Dolls

The post I did earlier today about Mimi Kirchner's fabulous dolls reminded me of a dear childhood friend of my mother's in Germany. Her name is Katharina Engels, and she has an antique doll and toy museum in the ancient city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, in Germany.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Her love of dolls started very early, and she has been collecting antique dolls most of her life. If you're interested, you can take a look at her museum here: Puppen- und Spielzeugmuseum Rothenburg.

Puppen- und Spielzeugmuseum Rothenburg

This museum has truly been a labor of love since 1984, and now has a collection of over 800 dolls from the past 200 years.

The doll on the right in the above photo, and below, is an example of an early papier mache doll.

I'm still working on my first papier mache project. I've started painting it, but don't expect anything even approaching the quality of these gorgeous antiques! My example will definitely be more of the . . . let's call it "rustic" variety!
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I hope you all have a good weekend.

Kat a la Klimt

Kat a la Klimt
8" x 10"
acrylic on canvas board

Hello, dear blogger friends! Where have these last two weeks gone? I can't believe how this month is flying by, can you? I'm so sorry that I haven't been visiting everyone's blogs as often as usual, but every day this month has been go-go-go. I look forward to catching up with everyone in the next week or so.

This last week, I did manage to do a little portrait of my daughter in a style similar to some of Klimt's portraits. I haven't varnished it yet, but I was eager to show you something, since it's been so long since I posted anything.

It was a real challenge to get similar detail, especially to the face, since I was working in a much smaller format. The Klimt portraits I used for inspiration were much larger, the one above is approximately 4'6" x 4'6".

Don't you just love all the different patterns, textures and colors in Klimt's paintings? I've always been drawn to how he incorporates gold into his work, too. I know many people avoid using metallic colors, but I love them!

The colors on my attempt are definitely brighter, but I don't really mind.

I tried to get some of the same kinds of detail in this little painting, so I used some of the same patterns I like in Klimt's paintings, like the metallic gold spirals. I don't need much encouragement to include spirals, since they are one of my favorite patterns already.

After I varnish this little painting, I'll have to search for just the right frame, because my Kat plans to hang it on her wall. It was such a pleasure painting it for her!
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I hope everyone is having a good week. And I look forward to reading what you all have been up to!

There's Art in Them There Islands!

Huge painting by Brigitte D'Anniabale, Kaua'i artist
That's a piece of copper across the top!


We are home! It was a great trip and I took lots of pictures. Hawaii is as beautiful as I remember, IF YOU KNOW WHERE to GO!
H-I and H-2 (Hawaii's interstate highways??!!HA!) are NOT the place to go.
It wasn't in 1993 and it certainly isn't now. So, we hit our old haunts and tried our best to stay off the very busy Oahu highways.

This post is about Hawaiian art!
After all, this is an ART BLOG. ; )
If you want to see our other pics (Joe in the old C-130 he once flew and pictures of Waikiki beach surfers and the site of our house that is now washed into the sea) go to my Facebook page (over there in the right column) and peruse the "Return to Hawaii" photo album.

Now, on to the art!
I fell in love with Hawaii artist Brigitte D'Anniabale.
Find her here at http://abc.eznettools.net/taboragallery/Brigitte.html
Here's another example of her work...
One dimension just doesn't do her work justice. She nails and glues stuff all over!


I found Brigitte's art one cool evening while walking with JOe, doing a little window shopping in Honolulu. I spotted this huge painting in a gallery window!


I was smitten!
Joe knew it was all over once I grabbed his arm and pulled him inside.
From the first gallery, I found my way to two more galleries in Waikiki (I was kind enough to leave Joe snorkeling during these expeditions) where Brigitte has work displayed.
Brigette works with salvaged architectural pieces from old sugar plantation buildings...tin, copper, vintage moldings, fabric, pieces of wood with chipping paint. It gives her work texture and depth, but also a REAL tactile bit of Hawaiian history.
I was so sad to see SUGAR disappearing in Hawaii. In the 90's, we lived a few miles from vast sugar cane fields and the sugar mill in old Waipahu. Not there now. But that's another story.

Next post! Two more Hawaii artists!
See you then,
Ronnie (who is very glad to be home in her nest again.)

*And a little plug for a friend...For a really good time visit PJ at PJHornberger.com

A quick "Thank You!"

Hello everyone! I just wanted to post a quick "thank you" to everyone for being so wonderful and supportive. It truly fills my heart when you leave me such lovely, kind comments and e-mails.

It's not easy to show my creative efforts so publicly as I re-discover my love of making art. I've always been rather shy about showing what I've made. When I was a child, and into my early teens, I was actually repeatedly discouraged from painting and drawing by my father, who painted as a hobby. I feel like I've finally overcome the decades-long shadows that those early experiences cast on me. It's about time, too, I think!

So I took some pictures of one of my favorite flowers for you. Rudbeckia, or Black-Eyed Susans, are one of the easiest perennial flowers to grow here in my little garden. I leave them standing throughout the Fall and Winter, since many different birds love to pick at the seeds all the way through until the following Spring, when I cut them down again.

Our cat, Skitzi, loves them, too! In fact, she sticks her nose into any flower she can get close to. Often I find her with little yellow powdery traces on her little black nose.

I'll be back again in a few days. It seems that my son and daughter are no longer embarrassed to be seen with me in public anymore. That teen-age phase has passed! I think it has something to do with the fact that I can buy them things like clothes and textbooks when they let me come along. As college students, they're really beginning to understand the value of a dollar.

We have some shopping to do!
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I'm just grateful we can spend some time together this Summer.
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Next time I hope to have something creative to post about again.
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Modersohn, mummies and me

self-portrait
acrylic on 12"x16" canvas board

One last self-indulgence, one last self-portrait for now, and then I'll move on to finishing the papier mache project I started earlier. I promise.

A few years ago, I found the art of Paula Modersohn-Becker, an early German expressionist artist who lived from 1876 -1907. In her short life she painted many portraits of the common people in her environment.

However, this self-portrait (left) from 1907 was influenced by her fascination with Egyptian mummy portraits of the second through fourth centuries B.C.

So when I found an old, unfinished oil painting I had done in in my teens, I thought I'd cover it up with this experiment. It was all very symbolic. Symbolism is usually something I avoid like the plague, ever since my days of analyzing books to death when I was an English and German literature major at the university.

This piece is symbolic because I stopped painting, drawing and sketching after I started that old oil painting back in the early 1970s. And to me it represented a lot of hurt and anger and unfulfilled dreams.

So I covered it up with something new, something which represents the direction I'm planning to go in from now on.

This was the painting before I antiqued it. I know you really shouldn't paint acrylic over oil, but if parts of the new painting crack to reveal my past effort, it's perfectly OK with me. It's just more symbolism.

I applied two layers of gesso to the board before I began to paint with the acrylics. After the painting was finished, I stained it, crackled it, and antiqued it.

Here are some close-ups of the crackled, antiqued effect.

I like how it resembles an Egyptian mummy painting, in that it is idealized. No lines and wrinkles were painted on the face. Certain features were exaggerated, such as eyes, nose and eyebrows. I used an old photo of me from the 1980s to remind me of the more dramatic make-up of my youth.
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All in all, this was extremely satisfying. I learned quite a few new techniques, and I now have something I think I'll hang on my wall.
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On to the papier mache!

****

I've been trying to leave comments on blogs, but some of the time Blogger is giving me error signals when I submit the word verification. If it seems that I haven't been to your blog in a while, it's because Blogger isn't cooperating. I'll keep trying, though! See you all soon.

Finally - a butterfly

Monarch on purple coneflower
Wisconsin, August 2009

I haven't seen many butterflies in recent years. When I was a child, there were so many caterpillars and butterflies and moths every summer. And such incredible variety. While I've seen a good number of bees enjoying the coneflowers and lavender in my little garden this year, this is the only butterfly I've seen so far this summer.

After spotting this butterfly through the kitchen window, I ran to find the camera, tripping over dog, cat and threshold to get these two photos before it happily fluttered away. The things I do to post something on my blogs!
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Did you know that even the monarch is now at risk because of loss of habitat and climate change? If you're interested, click here, for more information. Or simply type something like "monarch butterfly endangered" in your search engine to find links to information.

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun
and find your shoulder to light on,
to bring you luck, happiness and riches
today, tomorrow and beyond.
~ Irish blessing

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and I hope you encounter a butterfly or two on your journeys.

*****
I'm adding this little note at 3 p.m. because I saw a little hummingbird dancing among my petunias a little earlier today! A few years ago we had a hummingbird stop by at least once a day, and I found a tiny little nest in a tree in the fall. Hummingbirds are not a very common sight around here, so I always get a little excited when I catch a fleeting glimpse of one.
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Now there's a gentle, much needed rain, before the steamy, hot weekend that's been predicted. I love the sound and the smell of a gentle rain.

I wish you butterflies,
hummingbirds,
and miracles in your life.
Time to enjoy the people you love.
And the wisdom
to appreciate
whatever little surprises
and whispers of genuine goodness
may come your way.
~ Angela Recada

(inspired by our dear
Renee at Circling My Head)

Me a la Chagall #2

Me a la Chagall #2

Just a short post today, since I'm pressed for time. When I recently painted a self-portrait inspired by an early Chagall self portrait, I knew I wouldn't be able to move on until I also at least attempted a self-portrait inspired by his later work. So I did a quick Caran d'Ache sketch, with a few changes. My face is red, not green or blue, representing the 14 years of hot flashes I have enjoyed so far in my life.
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And rather than the Eiffel Tower, my background depicts the Quirinus-Münster in Neuss, Germany, an impressive church built between 1209 and 1230. I spent many happy times in Neuss with my Oma (Grandmother) in my younger years.

Quirinus Neuss

After this exercise, all I can say is I have even more respect for the genius of Chagall.

My first papier mache project is coming along. I've added a base, so it will not tip over, and several more layers of papier mache. I hope to be preparing it for paint and painting it soon. I've also experimented with recycled egg-carton papier mache, and will show you how that turns out in a future post.

My life is extremely hectic right now, and I haven't been able to visit very many other blogs, or leave comments, but I hope to do that later today or tomorrow. In the mean time I hope you're all having a good week, and I'm thinking about you.
:0)

No ka oi

Happy Monday!
Another painting complete. I'm really pleased with this one. JUST BEE. It's in my Etsy shop . But I'll be away for a weeks vacation. Back on August 12th.
In other news, My Swamp Hibiscus are blooming! These flowers are the size of salad plates!
They remind me of a place I lived a long time ago, where it never snowed, always summer...
Tuesday, Joe and I are taking a trip. We'll be up at the crack of dawn.
We're leaving the grass,
the weeds,
and the pile of mulch,
and all those blank canvases at home.
This trip was quite unexpected, but something we've wanted to do for years.
When half price airfare popped up, it became a NO BRAINER! We are packed and ready to go!
Where?


In the early nineties we were stationed in Barbers Point, Hawaii. We're going back tomorrow.
I guess we'll see how things have changed in 16 years. We lived in a Navy neighborhood on the beach, at the entrance to Pearl Harbor. We sat in our backyard and watched as the navy ships and submarines sailed into the harbor with Diamondhead and the Ko'olau Mountains as the backdrop. Amazingly beautiful. I loved every day of it.
Upon doing a Googlemap satellite search just now, curious to see the rooftop of the house we lived in, I find it's still there!
5375 Edgewater Drive Ewa Beach, HI. where it's always Summer.
I'll take lots of pictures.
We'll be back at home this time next week!
For easy listening Hawaiian radio KINE 105 click HERE!
Love and all good things,
Ronnie