Professional Profile Picture

Hello, Wonderful People.
My name is Cindy Johnson.  This is a picture of me.  It's the one I use on all my professional advertising, fliers, brochures, etc.  It's a telling portrait, and I've had to fight program coordinators on a number of occasions to let me use it.  "Your hand is in the picture!"  "It's unorthodox!"

But it tells a lot about my character, so this is the one I use.

It happened by accident.

I was playing in an orchestra and we were preparing for a show.  Not positive, but I think it was Cinderella.  (Oh, that was a FUN show!)

The orchestra pit was set up at the foot of the stage, with our conductor front and center.  We were split, half of us facing him from one side, and half from the other, which means we could all see the stage with at least one eye.

Not that I was ever a trickster or anything, but I persuaded the entire orchestra to Sharpie mustaches on their fingers.  At given points during that particular show, which means when individual musicians had rests and didn't have to play) we would 'mustache' the actors, trying to get them to break character, which of course they never did.  Anyway, we had our fun and after the show enjoyed some, let's say enthusiastic conversations with the actors. :)

So, the finger mustache signifies fun.  I like it.  And if I ever greet you like this, I'm just inviting you to play.

My Book Published!

Yay!!!!!!!  Today is the day!  Today is the day that I got to hold the first copy of our book, Ribbons of Rainbows!  It's a good day!  My friend, Kimberly Vogel wrote it and I illustrated it.  Here's a picture of the front cover:

Carson and Sally, Interpretive Dance

This is a really beautiful dance.  It is the dance representing two siblings, one of whom took his own life.  Poignant and beautiful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96JTJitRt74

Charlie Hebdo - We are With You!

To our French friends - we are with you.  To our fellow lovers of freedom worldwide - we are with you.  Charlie Hebdo - we are with you.  To the power of art - we will never stop!

http://www.vox.com/2015/1/7/7508387/cartoonists-respond-charlie-hebdo

The Louvre and its Pyramid

Once again the Louvre and its pyramid are in the news; this time because they're going to be renovating the pyramid for quite a number of months.

I found this a particularly beautiful shot, and fondly remember having lunch up on the maybe third floor balcony in the background on a fine day such as the one in this picture.  I distinctly remember sitting on the - wait - I don't think it was a balcony - it was a nice patio, and there was a ledge about three feet wide.  I sat on the ledge and happily munched my lunch, soaking up some nice rays and clearing my head, when one of the waiters ran up and chased me and other innocent diners off, shooing us over to some tables.  Oh, well, it was nice while it lasted.

And as far as the Pyramid pools - ahh, yes... perfect for soaking aching feet after a day's perseverance through THAT huge museum!

Ready to go back!

Beginnings and Middlings of a Painting, Part Seven

All right.  Now I'm layering the blacks over the lower portion of the painting.  I'm laying it on fairly thinly so that in places you can see the texture of the shoe prints through the paint.  Some places I made thicker and darker, giving it a texture on its own.  The contrasts of the gold and black make the whole thing dynamic.  I wanted it dark and dirty down at the bottom as a symbol of sin, which Christ is pulling him from.  We do get ourselves into messes, don't we?

I put a portion of a verse at the bottom:
"He heals the broken hearted
and binds up their wounds."
Psalm 147:3

Many times there is only one way out, and that is with Christ's help.  We spend a lot of time in our lives trying to do it on our own.

When the black paint was wet, I scrawled that into the paint, so that the background colors, deep, dirty colors, would show through as the words.

Now we're getting somewhere!  Next up I'll be working on the golds.  The base layer of gold is ready for some additional work.

Robin Williams and my Suicide Painting

This morning I was reading about Robin Williams.  Again.  I found a photo of him that really struck me.  The facial expression was so similar to the suicide painting I did that it took me aback.  Here's the photo of Robin:

And below you'll see mine.

Makes me realize that we need to make a study of our friends' faces.