An Abandonment of Character (Violent Piano Vol. 9)

Self-Portrait

Over at New World Creative Union, Natasha's posted this week's prompt for the Wednesday Wake Up, and it has to do with creativity and to shut those hater's up for good.  

Well, I started off attempting to paint up some vicious Dragon breaking free from an unsettled mass of earth, but then I realized I'm not that kind of artist, well, only because I haven't learned to be that kind of artist yet.  Fact being, my dragons look like anteaters, so that's a big reason I very rarely do anything that's not abstract.  However, I wondered, what could I do?

So I started out doodling in crayon, thanks Tash, and just started mindlessly drawing, (which is how all my pieces get going).  Then a thought captured me, and the result is now here, on display.  A Self-Portrait.  And while I'd love to say it's strictly my artistic self, I really don't want to lie.

Not sure if this piece silences the haters, or makes them want to say "told ya so," but if that's the case, let me rebut by saying, the first step in overcoming adversity is by identifying there is adversity to overcome.  Understand your struggles, contemplate them and ways around or through them.  Only by acknowledging as such, will you even have a shred of hope in overcoming them."

But then, the question arises, that I struggle with the most.  If you eliminate adversity, kind of impossible really, speaking generally, but if you are able to bring your mind to a better place, improve your lifestyle etc.. does what makes your creative side move also disappear?

That's the riddle right there.  A riddle I'm sure most would say, away cruel ills, and pray it doesn't clasp tightly upon your artistry as you vanquish it from your days.

Raspberry Dune (Violent Piano Vol. 8)

Crescendo in Tidal Wave Minor (Violent Piano Vol. 7)

Tar-Pits of Hubris (Violent Piano Vol. 6)

Empyrean Dusk (Violent Piano Vol. 5)

The Lake at Envy's Shores (Violent Piano Vol. 4)

A Sweeping Fog-like Froth (Violent Piano Vol. 3)

Perigean Spring (Violent Piano Vol. 2)

A Molten Core (Violent Piano Vol. 1)

Windoorway

Underground Colony (Creative Tuesdays)

Creative Tuesdays has prompted us to dig deep for this week's prompt.  The theme, or I should say themes, are either Underground or Under Water.  I've only taken part the past few weeks, but so far, all those participants linking up have provided some very fascinating and impressive work.  So click on over, check out everything that's on display and if you'd like to participate, take a read through the guidelines and link your piece up.

I chose the Underground theme.

Etchings of a Frozen Recreation

So generous
offering itself
entirely, to
young and
old alike,
providing
sanctuary
in those sliding
motions-

foot glides on leather
laced tight top the
bridgework bone-

leather connects to
blade-where in
concert, movements
lather in streaks and
glances, etching
frozen layers thin

and in this peaceful
repetition, the mind-
expands-wrapping thought
in topical individualities

yet, when legs tire  or
temperature sinks well
below breathable depths,
the blades are removed
and the voices dim
until
all that remains
are the scars
recreation layers- remixing
the landscape-and
frozen leaves the art

The Junkyard of Tartarus

Every area and/or region has their junkyards.  The same can be said for realms and/universes.  Of course there is no way to prove that statement, but theres also no way to disprove it either.

For this piece I started with this premise.  And thought to myself, what would the junkyard in a place like Tartarus look like, and this piece was the culmination of the exercise.

Lighthouse at night

Well, I just posted something a couple hours ago, but saw The Wednesday Wake Up on Natasha's site and thought, why not.  love the NWCU and what they do for the artistic community and missed out the past two weeks, so thought I'd come up with something to share.  Check the NWCU out lots of great stories on display, and join in the wake up call while you're there.

Winter's Web or What was found sifting through the attic

As most of you who've been following me are aware, I like taking a a template that I come up with and then play with color and color schemes.  So the piece that was posted yesterday and this one come from the same parent so to speak.  Again, I just love how these identical pieces, can take on lives of their own, simply by adjusting the hues, or working with completely different ones.  Artistic metaphor at it's finest in my opinion.

Cellular Predator

Shoreline: Day of Invasion

Some Sides of Chelsea Never Seen Before

Posted for Bonnie's Photo Art Friday.  Head on over and check out all the amazing work in her galleries.  Your eyes will thank you.  I promise.

Everyday Happiness

At Creative Tuesday this week we've been asked to explore the topic of Everyday happiness.  There were just way too many to do just one, so I threw them all together for some collage fun.  Check out what makes people happy, head on over to Creative Tuesday and see the many ways.

Extract of Universal Imagery

The Coaster by The Frozen Woods

Now I lay me down

The theme for this weeks Creative Tuesday is Healthy.  Well, I had trouble thinking of something healthy.  No, that's not entirely true, I thought of tons of things that are healthy, however, I couldn't think of anything healthy that I could actually draw or paint.

I had this neat idea of a woman making her way into a lake of milk, where at closer look the sandy shore was really a mix of Kashi and Grape Nuts, a few palm trees hanging bananas, oranges and of course some fish , multi colored, perhaps trout, swimming underneath the milky sea, just to add some Omega-3 to the healthy buffet.  But, nope.  Couldn't get it looking the way I wanted to.

So, seeing most doctors feel that sleep is both healthy and necessary to the human body, and seeing I couldn't figure out how to properly convey sleep, without the whole little boy sleeping in bed with a glow-in-the-dark crescent moon pasted to his wall, perhaps with his mother peeking in through the cracked door, letting just a trickling of the hallway light creep in.  But yeah, there was no way I'd pull that one off, the bed ok, the crescent moon, yep, the shadowy space, door and trickling of light, yep, the little boy, maybe, seeing he'd be under covers, but the mom, nope.

Well, this long intro aside, I thought of dreams, which I totally knew I could pull off.  And that's where this piece came from.  Phew….

Scenes from Different Streets

Neurology Smitten

A Collapsable Ideal

Playing around with color scheme once again.  Didn't come out as radically different as they often do.  But I tend to like them all in their own way, so figured I'd post them all as well.

Ghouls

The Immediate Dawn

The Love Bug

I'm submitting this piece for Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesdays.  Let me preface, by saying that I'm not quite sure if Digital Art completely fits the guidelines or not.  I didn't see anything to the contrary, but there is a chance I glossed over the mention in the rules.  Anyhow, please let me know.

I just came across Creative Tuesdays yesterday visiting Betsy's blog, visited and thought it was a really great way to share artistic interests.  I've just really started exploring my artistic side in the visual sense a little over a year ago, and have been quite drawn to the abstract.  This could because of a lack, as of know, in skill to draw people, places and things, but I do enjoy it and am learning everyday.

A little long of an intro here, well, it's actually below the piece, so I guess it would technically be a footnote, but regardless, checking out other's artistic ventures is always an enjoyment, and in short, that's why I appreciate the sites that allow a community sharing of their art.  So to Mr. Toast and all those that share, thank you for providing such an outlet.

As to the piece itself, as I mentioned it's done digitally.  I start by smothering the canvas in a variety of colors.  Typically I just go where the ideas take me, but having a prompt was quite beneficial.  I guess doing an abstract piece is really all about coming up with a unique snapshot of sorts.  One that tells a story in itself.  So, with that I got to playing with the knife, just something to do while I was thinking through what premise to go with.  I finally came upon the idea of a cocoon and the eventual transformation into the butterfly, again, thank's to Betsy's wonderful Admirals the other day, perhaps it was still in my memory someplace.  And I thought, when humans fall in love it truly is a transformation of self and surroundings, so I went with this idea.  So, here, the heart is locked within the cocoon, and I think the butterfly is pretty apparent.  So thanks once more.