REPURPOSE YOUR ART - A new approach to your past creations

COSMIC COOL - A new pop art of a previous original painting. Available as archival prints and giclees on canvas in various sizes at PopArtDiva.Com. Copyright 2008 by PopArtDiva.com, all rights reserved. No permission given to save, distribute, copy or print without permission from PopArtDiva.com

Cosmic Cool is a redesign of an original acrylic painting I created on a hand turned wooden bowl nearly 20 years ago. I spent about 5 years in the early '90s doing original paintings on wood bowls, plates, platters and boxes and I loved doing them.

Recently I realized this were extremely pop art in nature and since I was now into pop art and pop culture art these were viable designs for my pop art series on my web gallery. I decided that I wanted to use these designs again but using the extremely versatile medium of computer art.

You can see the influences of my favorite artists in these pieces. There is a definite Peter Maxx approach with a touch of Disney whimsy, and it's based on one of my favorite subject matters - the cosmos. I love stars, moons, planets and anything celestial.

I am also fond of masks, having collected them for years from all over the world. Cosmic Cool is one in a series of mask inspired paintings I did during this time and it's one of the first I have redone as a digital work. I have a photo of the original bowl tucked away on a cd and when I find it I'll repost this and insert it for comparison.

It's kind of fun to revisit some of your past work and approach it from a different mind set and a few decades apart - especially in a totally different medium! Try it out sometime - it's fun and it's recycling!

American Gothic - Diva Style

American Diva Gothic is my latest digital work for my Mad Masterpieces Series of Pop Culture Art.

I love taking the old masterpieces and doing parodies of them for our modern times. I have a slightly warped sense of humor - after all, I am the Normal Challenged Artist™.

This particular piece by Grant Wood is ripe for parody. What's interesting is that originally it was something of a parody in itself - some critics called it a "comic valentine"!

Whatever the inspiration, these two dour mid-western salt of the earth types have always begged me to have a little fun with them. Since I've been following my Road to Diva I ended up turning this into a bit of a woman's rights statement - sometimes I'm not even sure what the end result of my parodies will be.

Hope it gives you a giggle - I was giggling a lot when I created it.

NEW ART - ABSTRACT PAINTED SCULPTURE FUSIONS

I just finished several new original painted sculpture fusions in preparation for my show this weekend. These are my abstract acrylic paintings on an original abstract sculpture.

It's hard to really appreciate the sculpture and the textures in a two dimensional format - especially at these photo sizes.

This piece, entitled "Fill the Palette of Your Life with Color" is approximately 24" x 30" and can be hung either vertically or horizontally.

Generally these are done without the writing - this time I just had to do it. I have always liked the idea of putting in prose or statement in my fine art, but have shied away from it. There is always the chance that the words will change how a person views the art itself. But I kept feeling the pull to add the little sayings and I went ahead and did it.

I kept the wording small and discreet for the most part. It's something you have to be up close to see and that was my intent, a little surprise that sneaks up on you. I signed this work on the front - something I rarely do, my work is usually signed and dated on the back. My work is totally unique to me - no one else has anything quite like it - so the art itself serves as my signature. I'm not fond of garish, ego signatures that fight the art for attention. My opinion is the art should be the focus, not the artist.

What is hard to show here is the really interesting organic textures I have created in the sculpture itself. You get some idea of the texture by the close-up photo, but you can't really appreciate the depth of the texturizing and the fine details that cover the piece. Below is a photo of the sculpture before any painting is done - it should give you some idea of the sculpture textures and depth. The pieces are designed to "float" off the wall - they have struts on the back that lift the piece about 1-3/4 inches from the wall.
I have several proprietary mediums and techniques I use to create this work. One is the sculpting medium itself and others include how I get those really cool organic textures that look like snake and lizard skin and other natural elements. The sculptures take from 2 to 5 days to complete, the paintings take from 2 to 10 days depending on the size of the work and the complexity of the painting.

I cannot plan the paintings as they are stimulated by what happens in the sculpting stage. I can't really plan the sculptures either - trying to force the sculpture into something you want will kill the spontaneous textures that are at the heart of this work. Those textures and the flow of the sculpture are what make these exciting for me to paint. As a result each piece is a surprise for me and a challenge. This is what keeps this series fresh and exciting. If I'm not challenged I get bored easily and the quality of my work would suffer.

Though these pieces look heavy they are not. The largest piece pictured (30"x40") weighs considerably less than a framed and glassed print of the same size. You don't need any special hanging apparatus other than a molly bolt or one of these new s-hooks available. And they're washable and durable. I've shipped them all over the world with nary a break or a chip - ever.

I also finished a 30" x 40" (below), a 10" x 40" (not pictured) and a 12" x 30" (below) which is inspired by the petroglyphs here in the Southwest. Several people have asked for my colors in a Southwest theme so here's my attempt. I have a 20"x20" that I plan to do some dragonflies on, but I was tired and wanted to get into a hot shower and some clean clothes! I have a long day tomorrow before the show and rest is high on my agenda tonight!
Theses pieces range in price from about $300 to around $5,000 (plus shipping and packing costs) if you get them from me. If you buy them from one of my galleries the prices range from double to quadruple that, depending on the gallery. I do commissions, if you're looking for certain colors and sizes so feel free to contact me.
No, I do not consign my work, so don't ask. Pony up the cash and they're yours. I take Visa, Master Card, checks, money orders, and cash.

VALENTINE'S DAY - New Art Inspired by Modern Love?

If you really LOVE ME you'll bring me a MARTINI and drop something sparkly in it!

This is definitely a Fabulous Fifties Female piece, but it also fits into my new category of Martini Art and my Just 4 Divas Series. It's available in various sizes as fine art prints and as giclees on canvas at PopArtDiva.com.


Valentine's Day bugs me. How did we turn the birthday of a saint into a marketing tactic? Oh well, you can read more about my Valentine Day Rant here.

The best thing about art is how the things that bug you or inspire you can both be used as "muse fodder" for your visual art!

Not only did I decide to create a Valentine Martini, I created art inspired by love - or what passes for it in the minds of some, lol!

Please note the Tiffany blue background, the little blue gift box - there's no package design out there quite as famous as the "Little Blue Box" from Tiffany & Co. in New York! Every woman should get at least one in her lifetime and it should have a diamond in it!!! Be sure to take a close peek at the martini - this is one of those lucky ladies!

Happy Valentine's Day!

NEW ART - Portrait of a Soiled Dove

PORTRAIT OF A SOILED DOVE

This is both a Mad Masterpiece, a Just 4 Divas and a Martini Art piece all in one! Killing three birds with one stone - it is a parody, of course. I'm kind of into humor lately.

You never know what will inspire you. This piece was a result of a conversation with a friend about archaic terms for "women of ill repute".

That inspired a post on my ROAD to DIVA blog about the words and that inspired this piece.

Those archaic terms for a shady lady are so verbally rich - my imagination went right into feather boas and masterpieces of nudes.

I had great fun with this piece - I usually do with my parodies - but I got to kick some social commentary butt with this one, both artistically and poetically! (Is poetically a word???) The olive as a replacement for the fig leaf is my idea of a visual pun.

In my Diva pieces I usually have some form of a woman's fashionable shoe, and the martini is always present in a Just 4 Diva piece too. And I love to put in some totally unassociated items somewhere in my digital work - the olive is my oddball here - though it does fit with the martini.

This piece is available as an archival print and a giclee on canvas at my website and it will soon be available on a number of other products like tees, cups, aprons, cards and more at the PopArtDiva Boutique which will open fully in March.

Technorati Profile

NEW ART! 'Martinis Should Be Tax Free" - "Duchess of Diva" -

THE NEWEST POP CULTURE IMAGES AT POPARTDIVA.COM!


MARTINIS SHOULD BE TAX FREE!

I have a martini blog - The Martini Diva, where I post my own recipes and my favorite recipes for designer martinis. I do the art for the recipe cards, but I was inspired to create some new Martini themed art for my Pop Culture Art at my online gallery, PopArtDiva.com.

This is the first in a series of Martini Art with a retro inspired theme called, "Martinis should be Tax Free!". I guess the upcoming tax season was my muse here? Ack, I'd rather do art than taxes and I'd always rather drink a martini than do taxes!

THE DUCHESS OF DIVA

I'm networking with a group of women web entrepreneurs called Baby Boomer Divas and this has given me some new inspiration for my "Just 4 Divas" Fabulous Fifties Females Series. Again, a retro look and feel is integrated as well as martinis, so this one fits into both series as is often the case with my art. I have a lot of cross-over contamination in my idea factory! I'm working on two more - both of those were inspired by posts on my ROAD to DIVA blog!

My writing and my art now seem to be working together to stimulate my creative juices. Between the Pop Culture Blog, The Martini Diva Blog, and the Road to Diva Blog I've got ideas just lining up for new art! Then the art inspires another blog post and so on and so forth. Lack of inspiration is not my problem - lack of time is!

Additionally, this next week I have to get back into the studio to finish up some new Original Painted Sculpture Fusions for my show in Sedona in the middle of this month.