Portraits, masks and other obsesions

Mblo portrait mask

I'm obsessed lately.  I react to so many things that I see or hear about with an "Ohhh, I want to do that!"

I'm obsessed with painting a portrait just right, and then painting the dozens of other ideas that are floating in my head at any given time.  I'm obsessed with Tumblr.   I'm obsessed with Facebook and blogging, and trying to work on some new ideas in textiles and sculpture.  And now I'm obsessed with portrait masks.  

I want to do it all!

I also want to visit all the wonderful bloggers who have been leaving comments and e-mails.  I will do my best to get back to you soon, but in the mean time I'd like to share a wonderful video with you.  I first learned about Margaret Fabrizio a few months ago, when I saw a video about her fabulous quilts.  She is an amazingly accomplished woman who has been a concert pianist, world-traveler, artist, writer and free spirit.  She is my new role model for so many reasons!

Margaret has a number of interesting videos on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/atree3), but today I'm totally in love with this one about the portrait masks she made several years ago.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I also just love the cover of this book, too.  Don't you?

currently available from Amazon here

Work in progress

far from finished

I feel like I've been neglecting this blog, but I've been so busy!  One of the things I've been doing is this portrait, which is still far from finished.   But, since I like seeing other people's works in progress, I'll show it anyway.  It's my son, the philosopher, and it's the third in my series of family portraits.  Quite a challenge, since I don't usually paint men, but I'm quite enjoying the process.

A Few New Paintings

It has been a busy Fall, but I did manage to get a few paintings done.

 Cherry Free Fall. You'll find this one in my Etsy shop.  ronniegunn.etsy.com

 And Juliet! Isn't she the snarky bomb. Where for art thou, Juliet!!  She's in my Etsy shop too.

 This one is on display at Arts Clayton Gallery until Nov 16th, then she too will be in the Etsy shop.

This little red, green and white number is in the shop HERE.
Have a fine weekend, y'all.  I'll post the crazy art I found in Trois Rivieres, Canada, next week.
Love and all good things,
Ronnie

Wordless Wednesday - What if we look at conservation as a patriotic act?

A page from my sketchbook . . .

 

"Compassion

is the keen awareness

of the interdependence

of all things."

~ Thomas Merton

I just love this quote, don't you?  It's one I've been thinking about a lot lately.

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Bonjour! It's Quebec City!

I loved Quebec City! The second stop of our trip to Canada.  We stayed in this cozy B&B on the main street that leads into Old Quebec City.

We parked that car we rented at the Montreal airport and
walked everywhere! 

Old Quebec City is a walled city with beautiful architecture, parks and cobblestone streets.

 The weather was 70-80 degrees.  Perfect for dining in the sidewalk cafes.

Situated on the banks of the St. Lawrence. Part of the city overlooks the river and part is down below on the rivers edge. Lots of stair climbing!

Art above the streets!

Many fur shops.  It must get awful cold here in the Winter.

 If I had audio you would hear this lovely harp music.  Not sure why Joe has his finger in his ear.

 Did I mention we walked everywhere?  This is day number four of walking 6, 7 hours a day. I had blisters on my little toes and on both heels. Don't buy new shoes before a trip, no matter how good the shoes! Band-aids were applied.

 Beautiful statue of Champlain at the riverfront. I don't know that happy guy, but apparently Quebec City does that to people. : )

 Inside the walled city is the Citadel, a functioning Canadian military fort. We just missed the changing of the guard. There they go!

Guard on duty outside the gates of the Citadel.

Here's Joe displaying his guard expression. Flip flops!! He's out of uniform!

 Did I mention we walked miles on this trip. At this point I gave up shoes and went back to the B&B to get my pink flip flop shower shoes. What a relief! Now, I'm waiting on JOe to catch up.

 Let Go, Joe! This is great! NO more shoes rubbing on my poor little blisters.

There were many beautiful art galleries in Quebec City. Friendly gallery owners, but weren't keen on my camera. Wish I could share with you. We had great fun exploring galleries.

 All I have is a peek inside this window.

 Yep, it's hilly here! More walking. Exploring for food and french bread especially.

 We found this fabulous market where we ate lunch.

 Joe checking out our options.

 Yummy veggies. Signs all in French. I learned more French than I thought I would.

 We settled for this beautiful french loaf and smoked salmon. We shared a table with a lovely traveling couple from Chicago.

Back to the city and more walking. Flip flops are doing great! Check out this paving. Looks wavy, but it's perfectly flat. An optical illusion.

 Imagine the rest of the ship buried under the ground.

 Around the corner and look what we see.
The biggest example of trompe l'oeil I have ever seen!

 A closer look...

Hard to know what is real and what is paint.

 I wish I could have seen it in progress.

 Into an older section of town this man was announcing something exciting in French! He was having a fine time.

 So, Joe decided to join him! HAH!

 Busy Summer tourist season. That's the top of the monstrous Hotel Fontaine in the background.

 Inside one of the many Catholic churches in the city.

 A tribute to mariners.

 OH, Fudge, indeed. Check out this clever packaging! Fudge Sausages. Fits perfectly in one's suitcase.

 Did I mention there were lots of stairs in Quebec City?

 Eeeee Gads! There's more?

Almost to the top. Whew!

 A big pay off! Beautiful Battlefield Park along the St. Lawrence.

 This is a residential area adjacent to the historic park. What a place to live! And within walking distance to the historic city.

 In the middle of the garden...a statue of Joan of Arc.

 Heading toward the high river bank we found an old military watchtower.

 A view of the opposite side. You can see the settlement on the bluff, as well as below, on the river. That staircase is a killer.

One last view of the battlefield before calling it a day.
Next stop is Trois Rivieres for the the Grand Prix!!! 
I'll post next week. What a great town with a love for art and an extraordinary enthusiasm for auto racing. Here's a preview....  Some very interesting art .....

 and hanging out with the APR race team for the Grand Prix Race! Zoom Zoom Zoom! Crash!

 I hope you all are enjoying a beautiful Fall season. Until next time...
Love and all good things,
Ronnie