallas Scratchboard Demo

Here are a few of the Rockwall Tx High School students I met with in Dallas Tuesday morning. Our gallery space fell through so the teacher, Justin Clumpner and I decided to hold the Ampersand Art Supply scratchboard demo in a sweet little park area. All of the students were great, they jumped in and started scratching! I really enjoyed working with them and hope to return to work with some of the other art teachers and students in this school system. Another post will follow with additional photos.

New Scratchboards

Just a few of the new scratchboards I've been working on. Most are 5"x7" Genial Dog is 8"x10".

Off to Dallas to do an Ampersand Art sponsored demo for Rockwall High School Students.

Monkeys Not Over

Well, after hitting the wall with the Daily Monkey project yesterday I decided to try and carry on, at least for a bit longer. So I took an old scrapbook album cover and a bunch of misc. vintage paper I have and threw this collage together. It may not be done yet, but it was wet so here it is for now. I'm off to Dallas tomorrow to spend the night and prep for a Tuesday morning scratchboard demo with 25 High School students. I'm excited, should be great! Stopping by the Dahlia Woods Gallery to pick up a check and artwork from the show that just closed. Sold a monkey there and two monkey scratchboards at Wally Workman Gallery. So, I will continue to make monkeys...go figure. Who am I to argue???

Too Many Monkeys!

Ok, I have to admit it, I am freaking boring myself with the Daily Monkey project. I'm just a little over 6 months into it, and frankly for this Aries personality it's becoming torture...I'm so ready to move on to something else. So, maybe this is over. Maybe I've explored the depths of this and there is no more. I've learned a lot, and made many, many different versions of the monkey. I think I've got enough for a book. But, then again, more torture in my thinking. Does this mean I'm a 'quitter', unable to keep my focus on a project for a year? Jesus, Mary and Joseph, what is this artist to do? Maybe it's just how I'm feeling today...that's it, post this monkey and see how I feel tomorrow. Will do. This is a huge scratchboard that I did last year while in the midst of a relationship unraveling. It's 2'x3' (that's 2 feet by 3 feet folks!)Ampersand Art scratchboard. www.ampersandart.com It didn't take as long as you might think...mostly because I was emotionally a mess and this kept me sane! The title is "Too Many Monkeys To Count". It was sold at the Wally Workman Gallery. www.wallyworkmangallery.com Word was that it was the only thing in the gallery the buyers were interested in. Not bad to be chosen out of a crowd of 49 artists work eh?

Ampersand Art Scratchboard Demos Boston/Cambridge

Thought I'd share a few photos from the most recent Ampersand Art Scratchboard demos. I was in Boston last week so I did one at the Cambridge Utrecht and then the Boston Utrecht. The back story about all this is that about 6-7 years ago I was in Cambridge visiting friends and we stopped at the Utrecht just to shop around. I picked up a couple of free samples of Black Clayboard (as it was known at the time) took it back to my friends house and scratched out a couple of snake designs with a pocket knife. And I fell totally in love with it. Those sweet little boards are now in the collection of Wally Workman's son Paul who is one of my biggest collectors. And now I am traveling around doing demonstrations for the company that makes it. Success in such a great way. And really, this propelled me on to revisiting art as a career choice, as a major life changing choice in fact.

Monkey With An Idea

Today I spent much of the day traveling so I'm a bit burnt around the edges...Here is a daily monkey scratchboard. The usual medium,
Ampersand Art scratchboard www.ampersandart.com. I've got tons of work in progress....will post tomorrow.
I spent most of the flight from Boston to Houston listening or trying not to listen to the man and woman next to me talk about work endlessly. I wanted to put a bullet through my head. Or maybe theirs??!! Seemed like it was a lot of talk about nothing. Lots of business speak. Ugh.

Monkey Suit

Almost went to bed without putting up a daily monkey....dang I'm slipping. Well, actually I was in Boston today doing an Ampersand Art Scratchboard demo at Utrecht, so it's not like I'm sitting around eating bon bons. I really like altering and collaging and painting these monkeys. And while waiting for folks at the demos I knocked out several new scratchboards which makes me happy. Tomorrow I fly home. Will try and post new boards tomorrow night. All good in Bean town. Cool, rainy, just like Fall should be!

4 Monkeys

Missed the daily monkey yesterday....caught myself a nice cold here in Boston. Taking meds and lots of rest to try and get over it. Went to the Topsfield Fair today with friends. Lots of people and fun. Ampersand Art scratchboard demo tomorrow at the Boston Store from 12-3pm!!

Blue Blue Monkey

Collage assemblage for my daily monkey today. Went to Utrecht Cambridge to do a free Ampersand Scratchboard demo www.ampersndart.com Had a great time with all who showed up! I love me some scratchboard!! Will post photos of that and more tomorrow.

4 Monkeys and a Girl

Yet another of my altered vintage magazine collage daily monkeys. This one was from an ad for hair products and basically said that if these guys had better hair they'd get the girl. Whoa...is THAT what it's all about?? Who would'a thunk?

I'm in Boston fixin' ta' have a little r&r before giving an Ampersand Art www.ampersandart.com scratchboard demo in Cambridge tomorrow at the Utrecht store. Having a great time in the cooler weather with great friends.

2 Monkeys On A Hike

Daily Monkey time! Visiting friends in Boston and today was "2 Monkeys On A Hike". We walked around downtown Boston for hours. Oysters and Mussels at the Old Union Oyster House. Great day. Even saw Ben Afleck filming a movie in the North End!
Saturday is a scratchboard demo for Ampersand Art at the Cambridge Utrecht art store from 12-3.

Monkey Business

I spent most of the morning laying out and pasting a series of 'Daily Monkeys' so I could just post them easily while away for a week. Nothing like hours of choosing images and listening to music to get me to thinking...While doing this project now for about 6 months I've been wondering if I will be able to do a year of this. And if it even means anything at all...to me or anyone else. Today I realized that some of the meaning for me has been that I do this for pure joy! It helps me to not take myself and my art too seriously, which is a good thing I think. It brought to mind the artist Ray Johnson (google him folks!)and his various collage pieces, and most importantly his 'bunny' drawings. He did them over and over again. Until they became an extension of him, a symbol of sorts. They were not realistic or 'pretty' drawings by any stretch. But they had enough of a resemblance to identify. And Ray identified them as bunny so the eye and mind made it so.
I'm drawn to the monkeys, as I was the first time I saw the wooden monkey carving on the mantel at my friend's house. That was about 6 years ago. The images I do today don't even resemble that monkey, or even any real monkeys. But they do say 'monkey' to me. I wonder how all of this will evolve eventually?