Beach Babes

"Beach Babes"

This is a new addition to my finished work  I have WAY too many unfinished pieces right now for my own sanity, so my goal today is to finish most of them.  They are all very small (for example, Beach Babes is about 5 x 5 inches.)  It's really hard for me to work small because for one thing, I have to force myself to work on detail (which is good for me to be challenged with) and I also have to edit the "stuff" that always seems to infest my paintings because there just isn't room.  If I don't make some space in the painting it just looks like a sloppily decorated box or paper which isn't what I want to see. 

"Beach Babes" started from looking at a photo of my sisters and I on the beach in sunny California last year... actually now two years ago (whoa, time's flying!)  I am still wrestling with the space between recognizable figures and abstraction.  I also seem to have a certain desire to make everything a bit acidic still, a bit toxic (the yellow on this one is neon which doesn't show up in digital pics.)  I miss making bigger pieces so I think I will start some paper pieces when I finish my mini ones.  I like how my body can enter my bigger paintings where as only my face and hands and mind can enter the smaller ones.  I think my paintings need to be understood at a sort of visceral physical level, probably because that is where the pieces come from in the first place (how they are made).

Check out the January 2 post on My Art Space blog about making the discovery of your art happen rather than waiting for it.  I'm jazzed.  I also read my friend Stephanie's blog about her New Year Resolutions on her blog Rivulette, one of which is to make her art business a full time job.  I don't think I will be able to do that myself this year but one of my resolutions is to work toward that as much as possible.  Yay for being a full-time artist!  Speaking of art, I should probably go make some.  Check back for more pics and studio ramblings soon!