corrections and connections

hi- just one correction- i meant to write pic as in short for picture, not pis as in short for we all know what. i've largely resolved my dilemma about the relative merits of arting and crafting by  just considering them all as creations or products of my creative mind. thanks to karen for her thoughtful advice, which i will bear in mind, but today i discovered something about journalling as  opposed to painting. journaling is semi-relaxing in a way that painting is not, and i can work with alot of different ideas at once and quickly , whereas while painting i sometimes seem to work for hours at a stretch and get nothing accomplished or do and redo the same part of the painting for days on end without resolving it. journalling is more immediate and limited- i can only do so much with a page and then it's time to go on to a new page. some fail some succeed, but it's not as big a deal as a failed painting somehow. i also find that i work alot with colors in my journals , trying out different palettes with strips of paper instead of paint which carries over into painting. and the colours i use in my painting palettes. i also work out placement and composition in my journal pages, and am able to be much more experimental in my journal than at my easel.needlees to say i've realized that journaling will remain a big part of my life for the time being.
just  showing off some of bill murphy's work to a friend. bill is an incredible artist-his work is absolutely flawless and if you haven't seen it google bill murphy artist. he is truly incredible and awe-inspiring and has been that way forever, for as long as i've known him which is a very long time.just thought i'd throw that plug in there- not that he needs it.

 moving right along i just read some really moving, incredibly honest and heart felt blogs by kelly rae roberts on the subject of motherhood and her traumatic birhting experience. she waited until she was ready to blow the lid off the story of what she went through, and most of us mothers can relate at least to some extent to her story. having children really does change everything, exposing you to an experience that is so primal and mind blowing that it's difficult to explain to someone who hasn't been there . it can bring out the best and the worst in people, and though i sometimes wish for a childless life, i'd do it all again in a heartbeat.i just didn't know i was capable of such a deep and ferocious love. so if you are a mom or even if you're not check out kelly rae's latest mothering  stories- they're well written and eerily familiar. that's all i've got for now, still haven't worked out the picture thing.This second pic ture was supposed to go with the first, the one i already posted

advice needed

hi i'm having a little problem with trying to figure out where to go artistically-ian considers all of the work i do in journals as just craft work, and defines craft as art for people who can't do real art like painting and drawing and sometimes i do too-but he thinks it's kind of beneath me as a "good" artist.i'm not sure how i feel-making the journals makes me feel good but does it help me to growas an artist? my life is very cluttered and complicated as a journaler, mixed media artist too cluttered- so maybe i h ave to remove  some of it but not all of it i mean this pis looks like art to me.cheers

blog #2 in 2 days

girl 2011

i do't know  what this is

hello i've been having trouble with blogspot so i may have to change my blog site which would be a drag since i have about 4000 business cards with this address on it. we'll see how bad it gets. right now i'm having trouble accessing my dash board and also retrieving pictures from my files- can any one tell me how i can type a little, insert a picture, type a little more and insert another picture-my pictures all seem to end up on the top or the bottom all together, not interspersed the way i'd like them to be.i suppose i'll have to do a tutorial or so well i took the day off from work and got nothing much accomplished still it's so wonderful to be at home and not at work. i'm trying to think of ways i can get my creative business started and i have a feeling the blog is key so i'm going to work really hard at getting my new work out there, and try to make some contacts along the way so if anyone's out there drop me a line and please be patient while i revamp my blog, and hopefully get a web page started - i really feel as if this is my time and that i can make it work with some help from my friends- life is passing by day by day and if i don't do this now, i never will, so wish me luck and keep the comments coming lol brigid.

may day may day

hilary for etching










Easter Monday

self portrait 2012    graphite on paper

Hello hello- easter monday- also the title of one of my favorite dekooning paintings. if you don't know it, look it up- it's glorious, and today was a beautiful relaxing day, the weather was gorgeous and alex and i even went to church! pretty good for an atheist who believes that organized religion is responsible for alot of the misery in the world. i don't know why we went, it just seemed like a good thing to do on easter. i sat there, remembering the many childhood hours i spent in that very church, not feeling particularly spiritual, more like nostalgic, and kind of looking around me in wonder at the people who really believed all that stuff, and wondering if they even thought about it, or just did it out of habit- i probably think about it more than they do. i mean there's a part of me who really wants there to be a god, who wants to believe in jesus but there's another bigger part of me that believes that believing in god is like believing in santa claus- nice when you're six or so but absolutely out of the question once you become truly aware of being alive and all that it entails... i would love to believe in god, that there's a heaven just waiting for me up there  in the clouds, as long as i'm a decent loving human being i.e. "a good person", but somehow i can't reconcile it with the reality of life as i've known it, and sadly, the facts point otherwise -to life as a kind of brief interlude of consciousness to which we are privy, after which the lights go out, and we return to wherever and whatever we were before we were born. is that just as ridiculous as believing in god? i guess i'll never know. for now though i have a life to live, and a present to enjoy as much as i choose to, and just lately i choose to enjoy it a great deal. cheers,brigid.

aha!

, time for a quick blog before i head out for my printmaking class, where i'm working on a print of the painting i did of pat passlof,last year. it's coming along pretty well-i'll post it soon as i finish it. working on portraits of family members now- ihave three in the works, hard work but really rewarding when i just get someone's likeness. last time i posted a portrait of me and ian but i've changed it since then and i think it looks more like me now -you be the judge.i'm learning so much about portrait paintings and have begun to copy some of the masters styles-great fun, and a lot of inspiration. feeling better now but today i had a full blown panic attack about how we're going to make ends meet until i can retire. poor ian has had no luck getting another job since he was laid off a year ago- no prospects at the moment- and it's very worrying.it seems as if once you're over 40 in today's marketplace, you're thought of as an old codger, ready for the dole.it's so unfair-especially for someone like ian with a giant brain and a ton of experience- the man can do almost anything.but enough about that onward and upward! see if you can tell the difference between the two paintings.trala brigid

february and its almost gone

hi there- it's feb .23rd i think, and i've been on vacation all week and i wa going to blog everyday, get caught up, post lots of things. it didn't happen. i haven't even turned on my computerall week except to download some pictures. so this is me, i can't keep up with my own life, predict when i'll post or any of that. and that's okay because there are no rules that say how often i have to post or how good it has to be, and i'm not really trying to get a huge following or a thousand viewers,-i'm just doing this because i like to say hello to anyone who's listening, who's interested in what i have to say, or wants to see what's going on with me. i've pretty much given up on the idea that i can sell my work online,or have an etsy shop or a web page because life is happening every second of every day and i am living and i'm dead tired and i don't have the time or the energy for that. most of the time i'm working everyday and coming home and trying to make some art and that's about all i have time for. except this week i've gotten up and painted and made art all day everyday and gone for an hour's walk on the beach with my baby, and read books and enjoyed every bloody minute of it. i wish it could be like this forever!!! i can't wait to retire, i want it so much i can taste it, but it looks as if i'll have to work at least for one more year, maybe two, but if i just live one day at a time it will happen eventually, and i'll be ever so grateful.. and until then i'll make as much artas i can on the side, and enjoy that too. so tada for now and i'll be back when i can. thanks for listening!love brigid