Stick Monkey

Daily monkey today is a quick stick drawing in my sketch book. That's all I've got...tired.

This Saturday Oct. 3rd I'm doing a free Ampersand Art scratchboard demo at Jerry's Artarama here in Austin. It's on North I-35. I'll be there with tools and sample boards from 12-3pm.

Monkey Man

Vintage 'Monkey Man' scratchboard. After my computer crashed recently I've had to spend a lot of time going through files on my back up hard drive. I have found dozens of monkeys that I scratched out over the years. This is one of them. I think it was a 16x20 Ampersand Art scratchboard. This was sold a few years back... I'm doing a free scratchboard demo at Jerry's Artarama Austin this Saturday from 12-3pm. Fun for all!

Comma Monkey

Another of my older goofy scratchboard monkeys. This is a 16"x20" Ampersand Art scratchboard. Second of the "Comma Monkey" series. I like this, and yet, now that I'm adding color to them, it looks plain or like it's missing something. Hard to believe a few years ago I was afraid of, and almost phobic about putting color on these. Now, give me a good red and I'm 'tarting' them up!

Went for a nice paddle in my kayak with friends this morning. Good to be on the water, although it was extremely dirty and full of floating soda bottles and so forth. Every time it rains here in Austin all y'alls crap gets washed down into Lady Bird Lake. Pick it up folks! What's the matter with people...

My Favorite Ape

Here again is one of my favorite Apes. Took lots of photos of this guy in New Mexico. I imagine he's spent his time wondering how the hell he ended up there? And who are all these crazy humans staring at him! Daily monkey project continues. Had a fabulous time teaching a class today at Eye of the Dog Art Center. http://www.eyeofthedogartcenter/. Loved seeing how others adapt and work with Ampersand Scratchboard. http://www.ampersandart.com/ Really love Billy Ray and Beverly who live/work at the Art Center. It's a magical place out in the woods near San Marcos, TX. There is nothing like spending the day surrounded by creative folks doing creative things!! I am truely a lucky, lucky woman.

Daily Monkey

Here's a favorite photo of mine for today's daily monkey. Wonder what he's thinking? "What the hell you looking at"..."You looking at me?"

Getting ready for my scratchboard class tomorrow....packing up little bits and pieces of odd ball stuff to use in collage and scratching. Yahoo, Eye of the Dog Art Center here I come!

www.eyeofthedogartcenter.com

Monkey with comma's

Daily Monkey...just about 6 mos. into it. Funny Monkey with fez, surrounded by comma's. Don't ask why, I'm not sure I know. For me the background is usually where I have the most fun with these scratchboards. This is a 16"x20" Ampersand Art scratchboard. (www.ampersandart.com) Love their product so much I am doing a class on it this Saturday at Eye of the Dog Art Center in San Marcos, TX. www.eyeofthedogartcenter.com Also have a free 3 hour demonstration coming up at Jerry's Artarama here in Austin, TX. Saturday Oct. 3rd. I have a ton of new 5"x7" and more scratchboards. Will take some photos and post soon.

What's it all about Monkey?

I've done a few drawings of this Gorilla from the zoo in Albq. New Mexico. Totally fascinating how much we are like them. And they like us. How some religious folks can look at them and not believe in evolution? Or the connection between them and us? Or that somehow we are superior to them? Amazing. And tragic at the same time. And hey, I know, a Monkey is not a Gorilla and a Gorilla is not a Monkey. But they are close enough in their resemblance to us for me to put them together in this 'Daily Monkey' blog project.

Gorilla Daily Monkey

What a great face! Took this shot at a zoo in Alb. New Mexico a few years ago. I will do a scratchboard of this someday...Getting ready for my all day scratchboard class this Saturday at Eye of the Dog Art Center. www.eyeofthedogartcenter.com

Lots of rain and cooler temps here in Central Texas. That and my recently pulled tooth make me want soup!

Scratchboard in Progress

Work in progress. 8"x10" Ampersand Art scratchboard. This is Sweet Pea and Fifi. Gallery dogs from http://www.dahliawoodsgallery.com/ in Dallas.

MMMMM Monkey King!

Love this Monkey! Yet another 16"x20" Ampersand Art www.ampersandart.com scratchboard. This was featured in a room layout of local design magazine last year. Wally Workman Gallery sold it for me. www.wallyworkmangallery.com Will post some other scratches in progress here in a bit. One of my back molars was pulled this morning. Makes me feel old. Hope I can hang on to the rest of my teeth for a long time. Damn!

Monkey with Big Ears

Another of my earlier 'Money Monkeys'. This was a 16"x20" Ampersand Art scratchboard. www.ampersandart.com Sold this a while back. I'm loving mining my older work for this 'Daily Monkey' blog. I've forgotten about some of these pieces. Interesting that I did not use color on these at all then. All good out here in the country today. Another beautiful day in paradise! Working on a couple of 8"x10" dog scratches, will post here in a few days.

Another Money Monkey

This is an older example of my scratchboard monkeys. Long gone and sold off. It was a 16"x20" Ampersand Art board. http://www.ampersandart.com/ Because my other laptop is messed up I am using my 5 yr old Dell that has a ton of images on it. Thus, today's 'daily monkey' is from that archive....I make the rules so there you have it. I am also working on another blog for 'Bitsy Biloba' at http://collectedoddities.blogspot.com/ Check it out if you like vintage photos, paper and other ephemeral objects.

Ice Monkey

In the process of getting ice to put on my poor aching tooth I threw this together. Kind of looks like something from those strange animated xmas specials....jack frost or something like that. Anyway, this is an ephemeral ice monkey for my 'daily monkey'. Today has been a bit like hell on earth for me. Tooth ache (Dentist doesn't work on Fridays...) and my computer decided it was time to really go crazy. And nothing is backed up from the last 8 months. This after having a 'feeling' last night that I should back up since Mercury is in Retrograde until the 29th. Look it up, I was skeptical for a long time...I've been a believer for the last 15 years or so.

Sport and his Monkey

My favorite dog, Sport and his favorite monkey. Took this photo a while back. Have made numerous scratchboard drawings of him. I'm sure I'm not done drawing him, or his monkey.

Life is good here in Central Texas...weather has cooled off a bit, rain we finally got made everything the brightest green. Hard to believe that everything was crunchy dry just a month ago.

Daily Monkey

This is a photo of my friend India with her favorite monkey. I love this shot. This was about 3 years ago...she is older, the monkey, not so much!

Today I built more beadboard boxes to sell at holiday shows. Spent most of the day with my hair full of sawdust...dreamy day.

Monkey and Gallery

This is the finished "Monkey Saint" scratchboard. It's a 5"x7" with acrylic. The usual, www.ampersandart.com product that I love. Daily monkey continues but I'm just about apeshit crazy from doing this for the past 5 1/2 months. I hope I can keep it together for the next 6-7 months of doing this. I've included some shots from the gallery in Dallas. www.dahliawoodsgallery.com Show is up until Oct. 17th. I hope to see a few more pieces before then...

Life in the little house on the Texas prairie continues. A peacock came to see me while I was working in the garage building some wooden boxes. I have almost perfected the call they make and can get them pretty excited when I do it! My life is good. I am happy.

Monkey in a Pink Shirt

I posted another version of this earlier but now it's finished and ready to frame. "Monkey in a Pink Shirt". It's the usual, 5"x7" scratchboard from www.ampersandart.com. I need to start pushing some larger scratchboard pieces out soon, but there is so much going on in my life right now that this smaller size seems to be about all I can manage.

Thoughtful Monkey

Ok, so I missed putting up a monkey yesterday because I was in Dallas...here is a Sunday monkey. Scratchboard, 5"x7" from www.ampersandart.com Had a great time in Dallas inspite of the constant rain for three days. Met some wonderful people and even sold some art! Will fill in more about that later. Suffice to say www.dahliawoodsgallery.com rocks!

Another Monkey King

Here's a sweet little monkey king on 5"x7" scratchboard. www.ampersandart.com Not finished yet...have to do something with the vest, maybe color, maybe scratching. But done enough for the blog. I'm driving up to 'Big D' today to spend the weekend. Two night opening at www.dahliawoodsgallery.com for a show I'm in. I'll post two monkeys on Sunday when I return.

Another Monkey in a Red Fez

This is a 5"x7" scratchboard with my usual monkey design on a product by www.ampersandart.com One of the six I scratched out in 2 days....Last night I scratched out 3 cats. I'm a regular scratching machine!

Monkey with Floating Crown

The 'Daily Monkey' continues...this one is on a 5"x7" scratchboard made by my favorite...www.ampersandart.com with some acrylic paint added. In the past two days I have scratched out a new record...SIX 5"x7" monkeys...all different. I'm getting ready for shows in November/December and I need to have a lot of product! I am becoming an art factory, and I love it! I'll be going to Dallas on Friday for a two night opening at www.dahliawoodsgallery.com It's also a part of the Fall Dallas Art Walk and I hope to go to more than a few galleries while I'm there.

Monkey with Pigtails

This is a bizarre little monkey girl with pigtails. I combined a vintage image on top of vintage paper mounted on a 5"x7" canvas board with a little white and yellow acrylic paint. Getting ready for my two night opening in Dallas this Friday and Saturday night. Gallery is www.dahliawoodsgallery.com

Scratchboards in Progress

Here are a few new pieces I've scratched out. The Emu is my favorite with the White Chicken a close second. Ok, I really like the Tattooed Chicken and the Black Bird on a branch too! Ok, I have no idea why the Emu is sideways, and don't know how to fix it right now. Rotate your head and it looks fine!

Scratchboard product is of course http://www.ampersandart.com/

Singing Monkey

This is one happy, yellow, singing monkey girl! Happy Labor Day y'all....I continue with the 'Daily Monkey' project. I don't know why or what I will do with all of this. It has been suggested to make a book of the 'best of'. We shall see. I'm still having fun with it....so on I go. Making scratchboard images like mad for the holiday shows I'm doing. Finished up the emu this morning, loving it. Will post that and Chicken later today.

Monkey Dreaming

I'm loving this little 'Daily Monkey'. What a sweet, dreamy face. This is a 5"x7" panel. Vintage magazine collage with white and yellow acrylic paint. I'm so excited about my show in Dallas at www.dahliawoodsgallery.com . Two night opening Sept. 11/12. I'm driving up Friday and will hits some galleries and museums Saturday during the day (I hope!) All day class at www.eyeofthedogartcenter.com in San Marcos TX Sept. 26th. Today I worked on an 8"x10" Scratchboard from www.ampersandart.com A single white chicken... Also started another 8"x10" scratchboard of an Emu head. Will post an image of both in progress tomorrow. Happy Labor Day!

Jerry's Artarama Scratchboard Demo

Today I did a free three hour scratchboard demonstration at Jerry's Artarama here in Austin, TX. Usually at least 12-15 people participate. Today was different. There were tons of folks in the store but they were seriously shopping because of a huge sale. So to the 7-8 folks who stopped by and scratched out a few sample boards...thanks so much! I always learn something new and enjoy each and every one of you. It is tons of fun for me to watch all of you in your exploration of this medium. I got so involved in it all, I forgot to take many photos to post here. So these are just a little sample. Funny thing, while folks were waiting in line to check out, we talked and I got quite a few of them to at least buy a 3 pk of the 5"x7" boards and a tool or two.

That's my job folks! I represent http://www.ampersandart.com/ who produces this product right here in Austin, TX. But here's the deal, I would use this scratchboard they make even if there was nothing in it for me...it's that good. So there you have it, my sales pitch. Try it out. And if you want to know more about it, take my all day class this Sept. 26th from 10-4 for a modest fee at http://www.eyeofthedogartcenter.com/ in beautiful San Marcos, TX. Hooray for Art!

Another Curious Red Monkey

Well, just in case I didn't get the first one right I did this again! This one is smaller (3"x5") on an http://www.ampersandart.com/ scratchboard sample panel. I think I did this while doing a scratchboard demo. Which, by the way I am doing tomorrow from 12-3pm at Jerry's Artarama here in Austin. We'll see if folks can tear themselves away from the football games and hot dogs to get some culture...we'll see. And I guarantee I will put up photos tomorrow afterward.

Curious Red Monkey

This monkey is a curious one. It's based on a little plastic statue that was given to me by someone I went on a few dates with....such a gift eh? I was delighted with it, of course. The dating didn't last, but the monkey endures! This is a 5"x7" Ampersand Art scratchboard. www.ampersandart.com Speaking of which, I will be doing a free scratchboard demonstration this Saturday (Sept. 5th) from 12-3pm at Jerry's Artarama (my favorite store..) Also doing a day long scratchboard/clayboard class at Eye of the Dog Art Center www.eyeofthedogartcenter.com Sept. 26th.

More Than Just Monkeys

Here are a few Ampersand scratchboards in progress. Just to show I am more than a 'one trick monkey'. These will get some color, sprayed and thrown into a frame later today! These are all 5"x7". And all are available for purchase. Doing a free scratchboard demo this saturday here in Austin at Jerry's Artarama from 12-3pm.

High Fashion Monkeys

Daily monkey continues...These are a couple of high fashion gals from 40's era magazine. I 'monkeyed' them with white gel pen and black prismacolor pen. I'm still scratching away in preparation for East Side Studio Tour and Blue Genie Art Bazaar. Also getting ready for day long scratchboard class at Eye of the Dog Art Center Sept. 26th. Sign up at www.eyeofthedogartcenter.com

All good here, except my neighbor thought firing a rifle this morning in close range to my studio was a good idea. Cheese and crackers, what a freaking idiot.