The Sky Opened Wide Like The Tide

Since I flat-out stole the title of this post from The Blow, I might as well get right to cribbing their lyrics as well:

when I find you tonight
I'll put you in my boat and away we'll ride
away from the city lights
to the place where the water makes the heavens and the earth collide

from "The Sky Opened Wide Like The Tide" by The Blow...click here to listen to it

I started these two paintings with a similar approach but slightly different goals. They both feature blue very heavily, something that I've been doing a lot of lately because those expanses of blue can represent the sky or the sea. The sky is second only to the sea in my book (I can stare at either for a long, long time and be perfectly happy), so I guess it makes sense that for this batch of paintings of two figures connecting in various ways that they're backed by something I see as comfortable and joyous.

To finish things off and give a little more attention to The Blow, here's a new video they made that has a lot of ocean so I am obliged to like it.

SUMMER 2011: The Blow (ASK ME demo version) by Melissa Dyne + Khaela Maricich from Dyne + Maricich on Vimeo.

Measure Twice, Draw Once

I had this drawing of a dancing kiwi bird that I really wanted to turn into a painting. I did a thumbnail sketch that I was really happy with so I set to drawing an outline on a full-sized piece of paper. I don't usually put too much time or detail into my pre-painting drawing because I tend to lose the lines in the paint and I also like to make most of my decisions with the paint rather than a pencil. But for this drawing I was having such a good time that I put a lot of care into it.


Then I went to paint it. It turned out that this fabulous, highly detailed drawing I had done was on the back side of the watercolor paper pad cover and not on actual watercolor paper. I toyed with the idea of painting it anyway but the texture is all wrong and the cover paper is coated so it wouldn't have worked out at all. I thought I would solve the problem by getting upset and never painting kiwi again. So I moved on to another project, a drawing on a piece of sticker paper...which I finished and then realized I had drawn it on the non-sticky side of the paper.

So I learned an important lesson - that no matter how many times I essentially destroy an entire drawing I still don't take the extra second to make sure I'm drawing on the correct surface. I file this in the same category as the fact that I have burned rings into my fingertip multiple times by checking to see if the car cigarette lighter is hot.

I still wanted my kiwi to dance though, so this is the start of me trying again on actual watercolor paper. I don't like the drawing as much, but at least I can paint it.

The Purpose

Prints of "The Purpose" are now available at http://www.imagekind.com/The-Purpose-art?IMID=577fd50c-9f54-483c-a3ef-ad9ae6bae553. The pink words are not on the actual print, but you could always buy some pink letter stickers and add them yourself.

Your New Baby

This blotchy face was my first time playing with some new brushes. The "widescreen" format was so that it could be folded to fit in a CD case, but I've been wanting to work in these dimensions for a while. I wish I could say that there's a deep artistic reason behind that, but it actually stems from the fact that I have a weird frame I got at a yard sale a long time ago that matches these dimensions and I want to make a painting specifically for the frame.

I took these pictures while the paint was still really wet, so in some spots you can see the texture of the paper show through in a way that it doesn't in the finished painting. I have a few kinds of paper that do that really dramatically, and no matter how many paintings I do on them I always panic when the paper starts to show through. I think that constant state of panic makes me a better painter though, because what I think of as some of my best brushwork is on those kinds of paper.

Today We Are Five

I've been busy with non-art lately, but this is a drawing I did for part of my daughter's birthday present.

Everyone Look At Me

I'm not really big on drawing attention to myself, but since I recently starting showing up on film again (mirrors too!) I suppose it's worth sharing when someone takes pictures of me with my art.

Cementing its place as my favorite Seattle art walk, Columbia City was a great time last Thursday. Thank you to all the wonderful people who showed up! I will probably add the Ballard art walk to my roster soon, but it's going to have to try really hard to edge out Columbia City and its intimate atmosphere and delightful live music selection.

Columbia City has also done a great job of documenting the art walks and posting information and photos regularly throughout the month. Here are a few links to pictures they've posted:

Last week's art walk:
http://ccartwalk.blogspot.com/2011/06/jonathan-arras-spirals-in-love-at.html

May's art walk:
http://communityartscreate.org/Community_Arts_Create/My_Albums_2/Pages/May-ArtWalk_2011.html

Cloudy With A Chance Of Spirals

I'll be at the Columbia City Art Walk tomorrow night from 4-8pm. You can tell I'm not lying because they put my name in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS on the site for the art walk - http://communityartscreate.org/Community_Arts_Create/ArtWalk_%26_Street_Fair.html. You should stop by and bring me a cookie, but not one with nuts because I'm allergic and while it's not like I sell a lot of art now, it's even harder to sell art when you're throwing up. My tea leaves said it's supposed to be about 70 degrees and mostly sunny, which is optimal art and music weather according to the ArtMusic Optimization Scale (AMOS) that was adopted in 1979.

Here's a link to the alley where all the artists and musicians will be, waiting for your cookies:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=4721+Rainier+Ave.+S.+Seattle+WA+98118&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=4721+Rainier+Ave+S,+Seattle,+Washington+98118&ll=47.558217,-122.285215&spn=0.00128,0.002411&z=19&layer=c&cbll=47.558217,-122.285215&panoid=Ri4f58mbjOBjkRazPaEN4A&cbp=12,49.73,,0,-2.88


This other image is just because I like optical illusions. I've been staring at this one for about three hours.

The Best Part Of The Crow

THAT BEARD NEEDS SOME HAIRS.

I worked on this old painting a little bit last night, giving some definition to the wrinkles in the face. I'd like to do a little more of that, wash out the eyes a bit, and give some texture to the beard. My goal is to make the whole thing much softer than the source material. I'm not terribly motivated though, and in painting the facial wrinkles I was drawn back to just wanting to draw an overly-wrinkled monster since the wrinkles were the fun part.

I've always wanted to do a series of photographs of well-wrinkled people, smiling and washed out in the harsh but ambient light of a mall so their faces are defined primarily by the joyous wrinkles around their eyes and mouths. Now I'm thinking I might want to do a companion series of paintings.

For earlier steps in the progress of this painting, check out this link:
http://spiralsinlove.blogspot.com/2011/03/station-agent.html.

Winners In Love

My piece "The Kangaroo In Love With The Sea" won last week's Underneath The Juniper Tree Challenge. Hooray for me!

http://underneaththejunipertree.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-do-you-have-in-your-pocketses.html

Everyone should go celebrate by buying 25 prints and wallpapering your bathroom with them.

http://www.imagekind.com/The-Kangaroo-In-Love-With-The-Sea_art?IMID=9ae45bf2-359a-408a-82a8-c1c4ded6c6c2

It Happened, It Will Happen

Thank you to everyone who made it to support me at the West Seattle Art Walk! My art will be hanging in Shoofly Pie until a few days before next month's art walk, so please stop by to check it out and buy some pie if you're in the area.

My next time out in public will be the Columbia City art walk on June 16. They have music!

We're Gonna Have An Art/Pie Party Tonight

Wait a minute! My TV set doesn't work! It's broken! What are we gonna do tonight?

Just a reminder that I'll be at Shoofly Pie in West Seattle tonight from 6-9 pm for the monthly West Seattle art walk. My art will be hanging at Shoofly for a few weeks, but tonight's the only time you can get a nifty Spirals In Love handmade bookmark AND some rhubarb-ginger galette at the same time. I don't have a clue what galette is, but I bet it tastes terrific when eaten off of one of my bookmarks.

My art is currently featured on the front page of http://wsjunction.org/ to promote the art walk (permanent link at http://wsjunction.org/2011/06/ws-artwalk-thursday-june-9th-6-to-9-pm/).

My painting "The Dilemma" (http://www.imagekind.com/The-Dilemma_art?IMID=e641e44e-4d6a-4e67-becd-bda72bdc8912) is also featured on the front page of http://www.imagekind.com/ for today only, although it is strangely cropped due to their automated cropping process.

I'll Catch You If You Fall - Ina Mar

I also wanted to mention one of my favorite working artists, Ina Mar. She's done a better job of promoting my art than I have, and even before that I had found and loved her work. A while ago (http://spiralsinlove.blogspot.com/2010/10/if-you-trace-it-back.html) I mentioned the "Lord of the Flies" cover painting that inspired me to tackle watercolors and experiment with soft texture/harsh line combinations. A lot of Ina's work reminds me of that painting in both tone and appearance. She's able to convey several levels of shyness, pain, love, and comfort all at once and I love her line work and judicious application of color. You can (and should) see much more of her work at http://www.redbubble.com/people/ina-mar.

West Seattle Art Walk, Spirals In Love, Pie

You better get ready, 'cause at six o'clock on Thursday I'm gonna ART you. The West Seattle Art Walk (http://wsartwalk.com/ and http://www.facebook.com/WSArtWalk) didn't have a logo so I made one for them. I assume that the way the Internet works is that now that I've put this out there my art will be universally associated with the words "west", "seattle","art", and "walk". I'm going to be totally famous. Except that I forgot to put my website on the logo. Oh, and I also figured out that they kind of do have a logo. I think mine's better though.

I'll be at the Shoofly Pie Company (http://www.shooflypiecompany.com/) from 6-9 pm on Thursday, June 9. Along with my originals and normal art walk trinkets, I have a slew of new bookmarks and a new series of 8x10 prints that are inexpensive and look great!

Shoofly Pie Company
4444 California Ave. SW
Seattle, WA 98116

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=+Shoofly+Pie+Company+4444+California+Ave.+SW,+Seattle,+WA+98116&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=45.8712,91.669922&ie=UTF8&hq=Shoofly+Pie+Company&hnear=4444+California+Ave+SW,+Seattle,+King,+Washington+98116&ll=47.563395,-122.385056&spn=0.010237,0.01929&z=16

A Kangaroo In Love With The Sea

As usual, I put it off until the last minute but am hoping to complete my entry for this week's Underneath The Juniper Tree challenge "What Do You Have In Your Pocketses"(http://underneaththejunipertree.blogspot.com/2011/05/what-do-you-have-in-your-pocketses.html). I don't know if my entry is entirely in the spirit of the challenge, but they did say "Your character can be anything as long as it has pockets in which to have things. " My character is a kangaroo (which technically has a pouch) and inside its pocket are the tentacles of a lonely octopus.

Since there are only two or three species of kangaroo that can breathe underwater (and this is not one of them), theirs is a tale doomed to end in tragedy. Provided you think drowned kangaroos are tragic, which I do.


I started this painting as a doodle on a square-shaped scrap of paper, so the transition to the tall rectangular paper was awkward. I started out by making a complete mess with the paint because it was fun and then building layers on top of it as it was partially dried. So far I've added some fish and curling seaweed, followed by a wash of color. I would like to do this a few more times, but it all depends on how much I can get done before the midnight deadline.

And since I referenced it in the title of this post, here is the Stephen Merritt song "The Sailor In Love With The Sea" performed by Gary Numan and The 6ths.

Sigh and grow every day paler
Bowed by a mortal ennui
I fell in love with a sailor
A sailor in love with the sea

Cry like Elizabeth Taylor
Out on the end of the quay
I fell in love with a sailor
A sailor in love with the sea

Ye Olde Spyrals In Lufu

I will be sharing a table with the amazing Alexandria Sandlin (http://cherrybones.typepad.com/blog/) at the Mercer Island Summer Celebration on July 9 and 10.

The theme for the event is "Renaissance Revelry" so I will be wearing a full suit of armor, dragon wings, a puffy dress, and furry boots while carrying a mace and a magic wand. I would talk in a funny old-timey accent too but you won't be able to hear me through the helmet anyway.


Here are the links to the craft show:
http://www.mercergov.org/page.asp?navid=2437

And the summer celebration:
http://www.mercergov.org/SectionIndex.asp?SectionID=61

All Art Must Be Eaten

I finally got around to scanning and uploading, so there are a handful of new prints available directly from my store at http://spiralsinlove.imagekind.com/.

www.spiralsinlove.com will be updated with the new images soon.

Underneath The Juniper Tree First Issue!

The first issue of Underneath The Juniper Tree came out today! It's jam-packed with wonderfully dark writing and art that kids and adults can appreciate. I have a piece in the art section and (if they'll have me) I look forward to contributing art and writing to future issues.

Get the first issue here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/56934489/1-June2011

Writers and artists interested in contributing should check out their blog as it's updated regularly with poems, stories, art, and fun challenges.

http://underneaththejunipertree.blogspot.com/

My mother, she killed me,
My father, he ate me,
My sister Marlene,
Gathered all my bones,
Tied them in a silken scarf,
Laid them beneath the juniper tree,
Tweet, tweet, what a beautiful bird am I.
(an excerpt from "The Juniper Tree" tale by the Brothers Grimm)