New Painting, "Transformation"

 Transformation

24" x 36"

Oil and Mixed Media on Canvas

I am fascinated with the journey of the lotus flower. It starts as a small plant down at the bottom of a pond's mud and muck. It slowly grows up towards the water's surface, continually moving towards the light. Once it reaches the surface of the water the lotus begins to blossom and turn into a beautiful flower.

The lotus flower has become a symbol for awakening to the spiritual reality of life. As the lotus flower grows up from the mud into a object of great beauty, people also grow and change into something more beautiful (hopefully!). To me this symbol represents the struggle of life at its most basic form and the reminder that the journey is precious and beautiful.

This painting will be on display in January at Starbuck's in the West Village. Contact me for more details or purchase information.

(detail)

"Best of the First Year"

 "Sometimes I Feel Like I'm Falling in the Ocean"

24" x 24" x 1.5"

Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas

My painting was chosen "Best of the First Year" by Austin-based art magazine, W5RAn.  W5RAn is an indie online magazine displaying  content that covers all areas of art and design and I was excited to have "Sometimes I Feel Like I'm Falling in the Ocean" chosen among the thousands of pieces of art that they feature as a standout. The original is still available for sale on my Etsy site and is currently at my home studio. Private appointments are available if you want to see it in person.

Local Artist Spotlight

What a treat to open my mail this afternoon and see one of my paintings staring back at me in postcard-formation. Thanks to Brandon Stewart for featuring my painting, "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea", in his monthly Local Artist Spotlight.  Brandon is a Dallas-area Realtor in Ebby's White Rock/Lake Highlands office who has carved a niche in the local community by promoting the arts.

Treasury Tutorial

I heart Etsy, the site to go to find all things handmade and vintage that you never new you had to have. Etsy is a haven for independent artists and artisans to sell their work online, and once you stumble into it, there's a bit of a black hole effect because each great find leads you to another even greater find. 


From time to time, my paintings and prints are selected by other Etsy Members to be featured in their Treasuries. Like today, this print of an original painting of mine (which is sold and now lives in St. Louis) was selected to be in an Etsy Treasury entitled "Raspberry & Green Whimsey".

The Edge of the Deep Green Sea

As an avid Etsian, this always brightens my day, but when I share the news with others unfamiliar with the site, they are a little like, "Whaaa...?"  So I thought I'd take a sec to explain what exactly a Treasury is. 


The Treasury is a member-curated gallery of short-lived lists of 12 hand-picked items each. Members can feature their favorite items, items selected on a theme, or just whoever they like. The Treasury is not intended for self-promotion, but instead to acknowledge and share the many cool things for sale on Etsy. Etsy Admins often choose an exceptional Treasury list to promote on the home page.
So there ya go, now you know. 

A Poem for Wednesday

Sometimes I Feel Like I'm Falling in the Ocean
24" x 24" x 1.5" (2 canvas panels, 12" x 24" each)
Oil and Mixed Media
This painting is available on Etsy:


Still I Rise
by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

The Edge of the Deep Green Sea

16" x 20"
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas

"and so we watch the sun come up
from the edge of the deep green sea
and she listens like her head's on fire
like she wants to believe in me" -The Cure

The tentacles of an octopus first inspired this painting, sort of a reflection of how tied down I feel at times. With the children so young, there are often days when I don't leave the house or even make it out to the studio to paint. (If I don't make it outside for a morning run before the household wakes up then I'm REALLY cranky.) As much as I love all three of my precious babies, it's simply a hard time feeling so occupied with constantly meeting their basic needs.

As I worked on this piece, I noticed this painting slowly started to take on a more abstract look while preserving the feeling of something aquatic. I almost quit working on it because it was frustrating me so much and I hate feeling like I am fighting with my paintings, but then I had a breakthrough on Friday. Friday happened to be a special day as my husband and I were celebrating our fifth anniversary. I like to think that April 2 is a lucky day for me all around, and I'm glad a little luck made its way onto the canvas.

Am feeling very "oceanic" lately...ever since I did the two paintings below I feel like I am stumbling upon a new series inspired by the mysteries of the sea.

Sometimes I Feel Like I'm Falling in the Ocean

24" x 24" x 1.5" (2 Canvases, 12" x 24" each)
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas

Am feeling a little overwhelmed by life lately. I painted this as a reminder to myself just to try and relax, even when I feel like I am drowning, as a reminder that if I remain present in this moment anything is manageable. I was trying to come up with the title for this and while on a morning run, the Blue October song, "Into the Ocean" came through on the Ipod and I knew I had found it:

Now floating up and down
I spin colliding into sound.
Like whales beneath me diving down.
I'm sinking to the bottom of my everything.
That freaks me out.
The lighthouse beam has just run out.
I'm cold, as cold, as cold can be...be *sigh*

I wanna swim away but don't know how.
Sometimes it feels just like I'm falling in the ocean.
Let the waves up; take me down.
Let the hurricane set in motion, yea.
Let the rain of what I feel right now come down.
Let the rain come down.

Where is the coast guard?
I keep looking each direction for a spotlight; give me something.
I need something for protection.
Maybe Flotsam jump will do just fine...
The Jetsam sunk I'm left behind.
I'm treading for my life, believe me.
How can I keep up this breathing?
Not knowing how to think I scream aloud, begin to sink.
My legs and arms are broken down
With envy for the solid ground.
I'm reaching for the life within me.
How can one man stop his ending?
I thought of just your face...
Relaxed and floated into space.

I wanna swim away but don't know how.
Sometimes it feels just like I'm falling in the ocean.
Let the waves up; take me down.
Let the hurricane set in motion, yea.
Let the rain of what I feel right now come down.
Let the rain come down.

Now, waking to the sun I calculate what I had done.
Like jumping from the bow, yea, just to prove that I knew how, yea.
Its Midnight's late reminder of the loss of her; the one I love.
My will to quickly end it all
Sat front row in my need to fall.