Studio Happenings

I woke up early, brewed a pot of strawberry shortcake flavored coffee and sat down in my studio to paint with some equally sweet colors. These paintings are on 2" deep,      6" x 6" cradleboard-I began painting the background patterns when I lived in South Carolina, but never knew how to finish them.  Listening to Best Coast this morning, I began to paint a goldfish, swimming in a dream...I have a tiny plastic goldfish that sits in my studio, with an assortment of other inspirational and special things.  I bought it out of a quarter machine about eight years ago in Austintown, Ohio.  I was waiting for an order of fried fish and macaroni at No-Day's Deli to take home to my Grandma...I had two quarters in my pocket and I can't resist a quarter toy machine (or the bubblegum balls filled with nerds, those are great too).  Anyhow, I looked over to my desklamp and saw the little fish sitting there and knew she belonged in the painting.  Mixing a little bit of the past with the present.  The creative process here is so different from my drawings and prints-I'm letting them tell me what they want to do, rather than planning everything out from the beginning.  It's fun to play with the imagery and pops of color (neon glazes & glitter paints are a new studio obsession).