Apple-oosa

Does it look like an appy yet? Well, he is just a baby.

Painting time has been practically nonexistent toward the end of last week, with the usual crazy busy weekend, and today my hubby is home with a kidney stone (ugh, again... poor guy) and I had to go to Cookeville to get my CSA produce and run some other errands.  BUT, I sneaked in some painting time this evening, yay!  Only I didn't have time to go see my horses.  Seems like I get one or the other.

I think this guy is one session from being done.  What do you think of the background this way?

A is For....

This morning I logged on Facebook and my friend and art inspiration Crystal Cook had started a new painting challenge... one painting for each letter of the alphabet.  Go check out the one she did today :)

Since this isn't a painting-a-day challenge I decided to join in and play along.  Honestly, part of my decision was because the other one I'm working on can be B is for barrel racer.

This is A is for Apple-loosa.  Found this adorable image of an Appy baby. It was a tough decision because I'm partial to Arabs (and Andalusians) but I've never painted an Appy before and I thought it would be fun.  And this little guy was too cute to resist.  So, he's roughed in here, I should finish him in a day or two (it's 6 x 6 inches), then I can finish the one of Mahala and Grits. 

I don't know this lil foal but don't worry, I have an Appy story that I'll tell this weekend.  I doubt I'll get to paint tomorrow since the farrier is coming out to trim my horses' feet, which means I'll get to ride soon! :D :D :D

I haven't decided whether I want to include my horsey journey blog with this one, or make a different one on the site that's dedicated to my horses.  What do you think?

Svadhisthana

Chakras are the subtle energy centers in your body, and you have seven.  They are typcally depicted as different colors.  Your root chakra (the base of your tailbone) is red, sacral chakra (deep in your belly) orange, solar plexus yellow, heart green, throat blue, third eye indigo (sometimes purple), and crown purple (sometimes white, or gold).  When they are open and spinning is when you feel your best.

I wanted to paint a series of small paintings, one for each of the chakras, and hang them vertically on my wall.  I base coated three of them yesterday, but the red one wasn't ready to paint on today so I went with the sacral chakra, whose Sanskrit name is Svadhisthana.  It is the center of physical procreation, controls our maturation and regulates our appetites for food, sex and pleasure.

Why did I start out of order?  Well... the panel for the root chakra wasn't quite dry yet, and besides, today is Beltane... a very appropriate day to be painting my sacral chakra ;)

Besides a color, each chakra is associated with an area of the body, a shape, an element, etc.  Here's the rundown for this one:

Svadhisthana
Location:  2 inches below the navel and 2 inches into the pelvis.
Color:  Orange
Musical note:  D
Element:  water
Aspect of intelligence:  sensation/pleasure
Essential oils:  jasmine, neroli, orange blossom
Crystals:  carnelian, tiger's eye, some agates
Plant:  Jasmine
Life issues:  to know that who you are and what you do are enough, to have enough rest, food, exercise, fun and money; to not link self worth with what you have; to create healthy boundaries and protect your vital life force
Archetypes:  Empress/Emperor (positive), Martyr (negative)

I may or may not add to this little painting, which I did with impasto henna and oil paint on a little 4 x 4 panel.  It will soon be joined by its other six comrades :)


My 30/30 Marketing challenge for today is to form an artist mentoring group.  So I'll be asking around to see if anyone is interested.

New Challenges

I kind of lost focus during April.... I've hardly been to the studio at all.  Time to get back on track.  I almost had to force myself today.

And as you can see I didn't get a lot done, BUT I did go, and that counts for something.  It's not for lack of ideas.  I'm not sure what the issue is.

But, I've decided to do another Leslie Saeta challenge, this time 30 Marketing Ideas in 30 Days.  And of course, if I don't paint anything there's nothing to market, so I'll need to show up at the easel, too.  I'm hoping for a little inspiration on both fronts.

A couple of weeks ago my husband went to a Windows on the World international festival and at one of the booths there I saw this awesome flag with the symbols for the chakras on it.  I loved it but I didn't want to drop $30 on it, so I decided to do this series of mini-paintings.  It will be a series of seven, obviously, for the seven main chakras in seven colors.

More to come on what chakras are and what the symbols for them mean!

The Jewel in the Lotus

Om mani padme hum.

I had the urge this morning to Zentangle.  This is what I came up with.

From there I went to my new henna impasto technique on some of the mini canvases I base coated yesterday.  I have my paint mixture a little too thick, so that needs some tweaking, but they came out pretty cool. 

I think it's kind of nifty the way the design goes off the edge of the canvas.

I had this green one since a couple of weeks ago - the base coat on it is also impasto (textured).

Finally, I painted the lotus that is the first painting in this post.  Beneath it in Sanskrit it says "Om mani padme hum," which is a mantra meaning "jewel in the lotus."    It is meant to help the meditator focus on compassion, wisdom, and indivisibility (we are all One), and it is associated with Quan Yin, a bodhisattva/goddess of compassion. 

I'll have these posted on the For Sale pages on my website, and also possibly on my Daily Paintworks gallery and/or Etsy (need to get my Etsy shop fully operational this week!)