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Colleen Stewart was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia January 18, 2012. She is 14 years old. She has to endure 2 and a half years of chemotherapy, additional tests and procedures. Please pray for her and her family. You can keep up with her and her family by following her blog at www.leenonGod.blogspot.com

Let's show some love to her and her family. Thank you for reposting this.

Rewind to Saturday

I met with several Ann Arbor Women Artists at one of the artists' homes in Ann Arbor. We made artist trading cards. I made two. One was a landscape of Lake Michigan, the other was a landscape with a floating apple in the sky. A couple of the other artists told me it reminded them of another artist's work--Renee Magritte. He painted things floating in air. And here I thought this was a new concept. Sigh! So much for being the first person to do this.

At home I looked Renee Magritte up on my computer and took a look at his work. Not much of it impressed me until I found the huge green apple in a room painting. I wanted to create something similar on the blank trading cards I'd brought home from the group.

I created a giant pear in a room and went on to create a giant lemon in a room. I was surprise and impressed with the results. The pear was very fluid-faintly colored. When I drew the lemon, I made a mistake and drew the connecting line into the body of the lemon. I scribbled circles inside the lemon to make it look like I'd meant to overextend the line, then covered it with pastels drawn in circles. The effect was quite nice.

I haven't photographed them yet, but hope to in the near future.

Radio Interview

This morning at 6:10 a.m. the phone woke me up. I'd hit the snooze in hopes of getting another 10 minutes of sleep before the producer of The Take Away on 101.9 out of Detroit called to do a sound check for radio interview at 6:30 a.m. I reached for the cordless phone and tried to sound more awake than I was. "Hello, Greta?" A man's voice sounded on the other end. "Yes, good morning, this is Greta." "This is Blah Blah calling from The Take Away. We're calling to establish a phone connection and to make sure we have a good line." I sat up. "Is this a cell phone or a land line?" "Land line," I said, my voice was deep and raspy--not at all how I wanted to sound on the radio program. "Could I get you to say your name and where you are so we can adjust the sound quality?" "Sure, This is Greta Picklesimer in Jackson Michigan sitting on the edge of my bed." The man laughed.
"Okay, I'll give you a call back in about five minutes and you'll go live in about 10." "Good that will give me time to go brush my teeth. Thank you," I said.
We hung up.

I brushed my teeth quickly, turned on my computer and sat in front of the screen with the phone in my hand. The director called back as planned and again did a sound check. I sounded much more awake this time I was glad to realize. He told me there would be music for a few minutes and then I would be on with Celeste. I didn't get her last name, the show's host. I wasn't nervous. I mean how many people can be up at 6:20 a.m. listening to a talk show about why people love their jobs.

I waited for the host to introduce me, said good morning and then waited for the questions. She asked why I loved my job. I told her because I enjoy helping people, that I had been unemployed for a year and two months and was giving a little back by working at DHS. I told her I had been receiving services before I was hired. There was another person on with us--some guy in Colorado who loved his job too. She cut back and forth between us asking questions about what motivates us to get up and go to work.

The seven minutes the interview took flew by. I was surprised it ended so quickly. I called mom afterward to tell her about it. She answered the phone--her voice full of sleep. We talked for several minutes.

At work, the director of our unit, emailed me "good job on the interview". I was surprised that anyone I knew had been up listening to that station at that moment.

It was a good experience. Too bad I wasn't being interviewed about my art.

Painting during break

I just completed a watercolor and pencil painting of a peach on land during my first break here at work. I enjoyed laying down layers of paint on the watercolor paper I brought from home. Two workers came by to say "hello". I showed them the painting in progress. One said, "That's a nice looking lemon". I fain cried. The other said "it's a ball floating in the ocean". No, no it isn't. It was supposed to be a peach--a giant peach in the forefront on a vibrant green landscape and a lovely blue sky.

When a peach looks like a ball, looks like a lemon and to its creator looks like an orange...no wonder I do abstract and prefer it to any other type of art.

Even so, as I look at this piece I am proud of the progress I am making. I'm trying to paint, I'm working to get better. I'm laying colors down on paper even if they are not perfect representations of the idea I had. I'm doing what most won't. I am creating and whether it is perfect or even good...I'm trying and that feels wonderful.

Other Places to Display Art

This afternoon I was reading on the Ann Arbor Women Artist' website about the various places members can show work. I think it was two years ago that I showed 4-5 pieces at The Women Center on Maple Road in Ann Arbor Michigan. I created the works I showed specifically for that venue. The works were to be happy, uplifting pieces. "Just Over That Hill", which can be seen if you scroll down on the right side of this blog and "When All Else Fails...Hope". Both pieces hang in my living room. The latter hangs over the TV and so is in constant view. I love these pieces. I entered them in the fall of 2009 in the Ann Arbor Women Artists Show at the Ann Arbor District Library. They did not make it into the show. The shock of this slowly wore off. I've been a member of the Ann Arbor Women Artists for the past four years. I haven't entered any shows since my pieces were rejected. I wonder how I'll do if the two I entered for the Northville Art House are rejected.

Happy As a Clam

Today was a great day. I spent time thinking about the art I submitted for the Ann Arbor Women Artists. I really don't care for the oil pastel painting "The Best Laid Plans" because it is muddy and doesn't seem to really be as amazing as I saw it in my mind. Does this ever happen to other artists? Does this ever happen to you? I'd love to read your stories of creative mistakes and the outcome. Who knows if this piece or the other one--"Celestial Lime" will make it into the show. Even so, I tried and today, that's what mattered to me.

Decisions

I know I said I was not going to, but I did. I downloaded two images and mailed a check for $10 to Ann Arbor Women Artists in hopes of being included in the Spring juried show at the Northville Art House in Northville Michigan.

Last night, as I sat watching TV a commercial came on. In the background was a wonderful minimalist abstract painting in faint blues. I don't remember what it was a commercial for but the thought came to me that I needed to show my work more. I looked up Ann Arbor Women Artists online to see when is the deadline for the Northville Art House show. It wasn't until later this month. Yeah! I got to work rephotographing my recent oil pastels "Celestial Lime" and " The Best Laid Plans". After downloading the files onto the Ann Arbor Women Artist's website, I felt a sense of relief. No, I didn't feel the best--over the weekend my sniffles turned into a full blown cold--but I want to show my work whether or not anyone buys it. I just want people to see what I've been doing holed up in my home over recent or not so recent weeks.

The other matter I had to decide as I prepared to submit my work to the show is how much to charge. The frames for these two pieces run around $50 each. I want to encourage buyers of my work. So "Celestial Lime" was priced at $125 and "The Best Laid Plans" was priced at $175 even though Northville Art House will take 35% of all sales. It didn't matter. I want to sell my work. If one or both sold for this I would not have any regrets. My work would be out in the world being enjoyed by another living soul. Isn't that what matters in art? Sharing your feelings through your work for others to enjoy and contemplate? Yes, I think so. Thank you for reading :)

More Art

A couple weeks ago, I created a couple of paintings I planned to enter in the pop up gallery "Red" benefiting The Jackson Michigan Area Red Cross. I created two new works "Celestial Lime" and "The Best Laid Plans" both are oil pastels. I wanted to show them in the juried shows "Red" and one in Northville with the Ann Arbor Women Artists--I don't remember the name of that one. I would need to take time off of work if accepted into one or both shows to deliver my artwork. So, I did not enter either show.

I emailed one of the Red Show coordinators, Maggie Riggle. I asked, if chosen, could I deliver my work early. She emailed me back and said she would be happy to help by allowing me to deliver my work to her studio at Art 634. She said she would take it to the gallery for me. The deadline for "Red" was Tuesday, Feb. 28. I photographed my work, but didn't download it onto my computer. Tuesday came and went. I wish I felt better so that I would have at least entered the "Red" show. Back in December I has a knee procedure done to clean up a torn meniscus in my right knee. I'm still dealing with pain because both knees have arthritis. The procedure helped, but I still have pain and when I do not feel well I don't move as much. So then, I didn't enter these shows or create art.

Need to Photograph more Art

It has been a while since I've photographed my artwork and posted it anywhere. I closed my website www.gretaart.com earlier this year. It was more for vanity than for business and sales, so, to save money, I closed it. Eventually I may reopen it...or not. I hope that I can get followers of my art blog who will repost my blogs for others to read and follow. In this way, followers of my artwork will grow. I hope.

I have recently done about five pieces--oil pastels, which I need to photograph and post here. It is just a matter of doing it. That's the hold up...the doing it part.

Feel free to leave a comment and repost my blogs. I appreciate hearing from viewers. Thank you!!

Art and Beyond Belief on Primetime TV

Lately I've been creating art while watching TV. The art I'm doing is done either using oil pastels, which is a standard favorite of mine, or I use pencil with which to draw.

Right now I'm watching a "Primetime" special called "Beyond Belief". A reporter, who died and came back to life, interviewed various people who died and came back to life also. Though their experiences were somewhat different, most of them included seeing a calming white light and meeting deceased loved ones on the other side.

I wonder what my experience will be. I like the idea of the calming white light, seeing loved ones who have gone ahead and such, but after that I want to explore this place and I hope there are mountains and lovely landscapes on which to explore.