After My Tirade About Dogs

June 13, 2019 roxannebaldwin Leave a comment

Why am I suddenly drawing so many bicycles? Is it some kind of Freudian thing?

So, there have been two recent drawing of bicycles. The last drawing I made, and this one:

Is it a wish fulfillment of my unfinished application to the Rhode Island School of Design? As I think I mentioned, part of the application process was to draw boots and a bicycle. I wonder if they still do have those drawings to do. It can’t be that…it’s too long ago, and why now?

Here’s the sketch for the latest one. So far, the finished work is coming out much differently.

The truth is? They’s fascinatingly complex and simple at the same time. Sort of like when I was drawing jungle gyms

(So where is that jungle gym pic when I need it? I’m sorry to disappoint. It’s probably buried somewhere on my old point and shoot camera, that I disposed of long ago. I’ll have to retake the picture)

Or bridges:

Or chairs:

I never realized that the title of the one above is actually a description of me.

But that still leaves the question…why now?

In the meantime, here’s to bicycles!

SICK AS A ????!!!!!

June 10, 2019 roxannebaldwin 2 Comments

I spent the week after the festival, sick as a dog with a respiratory flu. But let’s back it up a bit….sick as a dog? Where did that come from? Why does a dog become a simile for illness? Why such a desultory description of such a kind, benign, helpful creature? I did a swift search on Google, only to find the source of this comparison is unclear. So, I call and end to the negative profiling of dogs as sick! Free the dogs! Let’s find something more accurate.

Sick as a monkey? Maybe, but I have no drawing of monkeys.

Let’s try something that I have more drawings of. Sick as a cat?

If you’ve ever dealt with a sick cat, you know they can be quite unpleasant. Yes, sick as a cat is a definite contender.

How about sick a crow?

In all honesty, I don’t know enough about crows to have an opinion.

As sick as a winged horse? Naw, that’s pretty incredulous.

My brother and I have this inside, family joke about bears throwing up. Specifically, strawberry ice cream. TMI about the Baldwin family?

Not quite. Just a little modification and I think I have it. Sick as a giant stuffed Teddy Bear! Put the onus on something in animate.

And let’s get the dogs out of this unsavory simile.

There’s No Business, like well you know…

June 5, 2019 roxannebaldwin Leave a comment

Last Saturday was the Danbury Street Fair! In which I participated in as an artist. I was able to do this on the cheap, without investing hundreds of dollars on equipment. I was breathlessly waiting to take the tent from its case. I only paid $65 and a trip to Queens, NY, so there would not have been a big monetary loss if it was unusable. But then, I’d be without a tent. Low and behold, we set it up and it stood as high and as proudly as the American flag on July 4.

I would have had better display racks if I could, but money was certainly an object.

As for sales, I only sold three small drawings (one of which was to my sister in law).

It always surprises me what people decide to buy. A young woman, a cat lover, bought two drawings

And a small version of this one. I did put out this large, full-sized picture, which got a lot of attention. Cat pictures were the order of the day, including my brother’s cat.

Lots of lookers though. I’ve done enough of this kind of show not to expect to get rich off the sales. The main thing was to get my art in front of the public, and have fun. Yes, some people go on cruises, I do art shows.

It would have been a lot more fun if I hadn’t been fighting the flu with a fever. That’s another story.

So, now making plans for the next one. It will probably be in the fall, getting close to the holidays. With better racks. I’ll keep you posted.

Forsooth, forsythia!

May 12, 2019 roxannebaldwin 1 Comment

I’ve lamented and moaned on how fast spring passes. You’re probably sick of it, I’m sick of it, but I’m going to do it again. Why? Because it’s another spring, and by the time I draw the daffodils, the tulips are gone. Damn.

So this spring, I’m going to get away from my usual MO, and draw a few more spring pictures, although we’re quickly passing into early summer.

So the drawing I just finished….

Why the bicycle? It’s just a great spot of color, which I needed there. It also adds a carefree subject matter to the drawing.

I’ve had many people try to read my artwork, as they would a book full of meanings and symbols. The truth is, I try to establish a mood, and the individual objects are just there because they add to it. If there is any meaning coming from the objects, I’m not aware of them, except as the trickster of the subconscious mind may suggest.

In other words, stop trying to make it so hard, and just enjoy.

On another subject, in many apartment moves, I’ve lost or discarded a lot of artwork. Many I still regret, but the moves were stressful (aren’t they always?)….so, that’s that story.

One piece I was sure I lost was a drawing that was the first in colored pencil. It was one that I sill love, and feel is one of my best. Low and behold! As I was going through my artwork to show at an art fair, I found it. I still have it! What is old, is new again. It has on title (or symbolism for that matter).

venus and mars are alright, tonight

April 16, 2019 roxannebaldwin Leave a comment

For those of you who caught my short-lived, remarkably self absorbed post the other day, I apologize.

But an update, the featured picture “A Western Tao”, is alright after all. Much to everyone’s surprise, my artwork survived the flood waters.

It’s a drawing of a man and a woman. Every remember the book “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus”? This drawing could be an illustration for that. Which brings us to a quote from a Paul McCartney song:

“Venus and Mars are alright tonight”

Which cleverly segways us into my latest drawing.

Remember I was drawing a picture of the night sky and the Milky Way? I was struggling to find a good name for it. So I finally decided on a title:

Venus and Mars are Alright Tonight

I had the start of another drawing, but realized it was an image that belonged to my winter depression. So, my next drawing will be about spring.

Typos and all!

I’ve had it with this

March 28, 2019 roxannebaldwin Leave a comment

What have I had it with? Not being able to do my large pieces. They are most expressive to me, and what keeps me going. My hand is fine, now, and other than work space, I’m ready.

My first piece is going to be a nocturne, of the yard I had when I was a kid. I liked the piece but it needed punching up.

This is a medium sized piece, done many, many years ago. Okay, not that many.

So what’s missing? A very important part of a starry night sky. What I always dismissed as wisps of clouds. The Milky Way!

Since I’m still set up for note cards, here’s the small, preliminary sketch:

My own personal Starry, Starry Night. However, that title is taken. What about:

Ode to Van Gogh

Owed to Van Gogh

Searching for Major Tom

????????????????????

Ah, the trials of being an artist. Any kind of artist. Titles!

Maybe I should just be done with it and call it “Untitled, #1”

In note card news, here’s the latest:

Fast and fun

Sometimes, the Sky is Purple

March 24, 2019 roxannebaldwin 1 Comment

A lesson in creativity.

When I was about 7, we were doing artwork at school. It was a assignment, don’t remember what. Exclusive of one little boy, the kids at my group of desks, were drawing the sky blue. That one little boy, was energetically coloring the sky purple.

One of the gaggle of kids, (I use gaggle descriptively, we were not geesee.) jumped on the purple sky boy and said:

“What are you making the sky purple for? Everybody knows the sky is blue!”

Then the rest of the gaggle, including myself, joined in the fray, insisting the sky is blue.

A teacher’s aide, noticing a ruckus, came over to see what was going on. We all almost shouted, “Johnny (or whatever the boy’s name was) is making the sky purple. The sky is supposta be blue!

The aide however, said, in a calm, knowledgeable voice, “Sometimes the sky is purple. For instance a rainy, cloudy day it’s purple. The sky is lots of colors.”

We all quieted down. However, I knew a scam, when I heard one. Of course the sky is blue!

In all honesty, it’s not the royal blue in the small set of Crayolas either.

When did I decide the sky could be different colors? I think it was when I made the sky a shocking shade of green.

I’ve done my share of purple skies.

Often, the sky is multi-colored:

But truth be known, most of the time, I believe the sky is blue..

So there..

In other news, here’s the latest note card. Pumpkin posed for it.

Roxanne Baldwin's Artsy Blog