Update on "Arabella"

Dear Visitor,

You might have followed the progress of "Annabella's Inner Life" (see former posts) and are curious to know if she won the competition. Yesterday, July 26, on the Marbletown Founder's Day the jury picked the three winners among the posters. Arabella made the third place :)
It was a perfect weather day with marvelous art from 30 artists, musical performances and a happy crowd of visitors. Here are some visuals for you.

The row of posters were greeting the visitors.

Art impressions at set-up, before the first storm of visitors:

 A collection of my art blocks on display. Most of them were sold by the end of the day.

More artwork all around:

The winners of the poster competition are being announced:

FIRST PLACE: painting by Warren Hurley.

This was/is my absolute favorite of the whole series.


















SECOND PLACE: painting by Alicia Tamarchenko:

The "permanent" markers had faded in the sunlight. Alicia repaired the damage in the morning of the final day. It was worthwhile, she made it to the second place.













THIRD PLACE: "Arabella's Inner Life"

It was a great challenge for me to create something out of nowhere. I loved the whole process. On top of it, making it to the third place in the competition, made my day :)

The Universe Is Smiling: "Heading towards Dreamland"

Q: What is today's wisdom?
A: Cozy up with your dreams and make your dreams come true.

"You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream."
- C.S. Lewis
"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."
- Harriet Tubman

The Casual Observer: "Chalk Festival New Paltz"

Dear Visitors,

Fun things are happening in my back yard. The annual chalk festival is happening again. Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.

The Universe Is Smiling: "Listening"

Q: What is today's wisdom?
A: Listen and receive with an open heart :)

"The first duty of love is to listen."
 - Paul Tillich
"Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering."
- Winnie the Pooh
"Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand."
- Karl A. Menninger

"Arabella's Inner Life" - revisited

Dear Visitors,

"Arabella" finally came to life after 5 days of reflection, painting, cluelessness, and daring with the deadline in mind :) I brought her over to Marbletown, where all the posters will be displayed throughout town for two weeks, gearing up to the big event on July 26th.


On that day there will be a big celebration with artwork from 36 artists, fun events, and lots of food. The posters will be juried and then be auctioned off to benefit the Stoneridge Library. One of the main organizers of the event are Sevan from the "Wired Gallery"  and Andrey Tamarchenko with his Gallery "Element 22", both in Marbletown/High Falls and both worth visiting.

Before

After

"Arabella" close up. If you like to see the steps from the beginning to the final product, check out the former blog post "Arabella's Inner Life".

Here are some posters of the "competition". It always amazes me what the creative mind comes up with. Every single one is different and there will be more posters on the 26th.

Poster Series

The "Females"

The "Males"

"Arabella's Inner Life"

Dear Visitors,

This will be a very different post. I have gotten myself into something I have never done before: a poster competition :) This is part of the Marbletown, NY, Founder's Day celebration. The assignment is to fill with images, colors or shapes the blank white space inside the founder’s body on one of the posters pictured below. The posters are printed on canvas and stretched over 26” x 68” frame. The figure itself is about 4 feet high. The deadline is July 11th. The posters will be put on public display in and around Marbletown to promote the Founders’ Day festivities to be held on July 26th. The posters will then exhibited and auctioned off at the end of the event to benefit Stone Ridge Public Library.

 

I got the notice about this event last Friday, the 11th, was humming and hawing about participating but the deadline seemed too short. Saturday, however, I was still thinking about it. Then my boyfriend convinced me to dare and so we picked up "The Lady" :)

 

I gave her the name "Arabella" and called the theme "Arabella's Inner Life". Now what? I was completely clueless how to fill in the white space, but was and am still counting on the Inner Voice Drawing process to guide me.  I have decided to document each step and let you in on the development of the piece. The surprise of each step will be yours as much as mine :)

STEP ONE:

close up

I am getting a first feel of Arabella's personality: reflective
with an inner fire ....
5 more days until completion.

STEP TWO:

Arabella's personality is coming out more: playfulness with a bent for gentle pranks. I am curious where this will go. Are you too? Stay tuned. 4 more days until completion.

STEP THREE:

 

close up

This is the last sketch. The next step is adding color.  3 more days to go.  Stay tuned :)

STEP FOUR:

This is still a very rough color draft. I am working with acrylic on vinyl. It's a slippery surface and makes it more difficult to have a smooth and even paint. Layers are the solution. 2 more days to go. Stay tuned :)

STEP FIVE:

 

Arabella is shaping up :)  I hadn't thought of outlining all the forms with a black marker, but when I did one I liked the look: the forms pop out more and remind me of stained glass patterns.

One more day to go. Have a good evening and let's meet here again tomorrow for the final :)

THE FINAL:

This was a fun project. I had some trouble though with the writing part. I had bought several light colored markers (sharpies) to write on the black background, but none of them worked on the vinyl material. Challenges can make you creative, so the solution was painting an acrylic base and using the black marker on top of it. Voila :)

I hope this post gives you some ideas and the courage to stretch yourself - at least a bit. You can do it!

And don't forget to make someone smile :)