exclusive look

Funny that should be the title of my post, I couldn't think of anything better.  Being that I am sharing these photos on my blog that is on the internet for all to see, it is hardly exclusive.  No passwords are needed.  No special links.  Some of these I may even put on instagram, or a work in progress short on youtube.....

I do wonder though how much of what we artists "put out there" are really seen.  When we post a photo on insta, that photo is buried under millions of other posts and ads, even if you "follow' me, you may not ever see it.  Or just scroll quickly past, as these aps are designed to make you do.  Even though this blog is here and available for masses of views, you still may never find the link or even bother to look.  If you are on my newsletter list you will have the best chance of seeing my newest work, since I will send you an email directly to your inbox with a message and link for you to follow and look.  But even then, not everyone looks.  So in that sense, if somehow you found this blog post,  even with all the noise that is out there, you have an exclusive look at my new art before anyone else sees it.  And I am very glad you are here.

First, some ornaments.  I make these all year round and try to make enough but I do limit how much I make so I don't burn out.  It is a fine tightrope I balance here.  I never want to make art that feels trudgey to make.  I know I made up a word here.  Trudgey, like trudging through mud and kind of uninspired.  I want to be excited about all the pieces I make so when I share it with you, it will be exciting to share and hopefully you will also be excited to see it.  Anyway, I have made probably over a thousand ornaments over the years.  And I am still excited to show you my new ornaments, I have made many of them with new art nouveau style borders.  Here is a few:

Now, on to a few larger pieces (below).  If you click the photos, you will be able to read the caption for each with more detail.  I will talk a little more about a couple of them here.

​I had been experimenting with painting over gold leaf, and that has been interesting incorporating that in my gourd art style.  On the Iris (top far left) and the Barn Swallow (top far right) the backgrounds have been done with painted gold leaf.  At first I was a little nervous not to "mess up" the painting and was a bit tentative in my painting.  However, after my initial coat of paint, I wasn't very happy with, so as I continued to paint more and more I found I was covering up too much gold.  Did I forget that you can layer gold leaf over paint?  Yes I did.  Then I remembered.  And back it went, layered gold over the paint and started again.  Happy now.

The Rabbit and Peonies (bottom center) was completed on a fairly large size gourd that I had sitting on my shelf for a while.  It is one of those gourds that was so nice and I wanted to be sure my design would do it justice.  My peony blooms were lovely this year.  I have been trying to paint them in watercolor.  More on that another time if you are interested, let me know in the comments.  But as I was trimming off the old blooms and looking at the plant, with its drooping boughs arching over heavy with sweetly scented flowers, I thought, if I were small, like a rabbit, this is where I would go to rest.  ​

If you are reading to this part of the post, I thank you for taking the time.  And in case you were wondering, no AI was used in the writing of this post, 100% human here with all my flaws.
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​If you are further interested, I have made some short videos showing me working on a few of these gourds.  You can view them following the links below.

Gold Leafing the Iris Gourd

Hummingbird Pyrography

Adding Color to Rabbits & Peonies