A Little Cowboy Portrait and Garden Woes

I just finished this portrait of my niece's little boy, Read.  He's a cute little ole' cowboy!  It's been awhile since I've done a realistic anything, let alone a  portrait, so it was a little challenging but not too bad.  It's cut out of wood and then mounted on an 8 x 10 wood backboard for framing.  I used to do woodburned portraits for a living years ago.  This one isn't woodburned, it's airbrushed and I've never actually airbrushed a portrait before..  I could have (should have) accented the highlights and deepened the shadows now that I see it from this perspective of a photograph.

And my lettering leaves something to be desired....I'm no Sara!  I just kind of free-handed it on there and didn't try very hard I'm afraid. Lettering, eh, not into it.  I've already sealed it, though, so it's done and I just have to accept it. Airbrushing doesn't leave a whole lot of room for expression like brushwork does, though.  In retrospect, if I had to do it over, I'd probably brush paint it so there would be little more character in the rendering. (Stop it, Laurie, it's finished..gah!)

My niece Kris works with my sister Nancy who has a very successful tax and financial consulting business and she did our taxes this year.  In typical Laurie style, I assume that she might like something more personal than cash for payment. I hope that assumption isn't one-sided!  Maybe I should've asked.....

Well the deer ate my ENTIRE garden and started in on my precious purple phlox. Right down to the stems.   Man, I was just like, ERRRRRRRR.  They even ate the tops off my giant sunflowers and my morning glories. The only thing left is a bumper crop of passion flower vines.  By the way, passion flowers are super cool looking, but they spread like alien freak plants.

Between the early flooding, the hail and the cold followed by record heat, draught, and now deer, it's not been a good year for growing things.  If that's not bad enough, my cherry tree has no cherries, my apple tree has no apples, my mulberry tree has no mulberries and my pear tree has maybe six pears.  What in the world... ?   I don't know if it's crazy weather or if the honeybees have taken a hit and things just didn't get pollinated. Come to think of it, I haven't seen any honeybees this year. I bet it's because of that damn electric company and their toxic herbicide program. I'd rather have growing thngs than electricity.  We didn't even get any black raspberries this year and those are always copious.

Ah well, whine whine wah wah wahhhhhhh.  I'd better get out into the studio and make something before I depress myself and everyone around me!  Gah!

Have an awesome whatever day this is!

Laurie

"The Angel Way" Abstract Energy Art

"The Angel Way" by Primal Painter

I really love this one.  The colors, wow, sunglasses worthy! (heheh.)  The imagery has a nice flow,  the hidden angels and moon face are super cool, and the vibe when I look at it is high. I'm going to put a moon face in all my digital paintings from now on, it'll be my signature.  Back in the olden days, I made a decent living making a celestial line of mirrors, chimes, wall sculptures and mobiles, and I still dig that celestial vibe......and pyramids, I like pyramids......and spirals.

My desire to communicate seems to be at an all-time low, but my creative juices are flowing pretty well, so that's a good sign.  During this  phase of non-verbalism (or non-verbalocity, or no-talk-aholicism) which I have come to call "The Great Silence of the Yams 2011",  (Yams is code for vocal cords), I decided I should do another chakra angel to check in on the condition of my energy flow.

I was surprised to see the blue throat chakra so open.  I thought it would have a "Closed Until Further Notice" sign on it or maybe a "Danger-She's Gonna Blowww!!" sign nailed to it.  There must be something else going on with me because I sure do feel strange....cocooned......internal.......like I'm in a womb, all wrapped up and closed off to the outside.  Not stagnant or stuck, just inside myself, like in the eye of a tornado where everything is still but all around me is a wild whirlwind of debris, Wizard of Oz style. Weird sh*t, maan....

What she would look like matted and framed

The Crown Chakra - White, the combination of all colors, (some say violet, I say white) Our connection to Source, our connection to our higher selves, everything is one, part of the whole,  the spiritual aspect of believing in something greater than ourselves and the knowing that everything could make sense if the veil came off.  The veil is thin right now, I get glimpses but not the whole sh-bang. The glimpses keep me hanging out in the crown because of the mystery, that curiousity, that burning desire to "know". (Know what?). It's so big and sparkly and bright and shiny and happy and safe. No wonder I like to hang out there although according to this diagnosis,  it's  probably out of balance with the rest of the  chakras because of it's gi-normous size. Balance is everything, but then so is timing....patience, grasshopper.

The Sixth Chakra -Purple (some say indigo blue, I see purple) - The Third Eye - The Seat of Intuition -  "I see you",  Na'vi style from the movie Avatar, seeing the issues behind the pain. This one doesn't look too bad.  I've been working on blue and purple digital paintings lately while focusing on the fifth and sixth chakras and I think this process has cleaned out some of the cobwebs in both of them.  Cool.

The Throat Chakra - Blue - Communication, change, committment, verbal self expression, speaking your truth.  It looks fairly open and clear but it's out of alignment, not by much, but by enough that it needs attention, more work, the next step. I'm still convinced there's something stuck in my throat but I can't see it in this picture. (Maybe it's behind, maybe I should do an image from the back side, yeah)

The Heart Chakra - Green - The Bridge between the upper and lower chakras, the mediator, love, nurture, empathy, compassion, understanding, Christ-like. (I wish I was more Christ-like).  It looks open and cleared out, but not very vibrant or active. I recently finished the heart chakra painting with the intention of opening and clearing, so this is good.  The next series of chakra paintings will have movement, activation,  spin, and spiral. (spirals!!!)

The Third Chakra - Yellow - The Solar Plexus- thinking, intellect, self worth, self-esteem, self identity, who am I?, what is my purpose? why am I here?   There's something I'm supposed to do. I know I can do it.  I'm slightly out of alignment with my higher purpose but it's close....I think too much and don't feel or do enough, possibly because the second chakra isn't open enough.

The Second Chakra - Orange - Hara - the center of emotions, (easier to shut them down and pretend like they're not there) male or female identity, sexuality, intimacy, bonding.  Poor ole' second chakra, it's open but needs more,  lots more. The color is good though, so some clearing has taken place so at least there's been some progress..

The First Chakra - Red - Root - Kundalini -  Procreation, survival, safety and self preservation, bodily life energy, stamina.  And there it is, that puny first chakra.   The plant is only as strong as its roots.  It's not dark, so that's good, it's just small and needs to be more open and activated.

And the grounding cords, what grounding cords? There's a red light at the bottom of the angel where it looks like the grounding cords have disconnected and pulled back into a dark cave.  That's not so good, but this is a typical problem with me.  I have a tendency to float....

So now I know what to focus on.  I love chakra angels!

(Disclaimer: These chakra attributes are how I understand them and are not necessarily how an expert might define them.)

Until next time, whenever that may be......

Laurie

Butterflies and Lilacs

"Through a Butterfly's Eyes" 

Ruh-Roh Raggie...  Not everything has to be totally abstracted out I've discovered.  How about a little realism/abstract combo action.  This image was just my first attempt, so it's not a finished product or anything. I thought I'd share the very first one so that months later I can see how far I've progressed..

Man, I tell ya, that gimp is a fascinating tool.  As I learn more and more (all completely by accident) about the wonderful things gimp can do, I see endless possibilities.  Or maybe it's just the drugs I've been on for the last few days for an incessant migraine, I dunno! Not that I like the drugs, I hate the drugs, they make me tired and I know my aura is filled with black clouds because of them.  Nothing can really be done about a brain injury though, so I just need to feel grateful that I don't get seizures which were also a possibility when the brain injury occurred.

I don't know if it's the migraine, the creative burst I'm having out in the studio, all the eclipses and solstice energy or the disturbing discovery that some people lack integrity and will steal my images and words, but I've been strangely mute for the past week or so.  I'm still feeling pretty mute, but thought I'd stop in and say hi.

It just occurred to me that I'm also gearing up for some throat chakra work so that could have something to do with it too. Much of the imagery I'm creating right now is in blues with some purples thrown in which is a good indication that I'm moving up into the higher chakras.

I really want to put a chakra guide page at the top of this blog, but being mute doesn't seem to be conducive to writing.  I did manage to get a "What is Reiki" page up, so that's something at least.  If only I could multi-task like my sister who can do a million things at once and do them well!  I'm not like that.  Working out in the studio takes away my interest in writing and words (and cleaning and reading and everything for that matter!). .  The creative process for me doesn't include words.  My brain thinks in terms of imagery, shapes, colors and patterns.  I like fantasy land better than literal words so I might be there for awhile.

Well I'm already talked out......

Later!

Laurie

Earth Angels - A Wall Sculpture for the Planet

"Earth Angels" by Primal Painter

This is the first in a series of wall sculptures I plan on doing over the next month.  This is  an experiment where I'm incorporating my energy art prints into dimensional art.  I actually had a different one in mind for the first piece, but I've been hearing so much about volcanoes, tornadoes, fires, and crazy wild storms that I decided to do an Earth Angel protection piece.

I'll be going back to my usual "in your face" color schemes next, but this one is about the planet, and the planet makes me think of greens and earthtones.  The energy art print I used in this piece is called "Mother Earth"

"Mother Earth" by Primal Painter

(Whoa, do you think I used enough links? lol)

I got a wild hair the other day and decided to google  "Primal Painter".   There were quite a few strange sites where I got mentioned, many seemed like they were overseas.  Did you know that your comments on blogs show up in google searches?  Tweets?  Wow,  I don't know about this internet stuff,  I'm feeling kind of exposed.  

How weird is this?  This website has my words from a listing on Etsy  attached to one of their own images.  They changed a few of the words (which I highlighted) so it wasn't an exact knockoff.   They even put some of my  images (excuse me, effigies)  on this page, too, without any links to me or my shop.   I think they pulled them off my wordpress blog. 

One of those prints hasn't even been listed.  I feel a little violated I have to admit.  I guess I could change my attitude to "Wow, they like me, they really like me!"  I dunno, it's just weird.  I emailed the owner of the website but got no response of course.  Since then, the print of the girl has been taken down and there are three of "The Violet Flame", so I don't know what the heck is going on.   All I know is "Ewwwwwwwwwww"!!

I think maybe I need  to at least protect my images.  I don't know if there's anything that can be done about words, especially when they change a few here and there.  I guess I need to put a watermark on my images so they aren't so easy to steal.  I don't know how to do that, so I guess I'll add that to my overwhelmingly long list of computer related chores.  

Here's the questionable website.  The image my words were attached to were of some statues in Japan.

http://melindatanner.com/artists-self-representing/sculptures/modern-

sculptures/abstract-art-wall-sculptures-by-primalpainter/

“Healing Energy” by Primal Painter 

Abstract Healing Energy Art Photography Print

I created this abstract energy art print in March 2011  in response to the disaster in Japan.

This abstract art print is inspired by my wall sculpture entitled “Clearing the Chaos“.    Through a very intuitive procedure that reflects a distinct flow of energy, I created this piece of abstract art.

From beginning to end, I focalized on infusing the effigy with Reiki healing energy  in the form of colors, light and patterns. I believe that anyone could gain from the energy of this print.  Those who are sensible to energy might feel it in the form of vibrations, tingling, or plainly a lift in mood or sentiment of well being.

____________________________________________________________________

Dimensions: 8″ x 10″, could be hung vertically or horizontally. The effigy extends all the way to the edges of the paper

Colors: Red Violet, Reds, Pinks, Oranges, Yellows, some Purple, some Blues

Paper: Kodak Professional Endura Metallic Paper

I’ll sign, date, and title it on the back.

The metallic paper it’s printed on is very  glossy, pearlescent, and has a  shimmery glow with deep vibrant colors. I had it printed at a professional photo lab.

I plan on incorporating these new  energy art prints into three dimensional wall sculptures, original paintings and also into pendants, brooches, mini wall hangings and magnets.

To see other modern abstract art, energy art, wall sculptures and pendants, go to my Etsy Shop or my Artfire Studio.

Abstract Art Wall Sculptures By Primalpainter

Add a chic, modernistic look to any room with this striking pair of candle sconces! Matte black finish lends drama to slender curved metal wall plaques; each supporting a clear glass votive cup. Why not add your favored brightly-colored candles for an ultra-artistic display? Iron with glass cups. Candles not included. Each is 2 3/8" x 4 3/4" x 8" high.

Abstract Art Wall Sculptures By Primalpainter Picture

Abstract Art Wall Sculptures By Primalpainter Picture

Abstract Art Wall Sculptures By Primalpainter Photo

Abstract Art Wall Sculptures By Primalpainter Image

And how strange that these images are under a description for candle sconces!  If that's not bad enough, underneath my photos were bad reviews.....of candle sconces!!!! Gah!!

I'm going to ignore it all for a while.  Once again, the computer seems, I don't know, Eeevilllll!  The studio is a much nicer place!

Have a super fun weekend!

Laurie

"Forgiveness"- The Heart Chakra

"Forgiveness" by Primal Painter

Finally I finished my heart chakra painting entitled "Forgiveness".  I'm no Speedy Gonzales, that's for sure, but I'm glad it's done.  The timing has to be right for clearing and healing, so I just have to be patient and trust the process.  

I had a hard time with the photos because the center is a bright pearl white that dominates the camera exposure. If I expose it so the center is white, the rest of the colors are off.  I may need to work on the editing some more.  I swear, it seems like there are times when I spend as much time on the photography, photo editing, and descriptions as I do on the creation of the piece itself.  I don't enjoy all of that technical crapola, it's too much like work!  I only like doing the fun stuff...is that wrong? lol

I did a couple of necklaces, too, but I'm starting to think that I don't want to focus much on those anymore, although  I've sold two.  The photography and the editing for those are really time consuming and the final price just doesn't justify the amount of work.  

Pretty, though.. The metallic paper used for the print really catches the light, but again, super hard to photograph!  This one is smaller in diameter than my other pendants, I like it better smaller and the chains are cool but a pain in the ass when I CAN'T SEE!!! Gah!  When will I just get over it and get glasses?  NEVER!!!!!!  (Geeze, who was that yelling in a rebelliously childish way. Was that me? lol)

I'm starting to get back to where I started, but with a twist.....three dimensional wall sculptures but using my energy art prints as the focal point.  I might even use the necklace concept and incorporate those shapes into the wall sculpture rather than using them just as necklaces. 

I love making the energy art prints, though, I mean really LOVE it, so I won't stop doing those. So...much...fun!!!  As with everything else in my world, though, I have to be in the right zone to do them or it becomes frustrating. 

It's actually fairly easy to see when the timing is right for just about any endeavor.  Does it make me go "Wheeeee!" or does it make me go "ugggggghhhhhhh".  Pretty simple really.  The trick is paying enough attention to recognize the energy levels and emotional/physical responses and having the self discipline to stop and do something else.  I'm getting better but I still have a rebellious streak that kicks my ass. I used to get a thrilling buzz when I was rebellious, now about half the time it's more like a jarring, malfunctioning "gonna burst into flames" ooogley kind of feeling. I'm growing up, oh noooooooo!

The heart chakra issues were intense, to say the least.   I did several energy art prints to help me get through it, though.  I believe  working on the prints really made the process easier than the previous chakra paintings where I got blindsided with hardcore issues and didn't utilize any extra tools.  Those prints, I tell ya, there's something in those prints......

Well I'm out to the studio today.  I got poison ivy between my fingers and it's slowly starting to pop up in all kinds of unfortunate places on my body.  I don't even know where in my yard I picked it up, so I could get into it again!  Gah! Nothing's worse than poison ivy between your fingers! (well, maybe there are a couple of other places that are worse, but I won't get into that...)

Have an awesome day!

Laurie

Welcome to the Jungle

"The Clearing" by Primal Painter

I've been into some serious blues, purples, and turquoise lately.  I can't help it, it just happens.   "The Clearing" is focused  on transitioning from the heart chakra to the blues of the throat chakra  with maybe even some of the purple sixth chakra showing up. Things are on the move!

My heart chakra painting should be finished in the next few days, assuming the timing is right. I had to let it breathe for awhile, not to mention letting myself adjust to the clearing that took place.  This  energy art print is my way of paving the way for the fifth chakra painting, the throat.

Daily Channeled Message® by Dyan Garris 

There is a somewhat softer edge to this day as closure and resolution seem to be right around the corner. As the energies begin to shift now and we can begin to have hope for the future, Spirit asks us to examine a few things. Who or what is your source? Who or what have you been giving your power away to and why? If you've been waiting for a situation to change, waiting and wondering why someone isn't doing or hasn't done something differently, or wondering why someone has the attitudes and point of view that they do, wonder no longer. Focus your energy instead on your own center, your own power, and your own source. Everything is a reflection and you are in there somewhere. Peer inside the darkness and find your light. Reclaim your power. 

The Mirror Card


The Mirror 

"When you look into this mirror 

The reflection is not of you 

This window is here to help you see

Far beyond yourself it's true." 





That's a cool message I thought, and one that I should examine (Great....another message to examine..gah!)




As I'm sitting here, Bobo, my crazy little jack russel terrier is racing madly around the house, bouncing off the furniture for a little extra speed and momentum.  He stops every few seconds, tries to speak in Human, and then he's off again.  Lol, dogs are so funny.   Bobo is especially entertaining with an equal amount of "highly annoying" thrown in which he follows up with "super sweet".   His voice...good Gawd!   So LOUD......and Brain Piercing.

Bobo, such a cute, sweet, smart, annoying little guy! I wuv him. 

A couple of months ago, Bobo (affectionately known as Bobo McBratz)  was racing around the house like Speedy Gonzales and Penny, our roommate Jeremiahs' very overweight hulk of a black lab  (affectionately known as  Penny McPhatz),  decided to get in on the chase.

Penny McPhatz, she's obsessed with food...and lasers   

They were racing around the house at top speed (well, Penny lumbered...the house shook ) with Bobo going up and over all the furniture, easily evading the Incredible Bulk.    Penny decided to cut him off at the pass as he was going over the top of the couch that separates the living room from the dining room.  She jumped on the couch  and somehow launched her walrus like body over the back,  and they collided in mid air.   Bobo richoceted off Penny like he was shot out of a cannon! lol He went flying through the air backwards and bounced off the cedar chest.   lololol 


Oh my gosh, that was so funny, and he was so mad!  I was sitting in the recliner laughing at this turn of events, so Bobo  jumped into my lap and proceeded to cuss Penny up one side and down the other.  I've never heard so many different sounds coming out of that little dog's mouth before and I've heard a lot of sounds as he tries to speak in Human (he's very smart and on occasion gets pretty close).  What a tirade!  So Penny has to tell her side of the story and  sits right at my feet, looks me directly in the face and says "Grrrrr woof.......grrrr woof".  


Then Bobo looked at me and loudly said "arrarrrarr, rrrrr, yip yip, grrr ow ow ow whine whine squeal arararrrrr ow ow ow" with his voice hitting a range of octaves that were mind boggling even for him.   I couldn't help but  laugh, and while Bobo typically enjoys making me laugh, in this case it just made him madder and escalated his tirade. heheee   Poor wittle Bobo....


Here are the rest of our dogs....

Ellie Bear, better known as The White Devil.

She's my daughter Andi's dog that apparently is now my dog seeing as how it's been almost 3 MONTHS since I agreed to babysit her for supposedly a WEEK.  She's getting better behaved or so I tell myself.  She's super smart and does tricks like a circus dog, most notably a very entertaining "Ninja Roll" (but only if there are high quality treats involved like meat.  Dog biscuits, crackers....those are a no go).

Chance, my Bubby Dog

He's the oldest, the most obedient, the most loyal and protective and always has a smile on his face. 

Patches, better known as Patches McPhartz

She's the sweetest, most sensitive and gentlest of our dogs. She always knows when I feel bad and tries to give me some lovin'.  This picture was taken in the Great Blizzard of 2011.

Needless to say, sometimes it's a madhouse around here, a madhouse sitting in the middle of an increasingly unruly jungle. I wouldn't trade it though, I love my crazy jungle.

I know Memorial Day is about war veterans, but it's also a day that I choose to honor the memory of my mom, my dad, my aunts (especially Aunt Gladys), uncles, and grandparents.

Have a great one everybody!


Laurie

"Riding the Waves" Send Light to Joplin, Missouri

"Riding the Waves" by Primal Painter

Here's another experiment with painting using Gimp tools.  There are two hidden faces and a little moon in this one....I swear, I can get immersed for hours with this stuff!  I don't know exactly what the meanings are for these faces. The girl seems to be connecting with lunar energy and the high/low tides of  emotion.  Maybe she has issues with the people represented by the faces and is working on energetically releasing them although the faces don't necessarily look like enemies, just observers.

I'm not done yet, I see a few more faces in there that need to be pulled out.  Hmmm "pulled out".  I wonder if that's like pulling out a tooth? Bringing to the surface to be healed? I don't know, all I know is that this is some fascinating stuff and hopefully  it will all make sense at some point.

I did a distance Reiki session with the sweetest girl the other day named Anya.  She's a new Etsy seller and just started a blog.  Her shop is called ShopDionne and her blog is Start With Style .  Anyway, the session was way cool, and I realize once again that I'm clairsentient.  I "feel" what the other person is feeling, including physical sensations, although for some reason, many times I'll feel things on the opposite side of my body from where the person is feeling them.  I always think I should be clairvoyant where I "see" things because it's so easy for me to visualize, but I don't seem to do that during a session.  Sometimes I'll "hear" things, so I might have a little clairaudience going on, but I don't really trust that yet....I have a vivid imagination that might be filling my head with thoughts or at least that's my suspicion.!

Anya is into Reiki and seems to be very clairvoyant. She connected with me also during the session and told me of the visuals she received during it.  She saw me climbing a mountain, the higher and steeper the better, sometimes I'd lose my footing and slip, but I didn't feel fear, I just kept going.  I was also wearing a cape which she interpreted as me not taking myself too seriously. lol  I'd say that was about right!  When I reached the top, I was being chased by wolves, but I hid in a tree that had spy holes in it. I threw the wolves off by leaving my false self out where they could attack it. She had some nice encouraging things to say about me.

 I thought this was a very accurate reading from someone who didn't know of my journey at all! I have to really think about that part where I leave my false self outside as a decoy and let the wolves go after it.  That visual  keeps coming into my mind, so I'm thinking there's some profound wisdom in it that I need to wrap my brain around.  Anyway, it was super cool and I'm really glad to have met her.

Well today is a studio day. The sun is out, the rain has stopped for a few hours and my grass has grown about 10" in the last week!!  We missed the tornadoes that hit Joplin and Oklahoma.   Joplin is about 1 1/2 hours away, 30% of the city was leveled (Joplin is a fairly large city) and 123 people are dead so far.  The scenes from there are heart wrenching.

I couldn't believe my eyes this morning.  It had to have been a mistake, but if it wasn't, I hope someone gets their ass fired.  On tv, there were some previews for the 8  a.m. news. They were showing scenes from Joplin and one was of the rubble of a house  There was a closeup of the dead face of a kid buried underneath.  I almost puked.  Of all the insensitive shit I've ever seen, my Gawd that was some of the worst.

Sorry for that visual.  Put it out of your head, but send love and light to that poor community and the traumatized  family of that little kid.

Later,

Laurie