Duet. 48″ x 36″, Acrylic and Charcoal on Canvas, 2010.
2023 Del Mar Fair Fine Art Exhibition.
Category: Portraits
Del Mar Fair 2022
Three of my paintings were selected to be exhibited at the 2022 Del Mar Fair and I also received two 3rd Place Ribbons and Prize Money. Life is Good!
Wedding Feast
Here is an Oldie, but still a Goodie! I created this painting in CELEBRATION of my sister’s wedding 28 years ago! It was a 4 day extravaganza and a super special funning- it event! I used to paint only the things that made me happy- friends, family, parties, babies, dogs- because I reasoned that there were enough images of pain and ugliness in the world that I didn’t need to add to all that unhappiness…. Now I may, occasionally, make a painting or series with a “unhappy” or critical intent, but my paintings always contain humor and a “f**k IT all” attitude, because you have to laugh, otherwise you will cry and cry! Anyways, I hope to be celebrating life with friends and family and just random people again! Let’s get this Pandemic in hand already! Life is a book and everyday is a new page, so just keep reading! 🙂
Girls’s Night Out
I created this painting about 26 years go, because I was so inspired by an amazing emotionally connected experience with humankind… 1994 Halloween in Oak Cliff, Texas. My friend Tony created a performance art tribute to “Pricilla Queen of the Desert.” We were 2 biological woman and 4 biological men dressed in drag having a super fun time celebrating life, art, and friendship. It was of the most absolutely fantabulous nights of my life! Sadly, I don’t have a better copy of the piece. I traded the painting in exchange for hair color/cuts with my friend Tony.
Late Show
Late Show was juried into the Tuxedo Show at Art on 30th. It used to be titled, “Kill Your TV,” you know, like the bumper sticker? Remember, back in the day, when sitting close and watching TV was considered a bad thing? Now sitting in front of a screen all day is a way of life! It is how we communicate with loved ones, go to school and work, attend religious services, etc….This is a 48 x 36 polyptych painted entirely in about 3 hours time, with a 3” flat brush, black and Payne’s gray acrylic paint only. I added a little white highlight afterwards – but essentially, where you see white, it’s just the canvas.
“48 x 36”, Acrylic on Canvas, 2010. $800
A Girl For All Seasons
When I was 22, attending college at Washington University in St. Louis, I took several photography classes. For my final Color Photography 2 course, I created a “Pin-Up Girl” calendar featuring myself! Ha! This was super difficult technically, because I was using a 35 mm Canon camera that I had to focus using formulaic calculations regarding the background and middle ground, and then set a timer, pose, and repeat– not knowing what I captured (if anything!!!) until I developed the film…. Super Old School! But also, as I have mentioned in previous HERstory posts, I already had an issue with the “actress/model type”, who are exactly the “sort” of women from which “Pin- Up Girl” calendars are made. So by placing my 5’3″, on the stocky/strong side- (certainly NOT the usual “Pin-Up Girl” type) – I was challenging what exactly it means to be a “Pin-Up Girl” or as I say, “A Girl For All Seasons”. This project was also inspired by Julie London’s album Calender Girl, and the photographer, Cindy Sherman’s amazing work as a self-portraitist…. Finally, there was one other ulterior motive for my creative project, and that was to convince a man (through art) to choose me instead of another woman… It is so messed up, but I was young and very much in love and also, as people like to point out, that I did “get my man”… AND, so it is true- my creative advertisement- worked, I did “get my man” for almost 22 years until… but, well that is another Fish Tale entirely!
Anyway, I made Christmas presents for my family and friends of my A Girl For All Seasons 1996 Calendar. It features 13 fabulous self-portraits of myself- complete with holiday accouterments, but also 2 poems (laminated in the finest plastic KINKO’S offers!), one by the poet/author Robert Graves, Uncalendered Love, and another, written by “Anonymous”, (spoiler alert: written by the man whom would become husband and the father of my 3 children), entitled Times’s Mistress… Calendars are really important to me – I like to keep several paper ones on hand, each dedicated to recording “time” based on different criteria that I have set… I like to cross off things and move forward in time… It’s a thing.
Unfinished Fun
The gloriously fun and fabulous ancestors of my children — a 10’ x 7’ “unfinished” (or is it?) canvas that hangs like a tapestry — I bring it out for Fundraiser Galas that are located in unsightly venues and most recently, for my daughter’s wedding. I met some of the people in the photograph, but with just one look at those amazingly awesome people, I knew I must capture their likeness and their spirits as best as ever I could!
This is the song Tennessee Kamanski wrote about my daughter Sophie, her great friend when they were girls. Tennessee preformed Sings to Snails at my daughter’s wedding feast 3 years ago. It was a very low budget but super fun party.
In Search of Lost Time
48 x 72, Acrylic and Charcoal on Canvas, 2008. $2000
Mnemosyne
I created this painting based on an old photograph that I bought at a thrift store, in fact, I bought the entire family album for $2.00. It dated back to 1912 with really wonderful photographs. This woman went from being a new bride to a grandmother over the course of the pages. I admire her spunk and spirit, so clearly evident, she seems like she was a really wonderful gal. This photograph, in particular, really engaged my interest. It is so very intimate — of a woman sitting in bed, hair undone and shoulder exposed…. It is timeless and beautiful and sad. She is Mnemosyne the Greek goddess of memory.
30 x 40, Oil Pant and Oil Pastel on Canvas, 2019. $800
Children of the Artist
So there is a sizable time gap in my Exhibitions/ Education HERstory, but that is because I was a devoted mother and housewife for 20+ years…. These three are my ultimate creation investment, and will continue to be an artistic/creative focus for the entirety of my life. I am fully invested spiritually, artistically, genetically on what becomes of these three amazingnesses (sorry, there is no other word I can use to describe!) So… Well, an Artist’s life takes interesting turns and there will be gaps and relapses — but I confess that I am hopelessly forever involved with these three beings and I will always be their champion, cheerleader, sounding board, and scapegoat… whatever it takes to see them rise and shine. 48 x 36, Oil on Canvas, 2003.
The Book Of Fish and Women 