Because I have had so many inquiries about small 5" x 7" paintings on panel, there is now an official link on my website so those interested can find all the specifics in one place.

This has been a week of catching up with friends and updating my website. I did find time to work on the baboon and tamarin paintings yesterday and I am quite excited about the direction they are headed. I pick up the work from the Athenaeum on Sunday and it is nice to bring home a lot less than I dropped off. I hope to have a few paintings to add to those for the Caton Merchant show which opens on the 4th of February.

Being an artist who likes to introduce other artists, I leave you with Greg Simkins work today. For me, creativity coupled with technique is the one quality that attracts me to most art. Greg's work is really at the pinnacle of that mountain. Though I don't always connect with his work on an emotional level, I am blown out of the water each time I see one of his new paintings. As someone who works with narrative, I often wish he would share verbal bits of info along with his paintings. Coming from a graffiti background, for descriptive purposes, his work falls under the pop surrealistic category. I am sure your responses will sit along the spectrum, so let me have it.
And, uh, yes that is acrylic paint he uses. Amazing.


"Damsel"
c. Greg "Craola" Simkins

Make a resolution for more creativity!

With the new year just a few days away, it's time many of us think about resolutions, what are we going to do this coming year to improve our life. Kick a habit, make a new one?

I think the best habits to make are the ones that involve creativity; learn a new skill, fine tune an old one, learn techniques to bring your ideas to life. Maybe make a commitment to draw something each day, even if it's just a doodle, create something new each week, finish something each month...or you could make a commitment to learn more about color.

Did you know the color choices you make can transform an average piece of artwork into something spectacular? Be surprised and delighted by the effects and illusions you can create by understanding the mysteries of color. In this hands-on experiential class you'll learn key color concepts with visual examples, mix new paint colors, and create helpful charts, all providing you with the tools you’ll need to see color in a whole new light.

The next Color Theory class starts January 18th, to see the supply list and find out how to enroll click here.

Wishing you a fabulous holiday!

My daughter Nina illustrated this image of our dog Abby on Photoshop a couple years ago, I think it is so cute I just had to show it again.

I hope your holiday is filled with warmth, good cheer and loved ones. 

Thank you so much for visiting throughout the year, your words of encouragement, friendship and sharing mean so much. 

peace, love and creativity, Judy

Felted Soaps

Did you notice the recent Anthropologie catalog had felted soaps for $14 each? You want to make some of your own for gifts? Well here is what you do:

You need a bar of soap, I like glycerin soap for these but other kinds of soap work well too, roving and pantyhose. I cut the pantyhose into 6-8" sections or use knee highs.

Start out by making a layered roving blanket just like you do for making felted balls. Unwind a length of roving, while holding it in one hand, grasp the end portion with the other hand and gently pull off "tufts" roughly 5-6 inches in length. Spread the fibers into a thin flat layer with all the strands going in one direction.

Pull off another tuft of roving and layer it on top of the first, at a 90 degree angle. Repeat this process several more times, criss-crossing 4-6 thin layers.

When lifting the blanket of roving there should not be thin spots or holes. Changing the colors of yarn in the layers will create a heathered multicolored wool.

Take the soap, wrap it with the roving blanket and slip it into a panty hose and loosely knot it.

Run the pantyhose and roving wrapped soap under some warm water, saturating it, turn off the water and begin rubbing the wrapped soap as though you are washing your hands.

It will begin to lather, continue rubbing it, working all the sides. What is happening is the wool fibers are beginning to knot and tangle with each other creating the felt. Keep rubbing the soap until you see little fibers coming through the outside of the pantyhose, this will take several minutes.

When this happens you carefully remove the felted soap from the panty hose and smooth it between your hands and set it aside to dry.

The soap suds on the outside will dry and disappear leaving you with a lovely little felted soap.

If you are doing a lot of soaps you might consider wearing gloves, I got some pretty chapped hands one year when I made them for everyone in the family. 

If you are making these for yourself or for gifts, let the person know not to bother putting them at the sink for a quick hand wash, which is so tempting because they are beautiful, because it takes a couple minutes to work up a nice lather. These are great in the shower or bath since they have a nice gentle scrub, like a built in washcloth.

Happy Christmas......

I am sure many of you got as much snow as we did over the last few days. Being socked in, I have had plenty of time to cook, which is really just a thinking exercise. As Christmas and the close of the year approach, I stand in my studio, thinking about the paintings created over 2009, wondering about how well I executed each, where I can improve and concocting new ideas in my mind. I plan to follow this frame of mind through New Year's Day. I have about five paintings in early stages, but, if you have known me long enough you have figured out I tend to start painting after painting as the ideas are just too big to sit on. They seem to carry with them birth pains and I can so nothing about it. They are coming to be. But I commit to finish those waiting as soon as I am back to the easel the first week of January. A New Years' resolution of sorts (...we know how those tend to work out....)

At the close of 2009, a grateful thanks to each of you for encouraging and challenging words, for supporting me in a myriad of ways in my life as a painter, a life I would not have without your presence.
Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and a blessed New Year to each one of you.

On the easel...

I have about four of five painting that have been waiting to be addressed. This one is finally coming along and some new ideas are bubbling up....



"Nuthatch"
commissioned painting
5" x 7 " oil on panel

(I have had many orders for these small paintings, so if you'd like to get in line for one, just email me.)

Small paintings

The 5" x 7" paintings on panel are in high demand of late and I have been working on those commissioned pieces over the last week. I have sold four that hang in the Athenaeum show and have a few commissions in line. Although I really prefer to work on a larger surface, I can understand the attraction of the little paintings from a subject matter and price perspective. They really work well for small animals and have a very intimate feel. And $250 is a very reasonable price for a framed oil painting.

Hoping to have at least the baboon painting and maybe one new painting completed for the Caton Merchant Gallery show in February. We will have to see with the commissions and holiday travels.....