Noël's Cocoon

Arial Kiss

2012-02-11T09:47:00.000-08:00

Pink Pods - Final Version

2012-02-07T12:31:00.000-08:00

More Bayou Book

2012-02-06T15:29:00.000-08:00

The following is on the inside of the back cover. It refers to a bayou tale of the grand wedding of a rich planter's daughters. The surrounding trees were festooned with spider webs and sprayed gold.

The Story (click to enlarge)

Tweet Street

2012-02-04T08:02:00.000-08:00

Went sketching yesterday on 'Tweet Street' at 9th and Date, a lovely little neighborhood walkway I never knew was there, where people walk their dogs and listen to the birds. Sweet!

Bayou Book

2012-02-03T17:02:00.000-08:00

Click to enlarge for better views:

Here is the 'Altered Book' made as the result of a weekend workshop by Ruth Dorn, formerly known here as The Mask Lady/The Scarf Lady - any class from her is time well spent.

Tentatively titled "Swamp Things", I folded, spindled and generally mutilated a book about the Bayous, adding birds, beasts, butterflies and orchids from other sources. Oh, and a couple of insects.

Alligators, blackbirds and egrets, oh my! pop out of swampy pages. I'm not finished yet. You may even see a mermaid or two. I'm addicted.

This is one of my favorite pages. Just happened to have the feathers!

Cover is painted metallic green.

More to come.....

the beginning of...

2012-01-31T09:49:00.000-08:00

...something

Better, but still...

2012-01-26T16:13:00.000-08:00

Final Version- February 7, 2012

New Class-Day 1

2012-01-24T08:42:00.000-08:00

The new class, taught by Elaine Harvey, is about learning to combine watercolor and acrylic. This painting isn't finished and I don't quite know where to go with it. I'll post the changes as they happen.

Still Surfing After All These Years

2012-01-22T17:49:00.000-08:00

This portrait was juried into the current show at

the San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park. The show runs from January 20th to February 19th. I have resolved to enter my work in every SDAI show this year. Wish me luck!

Mr. A's Sunset

2012-01-20T06:49:00.000-08:00

Shadows of Mermaids

2012-01-19T07:56:00.000-08:00

Cocoon

2012-01-18T08:07:00.000-08:00

a place of shelter for the shy,

home of hermit butterfly,

pit-stop for the tired bee -

a gallery for you

from me.

Madame Butterfly (Framed)

2012-01-15T15:49:00.000-08:00

(mixed media collage)

Other Worlds in Other Galaxies (if you please)

2012-01-13T17:14:00.000-08:00

Flodia

Matrilun

Brilnih

Year Ago Sketch

2012-01-11T15:56:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it's fun to look back at old sketches:

Tom Ham's Lighthouse

Light Attire

2012-01-10T18:22:00.000-08:00

This gets my vote for the wildest...

...and this for the cleverest!

Day After BIG Wave Day

2012-01-09T09:03:00.000-08:00

Ocean Beach Pier

OB Gulls

Goodbye Tree!

2012-01-05T17:06:00.000-08:00

January Song

I never want to know
when the last time will be
for love or a lighted Christmas tree.
Take down the tree when I'm not home,
and if your heart should want to roam
just walk away. Don't say Goodbye.
Let me pretend you went to die.
When Christmas comes again
next year, I'm never sure
who will be here.

Winter Sunrise Outside My Loft

2012-01-05T10:46:00.000-08:00

This Morning

He Loves Me Knot

2012-01-02T19:28:00.000-08:00

View from Outside the Zoo

2012-01-02T19:20:00.001-08:00

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-27T08:44:00.000-08:00

Winter Mind

2011-12-23T21:07:00.000-08:00

Acrylic on Canvas 12"x12"

At My Loft

2011-12-16T12:43:00.000-08:00

My Tree 2011

On the Treetop

Old Christmas Cards Revisited 2011

2011-12-13T12:05:00.000-08:00

Que Le Vaya Bien!

Paper Airplane Angel

Year of El Nino (the rainbow...

Year of El Nino (after the rain)

I added the Mistletoe to my 2 year old's scribble!

Greek Angel

2011-12-08T16:23:00.000-08:00

Christmas Card 1995 - the year I went to Greece

In the News:

2011-12-07T17:15:00.000-08:00

WAR

HUNGER

WORSHIP

Balboa Park December Night

2011-12-06T10:34:00.000-08:00

First Handmade Ornament in 1955

2011-12-04T11:57:00.000-08:00

Surfing the Stars

2011-12-02T20:08:00.000-08:00

My Hawaiian motif Christmas card (handmade, as always) becomes the tree topper in 2006

Yesterday's Sketch

2011-12-01T07:50:00.000-08:00

from Vacation Isle

Starting December with a blah. Icky day, wrong paper, bad mood. It happens.

Off Whites

2011-11-25T07:55:00.000-08:00

WaterKiss

THE Kiss

Shell Angel

Birthday Cake

In The Snow (watercolor)

Whites

2011-11-22T20:13:00.000-08:00

Reds

2011-11-18T17:11:00.000-08:00

Some Sunsets I have Known

2011-11-09T15:43:00.000-08:00

Waikiki Sunset

Maui Sunset

Key West Sunset

On The Street Where I Live

Ships That Sail...

2011-11-06T07:45:00.000-08:00

...in My Dreams

You might also like:

2011-11-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

http://cocoonedartist.blogspot.com/2010/09/earth-and-water.html

More Spookyness

2011-10-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

These characters are in photos I took at the Bread and Puppet Theatre in Vermont. When I visited, there was no one at all except me in the giant, two story, dark barn where the puppets are kept. There was no electricity and I used my camera's light to make my way across the ancient floorboards and snap the pictures. It was October. Mwaaahahahaa !

Boo!

2011-10-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

Are You Ready?

Mingei Community Quilt

2011-10-14T18:07:00.000-07:00

Remember the Mingei Mermaid? The Community Quilt is now hanging upstairs in the Museum until December 18th. My little mermaid is 'three across, two down' and happy to be there!

I Give You The "Bird"

2011-10-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

Sketch

Watercolor

Manipulated Photo

Carved Stamp Print

Poem to a Homeless Man

in an Orange Shirt, Singing

YOU’RE A RARE BIRD OF PARADISE

Caught in a living hell,

singing songs to broken skies,

standing on pieces that fell.

I admire your tunes and verse

I’ve heard angels

who sang much worse.

Hey, bird, keep on singing,

all orange and blue -

Maybe the sky

will fall up for you!

Like Alice...

2011-10-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

Like Alice, I am tall or small
and, falling, change like leaves to gold.
Arriving at the Hatter’s Tea
I smile, and chat, and quite agree
no one has ever seen me old,
and yet I’ve grown.

And you are there at chess with me
although I never learned the game.
We bow and change from square to square,
trying to see beyond the board.
Nothing’s the same.

Then I am on the path alone.
The Cheshire smile is fading fast;
the rabbit’s clock is running slow.
I don’t know where I need to go.
Still I watch the plot unfold,
just because I’m never told
what happens next.

Portaits

2011-10-07T07:03:00.000-07:00

A Favorite Thing (watercolored)

2011-10-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

my camera lives here

Sona's Yard is for The Birds (and Squirrels)!

2011-09-30T12:42:00.000-07:00

squirrels are up here with the birds

Panda-cat was here

Mixed Media from Lavender Sage Art Retreat

2011-09-29T17:53:00.000-07:00

I had a great time in Austin, Texas! The teachers and the women artists were wonderful - a joy to meet and paint with. When the retreat was over I spent two days at Sona and Jerry's lovely home.

Her studio will soon be in Studio Magazine and it is fabulous! However, I'm working on making their back yard equally as famous: A beautiful old oak tree dripping with bird feeders, a lovely pool overseen by a Pride of Barbados plant, a birdbath frequently used as a throne by Panda, the cat - all worthy of a magazine spread.

I relaxed and sketched there when we weren't visiting the lush grounds of Laguna Gloria modern art museum or eating delicious grilled chicken with Sona's charming mother, an art collector extraordinaire, who suggested I visit Blanton Art Museum at Texas U. There was an exhibition of El Anatsui's work I loved! See it if it comes to your city.

Watch for a sketchpost, a cartoon really, of Sona's yard. The beauty could not be translated.

It's here!!!

2011-09-21T06:32:00.000-07:00

click on this:

It's WHERE I'LL BE! LUCKY ME!

Vacation Coming Up!

2011-09-16T07:03:00.000-07:00

This collage was going to be part of a children's book (that's a dragon skin up there between the trees) but I need to banish the Travelocity Gnome. I do have a vacation coming up next week!

Bird's-eye Time Lapse View of Golf Course

2011-09-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

there's a little cafe situated over the golf course where a table by the window is a fine place to spend an hour or two...included is a panoramic spread of the Naval Hospital across the valley and the cityscape in the distance - but yesterday I was inspired to doodle...

Remembering Watercolor Days

2011-09-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

Coral Tree in Heritage Park

2011-09-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's Sketch

Mingei Mermaid

2011-09-03T18:21:00.000-07:00

This is an art quilt square I made today at the Mingei Folk Art Museum in Balboa Park. About 25 people participated. Our squares will be sewn together and exhibited in the museum soon. Had coffee at the Prado with two Lovely Ladies I met at the gathering. A fun day!

Me and My Shadow

2011-09-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

Following the Rails

Touristing

Leafing

Truckin'

Once Upon a Time

Hello Goodbye!

Abalonia, Goddess of Shellfish

2011-08-30T07:29:00.000-07:00

The Shack at Windansea Today

2011-08-29T18:39:00.000-07:00

i know, i know, gotta practice drawin' those waves

My Tree and Sea Photos

2011-08-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

Alcazar View

2011-08-27T18:22:00.000-07:00

Alcazar Garden Balboa Park

birds on the corner

2011-08-25T17:01:00.000-07:00

First quicksketch in a long time. Walking around the block has it's benefits! Needs work.

Always at the Zoo

2011-08-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

Old watercolor feels new again. The flamingos are the greeters at the San Diego Zoo. My muses (meese?) have been on vacation lately. Maybe they'll return when I have my vacation Art Retreat in Austin late September. Before would be good. Here musey, musey, musey...

Lily

2011-08-19T13:22:00.000-07:00

Sand Scenes and Grand Sons

2011-08-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

On Vacation?

2011-08-11T09:38:00.000-07:00

alone?

with your Honey?

with a friend?

Too Hot? Dive in!

2011-08-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

Butterfly Time

2011-08-01T16:59:00.000-07:00

Nothing new to post. Enjoying the weather the most.

Just a sketch...

2011-07-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

...from the roof sundeck of Las Brisas in Laguna, day after seeing the Pageant of The Masters with Younger Daughter.

I'm Back!

2011-07-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

Spent three days in Judy Coates Perez' Art Quilt class at Idyllwild School of Arts. Learned techniques for painting on fabric and more mixed media collage. Whether I'll ever actually quilt (sew sew sew) anything is still unknown, but the class was great fun and so were the other students. Here's a group photo of the Lovely Ladies at Idyllwild, sadly missing a couple who must have been hiding under the tables. The school took photos of us all and hopefully will send them on later.

Here's a fish painted on cotton sheeting swimming in an iphoto bowl. just imagine you're looking through a face mask in a tropical sea...

...and here's a collage, also on fabric. Should I stitch around the hands or leave it alone?

While in Idyllwild I stayed with a former classmate, now friend, Liz. Her home is bustling with birds and squirrels, wonderfully goofy dogs and small visiting grandchildren - a delightful time!

Mask II-Travel Jester

2011-07-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

click to enlarge (the mask and the stars glow in the dark!)

MY MASK (Two)

This Travel Jester
amuses the Queen in me -
she’s out of this world!

Camera to eye
she juggles the hemispheres,
keeping track of time,
thinking on a different plane,
digesting the globe.

She is feeling younger but
mindful of the sky;
its starry message fills her
with the glow of time:

never ending and goodbye…

Painted Silk Scarves

2011-07-10T10:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took a silk painting class from Ruth Dorn, formerly referred to as "The Mask Lady". I took three mask-making classes from her ten years ago.
I previously posted these masks (here's one) and will do so again. Ruth continues to teach several crafts at her Talmadge Studio. (This class will repeat on August 7th.) She's a great connection to other teaching artists as well.

Silk painting is really fun and the results are practical for use and gift giving. Unlike canvases they store easily!

XOXOXOX

sheer XOXOXOX

The Elder Rapunzel

2011-07-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

The golden ladder of my hair,

once enough for several princes,

is brittle now and curls around my chair

before the fire like tired smoke.

My cottage hugs the ground,
a grateful shipwrecked sailor.
Windowless, I live alone
and have outlived my jailer.

The tower I graced is rubble now.
The sons I bore took root afar.
Once I kept a talking bird.
I have a spider in a jar.

The sunlit beacon of my hair
has dimmed to winter moon,
brittle now around my chair
before the fire like tired smoke.

(from the series Fairytales for Seniors)

Quick Zoo Sketches

2011-07-06T19:46:00.000-07:00

koalas

giraffe

meerkat

rhinos bathing

The Last Jacaranda

2011-07-05T07:58:00.000-07:00

Mischievous Fourth

2011-07-01T12:31:00.000-07:00

Hair of the Mermaid

2011-06-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

Oil 20"x30"

Summer Favorites

2011-06-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

Surfing

Sunning

Sailing

Masts Close-up

2011-06-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

from Harbor Island Boat House restaurant window

(Wouldn't you just like to get the big black one out of the way? Why didn't I? It was so there, and could not be denied!)

SEE?

On my Balcony

2011-06-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

little fountain and stuff

First Taste!

2011-06-24T12:48:00.000-07:00

my apricot

...all gone!

my apricots

2011-06-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

dwarf apricot tree from Costco last summer-first bloom

A Rubbing from Concrete

2011-06-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

It's poetic!
Summer Begins with a Rubbing from Concrete.

Father's Day Memorial

2011-06-19T12:33:00.000-07:00

Celebrating my Father's youthful handsomeness

Bill and Charlie

and...
his lifelong athletic ability. Here he's receiving the over 65 Senior Men's Golf Championship trophy in 1954 from Bill Kellogg, then manager of the La Jolla Beach and Tennis club.

Charles R. Hemp
1884-1967

Painting in Old Town Today

2011-06-18T18:22:00.000-07:00

some Idyllwild - in the real :

2011-06-13T11:22:00.000-07:00

Misty Mountains

Alpenglow

Tidbits...

2011-06-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

...from a lovely weekend at a friend's cabin in Idyllwild

pine needles by day

endless vistas

candles by night

by the creek

Sketching at Seaforth Today

2011-06-04T17:11:00.000-07:00

Why do I always like them better like this?

I'm trying new sketching techniques from "Realistic Abstracts" book. My first venture alone on my new Port-O-Trike with basket in back for paint stuff. The front wheel folds inward so it fits in my CRV. Every woman I saw 50+ said she wants one! Oh, the places I'll go....

digital doodle

2011-06-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

thoughts

Pelicans - a Digital Drawing

2011-06-03T22:32:00.000-07:00

the wind in June...

2011-06-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

is either too late or too soon!

Coronado Memorial Day

2011-05-31T11:57:00.000-07:00

Memorial Coat

2011-05-29T07:44:00.000-07:00

Cormorant Fishing

2011-05-24T09:28:00.000-07:00

Watercolor from trip to China in 200?

Boys in the Band

2011-05-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

I was gonna call it "My Three Sons" but since I only have two...

Jacaranda time

2011-05-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

2nd & Hawthorne

Bird Recalled

2011-05-15T06:42:00.001-07:00

Doodlelites

2011-05-11T07:23:00.000-07:00

Celebrating...

2011-05-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

...the glamour

...and the sweetness of My Mother, Marjorie
1900-1951

A Little Different...

2011-05-01T19:06:00.000-07:00

...way of sketching

Above La Jolla Shores

Tree in Front in Color

2011-04-30T17:09:00.000-07:00

Nasturtium Canyon in Mission Hills

2011-04-30T16:20:00.000-07:00

Lilacs by The Old Schoolhouse

2011-04-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

On Easter Sunday there was a guy selling lilacs from Julian on the side of the road next to an old schoolhouse in Olivenhain.

Easter Egg

2011-04-24T09:24:00.000-07:00