illicit post

• hi again- i know i'm not supposed to be doing this at work but i can't resist. it's too tempting. i got over feeling sorry for myself about my lack of readership- after all i'm doing this for me,really- and people reading it and commenting on it are just gravy. the whole point is to talk about life and art and joy and laughing about how funny life is and how we make fools of our selves on a daily basis. at least i do. i just went outside for a cigarette sneak and found a whole bunch of beautiful leaves i'm going to use on a new piece soon. it's really balmy out 60 or 70 degrees- i love it! although this year i'm kind of looking forward to winter- i hope to get outside and do a few plein aire pieces when it's really cold- i'm going to snip the fingers off a pair of old gloves and maybe build a bon fire- i'm dying to do a piece of sculpture to put in the backyard. i read somewhere that your surroundings should reflect who you are so i'm going to work really hard at getting my house in shape to project that. i think it's really important in all phases of your life-how you look and dress, what your home looks like how your studio is arranged so that eventually it will all come together. this is of course on top of all the other things i have to do-making art being the most important thing after my family, but little by little i'm going to make the other changes as well. i'm really psyched about this, even if it takes me the rest of my life to do it-after all what is living for if not to make an authentic statement of who you really are and how you present yourself to the world?does that sound too shallow? shouldn'i have nobler intentions?i do i do but this is the fun part-making your life a work of art and making our art reflect who you are n'est pas?

blogger blues

girl#1

girl#2

black and white collage

black and white collage

hello hello i've got the nobody reads my blog what am i doing this for blues-i don't know if my blog is too boring or if i'm not giving anything worth reading about but i haven't had a comment on my last 3 or 4 posts. what am i doing wrong? i'm still a novice at this but it's discouraging when you don't think anyone is reading the drivel that you write whether i'm excited or not. artistically i'm still working most days evenif it means jut a page or two in my journals. i'm also really turned on by Renoir at the moment and am trying a quasi-copy ofone of his paintings. his nudes are so luscious i want to lick them, and i love that the're all full figured gals, after spending half of my life gazing at anorexically skinny models in magazines. i'm at an exciting place in my work(art work) right now because i feel as if the skies the limit- i can paint anything i want to and skip back and  forth between realism and abstraction or combine them, and also use some mixed media elements in otherwise traditional oil paintings. playing with watercolours and acrylics are fun too  mostly because they dr so fast. i use them purel for sketching and journal pages- i haven't attempted a full scale painting in either medium yet. i've also started playing around wth polymer clay- i'm g0ing to try making some jewelry with it.ian(the fabulous lve of my life) also bought me some wire working pliers and things so more jewelry may be in my future works as well.BUT THE BIG NEWS IS-i've submitted a cd of my work and an artist's statement to the Art Lab in hopes of having a one woman show@ some time in the next year or so. the'll probably reject me, but nothing ventured ,noting gained. wish me luck.is there anybody out there? i keep reading about all thesw women who say their lives channged dramatically, and they met so many people from blogging but so far that has not happened to me. so if you're out there say hello so i don't feel like i'm talking to myself. cheers,brigid.

It's Been Too Long!!!!!

hi everyone(my lone reader sniffles)-it's been way too long since i wrote but that old problem life keeps getting in the way! but here i am cheerfully attempting to bridge the gap since i last wrote say 2 weeks ago. and what has been happening ? nothing much. just the old get up in the morning @5 a.m., shuffle off to work at my fake job(we all know that my real job is being an artist and writing this blog-which is why i don't want you to think that this is unimportant to me it really, really is -i love art and i love blogging, ) it's just that i've been trying to make art and exercise and cook healthy vegan dinners and iron clothes and take care of my husband and my kids and still get to bed before 10 because if i don't i'm a zombie and sometimes blogging takes me just a little too long because i want it to be good and heartfelt and interesting(even if it isn't- i do try hard.) i started taking my print making classes again on tuesday nights and the pictures that accompany this post shows you where i'm at on that front. i'm trying to make an etching based on my oldest sister's high school graduation picture. i have a long way to go and i don't know if i'll be successful but i thought i'd give it a go.well i may not be able to show you that as i'm typing this at fj(fake job) so i'lltry and do it tonight when i get home. etching is a very time consuming process -you don't just sit down and do an etching-there, are alot of really specific steps you have to follow from transferring an image oto a plate, covering it with something called hard ground, using a sharp stylus type instrument to trace the transferred image onto the plate through the soft ground, placing the plate into a vat of acid to bite the lines into the plate, cleaning the ground off the plate with mineral spirits and acetone, inking up the plate and wiping the excess ink off the plate in a 3 step process, soaking a sheet of paper in water and then blotting it dry with blotting paper and a rolling pin , placing your plate on the press ,placing the paper on top of the plate and finally running the plate and paper through the press to get your first glimpse of your handiwork a working print called a "state", and then figuring out what you have to do next with the plate, which usually means doing the whole process over two , three or a gazillion more times til you get what you want to achieve,or as close as you can to the prize. only after you've gone through multiple states is the plate ready to pull an actual print on good paper and only after you become good and consistent enough at inking and wiping the plate,are you ready to pull an edition - multiple copies of the same plate that look pretty much identical. i haven't reached that stage yet as i am a woefully poor inker and wiper, but the whole business is really a whole lot of fun and kind of thrilling.it's a long term investment of time and patience and very messy too. love it, and love the people i've met in the class who are very supportive and helpful and good fun- and ready with feedback that is both helpful and encouraging.my instructor pat is very patient with me and to be honest has done more work on my current plate than i have.well i was only able to post one of the pictures i wanted to due to lack of time.until we meet again.