Smile
« Previous Entries Next Entries »The Dryer Elf
Friday, May 1st, 2009
Alright, I try to work every single day, but there are days when work just has to be play for a while. This morning my husband and I had a little argument over who it was that dumped all the clean clothes that were in the laundry basket onto the floor. My position was that it was the elves. We stopped arguing and started laughing.
Interactive
Saturday, April 25th, 2009
At the end of each month Oxide Gallery and Carino’s Italian Restaurant in Denton present an evening of Art, Dinner and Wine Tasting. Offering a new menu each month, an amazing four course dinner is complete with wine pairings for only $29.95. The room is separate from the rest of the restaurant, so offers an intimate setting where, at some point during the evening, the artist discusses and answers questions about their work. A new artist’s work is featured each month, and on Tuesday it’s my turn. Although this is a new idea it has been well received. Reservations are required, but April 28th is now booked solid, so the Dinner and Show is extended to take place on April 29th as well.
The Interaction with Flowering Shavingbrush Tree
I reapplied masking fluid to the painting in order to continue working on it but still preserve all the great marks revealed after removing the first application. At Carino’s on Tuesday others will participate and be a part of helping this painting come to life by removing the dried rubberized medium from the painting, and help unveil the finished piece.
Update, May 1st: Pulling off the rubberized medium was a hit! A few people kept going back to pull more off. If gallery owners are open to it, I’d like to continue doing this at future opening receptions too. Here are some photos of the fun.
“One last peel before I go…”
Howler Monkey
Friday, March 6th, 2009
Young Howler Monkey at the Dallas World Aquarium, 11H x 11W x 3D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted. Frame unnecessary. Hang on a wall or display on a flat surface. Signed on the side so as not to impose on the composition.
Work progress detail images shown, scrubbing and scratching away more paint than adding it.
Showcased in the J. Mane Gallery’s Fins, Feathers and Fur 2020 exhibition (post-dated comment).
The Monte Files
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009
Post-dated January 11th, my niece Camille created this.
Post-dated January 28th, my son Adrian created this with his new industrial emboidery machine…good luck with your new biz Adrian!
Who or what is Monte? (“Mon-tee”)
Borne out of inattentiveness in a grade six science class, I drew Monte everywhere on my friends’ notebooks, on everything I owned, even painted him on the back window of a friend’s car during the late ’70’s, which I have no photo of, unfortunately. 
Monte has managed to come back to life every few years since then in some form or another. The cartoon head is originally blue and drawn along with different hand gestures, but the basic shape can morph into any figure simply by changing the eyes, shape of the head, adding ears or a nose or a suitable body.
The Monte Files were listed on my very first website (2003) with the invitation for you, whoever and wherever you are, despite your age or drawing capabilities, to send in your version of Monte or a character inspired by him, and add it to the collection. The Monte Files are back, listed as a permanent page on this website and the invitation stands. 
Your character doesn’t even have to resemble Monte at all, and can be created using whatever media you wish. Scan him, trace him, shred him to bits then reassemble him, make a collage with magazine clippings, write a quip or add hand gestures…no rules except be kind and have fun with it; Monte’s up for anything….
Children, adults, artists or not, or if you have a website of your own that you’d like to promote in The Monte Files then send a jpeg image of your version of Monte, or a character inspired by him, along with any information you wish to share to nikki_coulombe@hotmail.com. I have no knowledge of how to, nor a desire to use your information in an unethical way, so you have no worries about that.
When we were in California recently we met some ladies at a rest stop who were driving to New York City from Alaska in a beat up old car. Friends, and people they met along the way signed their car. Monte travels!
Featured Artist
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
Googly-eyed Grandpa by Evelyn Drury, colored pencils and googly eyes from the $1 store. Says Grandpa: “Even my socks are looking back at me now!”
Evelyn has inherited the relentless Artist’s gene. Hooray, this world can use all the creative people it can get. There are so many choices available for her future as an Artist should she choose to make it her career. Creative minds are appreciated as an asset wherever a person chooses to work. Even though she’s only 4 1/2 years old, if I have any influence it will be to help guide my neice to #1 have fun learning. Her attention is so sharp, she is capable being an engineer or architect, or she may wish to start her own business. Wherever it leads you, Evelyn, sweetie, I’m there for ya!
A Studio Affair
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
“Your eyes are like plastic pearls”
“I bet you say that to all the inanimate objects”
The romance began last year.
Happy Tree
Thursday, June 19th, 2008
Happy Face – Pecan tree, Lewisville, TX
The Art of Caring
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
Who would save a drowning rat? These two little boys, Haydon and Noel would.
When I arrived at the neighborhood pool this morning they had just scooped a helpless rat out of the water with a little pail. It was still alive but barely, and the oldest boy who was six years old, explained to me about the circle of life – he used this term, not me. He explained that if rats died then snakes could not live, and so that’s why he saved it. I was impressed, but their other new pool playmate, a toad also discovered in the water… not so much!
New Roots Garden Sculpture
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
…a new addition to the Roots Garden Sculptures, from a dead thyme plant.
Yard work: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
The Good: all the little unexpected surprises, like this toad that I never would have seen if it had not popped out of the hole at the exact moment I happened to be looking there. The clay container with a hole in the center is designed to coil and contain garden hose, but being used as a plant pot. Good: The beautiful orange flowering plant is called a Sun Star.
The Bad: having no choice about mowing the lawn on a 98*F day, and keeping edges formally trimmed because the neighbors have it that way. Also Bad: Fire ants that bite before you know you’re standing on a nest with bare feet…but Good: Fire ants keep the tough Texas soil aerated. The Ugly: me with ant-bite blisters, mowing and edging the lawn on a 98*F day.