Ahhhhh, the Russian River flows right by my door - inches from the threshhold!  Time for a nice, relaxing float on my back!  Well, imagine the possibilities....It's really just another flood season.

This year, however, there are no worries - no rain to speak of.  

This surreal little item is pretty much at the beginning of my renewed art career, and, in some ways, foretells where I am going.  Starting out as one of my many iterations of the interior of my home, reflecting my search for a "place" in this world/universe, it also dreams of serenity and rest.

But, I wonder, does anyone see my Blog? 

It's the Lunar New Year of the Golden Dragon, and my painting is at the gallery, but I forgot to photograph it.  When I do, I will share it here.   Meanwhile:

A new perspective - that's what I was looking for when I started this piece.  I painted it over an old painting, called "Cloud Faces" which was a hard-edge acrylic piece from my student days.  The rainbow colors informed the background, and created the light shining through the floor and up to the viewer.

Too bad the textures don't show in photographs, but that's a piece of lace over the collaged text, "Work of Art". I have also collaged some small paper images here and there, but I mostly draw and paint everything.  I don't consider myself a collage artist, but a painter who uses other materials in her work.

This year, I am exploring different perspectives in a series of paintings of interiors and exteriors of structures, both real and imaginary, including the aforementioned "New Beginnings" which, like most of my work, includes many symbols/archetypes, both personal and universal. 

Boxes have six sides; houses have even more, what with their peaked roofs and the never-ending add-ons.  Houses also have insides - so their number can almost be infinite.  My own home probably has six or seven - or more - sides in each room and hallway, meaning at least 21, just on the upper floor - in a mere 980 square feet - counting the deck, but not the basement.

The houses I use/repurpose are in some ways simpler than that, with five sides, a several-gabled roof, a chimney, and only about seven sides to its one room.  But like my home, and even more like me, each side, like a facet of a diamond, reflects something different - sometimes seeming transparent, sometimes opaque, and sometimes like a window or a door to someplace else. This one is about 12" high.

The Russian River floods, but is located under the majestic Coast Redwoods and is populated by several endangered species of fish, including the chinook salmon and the steelhead trout (at least, I think it's a trout). This house just might be underwater.  Inside, you can see just where it is located, but you have to line up the map on the inside with the one on the front, by peeking through the window. No one said it's easy, but anything worth doing is worth working for - at least a little bit.

The inside of the house (a person? me? anyone?) takes time to discover, but is full of little treasures for the eye and mind.  You can take off the roof, if you like, and find out what's on the ceiling, the walls, and the windows. What do you think you see when you stand inside and look out? My art always takes a little time to understand, but it isn't really so hard, is it? Want to see more?  Just let me know by responding to this blog.  

No, I don't plan to post a blog EVERY day, but I do want to write about each piece I make as I go along.  

"Dragons in the Sunset" is my impression of a kids' ride at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa.  I painted over an old piece that a friend discarded/gave to me.  The combination of color and thick paint is what contributes to the "glow" and texture of this piece.  I am beginning to see that there is an element of fantasy in all of my work, whether it's "painterly" like this one, abstract, realistic, or surrealistic.

This is only the beginning - a work in progress, but I hope my work is interesting and exciting to you, the viewer.  What's here right now is kind of a hodge-podge of the pieces I have been making over the past few years.  It's evolving - and will probably be something like a cross between "Dragons in the Sunset" and "Tuesday".

I am taking a deep breath, fastening my seat belt, and getting ready for the ride of my life!  Hope you will jump into the passenger's seat and come along!