Mom Gets Crafty for a Punk Rock Halloween

Happy Halloween!

My very first post for Vida Viva, “The Crafty Mom”, is all about how although I am an artist, I am disappointingly untalented at crafts.  So you can imagine my excitement when I finally found my inner craftiness and made Owen his first homemade Halloween costume.  Punk rocker.

Most of  the costume was easy.  The t-shirt I just ripped some holes in and used fabric paint to paint an anarchy sign.  I was originally going to write “The Clash” but I thought that was kind of cheesy.  I thought the anarchy sign was more authentic and therefore hysterical.  More later on why I should have gone with cheesy.

The guitar was more work, but by far the best part of the costume.  I drew it on cardboard, applied a few layers of gesso, painted it with red and black acrylics,  and then cut it out with an exacto knife. I needed Tom to draw the strings with a gold paint pen, because even with a straight edge, I cannot draw a straight line.  I’m not sure what learning disability that qualifies me for, but it is no joke.  I even put my friend Veronica to work that night because the cardboard box  was taking FOREVER to cut through, so she did some of the cutting.  It was a group effort.  But when we were done, we were giddy anticipating how amazing Owen would look at the Embassy Halloween party Friday.

I glued a checkered ribbon to the guitar to act as a strap so he could wear it on his back, and thought he wouldn’t even notice it once it was on.  Minutes before the party I put him in his shirt and camoflauge pants and spiked up his hair.  He seriously did not want to wear the guitar.  Ok, I thought. When we get to the Embassy to trick or treat around the offices he will be distracted and he will let me put it on him.

We got to the Embassy. Again, he wanted nothing to do with it. I carried it around sort of next to him so people would “get” the costume, but I still got a few “oh he’s an anarchist…?” remarks that made me want to hide under a rock. After all my hard work, he had a costume that made no sense.  Not to mention Owen was too little to understand the trick or treating thing and only wanted to play with the elevator.  I called Tom at his office  in tears and we went home.

When we got there, our housekeeper was just leaving.  I drove her to her metro stop, and when I got back, I was greeted by Owen, wearing his guitar.  I nearly dropped dead. While I was away, Tom had somehow gotten Owen to wear the guitar to take the pictures I had wanted so badly.  Now, lets be honest.  This involved some tears.  But eventually, he wore the guitar and forgot he had it on….only to take it off  fifteen minutes later.

It’s too bad that the party ended up being such a disappointment.   But my day was saved  when I came home to see that my husband had gone through a battle of the wills with our son to take the pictures, and even a video.  That’s love.  Besides, if Owen wants to be a rock star anytime in the next few years, I have a guitar waiting for him.

Big Brother/ Little Brother, New and Better Photos!

 

Big Brother, new photo

 

 

Little Brother, new photo

 

I took a look at the paintings again and realized just how off the photos I posted really were.  I guess that’s what you get for trying to get things done in a rush through nap time! So I took new photos in the morning light in my living room with it’s great big windows, and NOT in my studio, and I think the result is much better.  The other photos gave  the impression that the colors were a bit harsh and dark, when in fact they are soft and creamy….yes I know that sounds strange but those are the best words I can think of.  Even these photos aren’t PERFECT…man it is hard to take a perfect match photo of your painting, even with all the help of Lightroom.  Little Brother looks good, but the chair in the photo of Big Brother has a slight green hue to it that I can not explain.  In the painting it is a cream with a hint of yellow, perfectly matching Little Brother’s chair.  Oh well, I tried my best. At least these give you a much  better look at the real deal.

Big Brother/Little Brother, Completed!

 

Big Brother

 

 

Little Brother

 

What did I tell you? I said I’d finish them in a week, and amazingly enough, I did. In spite of Owen being sick, and my husband being away, I put the finishing touches on the portraits Friday night.  Although I might have my husband retake the photos when he gets back, because Little brother is a bit blurry, and I’m not sure if the colors aren’t slightly off from the actual paintings.  I think the paintings are a little bit brighter than their photos.  Anyway, I’m really pleased with how the paintings turned out.

 

Big Brother/Little Brother, in progress

 

Big Brother

 

 

Little Brother

 

It’s taken me far longer than planned to post photos of these works in progress.

The first reason is I got delayed in the middle of painting when I ran out of white paint and painting medium. Yes, water soluble oil colors can be mixed with water, but the result is awful! If you want them to look like the real thing, use linseed or almond oil.  Anyway,  as anyone living here will tell you, the mail here is unpredictable…I was put out of work for a few weeks.  Taught me a lesson though…I will stay fully stocked at all times!

The second reason/excuse is just me.  I didn’t want to post them because they didn’t look good enough to me yet.  I can see how they are going to look, I know what my next moves are, but how can anyone else see that? Especially the clients?

I guess it takes some guts.   But for the record, let me just say that they both need more work in the hair, especially little brother, and that I need to put the shadow into the left side of big brother’s face, I think. I keep putting it in and taking it out, because it somehow makes him look older, but I need it there for the source of light.  I’ve also spent a lot more time on big brother, so it is more finished looking.  But man, for some reason this was one of the hardest portraits I have ever painted. I haven’t even kept track of the amount of hours I have put into it, I don’t think I can handle the truth!  Something about this kid’s face is hard to capture, not only his bone structure, but that sweet, yet slightly shy, slightly mischievious grin.  Am I over thinking it maybe? Hmmm, I do tend to do that.  I’m working on it.  But I think it will really look like him when I put in the freckles, don’t you?

I also am trying to create a dynamic between the two paintings with the poses of the boys; how big brother is sinking into the chair and little brother is jumping out of the chair.  When I finish them, I want that to really stand out, so the paintings work as a pair, with a sense of movement and play.

Oh yeah and I need to fix the eye color on both paintings.  And of course, paint the shirts (no it will not be that awful green, I’m working on it).

So here they are, my guess about a week from being finished.

Outtakes

Hello out there, I’m back!  Yes, I took a rather long summer hiatus, but I’m back, ready to work and tell you all about it.   I’m happy to say I have a few projects lined up, starting with two portraits of these adorable brothers.   I thought I would wait to post something until I’d actually started the paintings, but since I’ve been so delayed in getting back to work, I decided to do a quickie sneak peak blog with the photographs I will be using and some of the outtakes.

Big Brother/Outtake 1

Big Brother/Outtake 2

Big Brother/ For Portrait

Seriously, I could write an entire book on how difficult and hysterical it is to take portraits of kids.  I invited them over thinking it would be easy.  I have a great camera, and I could just stick them in a neutral colored chair with some good lighting and click and click until something turned out.  But even with the most delightful and well behaved children (and these boys are really amazing) it is quite a job to get them to sit still and smile and look at the camera, all at once.

But I would really like to think that, despite a dozen blurry photographs, something turned out.  I think I got two images that really capture the personalities of these little men…and a few cute outtakes, to boot.

Little Brother/Outtake

Little Brother/For Portrait

Now let’s see what I can do with them on canvas…

Self Portrait in Blue

I guess I’m going through a blue period.  Who do I think I am, right?

I started this painting Saturday night and it’s about two hours in.  I know I’ve said this before but I want to keep this one rough.  I don’t just mean unpolished, I mean I’m going to live with the mistakes.  I keep meaning to do this but I don’t. I spent more time on the painting of Tom then I’d meant to.  I was supposed to just hash it out, but I can’t help myself.   I finished his right eye only to realize it wasn’t quite placed correctly and painted over it completely…things like that.

But lets be honest.  This is about more than art.  I want to be unpolished, to revel in it.   Dare I say this on Vida Viva? I am growing tired of certain aspects of Latin culture.  And truly, I believe it’s because I’m in Caracas.  I would never speak this way about my beloved Bogotá.  But this is the land of beauty queens, and, well, we have different concepts of beauty.

However…I was reminded today of Cezanne.  When he started out his career, he went to Paris, and did his best to fit in with the art crowd. He was from a rural part of France and they just didn’t get him at all.  Finally he realized he couldn’t try to be someone he wasn’t and said screw ’em and went back to the country, where he did kick ass work for the rest of his life.  Fine, so maybe that’s the Cliff Notes version of his life, but it’s true.

I always remember this when I realize an external pressure is causing me to drift away from who I really am.  Or at 25 perhaps I should say, who I really want to be.

My Favorite Face

"Tom" Acrylic background on wood with image painted in oil. 26.5" x 11.5"

This is my favorite face.  You might mistake this statement as a slight to our son, Owen, but on the contrary.  He is the proud owner of a perhaps even more lovely duplicate.   Tom has some strong genes, wouldn’t you say?  You might. But allow me to provide you with my alternate explanation…

I am a painter.  Every part of me is a painter.  Not just my hands.  Not just my eyes.  But my whole body.

I met Tom when I was nineteen years old.  That is when I began memorizing my favorite face.  Taking  it in  nearly every day.  When I was twenty-two, we got married.  Nearly every day became every day,  and eventually I could paint his face with my eyes closed.  Just before my twenty-fourth birthday, I discovered I was pregnant.  I believe this is when the painter in my belly got to work, recreating the face it knew by heart.

And yet, there is something uniquely “Owen” about Owen.  Yes, he does have my ears, but there is something there that is not Tom, and not me.  Something brand new.

My paintings are not recreations of people.  At their best, they are merely “about” someone.  No matter how much command I might feel I possess over my brush, at some point in the process, most often unwittingly, I loose the upper hand for a moment.  The painting has a life of its own, and it goes, ever so slightly, in it’s own direction. Every painting I have ever done has something about it that I feel just happened, inexplicably. Maybe this is part of the process.  Maybe this is what happened to the painter in my belly.

Either way, this is a face I am happy to see two of every day.  Expect to see many more paintings of both of them in the future.

Monday Pick Me Up-Owen’s Nature Zip

The first time it happened by accident.  Owen was playing with one of those peek-a-boo flap books, and he ripped a child peeking behind a plant clean out of the book.  I thought, that’s a shame, and I taped it up over his coat hooks.  It looked pretty cute.  Before I knew what I was doing I was taping a post card with a picture of a giraffe right next to it. And it looked just perfect.

Later that night I was looking at Owen’s sleeping  nook, the little square alcove in his room that holds his crib, covered by glow in the dark stars. In between that, and his large wooden closet doors, is an odd strip of white wall.  I taped up a photo from our honeymoon in Thailand.  And then I got my idea.  The Nature Zip.  Parents go crazy with all kinds of decorating ideas and murals, many of which I have entertained.  But lets face it.  We are here temporarily.  Painting a giant tree over his crib doesn’t quite seem worth it. But a nature collage on a skinny “zip” of wall, this I can do.

The original idea was to cover the entire area, from floor to ceiling.  Unfortunately, I had to let this go when I realized that Owen enjoys peeling the photos off the wall as much as we both enjoy viewing them from the rocking chair.

Still, the little man seems quite fond of it.

Work in progress…

As I wrote last week, I am in the process of finishing unfinished projects and painting the many unpainted canvases and wooden surfaces I’ve collected. Here is one of them.  A wooden shelf that’s been sitting in a pile waiting to be painted from Baltimore to Bogotá to Caracas.  So last week I slapped on a layer of gesso followed by a layer of blue acrylic paint and let it sit on the floor a while.  I figured eventually it would tell me what to do with it.

I should probably mention that since I started working on so many paintings at once, and since Owen got tall enough to reach my paints, I rearranged the guest room and am once again I am enjoying a full studio, with paintings spread out all around me.  It really is a nice set up, a room with a view even.  The one exception being the bed….which I have moved to the side and am hoping to convert into a sort of loungey couch to lure visitors into modeling for me. Which leads me to my second point. I recently declared defiantly to someone who was telling me to paint more portraits that I was intent on painting more of my botanicals, only to realize a few days later I had an awful hankering to paint a person.  The thing is, mind you, that there really is a difference between painting commissioned portraits and simply painting people.   Don’t get me wrong, I do love the challenge of painting portraits.  But I love painting people in my own,  more naturalistic hand, letting the basic geometric forms of the face come forward.  This painting, of my husband, is only a few hours in and probably a few hours from finished.  Still, I don’t plan on polishing it a whole lot.

Monday Pick Me Up-Dangerous Beauty

I was telling our son Owen that for many people, Easter marks the beginning of Spring.  That where we come from, the trees are turning green and the flowers are starting to grow.  Some tire of the endless Summer of Caracas, but seeing the tropical flora of our neighborhood gives me the same rush some of you are getting back home on these first warm days of Spring.

What I love about these dainty little rose colored flowers (whose names I tried to find and failed miserably) is that they grow on thorny stems sharp as barbed wire.  I love painting cacti because they are so beautiful and so fierce, like South America.  I wish I could have taken a better photo with our Canon T1i, but when I am out and about I carry a small, unassuming camera.  Because unlike these dangerous beauties, I am unarmed.