Arty Dreams

Brain to Earplug Transfer, created in Procreate app

I dreamed that, while I was sleeping, a painting unknown to my conscious mind was being transferred from my brain to the end of my earplug.  When I woke up, I actually looked--nothing, not even wax--very disappointing (so I had to invent this one).  I'll try again tonight.  Ha.

Christmas Wishes from Clarksville VA

 

(inside greeting)
We're ready for Christmas
with our pretty main street.
There's a tree with lights
and the shop windows are neat.
The decorating committee gave it their most
and wreaths are hanging from every lamp post.

Welcome to Clarksville, dear Mr. Claus.
I tried to be good but I have a few flaws.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I have been AWOL from my blog for a while but I managed to create this Christmas card, get them printed, folded, addressed and in the mail Saturday.  This is a photo taken with my iPad during the summer; then, in my desktop Corel Photo/Paint program, I converted it to a watercolor.  Next, I sent it to my iPad and, using the Procreate app, removed parked cars, painted a nighttime sky with stars, added street lamp lights and wreaths; then painted Santa and the dog.  Text was added in Corel Draw.  (The dog was inspired by Big Ben, a mixed black lab, who was featured on our Lake Country SPCA site last week--he and many others need homes.)  I posted this on FB yesterday and, somehow, this scene touched the hearts of many who live/lived here, and brought back memories.  Some of their comments brought a tear to my eye (it is that time of year).  Clarksville is a beautiful little town, especially, at Christmastime.

 

I wish you a wonderful holiday and I hope to find more time for art and blogging in 2014.

 

Sundays in Southern Virginia

After Church, created in "Paper" on iPad

This has been on my list of things to paint for about ten years.  I thought I'd try a simple sketch using pencils in this app; it's done from memory or imagination--and it took days to finish.  It was done, I thought; then I spotted Dad's Bible on my book shelf.  It wasn't black like I'd drawn but a deep red.  I had given it to him--that got changed; then the color of the chair cushion had to be changed.  The made-up chairs (the one on the left looks like the type we had in our store) are in the grass because I thought a baseboard, floor and rug under them would be too many horizontal lines.  Mom probably wouldn't like this because her shoes and pocketbook absolutely had to match.

Even before my dad studied for the ministry, Sundays were busy.  Mom fried the chicken (one of us kids stole the liver) and we went off to church for Sunday School and preaching.  We came home to "dinner" of fried chicken with gravy and biscuits, of course, lots of fresh vegetables and dessert.  Afternoons were spent napping, pitching horseshoes (I'm still a champ), or visiting relatives.  After a light "supper," we went back to Church.

Listen

Listen, created on Ipad app, "Paper"

A new app, more play.  I don't know the meaning of this--I was playing with a face, a hand appeared and I left it.  I added a bird and a few red lines.  Is it a blue bird of happiness or is it removing brain cells?

Paper is the name of the app and it's based on moleskin sketchbooks (I never draw in my paper ones).  It began as free with pen and ink--then add $6.99 for more tools and colors, then another $1.99 so I could mix colors. Where can you buy such fun for $10?  This sketchbook is almost filled but I can delete and go back to clean pages.

I read about this on James Gurney's blog.  http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2013/10/printing-digital-sketches-as-physical.html

Okay, this link takes you to something called "Book."  The app is downloaded as "Paper 53."

He's Not Heavy------Yet

Toting Willie, created in SketchbookPro

Willie is recovering from his knee surgery but I carry him up and down the front porch stairs.  I don't think he can make it up the stairs and cool weather will be here soon--might have to install a little ramp for him.   Every night, I notice the shadows cast by the street lights.  I've studied them, moving to the left; then right.  Willie wonders about the dance and my neighbors probably think I've been drinking!

 

This was fun but would have been much easier with pencil and paper (I have to try every option in the iPad apps).  I hope to get out to my workshop/studio soon. 

Poor Willie

Poor Willie, graphite on paper
Cleaned up and colored with SketchbookPro on iPad

September has not been a great month.  My six-year-old dog Willie ruptured a ligament in his right knee two weeks ago.  During his weekly Thursday trash-night walk on the leash (his favorite activity), he jumped up onto a low wall, turned and screamed--I carried him home.  After x-rays under sedation, he had surgery Tuesday and came home yesterday.  I am his nurse, forcing pills down his throat; later I'll be his physical therapist.  He is so sad--pink bandage covering stitches on the back leg, shaved upper leg, chartreuse bandage on the front from the IV, and the cone.  He heard me taking the trash down tonight so I carried him to the street for a short two-and-a-half-legged walk in front of the house.  

Willie, age 4

We thought Willie was lazy when he'd stare at us--waiting to be lifted onto the sofa; didn't know he had bad knees.

I do realize that we are but specks in this world of floods, earthquakes, fires and mass killings.  May everyone have better days. 

Another Gouache

August on Buggs Island, gouache on Arches, 12x12

Another Thursday, another gouache from a photo taken several years ago.  I now have a folder on my iPad, "Painting Subject," and this photo was among them--a guest who was working on his tan.  He'd make a great model but he lives about 400 miles away.  I like people of substance; maybe I'll try this in oil.

Friends and family don't usually look at my blog; he would recognize his bracelet.

I posted this earlier but the photo did not display--maybe Google thinks it's a nude.  It's a puzzle to me, but I'm trying again.

Mockingbird

Mockingbird, gouache on Arches, 14x11

Oh My Gouache!  Two paintings in one week; definitely a record for me. 

At the Y yesterday, I painted this from one of my photos stored on the iPad.  When I sat on the front porch several years ago I was constantly eye-balled by a young mockingbird couple; one had a single feather always out of place.  Is this the evil eye?   Purple and yellow?  Why not play with all my colors? 

Arting around the May Pole

MRI Waiting Room, Gouache and Black China Marker on Arches, 18x12

Remember those May Pole dances?  Going in circles and weaving in and out--that's what I did during May.  I decided I must finish something so, on Thursday, I used gouache and a china marker, and painted this quickly from a photo taken in a waiting room during January (I accompanied a friend).  I don't know who this is but I liked the newspaper and the cap.  I sneaked a photo with my iPad and used it as a guide; I don't think anyone will recognize him (unless the foot cast is an identifier).

Rose drawing, on back of envelope

On May 8, I cut the first rose from the front yard and drew it on the back of an envelope.  I liked it so..

Rose with Paul's Ashtray , colorsoft pencils on pastel board, 10x8

I began drawing it with colorsoft pencils, after I found my hand-embroidered napkins--no roses so I went with violets.  I stood to look at the arrangement; then sat to draw--exercise.  Unable to decide what to do with the background I took a photo of the drawing and...

Rose with Planets Aligned, iPad painting

played around on the iPad.  I have five different versions now but have never finished the colorsoft drawing! 

Snake by my front step, photo

Then there was the snake...      There is a crack in my walkway beside my front step.  I haven't had it repaired because the skinks (blue-tailed lizards) live down there, and I like watching them.  Maybe I should say they lived down there.  My dog Willie had been sniffing the hole; then my husband asked, "Is that a lizard?"  "Well, no."  I put Willie in the house, sent my husband inside, and I sat on the porch for quite a while waiting with my camera.   



Snake Departing, photo

Later, my neighbor called to say she had seen a snake in her house.  Willie and I (SnakeBusters) visited but didn't find anything--it was only a black snake and I'm sure he's long gone. 

Shorthand

Shorthand, iPad painting

I've always loved the symbols for shorthand--a secret way of writing--so I bought a small Gregg Shorthand Manual at the thrift shop.  I intended to draw in it.  I couldn't bring myself to mess up the pages (I have the same hesitancy with my neat sketchbooks--they're still pristine).

 

Instead, I used the kaleidoscope photobooth of my iPad to photograph a page; then added a layer with a painting. This was done in the Sketchbook app.   I like the "transform" feature; I can move and resize the painting--no symbol poking her in the ear.  I don't know the secretary in the above painting but I suspect she was influenced by my Sunday-night TV shows.  I watch Call the Midwife (the clothing), The Good Wife, and Mad Men (the chair).  Then I watch Mr. Selfridge on my PBS app (the women have this hairstyle).  Who programs all the good shows for the same night?

1961

I remember my days as a secretary--shorthand got me from the country to the big city of Washington, D.C.--working for the Federal Government, wearing hose that never matched my pale legs, and walking (even dancing The Twist) in HIGH HEELS.  I loved it.  In the photo above, my boss was away so I took over his desk at U.S. Department of Commerce--I was 19.

Painting with Purpose

 

I have been painting.  I'm 99 percent finished with a painting a friend is buying as a surprise gift.  I've always said no to commission work so this is a new experience for me, and I find it nerve-wracking.  I can't post the painting yet so I used the iPad PhotoBooth Kaleidoscope to take this photo of a part of it.  I liked this photo so much I took more photos--in the studio; then in the house.

My water bottle and Blue Man painting. 

A carved plaster sculpture from years ago, yellow ducks, and radio. 

The shadow of my two-headed dog.

 

He also has two tails!

 

Makes me wonder why I paint--I could just walk around taking kaleidoscope photos of everything.  (I get distracted--too much arting around.)

Easter

My Clarksville VA, created on iPad, SketchBook app

Easter is here so I'm eating blue chicken peeps and my front porch is decorated with yellow wooden ducks.

 

This is one of my first iPad projects from August.  I took a photo of our downtown with my iPad, then removed the moving cars using Corel on my desktop, and sent it back to my iPad.  The photo is one layer; the duck is a second layer.  It's fun making the duck larger (he blocks the lake) or smaller and ducking into the Pizza Pub.

Happy Easter.   

Attack Cat



Skeets, the Attack Cat, SketchbookPro app

This was painted on my iPad from a 40-year-old small faded photograph; I don't think I've ever tried to paint a cat or a dog. 

Skeets was a tiny stray when she came to live with us in 1969; our first cat.  You'd think she'd be grateful for a nice home but, whenever her ears went down and her tail switched, the kids and I had to run for cover--she attacked feet!  She was a long-haired beauty who lived with us for about twelve years.  I have photos of Skeets sitting in an Adirondack chair on the deck, and our beagle, Cleo, sitting in the other chair--a matching pair. 

I need to learn about sizes of paintings in my various apps.  I thought this would be larger--maybe it's the Procreate app that creates really large files, or it's possible I have choices of sizes in SketchhbookPro.  I might have to read some directions.

Welcome March



iPad sketch (Sketchpad)

I make at least four quick sketches a day in this simple app; I usually don't save them or publish them on my blog. 

February was not a great month so I welcome March (even the Ides). 

Holidays



Wishing you perfect Holidays
and a wonderful New Year!

This is my 2012 card and was painted with Procreate on my iPad.  This was my fifth idea for a card; I liked No. 4 but accidentally deleted it when it was almost finished (which is not easy to do).  Once this reindeer painting was finished I got a cardshop app--nothing as exciting as having a deadline and learning new stuff.  There was no grid for layout; just a tiny piece of ruler across the top of the card showing inches and FIFTHS of inches.  Fifths?  I'm accustomed to eighths.  My only way to check placement was to print one.  Print?  I had never printed from my iPad, and my Canon printer is not one of those compatible with Apple's airprint.

Luckily, the cardshop app has the option of sending a PDF by email.  That worked, but I was unable to print from the PDF reader on my desktop.  So I emailed it to the laptop in the dining room; from there I could send it to the printer in the computer room.  A solution at last.  I printed 75; none were upside-down and the inside greeting was in the right place.  I folded, signed, wrote some personal notes, addressed and stamped the envelopes, and got the cards in the mail yesterday.  I can check that off my list--and my fruitcake has been delivered.

Now it's on to cleaning and shopping.   Perfect Holidays?  At my house that's a joke.

Merry Christmas! 

Chihuly Exhibit at VMFA



Organic Vase, created with Procreate on iPad

Last Friday I visited the Chihuly Exhibit at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond VA.  I left my camera in the car so I have no photos.  Instead, here's a Chihuly-inspired iPad painting of a red vase I bought at Mr. Harris' yard sale.  I painted without actually looking at the vase, and imagined it melting and changing forms, being displayed on a mirrored surface like Chihuly's works.  (And, yes, this looks a bit like an internal organ; I guess it's a ChiHallie.)  

Mr. Harris, Colorsoft pencils on Wallis Museum board, 9x6

My camera was in the car when I stopped at the yard sale and the light was right.  Mr. Harris said okay when I asked if I could take his photo; I told him I might want to paint it.  He's a neighbor and owner of one of the local funeral homes--a nice-looking man.  He hasn't seen this yet and it's not quite finished.




Outside VMFA, photo by S. Brooks

Here I am, outside the museum, pretending I'm holding up Chihuly's 25-foot chandelier which was hanging in the Atrium--my idea--and it took a while for the patient photographer to line this up.  Pedestrians probably wondered why I was posing like Vanna White.  My brother thought this looked like Miss Liberty with a tight grip on her pocketbook--not a bad idea for these times.

The Chihuly Exhibit was excellent--rooms filled with forms and colors and reflections.  I especially liked his Ikebana Boats and the Tobac Basket Bowls, which were displayed on huge beautiful slabs of wood. 

Reading Dreams

Untitled, created in SketchbookPro on iPad

Our local newspaper sometimes has an insert called Lake Country Living.  I was surprised to see an article by my blogger friend Celeste Bergin on Page 4.

Unfortunately, I woke up this morning before I could read the article (I often dream of reading newspapers, scientific books, poems, and lawyer stuff).  I remember the title, that it was the left-hand column, half-way down the page.  Had I stayed asleep and actually read the article, it probably would have said that Celeste has worked hard to earn what sounds like the wonderful artist's life--the classes, the shows, the coffee-shops-in-Portland, museum visits, hanging out with other artists.  She has earned the gifts and now enjoys them.

I cannot guess why the article was illustrated with this atrocious gaudy boudoir chair--deep red cushion, white wood with gold paint, curlicues.  I don't think it's Celeste's taste and I don't remember seeing one on Antique Road Show (and that's the way it was facing in my dream newspaper--I would have flipped it).  

Hallie's Cleaning Tips--I have none.  Quentin Crisp said cobwebs soften corners and when you've got a quarter inch of dust, no more accumulates. 

A Mother's Reach

Reaching, size variable, iPad painting

My mother lived with me for a while when she was suffering with Alzheimer's/dementia.  She explained her illness once--she extended her right hand and said that names and memories were floating in the space just beyond her grasp.  Several years after her death I dreamed that I saw her stuck in concrete up to her waist, wearing her raincoat.  This has been in my head for about four years--time to let it go.  This was painted with the iPad app, Procreate. 



Pansy, colored pencils on paper, 18x12

Happy Mother's Day

This drawing began with one pansy; then it grew--had to add a sheet to the bottom.  Planning.  What's that?

Pest Control



Pest Control, size variable, iPad screenshot

Another summer, more bug spray.  My husband has armed himself, and all the bugs who wander onto our front porch get zapped--he thinks there are no good bugs.  I worry about the birds.   I'm a bug-rescuer; if I find one inside, I carefully take it outside to freedom.  Now I wonder if I'm sending them to the great beyond--I'll have to take them out the back door.

This is not a portrait of my husband; I don't know who it might be--looks a bit like a man I worked with many years ago.  I wanted to check out skin tones and figure painting on my iPad.  Now I need to learn how to move the painting from the iPad to my computer without including the little circle that's part of the screenshot from Sketchbook (and you probably thought it was a bugbite).

**Afterthought.  If I downsize the drawing on the iPad with my fingers, I can eliminate the little circle.  Aha!

Like Passing Notes in High School

 

While waiting for the clothes dryer to beep, I practiced using my stylus on the iPad.  I sat on my Hans Wegner chair at the dining table and drew my Siesta chair from the 70s (an agility test in my living room).  My iPad beeped--there was an email from my brother about a "Modernism" auction in Charlottesville VA on Saturday.  Perfect timing.  This was my response, the modern method of passing notes.  Love it.  I know, I know--I'm having too much fun.