Cat Painting #4

 Here's a close up of my finished  baby.  Colors deepened considerably by the varnish.

The last three I tipped to catch the reflections so you could see what the added textures and gloss did to the painting.

Personally, I like it!

I'll post the entire finished painting, with name, which I'm still pondering, later.  Right now I have to get away from this computer!  Whew!

Cat Painting, Steps #2

 All right, here's a close up of my furry friend, so you can see the details of the background peeking through the cat.  Nice and bright, the Fauvists would have been proud of me.  I guess I'm a 'wild beast,' too, huh?  (The word Fauvist is French for Wild Beast, because the French thought they painted with too-bright of colors, hence saying they painted like wild beasts.)Now that the painting itself is finished, it's time for some varnish and more texture.  This is where the artist has to trust in her materials, because the layer I put down is milky white and you can barely see the painting below.  After all that work, it's a little scary completely obliterating your painting!

 I treated the background with paint-brushy strokes, gave my kitty textured fur, and added some of those big dots right on top of the cat for interest.  To draw the circles, I used one of my best and most readily-available tools - my finger!

Although it's milky white and opaque when laid down, it slowly dries to a transparent and very shiny finish.  I like the glossy choice because it deepens the colors a lot.  The eyes particularly now are 'knowing and watching' eyes.

In post #3, I'll show you a picture of my finished painting, along with its name.

Cat Painting, Step #1

I just finished my cat painting and am really pleased with it.  This will take you along on a little journey of cat-dom development.

 My inspiration - Calypso, of course.  She inspires me to many things.  I also used some other photos and began my work.






This is on a nice wood panel with a deep cradle.  The first layer was a mixture of brushed-on warm colors.

After that, I layered on some blue to get those cool textures.  Trade secret.

Third layer - Dots.  Two colors, and of course not all dots perfect, that would be boring.

Once I had the background established, it was time to do the subject.  Spent an hour or so looking through pictures and choosing my cat's position.  Here we are.  Although Calypso inspired me, I didn't want to do such a gorgeous fat ruff with this one - I wanted it to be more of 'Every Cat.'

Having chosen the cat, I started my drawing in vine charcoal.  Love that stuff - you can erase out mistakes with the swipe of a finger!

Here you can see the basic lines established with charcoal.  At this point, I'm simply outlining the charcoal with one color, and will layer in the other colors as I go.

Hey!  Looks like a cat!

The tail is going to remain unfinished.  I really like the sweep of the furry tail and the fact that I can see the background through it.  I'm planning on bringing the background on top of the cat later, and also planning on leaving some of the entire cat unfinished so you can enjoy the nice complimentary colors peeking through the fur.

Getting closer.  I've added greens, yellows and more of that lovely teal.


Okay.  The last one shows it close to finished.  Got the eyes finished and left some background showing through them as well.  Gleam in the eye - check!

Especially on the face I left a lot of background - if you can get a close look, the textures in the background are pretty fascinating, and I like the big blue dot on the cat's cheek.  It'll make people wonder what on earth I'm thinking!

Here the cat has darks added.  I pulled in a nice deep Payne's Grey.  Almost black, it has the nice dark value I need, but not that black black shouting at you.  Almost everywhere I mixed the Payne's with the other colors to get variance, but there are a few places I laid down the Payne's without mixing.  These would comprise about 5% of the cat, namely eyes, nose, and a few shadows I wanted particularly deep.

So, that's the cat so far.  Haven't named the painting yet.  I kind of follow Renoir with his painting naming, "Two Girls at the Piano," or "Girl with the Watering Can."

How about, "Cat with Dots?"  or, ummm.... "Colorful Cat with Dots"  Dot Cat, Cat Dot, Dottie Cat... no!  Um... Bright Cat with Dots...

Anyway, I understand other artists' naming process.  What we really care about is the painting.  We really don't care about its name, and it often comes as an afterthought (shhh!!!)

Painting Sold

Sold this painting tonight. You can read about its development under the month of June.  This photo is only a cutaway of the entire painting; you'll have to look under June to see the whole thing.

Suicide Evaluation

Because of all the difficulties in our lives this year, I haven't made many entries.  But here I hand my heart to you.

I’ve been in a very contemplative mood lately.  So much has happened this year to continually turn my thoughts toward suicide.  I’ve talked a lot about this previously, so I’m going to attempt to be clinical and to the point. Let’s just list them:

1. Melody broke up with her boyfriend, Evan, and March 8 he took his own life.  Beautiful, charismatic, giving Evan.

2. After having a private art student for some time, I missed her on spring break.  I figured she was on a trip. They finally contacted me to tell me she was committed for suicidal ideations, and that they had begun art lessons with me to help with this.  If I had only known from the beginning of our time together, how different our talks would have been!  Weeks later, when the weather warmed up, she wore short sleeves, revealing a severely cut and scarred arm.  Through smiling tears she told me that she was going to tattoo it when she was a bit older and the scars were better healed.

3. Robin Williams, the amazing, versatile comedian, took his life.

4. My friend, Tony, took his life September 15.

Note to self: Evan, Robin Williams and Tony all had the same personality.  And dealt with that unmentionable, socially taboo subject – depression.

5. Two days ago, one of my friends let me know they had taken her daughter, one of my former art students, to the hospital for suicidal ideations.

That’s five.  This year.  Up until my 54^th year, I have wandered happily through life without ever contemplating suicide.  Never missed it. This year it has slammed us.  Up to this point, I never even knew what a suicide survivor was.  It is me.  It is us.  It is all of us left behind to pick up the pieces and wonder why.

I will never forget, probably 25 years ago when we lived in Quincy, Illinois, the ladies of our church putting together women’s gatherings.  Our little church of 200 would put together a ladies’ convention for thousands, and would draw from several states.  We would hire big names, rent the local school, put up curtains and flowers in the boys’ bathrooms so ladies could use them and go for it.

One year we had a speaker – I know not who – who described her life.  She told us that she lived a horrible childhood, being continually raped and used.  Everything was difficult, but somehow she got through it.  Through the years she became a Christian and was deciding upon her life work.

She said, “I wanted to play piano. I wanted to play with children!  I wanted to make music and produce art!”  But God was calling her into something else, and she became a counselor for abused children – the last thing in the world she wanted to be, and that for which she was best-prepared.

I sat stunned.  Her unobtainable desires were my very life!  She had expressed my life verbatim! I made music, played with children and produced art.  To this day, I am still making music, playing with children, surrounded by young people and making art! Thank You, Lord!  Wow.

Her plaintive cry has echoed with me all through these years, and I have looked back to her many, many times.  What a gift I have been given, and what a joy filled life I have lived.

Since March I have produced two paintings and a number of poems about suicide.  Yep.  There they are.

There have been a number of times in my life that I have thought, “I have been prepared all my life for this very moment in time.”  Like Esther, prepared to help her people, I felt specially-equipped to do that precise thing in a particular situation.

So, Lord, exactly what are you trying to tell me now?

Me and the Rosetta Stone

This is me and my friend, the Rosetta Stone.  Dressed alike. :)

Actually, it's a replica of the Rosetta Stone, down at the Museum of Printing History http://www.printingmuseum.org/collection.php.  I just checked and realized they're 'rebranding' and their new name is the Printing Museum. 
Whatever the name, it's one of Houston's best kept secrets, and people need to know about this fascinating place!
Go!  And remember to wear your Rosetta Stone camo!

Comments on Depression

Originally, I set up my blog so I could discuss art, beauty and life.  Having experienced the suicides of two very special people this year, one in March and one just a month ago, has got me thinking a lot more about just... well, life.  And death.

A friend of mine wrote this early this morning and I think it's so important that we address these things. She gave me permission to post this, so here it is, along with my comment at the bottom.
'This is so not something that I would ever usually put out there for the world to see but I feel led to and maybe somebody needs to hear it today. So here goes...
Hi, my name is _____. I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I love God more than anything and serving Him is what my goal in life is. I have a happy marriage and wonderful children and I struggle with depression. Yes, in spite of all that I struggle with depression. Deep dark sometimes unrelenting depression. I take medicine and I'm believing God for healing.
Here's the catch that I was confronted with today.... would I still believe God is going to heal me if my healing wasn't going to completely happen til I go to Heaven and am made completely whole in Him? The answer is YES! It's yes because I love and trust He who made me. It's yes because through my struggle I can bring Him glory. It's yes because in my brokenness and not togetherness He has not forsaken me and I'm not running from Him. It's yes because when I meet other women who feel ashamed of what they are going through can see me and receive comfort that just because we're Christians that we still have struggles.
I hid my depression for years because I have been told that I just needed to rely more fully on God. That is a lie. He can and will heal but sometimes the answer is medicine. Sometimes it is counseling. There is no condemnation is Christ Jesus. My struggling is no surprise to Him and neither is anyone elses. If you don't know Jesus I strongly suggest you get to know Him. Without His constant guiding hand I would never make it day to day. There you have it... my name is ______, I'm a Christian, I love God and He loves me, I struggle with depression, I do take medication. I am not forsaken in fact I am free. If this is my lot then I will bring Him glory through it! ! If you need a friend... or a prayer... im here. Whoever you are I love you and Jesus does too.

(my response) I'm so glad you shared. This is a conversation that must be held! Some people walk around with maybe cancer scars or something really obvious, and we easily address those things. We all are wounded in many ways, but with so many people, the things they are dealing with don't show... like depression.
But those things that don't show in each of us need to be shared... maybe more so than the wounds that are outwardly visible. I would like to see the boundaries of silence broken down, because that silence hurts us and alienates us from one another. Satan revels in that lonely silence.
We need to talk about things like depression and so many other socially 'taboo' subjects so we can help each other. And in that journey of conversation, we will all realize that EVERYONE carries a burden of some kind, that we are not unique or alone in our pain, and that there is help. Help from one another, and Hope in Christ. That Christ that created us as unique individuals, exactly as we are, fitted exactly for His purpose. We have each other, but more importantly, the One that created us freely holds out His hand to each of us, and is ready to walk with us through any pain. Let's begin the conversation.