Peace and Happiness

There's something so enjoyable about a delicate melody with powerful lyrics.
It reminds me of a painting, slashed and brushed with color, exposing all the beauties you envisioned,
But with a personal message held by the creator, perhaps hinted at in the title, but otherwise left in the paint strokes.

This song
This cinematography
This message

Their passion

Their drive

Their ambition.

I utilize all of these ideas when I start a painting.

A couple days ago, I started two.

They're so pleasant at this stage.

Learning, Sharing, Appreciating

For the past two months, I've grown close to people in my city through art.
The Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA) has a program every few months where a local Philly artist meets with Senior citizens and college students to create collaborative art projects.
I was proudly selected to participate in the Fall program.
The artist was Jennie Thwing, a stop motion artist who also teaches at Rowan University.
(Here are some of her videos: http://www.undergroundarthouse.com/ and http://vimeo.com/jenniethwing)
Together, with the seniors at the Philadelphia Senior Center, we created several videos about how our lives have changed.
It was a wonderful experience.
I am so grateful to have met these people.

Here's the video we made about how art taught me to appreciate and adore color:
http://vimeo.com/53801467

Enjoy.

Haha

It's always a good sign
When you can laugh at your own creations.

Don't be afraid to follow the river's path

Life will lead you to strange places.
You'll meet strange people.
Dine in strange restaurants.
Walk down strange alleys.
And one day,
You'll realize,
That perhaps it isn't so strange after all.
And you'll smile.

And then others will look at your new self,
And your new hobbies,
And your new adventures,
And they'll say,
"You've gotten really strange."

Simplicity to Intricacy

As hard as that is to say,
There really was no other way I could describe this artist.

Juliette Losq.
Born 1978, London, UK.
Pen and Ink Drawings.
Simply amazing.

This is my favorite.
To create something so detailed
So precious
And then have in ripped.
That is true art to me.
It's about discovering the beauty of chance,
How the materials and the manipulation of materials can transform a work of art
Into something extraordinary.

For more detail and other works of art, http://www.losq.co.uk/

It's all about the artwork that won't let you look away.

A conglomerate of ideas

I've discovered, as an artist, me personally,
My head is full of ideas.
My best outlet?
Working on several paintings at the same time.
Some might say I have a short attention span.
I say,
I'm just too excited to keep the paint to one piece of wood at a time.

Here are a few paintings I've been working on.

Here's a sneak peak at the carving I'm doing on top.

This series is bound to be great.

A little preview of my other series; color has always been my main goal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrdpliMfoAM

Inhaled

Inspiration is an arousal or animation of the spirit to do something, to create something.
As we listen, as we experience, our pupils dilate.
They expand to take in as much as they can.
They inhale the freshness of the unfamiliar.

As people, we should always be as open as our eyes.
Seeking new adventures, new treasures.
Creating new familiars.

Recently, I've inhaled a collective of Philadelphia artists.
So much talent to see.
So much so close to where I live.

One woman's work spoke to me today.
Rita Siemienski Smith.
Abstraction of the peaceful and the spiritual.
http://ritasiemienskismith.squarespace.com/

My favorite.

It's always about the color.

A night to remember

Being in the art world isn't just about the fine arts.
Working with the Center for Emerging Visual Artists (http://www.cfeva.org/), I got to experience a little bit of performance art the other night.
The World Cafe Live in Philadelphia hosted the kickoff party for the 2012 Philadelphia Open Studio Tours on October 2nd. And I was privileged to be a part of it.
There is so much I could say in words to describe this rich event, but instead, I will share some photos I took. After all, I do communicate best visually.

Preparation.

Some of the interesting characters.

The burlesque performers were excellent.

We also had a hip hop group. They were fantastic.

Don't forget about our awesome raffle.

It was a wonderfully, rich night.
I'm glad I got to be a part of it.

Mixing the past with the present

We all have experiences
Memories
"Those days."
Do we learn from them?
Grow from them?
Utilize them?
Take the fond memories and show them.

Draw with a smile
A smirk
An impulse.
Paint with a passion
A drive
An emotion.
Incorporate the negative influences.
Expand the feeling
The longing.
Discover a change
A piece of mind
An accomplishment.

Living
Working
In a new space.
Creating
Imagining
As I always have.

New

New apartment.
New house mates.
New driving route.
New shampoo.
New shower.
New plans.
New rug.
New studio.
New ideas?

Nah I hate pink.

A new space.
To fill with new memories.
To create new paintings.
To learn new trades.
To hear new sounds.
And see new people.
A new shell.

A new stage.
A new beginning.

My inspiration, aspiration, determination, and ambition

To cover a wall
Ceiling to floor
With these square paintings

I'm going to make it happen.
Soon

Words whirling wistfully within

I have truly slacked on my online art sharing.
Honestly, I have truly been slacking on my art.
It's so hard to have my one escape in an inescapable place.
Being the difficult Diana that everyone knows, I tend to drive away from the inescapable. I've never been good at being cooped up.
Never being home leads to never giving myself time to paint leads to the regretful lack of creativity.

I often ponder about new ideas. I wander through my internal drawings, sliding down paint strokes and splashing in watercolors. All that creativity is building up, tighter and fuller, like rushing water smacking against a dam. I fear one day, someone will find me, sprawled between five canvas, having my way with my earth tones.

Unfortunately, I have been doing quite a lot of the business aspect of the art world. Researching, networking, begging for opportunities, and just that one chance that someone will believe that I'm ready to dive in and not look back.

This is me, at my rawest.
And my head is still held high with a smirk at the corner of my mouth.