I Wanted to be a Hippie

>

I remember going to my first Beatles movie at 6 years old (Hard Days Night) with a friend who was 8 years old and was "ga ga" for the Beatles - - especially Paul. The fascination went past this 6 year old girl.

I remember the late 60's. The girls had long, straight hair and talked of love, peace and wore flowers in their hair. Bell bottom jeans and prairie dresses and peace signs were the norm. Woodstock. "Free Love." But, I was still too young to actually be a hippie. (For that I'm sure my parents were grateful.) Peter Max was a gifted artist of the 60's who used a lot of colors and psychedelic images. Even though I mainly watched the 60's from a innocent girl's eyes, it impacted me nonetheless.

With the 60's use of happy colors and flowers on my mind, I used paint layering to create "I Wanted to Be a Hippie." It was a fun work and a style I'll most likely return to.

My hippie name is...
Lila

Escaped Propriety

I love this painting, if I do say so myself (my mom used to say that!) This painting is 10 inches by 20 inches and is on 3/4 inch canvas. The technique used on this painting is layering. The gold metallic paint introduces a new dimension that is interesting on the fabric.

A fabric with a sheen and vertical pattern to the fabric was attached to the canvas board. Acrylic paint was applied all over in block fashion. Paint, dry, glossy varnish medium applied. Repeat 2 - 3 more times. The swirls were added on top of the blocks to create a visual display that is ordered, yet free. Hence the name, "Escaped Propriety."

Meet Cadence

Cadence is the smallest girl painting I have done thus far. She is on a 4" x 4 1/2" x 1- 1/4" canvas. The technique I used for Cadence is different that what I've used for any of the other girls, too. I used a lot of scraping, layers and emphasized the imperfections. After all, we are all imperfectly perfect. Aren't we?

Cadence's story is that she has worked at the Library for a number of years logging books and barely paying attention to others. Her world is books. When she leaves work she goes home to surround herself with yet more books. A perfect evening for her is reading on an antique fainting sofa she inherited from her grandmother. She secretly wishes she she were a little more outgoing, however, this is who she is. What is on her lip, you ask? Why, chocolate, of course!