Wall Photos

Sideswiped by the mess across my carpet as my foot painted more than I did on Sunday while I spent the time cleaning with SOL-U-MEL and clipping paint threads out of the carpet.

Sad to say it still looks bad. :-P

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Sounds like an interesting read!

Dead, Ugly Brushes - ALIVE!

Turpentine stinks. Even the odorless brand is strong. It doesn't always clean oil paint off the brushes very well. Over time they become dead, ugly brushes. The other day, I came across several terminally ill brushes, ready for the bin. Thinking I could revive them with turp, soap and water along with tender loving care they were carefully put through the cycle of cleansing. Sadly, 3 of my favorite sable brushes were near hard as the wood handle. Normal, good brushes cleaned right up.


Then I remembered the new Melaleuca stain remover solvent, recently purchased and unused. Expensive keeps it in it's small bottle, but It is a concentrate only using 1 oz to 16 oz. distilled water. So the sickly brushes, plus one palette knife cruddy with old paint landed into 1 tbs. of Sol-U-Mel into about 3 inches of water and an old plastic cup I hate. I then wrapped the good brushes - glad I took the time to make them clean and left the others overnight.



To my total amazement the paint slid off the knife and the once hardened brushes were flexible and alive with bounce! WOW - it worked... Now SOL-U-MEL No 292 sits in my studio as a hero to all paint brushes. I took it step further: first the paint is scraped and dipped briefly into turpentine, then into the Sol-U-Mel dip where I shall PREVENT brushes from dying and they shall all live happily ever after.


SO if you are an artist, it's worth your while to join Melaleuca for this one product. 8 oz. is about $16 but makes up to 64 ounces of solvent. It's also powered by nature non-toxic, eco-friendly.


In it's own words: 
What Stains Does Sol-U-Mel Remove? Sol-U-Mel is a miracle worker when it comes to even the toughest stains—like tar, grease, gum, fingernail polish, paint, glue, juice, tree sap, candle wax, and more. Sol-U-Mel even dissolves permanent marker on contact.

Confessions of a closet artist...

Hi, my name is Barbara.  I am a closet painter.
That’s right. I hide my art in a closet and publish sketchy images, not professional photographed, to online VIRTUAL galleries. I hide original art from galleries, and public. It’s been 14 years since people have seen this collection and additional works live.  I live and work in a studio that most people will never see.

 Once upon a time, I openly expressed myself through art, in a place where it had value and meaning along with other artist of greatly diverse talents. Today that no longer is true. These works are kept in seclusion for only my closest friends to view. Virtually the works are online in a shallow attempt to "show" them off.

For many years I lived as an expatriate outside the US. In 1998, I returned to a changed America. Things were no longer simple. It turned into a rat race where people didn't live to work the opposite was true. Upon arrival I needed papers and ID's to prove who I was. Once a social security number was sacred given out to no one, but now it's almost printed on our foreheads. Strangely enough suspicion, and some sort of "secret security system" replaced social security. Long before 9-11, the demise what we knew to be good and true had started. Upon my return I found my county closing rapidly to personal freedoms we once knew and cherished.

I believe art must be seen live. Face to face where one can ponder the meaning and experience the depth of paint, detail and feel of each work. To speak to the visual artist about what they have to tell. Sad to say that is no longer true. Millions of artists struggle to be noticed and recognized, eking out a meager existence from Internet sales. Unless of course one is selected by avant-garde art dealers who select art so wildly weird that no one understands why and is embarrassed to say so. In reality rock stars, Hollywood celebrities, and Godless political leaders replace visual artists.



I know you might ask what has this got to do with being a CLOSET ARTIST? Everything.

It means that while I lived overseas in a real kingdom far away, I was able to freely paint, produce a huge art showing, all without license, taxes or gallery intervention. All this in a land where women are forbidden to even drive! Back then I painted drew and lettered until it grew into a collection of over 100 works. You can see the pictures below. I taught others how to paint as well and collective we showed and sold our works. Here and now, one needs a degree costing $50-60,000, a license and waits in line to be hired for such a job. Who took control like this? America was founded when people left England's licensing, costly schools and apprenticeships and tightly controlled society. Is that true today?

Amazingly, the repressive country overseas, I lived in opened a door to me artistically not found in the USA. It supported artists by building villages where they could work, paint and enjoy their occupation in a society that appreciated all talent and skills. Ok, so not being able to drive was sort of pain, along with other prohibitions like no religious freedom, no vanilla, nutmeg or women in the work force. That is another story to be told.  What I did find is that people still related to each other face to face, and simply enjoyed their existence without the drive for money, success and fame. Visual art shown broke down cultural, societal and religious differences, giving voice and harmony to such a diverse group of artist.

In America it used to be that you do what you love and it all happens. It’s no longer possible with the economy that drives people like slaves to the banks that trapped them in to lifestyles they cannot afford... need I explain more?

 
BOTTOM LINE: I am for now a closet artist. I am also a romanticist. Let me define the aspect of that word that aligns with what I mean: an exciting and mysterious quality (as of a heroic time or adventure) in art and life. I am also a follower of Jesus Christ of the Bible and a daughter for the Creator of the Universe, Jehovah God of the same biblical Old Testament. That gives me the faith to continue living, expressing and using all the skill and talents within me to create artworks though they reside in my closet and hidden rooms.

Someday who knows, this art, my dream of working with many artists all over the world will come to light. I WILL COME OUT OF THE CLOSET by showing art live...


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Finding The Muse

Writer's have Block periods. So do Visual Artists. In fact that is where I am at right now.
I remember seeing the movie "the Muse" years ago,  which i found uhum... aMusing to say the least. I suppose the part I most remember is that while Albert Brooks character actually employed the MUSE to help him, it was the wife who caught the end reward of this muse, with the discovery of her own skill and inspiration to begin a business of her own which ultimately flourishes.

Symbolically, I see the muse as creativity itself.

Creative bents are expensive, demanding, inflexible, unforgiving yet rewarding and full of purpose. Being an artist myself, I totally relate to the relentless nature of creative inspiration and the demands it makes on one's life while others question the sanity of the bohemian discipline - or the lack thereof! There is another aspect of the film showing the way men and women respond to creativity. Brooks reacted to the muse with concrete expectations of some magical answer, black and white and on paper. While his wife received the essence of the muse's windfall and she bloomed with confidence creating her own inspired business. There is feminine and masculine side to all of us especially in living creatively. One makes choices from a black or white angle or filled with a spectrum of color. Viewed this way the film easily points to the emotion and mental battle between reason and creative abandon.

I enjoyed this movie - wanting to find that muse myself. Sarah, the muse played by Sharon Stone told Albert every time she said something: "Did you write this down?" a stark reminder to myself to write, paint and draw all the things I see, feel and experience. No muse needed!

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Just joined a brand new website for artists! It's the best one I've seen online yet @ least website wise. Easy to use, excellent choices for artlovers to choose from with great search and find features. Fine Art America http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/barbara-beckazar.html

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