In an Octopus's Garden in the Sea

Broke my squid abstract into four pieces. One will get framed, the other three will be bin work. Still have to decide that by morning. Theme for LaGrange this month is Lemon Yellow... maybe the piece with the most yellow?

Last Night Naperville Art League Demo

Tried to upload this image at home unsuccessfully last night but here it is! I was able to pull lots of tips and tricks from Maureen's demo last night. I almost went to work instead and would have missed getting information that I was actually looking for. Experience is a wonderful thing! It was the last NAL meeting until fall...

Sarah Tonight

Didn't matter that Sarah had a headache, she still was gorgeous. I was holding my pencil case before I left this evening and yet, it stayed home and I went out! I was offered other's pencils, but thought I might be overdue to work in ink. (Like an octopus in camouflage.) So ending at the beginning, I did gesture poses in sharpie marker. And then a half hour pose in pastels, (they arrived intact with me) before the final hour in blue pastels. I was able to play Billie Holiday and much of Louis Armstrong before my music boycotted and Van Morrison took over. He was good but I was hoping for a King Cole Trio finale. So much life, so little time. Some very good people were there.

Abstract Acrylics with Maureen Gasek

OK. We're not done yet... imagined I'd continue once I got home from class this evening. Here is my squid gone hiding. Expect to darken some base areas. Thought I'd give a days consideration before working further on. Need to decide if I'm interested in continuing this coursework. Pleased that I'm making progress and learning, but not entirely sure where this direction might lead. Would I, could I, suppose I might abstract the human form? Do I take up painting? Myriads of projects lined up in my head. The squid is pretty far from human form or bird dialect. Is it trust, Elena? Have I poured my ink to camouflage myself? Or, is it rather myself that I'm hiding from?

Life Tonight with Patti

I actually had done the lower color pencil piece first, but Patti's poses and bits of clothing sparked quite a bit of interest. Top it off with Gaylord's recordings by Ella Fitzgerald, that brought on images of back up singers/dancers and some finger snapping. Oh, at least in artist mind. Image up top in pastel.
Color Pencil

Abstract Acrylics/Squid Totem

Hmmmm.... Suggested I look into the squid after deciding current piece not shown here appears to me a squid. Not much decidedly on squid...
but it does stem down to the octopus family which relates to intelligence and camouflage. "People with squid totem have the ability to read the moods of others. They can read body language of those around them. Squid uses light, color and form to communicate and their totem people have his ability also. Squid people usually blush easily."
Oh and "house keeping is not a strong point with octopus totem people."
OK. You're not seeing here the images that dealt me a squid... or did you?
As I look back at previous session's work, does not the blue and gold consider the outcome of many moons?
The ancient creatures have a wealth of knowledge to share.
Keep hidden your desire until it is within your grasp. Nocturnal totems. More productive at night?
Oh, and octopus people usually have good memories. Depends on whether or not they get enough sleep? So... back to the blue and gold piece? Is is not very fluid like the squid's home?

A Red Letter Day?

I'm taking a course in abstract acrylics with Maureen Gasek. She looked at my linocuts at Oswego's Spring Into the Arts evening and asked to view them again for a gift purchase. "The Call" is the chosen gift/sale. (Also a ribbon winner with Kendall Art Guild.)

Tonight at class, we looked at our previous sessions work and added some cropping to the pieces. Eve Ozer, fellow artist/abstract acrylic student purchased this cropped piece. So very kind of her, thanks! I was extremely impressed with the evenings work by fellow students and friends Laura Lein-Svencner, Tania Blanco, and Eve while oddly swimming in my own ocean of emotional therapy with an abstract piece I thought much resembled a squid. To look that totem up and see what it may foretell. More tomorrow.

Cinco de Mayo and Felicia

Half hour color pencil sketch. Felcia is a wonderful model with great juxtaposition in her poses. I lost her face here, it is so intriguing and I moved past repair. I really was in a hurry to capture everything I saw, but could not reduce the overage in her delicate features.

Soft pastels. Requested the foreshortened view and found the angles intriguing. A little more time spent here, but drawing time was cut short by celebratory festivities. What won't we think of to celebrate? Quite a large group tonight, many new faces. Seem to be from Water Street Studios? Need an opportunity to get over there and experience it. Welcomed back old ones, me too as it has been a month since attending. Plan on next week and the week after that, and most likely the week after that. So very good to experiment and stretch oneself past comfort zones and here is where I free myself to do that. The festivities and sharing of food and drink also make for a great evening. Soundtrack from Frida went over well, but most of the other tracks be they guitar, tango or polka became monotonous and necessary to change. Fortunately, there were plenty of cd's to choose from.