painting on pot

Today was full of painting, plums, painting, cigarettes, painting, turkish soup, and oh yeah, painting. Did I mention pai- yeah, I think I did. Although I am sure that you are just itching to know about all of those plums, cigarettes, and, most interesting of all, the turkish soup, I regret

to inform you that I will probably only discuss the painting.

I've been working on a piece for the entryway of our office, which consists of pot. Our office has some great, earthy pots. They aren't stinky or hairy, but they are very pretty. Here are some of the vessels:

The lighting doesn't do them justice as that shot is lit with a fluorescent bulb from my bed lamp, but you get the picture. I'll post a shot of the office itself at some point to help you understand.

The piece is going to be a background of abstract ethereal swirls (as they have and always will be one of my favorite elements) with a realistic still life of pots in the foreground. I'm done with the background and am working on the pots right now. Here's a shot of the painting's progress in my makeshift studio set up in the garage:

Here's some pot:

I also had some fun shooting portions of my palettes. I usually paint on cigar boxes, as they make pretty containers for my various art supplies when I have completely covered the top with paint. Here's a finished one that currently houses a portion of my colored pencils:

However, with this snazzy new french easel thingy came another palette. I think I'll be saving that one for oil painting, whenever I can afford such a hobby/whenever the oil gods rain down upon me (hopefully not literally but I'll take what I can get at this point), but I have used it during my acrylic adventures. There are some pretty interesting incidental designs on it:

I like to look at that one as a joyful, disembodied elephant head with a happy nosebleed, flying away from the earth and on its way to a new and more exciting life elsewhere.

I see a lot of bugs and bats in this one. On the left, there's a ladybug being hugged (or eaten, probably eaten but I'm feeling rather positive today, so let's go with a hug) and then on the right there's a laughing bat wearing an antennae hat. There's more but I'll let you find it. Tell me your interpretations! I'd love to see what you see.

Oh, and you probably know this, obviously, but I believe that if you are a visitor, you can make a comment anyway and just be anonymous. You don't need a google ID in order to comment. Or you could go ahead and join the google family (we are usually pretty friendly and we don't bicker too much), make a silly user name, and then you can be headeatinggreenmonster23, or something just as rad. Even though that's the raddest thing I could think of at this moment. So please! Tell me what you see!

Pardon that aside.

The other painting was a bit more official, so to speak. My friend Noelle is betrothed and she needed pretty table numbers for her wedding reception. She commissioned me to make them, hence why my fingers are covered in black spraypaint.

She bought plain wooden frames with heart-shaped cutouts, pink paper, paintbrushes, and then handed all of the above to me along with a check and a plea. Her wedding colors are black and fuchsia (yeah, I love this girl) and so I needed to paint the frames black and then paint the table numbers with black and silver. I spray painted the wooden frames with flat black enamel, as well as the cardboard backings. This project is also unfinished, but I did all of the hard stuff today. Tomorrow I shall paint the numbers, first with pearlescent silver and then on top of that in black with a finer brush.

I just thought that this looked pretty cool, what with the contrast and the different materials:

I have shots of the fully painted frames but they aren't nearly as interesting as I feel the process shots look. When I've completed the project, you'll definitely see them.

While doing all of this, I listened to some rad music, as is my wont. Sometimes I'll put the pod on shuffle, which is then no longer referred to as an iPod but a godPod, since I allow the Lawd of Music (I think His name might be Lennon? Or Bach? Abba? the name changes with every song) guide my listening experience. A lot of the songs stuck out, and they'll probably end up on some dorky mix I'll put together and most likely give to someone someday (with a lame, hand-drawn cover to boot...I doubt these people ever listen to the crap I give them.)

Here's are some songs that I jotted down...they fit my mood, I suppose:

Barfight Revolution, Power Violence - Margot & The Nuclear So And So's (I imagine some people probably feel this way when I talk)

I Wanna be Loved - Elvis Costello (well don't we all?)

The Scientist - Johnette Napolitano (a beautiful cover, I almost didn't like it)

Small- Portishead (mmmm such truths in her eerie harmonies)

I love You- Esser (oh you men, you know how)

In the City - Now, Now Every Children (we all long for that city...or as Izzard says "the citeearrh")

Black Fur - Fredrik (perfect song for a brisk walk)

The Way We Are - Fleming & John (may we never forget..it's like the cardigans at times and then BAM HERE'S MY VOICE...I also love that it's a husband and wife duo)

Enough out of me. Don't forget to look for silly designs in the paint! And if you haven't yet, go check out my new song, "Crazy" and tell me what you think in this post.

I love you all, I really do.

~K