BLUE METAL

"I want it to be blue," was the request..."and yeah, to have a tree."  I took that and ran with it.  When it has rained for days on end, and the sun starts to peek out, this is what I 'feel' when I step outside to a full earth. It has taken everything in, it's revved up, and ready to go.  It is fully rested, fed, fueled, hydrated, reservoirs are full and ready for whatever is next.  The air in the middle is the most stirred up with the most going on - where our core is, keeping us strong.  Up top it's a little more organized and steady, ready to drop into the atmosphere of life.  Once it hits the ground, it can lay back, take a new turn and sift on down for it's navigational work is done.  That's kind of the energy I get from my friend that asked me to draw this for him.  He's always ready to work.  He's always got 10 projects going on.  He's always set for the next thing.  He's building his life reservoir, staying strong and active in body and mind.  His blue metal.  

19" x 24"  

SOLD

FOXY

Spirit animals - I'm kind of intrigued by how often I hear people mention them. I've had quite a few conversations with friends that have spent time paying attention to what little critters cross their paths and share moments of spiritual connection with. It's, for lack of better word, delightful! For me it's another way to look at who we are, where we are going, who we see ourselves as, make us feel connected to the Earth, and I think shows a part of our nature that gives us strength or character. I sometimes wonder if the animals sit and look at us, drawn to who we are and contemplating the similarities of souls. Think about that the next time that same squirrel, hummingbird, deer, or goat keep showing up. There is no judgement, there is simply observation with keen curiosity.


11" x 14" For sale

SUNDOWN

It's like there is this totalitarian reign on the sun making minds transition into thankfulness, awe, quietness, etcetera; each and every day.  When does a sunset ever not bring a good thought into your mind?  Even if it is on a bad day, or a day you don't want to see end, I have yet to think of one that made me quickly close the window, turn my head, shut my eyes, or wish it was something I had never seen.

I put together some of the things that when I drive, often have me pull over on the side of the road to either snap a picture, or just sit and look at.  Trees, mountains, and sunsets.  I know that list is longer, but I settled on those three things for this drawing.  I wanted a contrast of warmth and stillness.  The tree with no leaves, that still stands....says something.  The sunset is an imaginary one made up of a rainbow of color, and I see the reflection off of the mountain being the summary of it all.  The glow at the end of the day that warms everything around, inside out.  

I have always wanted to get a sunset drawn out - so I'm glad to have done this.  

...THE LONG DAY CLOSES

What happens in a long day?  Probably a little different answer there considering the audience variation.  But - I would imagine that there are many layers to a long day.  Layers of emotion, activity, sound, thought, etc... 

This particular piece is for a CD of Chorale music at a University - entitled "The Long Day Closes" which is a compilation of recordings of the choir over a couple of years.  People coming and going with graduating or transferring.  Four parts are shown here, by color.  Bass, Tenor, Alto, Soprano - in the forefront creating the main story.  Then behind what you initially hear - there is a stream of consciousness that, or the river that runs through it; that holds things together - which could be seen as the director.  Something about the individual levels of sound, in combination with the director - we then have what surrounds us.  The excitement, the whimsy, the mellow, the gentle, the quite, the busy, the fast, the slow.  Undertones and components of what creates our day.  Our Long Day...that eventually comes to a close.  This also makes me think of the lyrics of Edelweiss from Sound of Music - "bloom and grow forever..."  That's our lives and the way we live.  I hear so much in music, that I feel LIFE in music - in every long day - forever.  Music is eternal in our reminiscent souls - as is what I expect this collection of chorale recording is to those whose blessed voices created it.  

Thank you James for the opportunity to create!  

SOLD  

WE THREE

Three Sisters, one pie shop, creating a place to go and walk out with a box of goodness to share.  When I think about pie, I think about the smell, the warmth, the layers of crust, the flavor, and the occasions that pie normally gets consumed in.  That's what I was capturing here.  All of these senses coming together.  And in this case, by 3 sisters, the Pie Sisters to be exact.  Knowing one of the sisters, she approached me about doing something involving their shop.  One thing most of us know is family and food.  I love the energies captured here.  Families a lot of times are this mesh of really different but similar personalities, together creating the worlds we live in.  Which can be kind of wild.  Add some pie - and things calm down a little.  Wouldn't you say?  

Bless this mess, and carry on.  

SOLD

14" x 17"  

EMBERS

Visual embers as a product of theoretical embers - embers of change.  I assume that you are assuming I was in love, it ended, it hurt, and I grew.  Well, I'm sure it was a part of it.  I love to fall in love - with anything; people, places, music, food, books, weather, conversations...you get my drift.  Sometimes I get to keep loving those things, and sometimes I don't.  Circumstantially ending due to a varying list of things that just happen.  Just as that love happened.  Two things come together grow by what the other gave them, and the story goes on in so many ways.  In this page's story, the union stopped, and the embers of those moments float their little energies into the sky.  Love has no end, just a resting place.  (Go listen to White Buffalo, The Getaway if you like that last sentence).  I look at the blue lines in this and wonder what they were/are to me.  I think Highway.  I think a vein where our life flows through us.  I think the cool bits that sooth the tender fiery bits from a bit of love burn.  The rest of all that open space is the quietness.  Think what you may in the quiet.  Think nothing.  Remember.  Wish you could forget (or remember).  Cry if you must.  Laugh.  Feel your pulse raise then calm.  And with all the hope in my heart, I wish for us to appreciate our tenderness and those moments.  When my Dad saw the beginning of this (with just the 'heart' coming apart) his face changed and he gave me a hug.  I laughed and said, "Dad, I'm fine.  It's not what you think."  Or was it...?  

11" x 14"

BREATHFULL ENCOUNTER

Having started this a while back, I can question the motivation behind its beginnings, however, revel in picking it up in the space that is currently occupied.  When I look at the core of this drawing, I see something I have seen in countless images of waves crashing and whirling in their intended current paths.  Internally, I feel a moment in myself where I have taken a deep breath, leaned back, and prepared myself that may which come.  A close encounter with countless things intended is so common in life.  Obviously.  

Imagine what you do when water is coming your way.  You take a deep breath, close your mouth, and prepare for...the water, the wave, the dive, the jump, the splash.  You prepare for whatever is coming at you.  I like the idea of leaving the core here open.  Which later to me represented air.  Air with in a moment of preparation, which in finding that air taken, creates a gentleness with in the journey.  Obviously it is easier to feel comfortable under water with your lungs full of air.  It is easier to lift a heavy load off the ground with lungs full of air.  It is easier to sing the high notes and long verses with lungs full of air.  You get the theme here.  

Often, when looking to take on an encounter, simple or not, taking that breath and being AWARE of that breath, simply helps those things happen with beauty, ease, and fluidity.  Take a breath and keep moving.  Take realization of the power of your own strengths in dealing with the rips and waves you encounter.  Take on the beauty of your strength with a simple breath full of YOU.  The freedom you will feel.  The beauty you will find.  Breathe on, think on, be on.  

11" x 17"  

A CERTAIN SPACE

For the life of me, I can't think of where this came from. Hence the name. So it must have been for therapeutic purposes that I put the time in. Lines of straight and lines of curve, dense and less dense, with some bright lines setting it in motion.

11" X 14"  

Art. Spring. Busy.

It feels as though the holidays just ended - but wait, it is the middle of April.  I'm in Texas, still wearing a jacket on some mornings.  I've enjoyed the long winter, the actual Spring, and just about everything else going on.  The busy season is on, with a show a month in the next three months.  I've got lots to create and looking forward to each line.   Music and poetry are the inspiring these days.  I can't seem to get enough ee cummings in, for I love the lack of conformity structure in his phrases.  Seems to be helpful in my ink-full linear whims.

Last week I had a great time showing my work with 5 other local artists, with great talent.  I met some wonderful people and sold one of my older pieces, MODERN SUN.  Selling something is always sort of strange, to some degree.  It's letting go of whatever it was that inspired the piece, and sending it off to another home in hopes that it will be cared for as you cared for it.  Funny; perhaps.  It was great meeting all of the people that attended and the conversations had.  Liana Mauro hosted the event, a painter herself with great work and a similar process we share, enjoying writing out where each piece came from.  Image of Liana's work below.  

I'm off this coming weekend for a show in my hometown, back in Austin for WEST Studio tour second and third weekends in May, then a show in Midland - date to be determined.

Here's to burning the midnight oil (more like ten o'clock oil if I know myself).  And a little song because I'm jonesing for a two step night. Robert Ellis - Photographs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klHlro2t3Wg

ACQUIESCE

We either hold onto another, or we hold onto ourselves.  This is that moment of acquiescence, of letting go of what can be difficult to let go of.  It can be a simple daily task, or a challenge faced for years on end. In the moment of letting go, one floats from the other and this rush of newness comes in.  Still surrounded by the segmented days and times of our normalcy, in which are able to bend with the moment of giving in.

Learning to let go
Learning to see these things with a new eye
Learning to breath in a new experience with comfort

Acquiescing to your heart or souls request.
I'm still learning.

11" X 14"

AMUSE

A turn this has taken.  It started by me being inspired some purple and green foliage I saw at the end of an early morning walk.  I thought nature.  Then a few things in life walked into...life.  About half way through this, I named it "politics of love."  Feeling the push and pull of love in all walks of life - family, friends, romances.  At the end of it all - we all have to learn how to survive each other - in love.  I wrote up my 'story' on this drawing yesterday, posted it under "politics of love", then about 10 minutes later deleted it...knowing, I hadn't completed my thoughts with this piece.  I went to my bi-weekly acupuncture appt, and of course...it came to me.  This piece was fueled by (A)MUSE.  The amusement of an inspiring person.  One of God's beautiful plants started the inspiration, then one of God's beautiful people added to and guided the inspiration.  In my mind it still plays on the politics of love, in that it changes (sometimes daily) and we have to learn how to navigate and see the beauty of the waters and land that we live in.  Consciously aware of the happenings around us, and involved in those happenings, not avoiding the unknown or undesired.  In all idealistic things, we have the fantasy version, which is wonderful.  Then there is typically the realistic version - that is often rather difficult to take in a remain inspired to participate in.  However, in LOVE, the purest form of love is found at the end of enduring.  The end of painful (but exciting) honesty and conversations and situations.  

The grass always seems greener on the other side of things (hence the green) when in the midst of an uncomfortable situation.  The straight lines here resemble the moments where we stop, catch our bearings, look around at the reality, and dive back into your love investment.  There are bright, light, and interesting times ahead.  Otherwise, the only things in life we receive are temporary.  I could have mixed up the design here, but I wanted to express a consistency that you find in the enduring.  

Enjoy the amusements that come along in life.  Let them inspire you and inspire your life in the most positive of ways.  

11" x 17"    

SOULFINDS

Soulfinds - I'm pretty sure I made that word up.  Really all I wanted to do was to create some continuity between one's soul and its spiritual path of finding its home.  I started this drawing far from home in Switzerland by myself with an incredible view of some of God's beautiful globe.  I didn't think anything of it, stuffed it in my suitcase when it was time to move on, only months later to find it while preparing for another trip.  I set it on my art table next to a Chagall post card I bought in Zurich.  The two images (my drawing and the post card) that at one time were strangers became instantly connected and I knew what I wanted to do with the jewel and my pens.  I have spent most Tuesdays of the last two years with a fantastic group of ladies form all walks, doing our best to study the Bible and just see what it all means to us.  It's been an amazing time of redefining and getting to better understand my spirit(uality).  Taking what was taken for granted with it right at my finger tips my entire childhood thru college, I discovered there was a lot I didn't know and understand when it came to me 'managing my spirit' on my own.  Knowledge is a powerful thing, which is what I think I was expressing in this.  Being grounded.  Having faith.  There is power and fluidity that is calming, engaging, and alive when one seeks knowledge.  I appreciate the voice of God in my heart and what it says to me and allows into my life.  

8" x 10" 

SOLD

SOULSHINE

I had a couple (who happen to be near and dear friends Lisa and Jeremy) ask me to do this heart /tree combo.  Trees are one of my favorite things to draw, so I jumped at the chance.  This couple is full of energy and passion and they share those things with a large community around them.  This, as you imagine, takes heart. A heart that powers the way we grow, the way we shine, survive, learn, bloom, breath, and give to others.  It can create a pretty powerful life, that is strong and will stand the test of elements.  

It reminds me of the Yggdrisil (look it up) which has a great Viking legend behind tree (the species is debated on) but to sum it up - this tree is pertinent to our existence.  The Heavens above, mankind in the middle, and the earth below us.  It also reminds me of Gov't Mules song, Soulshine - which is where I got the name.  It serendipitously came on my shuffle of music the day I finished this.  

11"x17" 

SOLD

(prints available)  

NORITAKE DREAMS

The over year long effort here has ended.  I have woken up from my Noritake Dream...trying to remember all that happened with in its time.  I started this after a dream I had soon after my Aunt Mary passed away.  She was my Dad's oldest sister (image below, she is the red head on the left of the family pic) and was one of two sisters that virtually raised my Dad.  A sweetheart of a lady, with great taste in home decor and china (dishes), amongst many other wonderful traits she possessed.  Before she passed, she left to me a set of her china and some home decor - all with a Japanese art influence.  The China is "Legacy by Noritake," so after this dream, I got out a small saucer plate and a tea cup...and there you have it.  The four circles you see here.  I segmented these I think to represent phases in life.  Having spent over a year on this piece, I figure there are a couple versions of myself coming out here - but with my Aunt Mary having a consistent presence.    I drew the river to feed the dreams.  I drew the rain to feed the river.  I drew the trees to express a childhood love for a scene from my favorite childhood movie, Anne of Green Gables, where Anne was riding in a carriage with Matthew thru a field of Cherry Blossoms.  And those trees were fed by the river and the rain.  That was my outward intent.  My inward intent?  Who knows.  A friend 'analyzed' this the other night.  It was an amazing moment to hear his interpretation of it.  He saw a push and pull of two people trying to be together but remaining apart, separated by the obvious (river).  With the energies of both people pushing and pulling the other along during their days together.  Still separated by this body of water and empty on the inside.  I have a feeling that comes from where he is in life.  What do I think?  I think I left the 'dreams' empty because they are open for interpretation, so I wanted to leave that space for just that.  The red tones here are an energy that feeds.  Stronger some days than others and always supporting the bloom of each dream.  That is the interpretation today.  I should check back in with myself next year and see what I think!  ha!  What do YOU think or see here?

19" x 24"

EVERGREEN

I was passing time one day after work sitting on the porch at Zax in downtown Austin, with an empty page in front of me.  I remember what I was wearing, and strangely enough, I was wearing the same dress that I am wearing today.  It's a dress that has waves crashing all over it.  That coincidence would be like saying you know what you didn't know you knew, in that I didn't know I was drawing what I was knew I was wearing.  Follow me??  Back to the subject at hand.  EVERGREEN!!  The color and some lines were certainly inspired by a Marc Chagall stained glass I sat and stared at for a while in Zurich, Switzerland a couple of months ago.  There were sections of a certain wall where each panel window featured a color.  Green.  Blue.  Golden.  Red.  Sucked me right in and gave me a direction.  I was listening to some bumpin' and relaxing tunes by classical artist with a flare - Black Violin.  I'm set now - the music, the color, and an idea which leads way to GO time.  Someone came in and claimed this one pretty early on.  An old, dear friend of mine from childhood.  We used to walk to school together, walk to Wendy's and spend our allowance on the $0.99 menu, sing in choir together, and so on.  It's a blessing to be able to reconnect with someone from my childhood in such a way.  I can't wait to deliver this to her in The Woodlands.  As I was thinking about what to name this, I couldn't help but work my history with Ree Ann into the naming.  We grew up in Huntsville in the Avenues that are filled with huge looming trees that canopied over the blocks creating shelter and wonder for a curious kids eating their Wendy's on the curb or throwing pine cones at their siblings.  The trees were beautiful and EVERGREEN in my mind.  Much like our friendship that is evidently EVERGREEN, time and environment don't cause much change after all.  Our roots bring us back to this moment with an art exchange. Life ebs, flows, swells, with bursts of life and pockets of time that change who we are and where we go.  Collectively, a giving force to those around us.  I hope this is a giving source for Ree's home and her family.  Always there and EVERGREEN.

14"x17"
SOLD

Prints Available

BREEZEWAY

Leaving a little space for a big breeze.  Perhaps summer prompted me to leave a this space here.  Or perhaps it was the need for some air; to let the wind in to power a new possibility.  We are always in a space to grow, to learn, and to feel a little breeze.  Who likes to be all cooped up feeling no breeze - no nothing for that matter.  As much as I may have felt like I needed to fill the space, I decided it time to leave a little breezeway beautifully open and crisp.  The word breezeway makes me think of 1.) Rocking chairs and 2.) Old plantation homes that often had open walk ways left open in the middle of the home - for a purpose, not a pleasure.  For safety and function in order to help the home survive a crisis.  Yes - I just worded the purpose of architecture in a rather silly manner - but I'm really just trying to add a humanistic feature in order to better imagine something here.  So, YES - the obvious option is  southern home architecture.  Hey - I grew up two blocks from Sam Houston's home with this breezeway I speak of.
Back to the matter at hand.  Breeze.  Strong spine, gentle soul, taking in a little breeze time.  Allow yourself some space in your mind to be quiet, to observe and soak in, some things that are lingering in those empty spaces left neglected by the busy-ness we can often put upon ourselves.
Enjoy the moment(s)(s)(s)(s)(s).

11"x7"  Original

RESOLUTION

"Turn around, put it down and see that this is really the place to be."  Resolution - Matt Corby (song below).
Let's keep this simple.  I made some resolutions this year - I have checked all off and it feels great!  Some chaos (perceived) was involved, but those things are merely internal and part of a process that simply gets easier in time.

Song below, by Matt Corby.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj4q4rfDcNw&feature=player_detailpage

RISE

I had NO idea where this was going when I started it.  I was sitting outside of a dear friend, Rita's, studio on a breezy cool day, in the shade wondering where my pen would take me.  I drew the skeleton of the curve and the interior 'flares' and at first saw a person with a shawl of sorts.  I loved it.  And then I took it completely somewhere else.  And...I still love it!  I will admit I did not like this piece much while I was working on it, but I didn't want to set it aside.  I had a goal to finish a new piece before my show coming up in June, so this had to be it.

RISE.  

With about two square inches of empty paper left, it suddenly ALL made sense.  I knew the name, I saw what it was, and what I was trying to say with these lines.  What a relief after hours of working on something I didn't understand.  I think I even whimpered a little, with a small tear at being able to see what it was.

RISE.

Leading up to the completion were some fun conversations with friends about oh...the evolution of us as people - how we connect, how we grow, how we learn, how we become better, how we shed our skins of the past making shiny new skin while the inevitable wrinkles of time happen to us.  This involved the relevance of certain animals in our lives.  (Not your favorite pet that we're talking about).  But that animal of strength inside you that keeps popping up with significance when you need it most.  I recently have tried to attune myself to 'my animal'...I haven't gotten further than a Phoenix (which is fantasy) and dead squirrels.  Ha!  Then I was sitting down with my friend Greg and he picked up his mandolin and played a song that sounded much like Eddie Vedder's "Rise."  He played around with the song for a bit and we moved on in conversation.  Nothing significant really.  I finished the piece the next day, and when I told Greg the name, he sent me the lyrics of the song and it was an uncanny parallel to the drawing.  I love it when life just happens like that.  It's moments like that, that make being an active part of your life so amazing.  To be conscious, to be present, to be open, and to RISE up and see all the things around you that make everything happen right in front of you.  YOU play a part in that!!  Putting faith in something that at first glance is amazing, and then it looses it luster - but you stick with it and voila!

BTW:  check out Rita and Greg's work - they played a part in this and have an amazing collection of soul expression themselves!!
www.ritamarieross.com
www.gregdavisphotography.com

RISE!!

14"x 17"

BREATH IN, BREATH OUT

BREATH IN, BREATH OUT.  What is rather amazing about this simple action, is that sometimes you see something on this earth through the eyes that God gave you, and you suddenly feel nothing but that breath on every square inch of your body.  This is that moment, in a dissected visual flash of my mind.  Oxygen (blue) and the blood (purple/red) that oxygen feeds moving in and out of the body.  I was at the Prague Castle earlier this year looking at the stained glass in this ancient vessel of soul and prayer.  Its power seemed magnified in every chip of glass thoughtfully put into place and with out intention magnifying the light into this blessed space flooding into each breath of mine.  With a mass of people streaming around me, I barely noticed their bustle of movements.  All I could feel was the breath in my body being fueled by each refraction of light that my eyes were fortunate enough to see.  Later that night, while thawing out in a warm corner of a pub with a good beer, I sat and sketched a small idea of these lines out.  That was a pretty good day.  Just breathing.  

11"x14"

LAURA U

Last week in Houston was the opening for my work being hung in @Laura U which is a fabulous full service Design Studio and retail boutique. My incredibly talented college friend, Kristina Wilson, pictured above with me (http://wonderswillnevercease.blogspot.com/) works there and we finally found a way to join forces! Stay tuned for new things we have up our creative sleeves - great things to come! We promise. The event was great and I met a lot of fun Houstonians and all in all, it was a fantastic experience. My work will be hung there for a couple of months, so if in Houston in the Westheimer area, stop in and take a look at their beautiful space and meet the great folk that work there! Check out more pictures from the event on my Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/jxx2NH