Tag Archives: painting

Tuesdays

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Tuesdays are my busiest days of the week. I’ve started going back to painting class Tuesday mornings. I was taking a class in oil and pastels, but the lady who taught that class ‘retired’. So I had no class to go to for a while.

Recently, they started a watercolor class that I’ve been going to for a couple of weeks. Here’s a couple I started last week. I think I need to add something- any ideas?

I’ve always loved art. Wether it’s making my own, or enjoying someone elses. Painting, photography, writing, music, sculpture, dance, etc. It’s all good. 🙂

Watercolor painting is very different than oil painting. It seems harder to me because you can’t easily correct a mistake (or maybe I just haven’t learned how yet). It seems easier to me in that it’s a lot ‘looser’. You can just paint a lot faster, or at least it seems that way to me.

my latest- it’s not finished yet either

After paint class, I like to go to the movies if there’s anything interesting showing. The theatre has specials on Tuesdays. It’s only $5 for the movie and they have a $5 popcorn + drink special. If I go any other day it’s about $20!

Last week I went to see Just Mercy. Wow! I thought this was a great movie. Not one with special effects or tricks, but high drama and a very compelling story. It’s about a black lawyer (Bryan Stevenson) who graduates from Harvard and goes down to Alabama to work with death row inmates.

The film concentrates on his work with Jimmy D (Walter McMillian)- a black man who was wrongly convicted of killing a white woman in 1986. You might think that people would be glad to have justice served. Nope. It really upset me to watch this film and see how wrong I was (am). It amazes me how corrupt our system (still) is- and not just for black people, tho I am absolutely positive that poor blacks get treated a lot worse than rich whites (or rich anybody).

All of the actors did a great job. Jamie Foxx and Micheal B. Jordan played the 2 main characters, they did a fantastic portrayal. I was raging and crying right along with them. I highly recommend this movie. It’s based on a true story. I’m sure there are many similar stories going on today. We still have a long way to go to achieve our ideals of a free country with liberty and justice for all. A long way. This film is a wake-up call, if enough people will see it and take it seriously.

After the movie got me all riled up, I went to my Tuesday night meet up of the Campaign for Liberty. We meet every Tuesday at the Wayside Pub. I haven’t been going much lately. Mostly because it’s so depressing to me. We get together and talk about all the crazy shit that’s happening around the USA and the world. The concentration has been on what an individual can do to remove themselves from the mess. Some people are seriously committed to that.

I prefer to concentrate on fixing the actual problems. Sadly, I still don’t find any solutions at those meetings. I don’t see any way to fix anything all by myself. It takes numbers and the general populace just isn’t interested in anything but having “their guy” win- regardless of how that will harm the situation in the long run. The meeting is just a social event for me now. I don’t make it a priority anymore, but I do still like to go. At least there I can talk to other people who understand my concerns. I wish more people would, but I understand how it’s so much easier to ignore it all. I just wish I could do that myself.

Where Is My Art?

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A friend asked me after yesterday’s post where could he find my art? I figured I might as well write a post about it (just in case anyone else might be interested). All of my art is always for sale. If you like something, let me know and we can work something out (or you can buy from one of the places I’m at- but they charge more!).

I do lots of different things. When I went to Galveston yesterday to pick up my work, the gallery owner told me what he likes best about my work is my ‘diversity’. 🙂

I do a lot of photography. That is really my favorite. I take pictures of everything, all the time, everywhere. 😉 I have tons of photos from all my travels and tons more from decades of working on the water. I also like to go to zoos and museums and take lots of photos of animals, fish, birds, bugs, and all kinds of interesting things at the museums.

I do pastels, colored pencils, charcoal drawings and I’ve been learning to paint in oils, watercolor and acrylic. I haven’t been able to get to class as often as I’d like. It seems whenever there is any work for me, it’s always on a Tuesday. Tuesday is when they have the painting class at the art center so I have to skip it.

So, I mostly get started on a project in class and then it sits around the house until I get tired of looking at it and then I’ll finish it up on my own. I’ve got 2 oil paintings sitting here now that are over a year old already and not even half done. 🙁

If you want to know where to see some of my work, I have a lot of photos up around the web. At Youpic, Flickr, Bigstock, Dreamstime, and Society6 and FineArtAmerica where you can have my photos put onto t-shirts, phones, towels, etc (pretty much anything you want). You should be able to get a good idea of my range from those sites (and my blog).

As far as my drawings, paintings, etc- right now they are all at my house (except for a few that are in the satellite galleries around town here). I had to pick them up yesterday to bring them home until the From the Heart Gallery can open their new showroom. I’m hoping that’ll happen sometime next week. In the meantime, you can take a look at this link, it’ll show you a couple of the things I was showing up there.

one of my favorites

 

Acrylic Pour Weekend

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Like I was saying yesterday, I think it’s good to be a well rounded person. I think if you’ve been following my blog for a while, you can tell I’m into that. Not so much on purpose, I don’t consciously try to do all kinds of things. I’m just interested in a bunch of different things and I like to try to keep up with what’s going on.

I like to read, to learn, to explore, to travel, to eat, drink, to listen to and play music, to see and do art, to cook, to swim, to walk, to sail, etc. I like to get into deep discussions on philosophy, history, culture, politics, and how to save the world. 😉

I tend to keep myself busy. Even tho I haven’t had a ‘real job’ (in other words, one that pays the bills), in over 2 years now, it’s a very rare day that I just chill out and hang around the house. I always have a to-do list full of all the things I plan (hope) to get done for the day.

Yesterday it rained. Afterwards the sun came out, it was nice and cool, and I had just bought a bunch of flowers (half off) at Lowes. It was such a nice day, I had to get out in the yard, pull weeds and plant those suckers before the weekend (when I knew I was going to be too busy to get around to it).

The yard still looks like some kind of wicked old witch lives here- overgrown with mimosa trees sprouting everywhere and clematis vines covering everything. I managed to make a dent and cleaned up around the almond and orange trees in the front. Cut down all the lantana which I never wanted anyway. Why does everything but the weeds get sick and die?

This weekend I’m going to an ‘acrylic pour art workshop”. It’s a technique I’ve been wanting to learn how to do for a while. I’ve seen pictures of it before but had no idea how the artist made it come out like they did. Today I learned how.

There were 4 other ladies in the class with me. We all had a blast mixing and pouring colors and making a mess. None of mine really turned out the way I was hoping for, but they looked pretty neat even so. Some of the other ladies made some really cool stuff.

I’ll be there again all day tomorrow. I’ve already made a few paintings. I’ll do a few more tomorrow. Hopefully, they’ll be dry enough so I can get them home without dumping paint all over my truck. Maybe I can set them in the back for the ride home?

I decided yesterday to bring my stuff and get a booth at the “Treasures by the Sea” Market. It’s at Stahlman Park, Surfside Beach on November 4th. I didn’t know if I would have enough stuff to bring to make it worth getting a booth (it’s not free). I tried to reach an artist friend of mine to see if she wanted to share a booth with me, but she’s not answering my phone calls. 🙁

After this weekend, I should have at least a dozen new paintings! I already had a couple of things I just got framed (and lots of photos). I think it ought to be enough. If I keep my fingers crossed, maybe someone will buy something!

I’ve got work again in Houston Mon-Tues (and maybe Wed) and another dentist appointment Friday. So I’ll need to be busy Wed-Thurs getting those new paintings ready to show and working on photo cards.

I’ve always heard it’s super hard to make a living as an artist. I’m sure it must be, I would just like to be able to earn enough to help get me through this rough spot. I mean, this is fun and all, but I really, really need some way to pay the bills!

Another Busy Week

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And not accomplishing much of anything. 🙁

I’ve been working on all the usual stuff around here. Still looking for work. Spending hours filling out online applications for any offshore job I happen to see posted. I’ve been talking to one company for a couple of weeks now, but they don’t seem to have any idea of when they might (or might not) need me. It’s very frustrating, but at least they’re still talking to me. That’s more than I’ve had in over 18 months now!

We finished up working on one apartment and got it ready to rent. I thought we had it rented before we even finished working on it, but that fell through. I think it will go pretty quick (I hope so). I’m still waiting for the roofers to fix a leak and the levelers to honor their warranty (good luck!!).

I have one more apartment over there that needs work, but I need to wait til the rents start coming in before I can afford to start on it. It doesn’t look like it needs as much work as the last one, but I never know what I’ll find once I get started. 🙁

I had some good friends come down and visit. We pigged out at the Chinese buffet and had a good time catching up on everything.

Other than that, I finished 2 paintings in class on Tuesday. I took them both to Hobby Lobby to get them framed. One of them was finished in time for me to enter it in the People’s Choice show (I’m always amazed at how many really talented people we have around here in this area). The other won’t be ready for at least another week. I think they both turned out OK, but especially with the lighthouse, not really what I was trying to do with them.

I wasn’t quite finished with the lighthouse when I took this photo. I’ll get another when I get it back with the frame.

I went to my usual political meeting Tuesday night. We’ve decided to re-start our project to get the BWA to remove the fluoride from our drinking water. It really doesn’t do anything for your teeth by drinking it. It only helps if you apply it topically (like with toothpaste). It’s really not at all good for you. Yeah, I know, most people will read that and think I’m just another tin foil conspiracy theorist. I think there’s more than enough evidence to show it’s not really necessary for good teeth (or any other reason).

So, I spent some time researching that. I also got a writing assignment for Great Escape Publishing. Whoo-whoo! Another byline!! I really need to find the time to query more publications. But that takes a HUGE amount of time! I was very hopeful when I applied to Big Grey Horse when they said they were looking for Texas writers. I think they would’ve contacted me by now if they were interested. 🙁

I’ve been working on my yard the last few days. In between the rain. I’ve got the front yard about 25% finished now. It makes a big difference when I pull all the clematis vines off and put a little mulch out. All my citrus trees are starting to bloom. The grape vines are starting to leaf out. The strawberries are coming back!

Today I took a break and went to the movies. I go to the matinee when it’s cheaper. I wasn’t sure what to watch, either Logan or Get Out. I decided to watch Logan. It was pretty good. One of the X-Men movies. A pretty good action movie featuring Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine fighting the forces of evil in the shape of another mutant (Boyd Holbrook as Pierce).

I don’t want to spoil it, since it really was pretty good, but it’s not all blood and guts. There was actually a pretty good story. I’m sure there will be more sequels down the road. 🙂

Tomorrow is the biggest day of the year around here. St Patrick’s Day Parade at Surfside Beach! I have to get up early so I can get down to the beach in time to check everything out before the judging. Take a look here. Once the parade starts, I’m done with that! Time to wander off to the various parties. 😉

I hope the weather cooperates. It’s calling for 90% chance of rain tomorrow. 🙁

Color Your World: 28 Almond

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Today’s color for Jennifer’s Color Your World challenge is: almond. Here’s a reference…

A lot of these colors look alike to me- almond, apricot, peach, desert sand- mango tango and burnt orange- copper and antique brass. Can you tell them apart? I sure have a hard time! Why do they need crayon colors so close together nobody can tell them apart unless they’re studied under a microscope?

I always thought part of the fun of drawing/painting/being creative was learning to blend the colors you had to make the ones you wanted. I’ve been trying to learn to paint lately. I sure as hell don’t want to go buy every color I might need to make a painting come out. That would cost a fortune! I’m learning the color wheel and how the different colors relate to each other.

It’s a challenge to make just the right color to make your painting ‘pop’. It’s fun too. Here’s an example of what I mean. I painted this a few years ago, when I was working as an AB on the tankships running up the West Coast to Alaska. Of course, I didn’t bring any paint with me. I scrounged around in the paint locker til I found what I needed.

I made that whole colorful undersea scene with only a few colors of deck paint. I know I had black, white, signal red, yellow, international orange, green and blue. That was pretty much it.

I must sound like an old geezer, ‘well sonny, back in myyyyy day, we used to color with only 8 colors in the box!’ I actually got the 64 crayon box later when I was growing up, but did I ever use all of those colors- nope. Does anyone use all of the 120 colors this challenge is based on? I think I would have a hard time using up a whole box of crayons myself. 😉

Anyway, here’s my entry for the challenge color of ‘almond’…

I took this photo in November while I was traveling around Turkey. I had a great time wandering all over Istanbul and Cappadocia where I took this photo of one of the many ancient rock churches at Goreme. It was a lot of fun scrambling around amid all this history, seeing how the people lived and worshipped all those years ago. I only regret that they didn’t allow any photography inside (even without flash). I really would have liked to have got a few shots of the beautiful frescos inside. I’ll just have to be satisfied with the internet. 🙁

Ongoing Arts

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Been a busy couple of days around here. I got an email last week about today’s Sunset Sip going on tonight in Freeport. I was interested in entering some of my art in the show. I found out the information I needed a couple of days ago.

I spent all day yesterday getting my photos ready. Signing them, matting them, and framing them. I met the lady in charge of the operation (Jennifer) yesterday afternoon in her Freeport office. She has some stunning artwork from previous events decorating the place.

She kindly showed me to the Heritage Ballroom, and then helped me set up in the entry. I brought my big painting of the underwater scene I had painted one winter when it was too rough to go outside on the tanker. I’ve had it hanging on my living room wall ever since. I do really like it. I think it turned out pretty good, especially considering I was using the ships deck paint (and a little wonky from the fumes on the last part- after I had to move it to my room).

Most of the rest I’m bringing are photos. I’m also in the show at the Brazosport Art League  Gallery next to the college. I’ll pick up the ones I have there now and bring a few more to enter there.

Once I do the trade at the BAL Gallery, I’m headed to a photo shoot with the Brazoria County Models & Photographers out in West Columbia for the Day of the Dead. That should give me some awesome photos! The models are all great to work with and I always have a lot of fun. I hate to cut it short, but I’ll have to, in order to get back to Freeport in time for the Sunset Sip.

I’m looking forward to this event. I’m sure to meet lots of interesting people. I hope I get a chance to wander around and check out everyone else’s work. They’re having a zydeco band, a brewery, a winery, and all kinds of food.

I’ll have to tend to my booth, so not sure how much time I’ll have to look around. After all, I do really want to sell some things too.

PS- if you like my art, please let me know. If you are interested in buying anything, I can upload it and have it put onto pretty much anything. Check it out here…https://society6.com/captainjillsjourneys/collection/jill-friedman

 

Songs of the Sea: I’m Your Captain

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Here’s another post for my Songs of the Sea series. I’ve always loved this song by Grand Funk Railroad. I heard it a lot when I was growing up. Now, since I am a captain- it resonates even more.

This is actually the short version of this song. I really liked the video that goes with this version. The ships are gorgeous, the scenes at sea, there’s even a picture of the same lighthouse I’ve been working on painting for the last few weeks! (Can you recognize it?)

“I’m Your Captain”

Everybody, listen to me
And return me my ship
I’m your captain, I’m your captain
Though I’m feeling mighty sick

I’ve been lost now, days uncounted
And it’s months since I’ve seen home
Can you hear me, can you hear me
Or am I all alone

If you return me to my home port
I will kiss you, Mother Earth
Take me back now, take me back now
To the port of my birth

Am I in my cabin dreaming
Or are you really scheming
To take my ship away from me?
You’d better think about it
I just can’t live without it
So, please don’t take my ship from me, yeah, yeah, yeah

I can feel the hand of a stranger
And it’s tightening around my throat
Heaven help me, Heaven help me
Take this stranger from my boat

I’m your captain, I’m your captain
Though I’m feeling mighty sick
Everybody, listen to me
And return me my ship

I’m your captain, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I’m your captain, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I’m your captain, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I’m your captain, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

I’m getting closer to my home
I’m getting closer to my home
I’m getting closer to my home
I’m getting closer to my home, oh

I’m getting closer to my home
I’m getting closer to my home

I’m getting closer to my home
I’m getting closer to my home

Paints and Politics

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Tuesdays are usually busy days for me. I get up early so I have time to check email, take out the garbage, eat breakfast and get out of the house by 9:00.

I’ve been going to take painting classes at the Art & Science Center every Tuesday morning (if I’m not able to go to work in Houston). I’ve missed quite a few classes, but I can still see some improvement.

I have only completed 2 paintings so far. I’ve started a few others, but not close to finishing them yet. I don’t really like any of them very much so far. One friend of mine told me she really liked one abstract (mess) I was working on. I thought about it for a while and then turned it into an alien jungle scene. Kind of reminded me of something Rousseau might have done. Here’s the before…

I had it framed and gave it to my friend. I wasn’t all that surprised, but she liked it better before I added to it. She thought I ‘ruined it’. Here’s the after…

Which one do you like best?

The other one I’ve finished was the 1st one I started in this class. I’ve really been trying to learn how to paint water. I found a picture in one of the art books in the classroom and tried to get the technique down. It didn’t turn out much like my reference, but I think it wasn’t too bad for my first try.

Today, I was trying to finish up a couple of others I’ve been working on for a while. This will be my last class since I’ll be at the TBEX next Tuesday. I still have a long way to go on both of them, but I think they’re shaping up nicely.

I especially like this one (below), the photo doesn’t really do it justice. 🙂

I really get the feeling like I’m out there on the water. I wish I really was. 🙂

So, that’s what I do Tuesday mornings.

Tuesday evenings I go meetup with my friends from the local Campaign for Liberty group (ex- Ron Paul meetup group). We like to talk politics over dinner at a local restaurant. Lately we’ve been meeting at the Bella Roma on highway 332, next to the old skating rink. They serve large portions of pretty decent Italian favorites (pizza, pasta, etc). I usually get either ravioli with Alfredo sauce or the Philly cheesesteak sandwich. The Italian Cream Cake and Cheesecake for dessert is good too.

Lately we’ve been talking a lot about how we’ve managed to come so far from our beginnings as a free country. Last week we were watching a slide show, but as we kept stopping to discuss various points, we didn’t finish the whole program before they started closing down the place- it didn’t help that we had one extremely socialist guest. 😉

I do like to argue, but this guy put me to shame! I think the only thing we all agreed on was that the ‘banksters’ were screwing us and the entire world.

The more I learn about what’s really going on, the more frustrated and depressed I get. At this point, I think the only way possible to really live as we’re meant to- is to get completely out of the ‘system’. I don’t know how to do that, or if it’s even possible any more. All I know is that I’ll never accept the way things are now (even tho I feel like I’m beating my head against the wall most days).

So, I go to the meetings on Tuesday nights, just for a change- to talk to a few people who mostly do ‘get it’. Yeah, we still argue about things, we still struggle to understand- but we try mostly to inform people. We’ll never fix what’s wrong with this country or the world as long as the vast majority prefers the status quo.

Yeah, OK- call me a ‘conspiracy theorist’. But what if it’s true?

 

 

Texas Gulf Coast Arts Festival

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After another miserable day struggling with the computer all day, I had to get out of the house for a while today. The Center for Arts & Sciences was having a festival this weekend and it sounded like fun.

I got up early and headed over for todays start (11:00). The weather looked threatening but I was hoping the rain would hold off.

While I was wandering around the outside tents, the rain started coming down like cats and dogs. It was pouring, water was going everywhere and the poor artists were trying to keep their supplies out of the rising tides around the parking lot.

Inside, things were much less hectic. The Art League Gallery was still showing the photography of the kids for the Migration Celebration. Some of those photos are really stunning! I really liked the close ups of the chameleons and dragonflies. 🙂

I learned about a new thing called ‘zentangle‘. It’s kind of like doodling, said to be great for stress relief. I’m sure I can use some of that right now. I might just give it a try.

About a dozen artists were set up inside the Dow Theater. I liked the blown glass and some of the jewelry. There was one lady (Connie Colten) who had lots of little mermaids and pretty little plants (ivy and such) that I was really tempted by.

I talked to painter Jimmie Bartlett for a few minutes. I really liked his paintings of the maritime world. He had one set up behind him of a shrimp boat and a stunning sunset. I would have bought that one if I was still working!

While I was waiting for the rain to subside, I took a look at the items to be raffled off. I took a look at ‘featured artist’ Robert Ruhmann who was working on his paintings just inside the doors. I really liked his subtle cool colors and smooth style. Lots of blues and greens and natural subjects- palm trees, beaches, rivers- all very calming.

The E-Flat Porch Band was jamming’ out in the corner, playing some cool blues and toe-tappin’ music to keep everyone in a good mood. Caliente Twang had been playing outside when I arrived and I really wanted to hear them play, but they had enough with the rain I guess. They were gone by the time I got back outside.

The rain took a break for a little while, so I headed back outside to see all the artists I had missed earlier. There were potters, woodworkers, photographers, painters, fabric artists (very nice), people who worked with colored/fused glass, jewelers, metal workers, etc. There was a lot of really interesting stuff on offer.

All the artists were very friendly and happy to talk about their work. Some were local, like Jimmie Bartlett (Van Vleck) and Kathy Castro (Alvin) who had some very nice abstract paintings. Some were from farther away, even out of state (it was a juried show).

They had a couple of food trucks with the usual festival foods- hot dogs, fried oreos, etc, and there were booths selling coffee, sodas and even beer, but the rain put a damper (literally) on the ‘food court’.

I had a good time there today. I really hope the weather doesn’t discourage them from doing this again next year. It’s great that they have so much going on over the whole weekend. Everything from a “Run for the Arts”, to art projects for the kids to make, to classical music concerts. I love all the different kinds of music they brought out, and all the different kinds of art. I think it’s great to see Brazosport doing more of this sort of thing. Sucks to have to go to Houston all the time to do anything interesting!