movement in the studio

hi all.  since i've last written i've been busy on an original as well as class work that is my style and reference combined with the artist/teachers style (so still original work, but inspired by the class).

lets start with the first project i worked on.  i found a reference photo on unsplash that made me swoon and imagine my own likeness in place of the model.  the image is based on van Gogh, whos work is very inspiring to me, and so i'm running with the idea of putting me inside of his Starry Night painting.

"Becoming the Art (ist)"

still in progress

 

reference photo by Marina Montoya on unsplash.com

at the same time a favorite contemporary artist came up in week 8 of Lets Face It 2022. emma petitt finds fun and unique poses and uses foreshortening to create beautiful figurative, full-figured gals.  i love her style and the way she layers paint, so was excited to play with her again!  find more classes of hers, including free ones, here

 

here's emmas' style;

 you can buy prints of some of emmas work here, and you can watch fun time-lapse videos of her creating here

 

and here is emmas week 8 class in Lets Face It 2022;

 

more classes, including free ones, at kara bullocks site

 

i used my own reference photo and covered up an old, unfinished painting of mine that didnt speak to me anymore.  i felt that the old painting said what it needed to say at the time, and made sure i photographed it to go into my store, but it was finished healing me.  it was time to focus on fun.

here's the old painting

"Of Darkness and Light"

 

here's my main inspiration photo with a heart between the models.  i had references for hands and feet as well, with a total of 4 reference photos.

photo by felipe bustillo on unsplash.com

 

and here's the new painting (with me for size comparison)

"Besties Holiday"

 

i wish i were there with them.  it's COLD in massachusetts!

(slippers and hoodie went back on real quick after this photo was taken)

this is a better painting for my mental health, but getting my depression out onto the canvas was important.  i love the feeling of this new painting and the heart their bodies make between them!

 

"Besties Holiday"

and some fun detail shots with all the texture

friends at heart

 

 

their toes in the sand

 

 

the look of love

 

 

this morning sweetie and i put this painting and 2 more up in my shop.  details coming soon, or just visit my society6 shop to see them first!

 

until later,

jenny

studio changes

hi friends!  i hope things are going well for you; that life, or even just this minute, is peaceful and you find some joy in each day.  that's my wish for you.

this post was written over a period of time, so you will see some past tense along with present tense as i wrote and re-wrote things.  time frame is a little off.  i'm just leaving it.

there has been some excitement in my little world of late.  i had a bit of money in my art account and thought a treat was in order for Heavenspirit Creations to get me back to adventuring with creativity, so i ordered a huge moleskine sketchbook and a neocolor set.  i'm excited to get to work with these new products!  of course, i made a bit of a mistake and gave sweetie the wrong neocolor link so we ordered the non water-reactive set instead of the water-reactive set.  sweetie helped me out and ordered the correct item so i can get it quicker than waiting to return the wrong item and re-place the order, and it must have come from a different dick blick warehouse cause it got here two days before the first order was to arrive (and my first order seems to be stuck in fedex limbo instead of arriving at my door)!  i was dancing around and hugging the beautiful colored crayon set, joy, oh joy! 

now to decide if i want to just keep the other set or if i will be returning it...

 

the other shipment arrived the day after it's delivery date

 boy they werent kidding with the "xtra large" on the moleskine description!

and... i decided to keep the other neocolor set, big surprise

 

the bigger (HUGE) piece of studio news started with feeling a bit of "grabby hands" for the studio of a favorite artist of mine on youtube.  her name is sandi hester and she has a wonderful, genuine and fun personality.  her videos are engaging and beautifully edited and her art is colorful, really loose, and kind of folk-art-ish.  she is a joy to watch and learn from!

anyway, i was watching sandi create in her beautiful studio and started dreaming of a "not-in-the-cold,  messy cellar" studio for myself.  my studio gets way too cold for me in the wintertime, even with a heater, it has gotten that damp smell in the spring, and we've blocked the entry with cellar junk.  it's not been conducive to creativity and i end up bringing bits of supplies into the main house and making a mess for a few months before having to bring it all back down to make room for family gatherings, only to start the migration again when the holiday blues get me needing to create.  it's gotten to be a huge drag.  so... i was dreaming.  and my dream took me to creating my studio with the living room/tv room i was in.  we have a larger room we can do our daily living in, that i had dubbed "the christmas room" for all the time we (don't) spend there, but we'd have to do a lot of organizing, purging and (sweetie, anyway) heavy lifting to make it all work.  i did my "honey? i looove you..." opening, and sweetie was on board with the re-arrangement, cause he knows it would serve me better- he tries to make my life better every chance he can- and he likes it when i'm creating (i got a good one!).  

hubby needs his 'geek room' organized and cleared of non-essentials for his gaming, then we can more easily move things out of the way into his room while figuring out how to consolidate the two living areas into one.  the 'christmas room' might be larger, but there is little wall room in which to place furniture, so thats a big issue.  i'll be cleaning out and purging items from a cluttered room upstairs i lovingly call my 'crap room' that has a lot of craft supplies and just junk, and hopefully creating a spare bedroom and game library from some things in our living area now that wont fit in the new living area.  my new art studio will have the essentials; paints and other mediums i'm currently using, easel, desk, and a small couch that lucy-pup and i can snuggle on where she can look out the window (cause i'm mean and her favorite spot on her comfy couch by the window will be gone).  the cellar studio will be my art supply surplus like canvasses and mediums i'm not currently using and the stuff from the 'crap room' like my beads and fabric.  

 

 

lucy in her favorite spot

 doggie tv will not be the same, poor girl

this weighed heavily on my heart during the whole change 

"how to make it work for lucy?!"

 

"Operation Re-Arrange-the-Whole-House" was started over the weekend of july 25th with the big job of clearing out sweeties geek room that consists of a heavy gaming table that needed to be moved several times to put a large rug underneath.  he was a tiny bit sore after that!

but the results are fantastic!

(dont you love the gaming table he built a few years ago?!)

i only have 4 more rooms to go!  (whomp-whomp-whomp)

here is the little area i've been creating in,if you can spot it in the mess.  this used to be the "christmas room", soon to be the living room...

sooo lovely... 

this was during the transformation, dont judge.

artwork was done under the paintings to the right.  

notice pixel-kitty in the box?  he was 'helping'

 

 

and after, august 2nd, the new living room, still in progress...

 

 

i had a belly ache over the living room for several days, because everyone was unhappy about the lack of space.  pixel kitty adored his huge cat tree in the middle of the room, now he barely uses it.  so, now i've upset dog, cat and hubby!  pixel and lucy have to get used to being in the house as a whole together, where lucy pup would guard 'her' small tv room from the cat.   it's been... an adjustment, but things are getting better by the day.  pixel was running through the house this morning, and loves being in my studio without harassment from lucy.  lucy likes being in all the rooms and is getting more exercise.  keeping my fingers crossed!

we still have lots to find places for, but on whole we're getting used to general furniture placement.

 

 

before, the second floor 'crap room'...

this room you can judge, it was naturally a pit

again, pixel-kitty 'helping'

 

soon to be a game library, and to have a bed for spare bedroom... 

 

no photo yet, will update later. it still needs a lot done to it, but some has been purged, and some has been moved already. 

before (but after clearing a path to get in), my cellar studio...

just a heap of mess!

and during, august 2nd, my studio surplus room...

 

lots of organization needed here!  the two big shelves in the soon-to-be spare bedroom will be coming down here for art supply storage.

and, now, the main event...

before, the living room (with a lucy in her spot at the window)...

 

 and after, august 2nd, my main art studio...

(lucy is currently in the new living room, under the blankets)

 

 

 

the main studio is pretty much done, though i want to get each art medium organized in a better way.  this room is perfect for me!  it's big enough to hold all the supplies i work with; it has space for personal books i hold sacred, and my incense type things; and i have space to do workouts and yoga as well as a little loveseat for me and pup to relax on!  (and, yes, i made sure lucy is comfortable and can look out the window)

i might make a proper studio tour later.  right now, i need to rest after all that switch-a-roonie (switch-a-roomie?) we were able to do!

until later,

jenny

class work

 ok, I lied in my last post about what was coming next.  I was inspired by this weeks and last weeks Let's Face It classes, taught by Jeanne-Marie Webb and Emma Petitt.  Jeanne-Marie's class had me bringing out a reference image I had wanted to try anyway, of two women together, but to paint it in a loose, non-realistic way, with lots of mark-making and layers.  and I wanted to incorporate Emmas large, figurative hands.

heres the initial reference photo that intrigued me;

I liked their stance and the hands.

and heres how my progress went;

getting ideas and blocking it in

have a harvest theme in mind with pumpkins and a bushel of hearts

the end result;

gave up on the left-side pumpkins, 

added lots of autumn leaves 

and the hearts became an inner-work symbol

some close up photos of spots I adore;

the hearts and texture of the bold underpainting (that I didn't photograph)

her eyes...  full of love and concern toward her tired sister

ugh, the moodiness of her!  she is beat.

love the necklace area, the hair, the leaves, her voluptuous lips...

just yes to all this!

they make a great team

"Sisters of the Autumn Wind"

Changes are happening.  They are ending the busy time of harvest and entering a time of well-deserved rest, when they will go inward with love and self-care to develop a plan for the next season.

and this is how I'll be treating myself these next few months of transformation.  I'm going from a full summer of growth; myself as well as my garden and the knowledge I obtained as my body grew stronger.  I'm tired and struggling with some new health challenges, and some old symptoms that have returned.  I'm turning inward again as I have almost reached the end of harvest season.  I'll be centering my focus back on the inner self.   I was neglecting some important things as I tended the gardens and canned the resulting fruits of my labor in order to nourish me over the cold months.  I hope I can learn to juggle these things a bit better in years to come, for next years garden is in planning stages, and it will be an exciting one to work on!  

but for now, I'm still tending the last few fruits to ripen in this years beautiful garden.

until later,

Jenny

The Weary Lightworker, a new painting

I've been in a creative mood lately it seems, which fits me fine!  a bit of dabbling in paint after a bit of dabbling in the garden has been very soothing lately.  my soul needs a break from all the heavy stuff, and this painting is a reflection of that.

per usual, I started with a pose I liked via unsplash.com and used it for body position and shadow reference.  I was also inspired by a class by Lucy Cooke in Lets Face It 2020 where she created a "Modern Matisse".  I knew I wanted to try my hand at a bit more pattern, more background to my painting, but I wanted it also in a style more my own.

this was the pose I was drawn to for this class.

(forgive the placement issue, blogger has changed the format and I'm not used to it yet.  not sure it will do everything I wish it to)

I sketched out the pose;

added some bold color;

then I found a painting by Matisse that felt good to me and found some colors

then to start painting!

and at this point, and for the rest of the painting I wondered "what have I done!?"

The Weary Lightworker 

8/6/2020 Jenny gabrenas
her crown is askew as she takes a rest. she reflects on how to continue her work, as she loves this world so deeply.

I fiddled way too much with the feet/legs that aren't even close to the center of attention.  everything else seemed ok, but those non-important (and off the canvas of the original photo) feet really threw me for a loop.  I finally am to the point of aquiescense with the appendages, and might be finished with the effort of fiddling with such unimportant details.   the problem is they are all I see right now.  

so, I now turn my attention to the things I like about this painting;

I adore the message.  she is me.  I love the world and it's inhabitants.  I wish to help spread the light to all souls in order to help rise above the chaos, but I am so very weary.  I will take my time to rest when I am overwhelmed by things, adjust my crown and get back to it.  

I love her sweet little face and her crooked crown, symbolizing my humanness.  my faults that are present because I am here on earth and have forgotten what my spirit knows.

I love the textures in the background and the pink peeking through.  I love the white and pink chair.  I love the folds in her clothes.  I love her hair.

so, there are many aspects of this work that I really can appreciate, so I will keep my focus on those.  and, thats exactly how I can keep my calm during my difficult times.  I will focus on the good.  what do I like?  what is good here, now?  where is the pretty color, where is my joy?

I hope this painting gives you some joy, something to focus on, something that can inspire you to rest, take a breath and adjust your own crown.

until later,

Jenny

a new painting finished

I'm behind with posting my newest painting here.  although I've posted her on my other social media, I wanted to hold the story about her coming into being.

this painting was helped along as a response to Lets Face It class week 4 with artist Amy Beeman.  I had found a beautiful reference photo that matched what the class was doing, at my royalty free happy-place, unsplash.  I've wanted to learn how to paint red hair so was waiting to paint this model and was excited to dive into learning a little about using the Postershine app to help distinguish where highlights and lowlights are in the photo.

photo by branislav belko

(I go to unsplash to get ideas, color schemes, and inspiration for new paintings and to unwind and relax.  this is my happy place.  there are photos of places and cars and trees and just everything, within reason)



I used this reference loosely, as a guideline, but didn't care if I got it perfectly.  I just wanted the feel of her;  the long, red hair with highlights; the slight tilt to the face; the soft expression.   I did a quick sketch of the reference photo, just trying to get everything in roughly the correct places on the face.

I then went to town painting her.  didn't get any progress shots until the end.  it was a good day with motivation and I worked a long time, ignoring my own body pain and just doing the work.

"All You Need"

her title was the song that kept playing in my head as I painted her, so had to use it.  she makes me happy.


sweetie almost immediately put it up in my shops!

heres the society6 page for the art print

go to page and then scroll down to find more products 

society6 has new merchandise out, too!

I like how these notebooks came out

the redbubble site has changed.  I, for one am not a fan of change, and I find this one was counter-intuitive.  oh well.  

heres the link to the photographic print.  if you scroll down, you will see "available on +46 products".  click on that, and it will show you all the products that painting is on, and you can click on the one you'd like to see.

they have a new, second tote.  this one is cotton!

and here is their spiral bound notebook.

as I browsed my shops I have found I need to do some work to make it a bit more easy to navigate in redbubble, and I need to add my paintings into format for the newest products in society6.  I'm not the best when it comes to this tech stuff, so it might be a slow and frustrating process for me.  but, at least I know that things need to be worked on.  apparently some things change while one is dealing with life-stuff...  how rude!  time to play catch-up.

in the meantime, I look fondly at my new artwork, and know I am surrounded in love and peace.

until later,
 Jenny