Finding the Yellow

So, I like to blog about colors.   Today i’m going with yellow.

According to Wikipedia: Yellow (/ˈjɛloʊ/) is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M (long and medium wavelength) cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S (short-wavelength) cone cells.

WHAT????

I’m an artist and I think with the right side of my brain most of the time. This definition seems to have lots of left brain words in it and I struggle to even READ it!

Yellow is another one of those colors (like green) that we associate with good and bad, bag examples being things like jaundice and cowardice. Good being things like joy, sunshine, happiness, energy. Oh….and there’s caution! (that can be good and bad I guess)

 Today…I’m painting alot of yellow and choosing the good side, joy.       Joy is a choice we make. It doesn’t mean life plays out just the way we want it. We win and we lose.   ((The losing part stinks…I know.)) But….we can color our day yellow if we want to. (Start with your thoughts, because most of the time that is where the color of our mood begins and lingers.)

I’m thankful today, and will choose joy even though I could give you a list of reasons to put my head under the covers and stay there with a box of tear dabbing kleenex.

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GrEEn

Okay….I want to talk about this color.

green

I’ve always thought of it as one of God’s favorite colors because He made SO many things green.  There are many shades, hues, and intensities of green.   It is a color of life and freshness.

So, how did it become associated with the ugly, green-eyed monster, Jealousy?

That monster will make us do and say things we never associate with life and fresh growth.  It cuts, wounds, turns bitter and dead.  Often it seems the monster is living in everyone else, but sometimes, face it, it is the color (face)  we see in the mirror.

EEWWWWW…..U.G.L.Y.!

My BFF strongly dislikes the color green.   (maybe that monster is why and she wants to avoid associating with it)

Indeed, there are a few shades of green I don’t like, but there are some I adore.

Let’s all pretend that the green-eyed monster ONLY has eyes that are the color green we happen to dislike!  (in order to save face for the rest of the green shades)

Have a great weekend, and pull out that ‘sword of the spirit’ to fight the monsters !

 

I’m a MESS

I love messy art, but I like clean surroundings.   HOWEVER…

I CREATe CHAOS all around me, no matter how hard I try.

I wish for things to be neat and orderly and picture perfect all the time.  It makes me grumpy when I see a mess in my house.

If you saw my desk (which is a round dining table I painted), you would wonder how I find anything, but somehow, I know exactly where things are!   ((When I see people with spotless, paperless desks I wonder “how do they DO that???”)) !

HOWEVER, looking at my art most of the time, I guess it represents me pretty good.   Messy.

WhimSy-isH

I can never decide on any one thing.

Long or short, dark or light, straight or curvy, hot or cold.

In addition to my state of mind, the style in my house is very eclectic. A combination of traditional and contemporary, whimsy and classic.

In keeping with my constant state of confusion, my newest table re-Vibe style is called:

Distressed Whimsy!

FaithHopeLove

re-Vibe

I have started another sideline adventure to go along with all the other things I get myself into.  I’m not sure why, but for some reason… that is just the way I am.  I get all inspired to do something and then before I know it I’m inspired to do something else TOO!  And, I hardly every stop doing what I was doing before!

(results are fatigue, stress, feeling overwhelmed and pulled in more directions than I can handle)  😉

Have I told you that my hubby buys and resells vintage, antique, and other misc treasures?

He scours estate sales, yard sales, auctions, & storage auctions and finds some mighty fine treasures that he then sells to the luckiest people!!

The newest addition to my art was born from dear hubby’s adventures.    I am re-vibing furniture.  That’s right…pieces that look like there is a second chance in them.  (and i’m all about second chances.)  Pieces of furniture that get revived, or in this case…re-VIBED!

I’ve got one in my home already that I had painted a couple of years ago.  A couple more pieces are ready to sale…I’ll post some pictures for you to get the idea.

Have a great day my friends…the windows are open in my art room and there is not a cloud in the sky!  Hope it’s the same for YOU!

Prayer Chair Art

Do you have a place you like to go to be quiet and alone?

I am a mom, so over the years I have been known to have various hide-outs.  (The bathroom, the closet, my car, outside, the kitchen)

One thing I notice is that I am often most comfortable in a corner.   I’m not sure why.  I DO like angles.  I like to turn my furniture at an angle, and I ALWAYS shift my chair or piano bench to a strong angle in order to be comfortable.

This is my prayer chair in our house right now.   It is a rocker that I bought with money from my grandmother one year.  I’ve moved it all over the country.  It is starting to fray and the right arm is falling off, but it is comfy and has cushioned MANY prayers.

I was thinking today, the art I have hanging above this chair is just right….there is a heart that is made of many, many colors, and a simple statement, “Life is BeAuTy Full”.

It is the perfect corner to meet God at.

A reminder of the wonderful life we have, a reminder of beauty and so much color, and …a heart (the symbol of love).

God has given me life, love, and many colorful things to enjoy while I’m here.

Thank you to the Creator who lets me create itty bitty stuff, and let’s me feel LOVE!

Just Waiting

Don’t you hate waiting?

I think waiting is one of the hardest things about life.

 Maybe it is because most things we have to “wait” for are things we have no control over.   Hmmmm, that may be the real reason waiting is so difficult.

Dear hubby, the kids, and I are in extreme “WAIT” mode right now.   We are uncertain, confused, and a little afraid right now.  We are waiting on God, and we are waiting on other people,  and their decisions will greatly set a course for the next phase of our lives.

Promised dates to have answers have come and gone on more than one occasion.  My insides are about to burst!   Some days I think it would be easier to head out to California, or Chicago, or Las Vegas, or Atlanta, or downtown Nashville, ON FOOT than to be at home waiting on a phone call or email from the powers that be.

Last night I painted to try and keep busy.  This is what I got.   It’s called “Waiting”.  The colors are extreme and my heart is barely visible down there at the bottom, a little blurred and pulled into the colors of paint.  And that is just how I feel right now!!

Moving

I am always moving.
Relax is not a word I am very familiar with.  I often wish for it and think of doing it, but rarely make it there.  (relaxed)
If I am going to sit down, my first choice is to sit in a rocking chair.  I think that is because I can sit down but still keep moving.
When I lay down in bed at night, or sit on the couch to watch a movie or look at a magazine, i bounce or wiggle my feet until I fall asleep.  (just ask my husband)
I have noticed that is how I paint, too.  Not only do I stand up and move my weight from side to side,
I like to capture movement in my art.
Whether it is through swirls, circles, drips, or slashes of paint if you look enough you will find that something is moving in there.  It’s as if that painting just snatched a moment in time that would have changed in the next second.
…….Why am I not skinny????

YellowHeart for CASA

Windows

This weekend I was reading through Veranda Magazine and came across a small article about an upcoming display at the MET in New York City.  (Oh how I wish I was going….not so much to see this particular group of paintings, but because it would mean I’m in one of my favorite places EVER!)

The collection is called Rooms with a View and features artwork containing windows as a feature.  According to the article, next to the moon, windows were the most popular theme in art during the early 1800s.

I think that is interesting.  It interests me that the artists so often didn’t paint the landscapes, skies, rivers or structures that they could see beyond the window.  They didn’t paint a chair, or table, or person inside the room that contained the window.   They painted THE WINDOW.  (i’m sure most of the paintings included some of these things, but my point is that the focus was the window)

I have always liked to gaze out windows.

I like to be in cozy, small, comfortable spaces, but I like to be able to see the world when I want to  (don’t box me in), and am usually drawn to anything that hints at a view beyond where I am.  Hmmmm, lots of artists long ago must have liked looking out, too.   I wonder how many were dreaming or wishing to be somewhere outside of the room they were in?  How many were looking out the window and feeling grateful for the view they could see?  How many saw something that made them feel scared?  Sad?  Happy?   Peaceful?  Energized?  Inspired?

Here’s to your next view….may it be peaceful and inspiring.  May you see JUST WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE!

Torn View

Black

My favorite color is black.

No matter how I decorate a room, it’s just not finished until there is something black in it.  No matter what I wear, I often end up with something black on (if not ALL black).  My go to eye liner is…black.  My hair is currently, black.  (but I do admit the hair color changes ALL the time.)  When I paint something I  always use black in some way.

It goes with almost every color.  It defines things. It slims when you wear it.  It has good and bad connotations.   It makes other colors appear brighter, yet it is the color of mourning on a sad day.  It can make a ceiling seem to disappear, yet it can make a room seem smaller.   It can be mysterious and rebellious, yet sophisticated and elegant.   You could have a “black eye”  (bad) or go to an event that is “black tie”  (good)!  You could excel at karate and become a “black belt”, yet you might be on the outs with something or someone and be on their “black list”.

Black is the absence of all color, which is hard for me to understand.   I like to mix colors together when I paint, and it seems the more colors you add the darker it becomes.  You would think black would be the presence of all colors!!   (instead that is white…which also makes NO sense to me)

I’m SO thankful God decided to make our world in color!  I love colors…all of them, but I especially love BLACK!

It is my color of promise, hope, and potential; cuz just think….even the most beautiful diamond in the world was once an old lump of BLACK coal!!  😉

Black and Red