The end of the year was spent packing up my 675 ft. sq. apt, moving to a new view, and finding a new walking/running companion. Clue, a Corgi Ikea rescue dog, took some firm patience to train. We spend about an hour every day on the path near our home with mountain views in all directions. He still gets out of control when another dog is near yet he’s improving.

After the first of the year, I began networking for graphic design work. A few potential clients ask me to quote their projects. One decided to do the work herself in Corel Draw. The other is not sure his conference will happen. Another one wanted her project pro bono. I have done so much free work over the years, I won’t do that anymore. She asked what it would cost, I gave her a great deal and got the project. Good clients are out there and I will find them.

Two minutes from our home, I discovered the Chaffey Community Art Association and became a member immediately. Already volunteered as a greeter for an event. Painting has fallen out of my routine, though. I plan on writing my first book all day. It’s already lunchtime and only one paragraph has been written. For some reason, I needed to post this. It’s been too long since my last post.

Pictorial free association, Automatism as defined in “Art Speak,” was the last project from the abstract class at UCLA with Ben Britton. Using Payne’s Grey, I started drawing outlines of these shapes. They are some sort of entities that have been showing up in my work, similar to Gatherers and The Rose Angel. In this painting, the entities are traveling west, following the leader on the center left side. They are coming together under one mission: healing.

For project #2 from UCLA abstract painting class, we started with an exercise in class taking turns repeating marks made by another student. For our painting, we were to use one stroke gestures or marks and also consider using motifs or patterns. My main thought while painting was to use strokes in different sizes, wiping away areas and adding more color.

Columbus Day 10/11/10
I need to work on my painting some more. It’s at the ugly stage. Not sure how I’m going to fix it. I haven’t been writing much or doing my own work since I started the UCLA class. The painting is getting worse. Maybe that’s a good sign. The painting is still muddy. Too many areas have the blue and orange blended together. I kept laying on more strokes of color. Class critique is tonight.

Oct. 5, 2010
While the paint is drying, and since there hasn’t been a moment to write ab….. the phone interrupted me. The final layer of paint is still drying. Then, I will add paint pen line work. This was the second gestural painting I did for my UCLA class. Painting it felt good.

9/21/10
Spur of the moment abstract art class was good last night.

Layer 3 looks done but I kept painting. Notes from class: flat planes that overlap (value, interlocking, come up in stages, same depth, contrast, edges, relationships between forms, edges: sharp or painterly, balance, sense of gravity, look for opportunities to define a space between forms, organizing principles. The final touches were the white, black and gold lines. The symbol Pi appeared and that means infinity to me. Ben, the instructor at UCLA, thought this painting looked like a Celestial Block Party. So maybe that’s what happens when we die. Forever more, we are in party mode with all our good friends.

9/22/10
Stopped in 825 Gallery on La Cienega in W. Hollywood and I was impressed. It reminded me of the Ecstasy: In and About Altered States exhibit at the MOCA in 2005. The first photo shows laced mirrors hanging from the ceiling. Different sizes at different heights were hung around the room. The reflections were beautiful. The second photo is of the exhibit that asked people at the opening to write on postcards what they needed most in life. The colorful balloon lights held the postcards as they were assembled that night. A great exhibit to experience on your own. Sensations may vary.

Wed. 9/8/10
Started a painting but didn’t write. I remember what I was thinking while working on this. The pose was casual for a woman. Her legs were comfortable and she wanted to give away what she was holding.

Sun. 9/12/10
Didn’t paint yesterday, even though I had everything set up. It just doesn’t flow when I’m not alone. Funny-strange how all those years I spent my evenings and weekends alone, sitting bug-eyed watching TV.

Colloquial: 1. conversational 2. words, phrases of informal speech and writing. The word colloquial came up when I was looking at “Abbreviations and Symbols used in this dictionary.” I like the meaning of this word. It describes me, conversational and informal.

Sun. 9/12/10
Watching “Pay It Forward” with Jim Caviezel. “It requires an extreme faith.” (If you haven’t seen this movie, rent it.) Some parts of the painting are still wet. I’ll use white paint to continue the dots. This feels like a self-portrait.

8/18/10
There are three people in this painting: two in the background, one in the foreground. It represents people talking behind another person’s back. Someone in my life recently confronted me about what another person said. I was misquoted and that completely changed the meaning of my words. Even when I explained myself, she took what the other person said as truth because it stuck in her mind. Of course, it bothers me when others believe something I didn’t do or say. Yet, all I can do is work on ignoring back-biting comments and remind myself of the truth. A co-worker once said, “People with great minds talk about ideas, people with average minds talk about events, but it’s people with small minds that talk about other people.”

8/15/10
The base started in Payne’s Gray looks like an eye. During an art class at UCLA Extension a few years ago, I had an eye in my painting and the teacher said it’s typical of a beginner artist to put an eye in her work, as if she was trying to see herself. A woman in class needed a translator to type out on computer what was said because she was deaf and mute. I didn’t finish the class because the teacher would leave for forty-five minutes at a time.

My painting looks like an ameba (amoeba in general use) with tendrils reaching out and gathering energy from somewhere. It represents my open tendrils gathering information.

8/14/10
Started this painting with a light pink and green base. The words Rose Angel came to mind. It’s perfect weather here: a slight cool breeze, enough to wear a sweatshirt. I hear a new bird chirping interrupted by the truck beeping, airplane flying overhead, car whizzing by followed by a motorcycle. Then I hear the leaves blowing in the wind. Rose Angel is a beautiful flower with a nice aroma. Be careful how you touch it, you may get pricked. The flower is often planted in front of a ground window to ward off would-be burglars. They can’t get to the window with all those sharp thorns. This Angel surrounds me with sharp thorns. Lots of memories are flashing in my mind and making me smile. A former friend who gave my phone number to a guy she met at a park (what was she thinking?), meeting a bunch of people at Isle View park in Tonawanda, running into a guy I knew at Delaware Park, a baseball game, and Chippewa St., all within a short time frame. (strange how a park is the theme here).

The Rose Angel (Archangel Barachiel) is called on when lightening strikes. He carries a rose.