Little Drawings and the Art of Giving it Away

*Another weird creature finds a new home…*

I don’t like to sell my work..

but I seem to have no problem giving it away.

Interesting.

Sharing a Meal and the Art of Old-Fashioned Entertainment

*Exquisite Corpse by a nurse, a dentist and a couple of artists*

When we have dinner with my sister and her boyfriend

we share a meal, play games

and occasionally sing karaoke.

Last time we were together

we made an exquisite corpse.

Since I am notorious for lingering over my drawings..

it was decided that I would have to go last.

Little did they know I could bust out a pair of chicken feet

in under a minute.

Motorhead and the Art of Large Paintings

*The Quick and the Dead*, work in progress by Michele Bledsoe

I love making little paintings..

lingering for months,

or years..

over a canvas small enough

to hold in my hand.

But…

there is always something large

creeping along in the background..

a painting that I know

will take a very long time to finish..

but something happened with this one.

Our beloved cat, Motorhead

had grown old.

Since he loved to sit in my lap while I painted..

I kept returning to The Quick and the Dead –

A painting so big and unfinished

it did not require fine detail work or intense focus.

Motorhead and I spent a lot of time together with this painting..

and it moved along

much faster than I thought it would.

Such is life.

Raw Umber and the Art of Overindulgence

I have a nice collection of paint tubes..

many of which are older than you would imagine.

I care for them well.

My natural inclination toward small canvases

tiny brushes

and my method of applying

layer after layer

of thin color –

the paint lasts a very long time..

with one exception:

Raw umber.

Such a deep, luscious shade of brown…

it is the undercurrent for all of my paintings.

I can’t get enough.

Word Games and the Art of Enjoying Commercials

Richard and I enjoy watching movies together..

and we look forward to the commercials

so we can resume one of our ongoing word games.

This time we took turns naming interesting and/or beautiful words

for every letter of the alphabet.

Give it a try sometime..

it’s fun.

Painting and the Art of Stealing Balloons

*“Balloon Guy” by Michele Bledsoe and “Ascension” by Richard Bledsoe*

Working together in our studio

I couldn’t help but admire

Richard‘s painting…

I asked him to bring it closer to me.

“That’s a great balloon,” I said.

“Thank you!”

“I really like it a lot.”

“Thank you!”

“I’m going to steal it.”

“Okay!”

I love my husband.

Gordon Lightfoot and the Art of Forgotten Paintings

Looking through some of his old social media posts

my husband stumbled across this blast from the past.

A painting I had forgotten about.

It was a work I made for an art exhibit called “Under Television Skies” back in 2014.

I’ve never been much of a TV watcher, but at the time

I was being haunted by Gordon Lightfoot..

Well, technically, I was being haunted by The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

I heard that song practically everywhere I went.

Grocery stores, coffee shops, gas stations, book stores…

every time I got into my car

it was playing on the radio.

I have always loved The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald…

and was particularly haunted by the lyrics:

“Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?”

I was obsessing over it while I worked on my painting for the show.

I told this story to a woman at the art opening

when she asked about my ambiguous title.

Shortly after that

she enthusiastically bought the painting

and Gordon Lighfoot has since left me alone.

Painting and the Art of Sharing Your Gifts

This past weekend,

my husband Richard and I were hanging our paintings

at Axiom Church for an upcoming art exhibit.

I don’t really show my work in public that often..

it just doesn’t cross my mind.

Seems the act of creating a painting

is so satisfying,

so fulfilling..

I sometimes forget

that gifts are meant to be shared.

Once Among the Dead

Once Among the Dead is the 2nd book I worked on for my sister, Patricia. The painting I used for the cover has always been a favorite of mine… and it was perfect for this unique collection of poems and stories.

It is about time to make death mainstream. Death is seen as mysterious and feared by so many in today’s society. Yet it is a common everyday occurrence.

Once Among the Dead is a collection of meditations on death, dying, grief and loss. The themes range from the clinical, to the philosophical, to the spiritual. Raw, emotional and brutally honest, the poetry and prose are at times difficult to read. Grotesque and beautiful, this strikingly unique book contains elements of horror, hope and salvation.

Patricia Lynn Dompieri is also the author of Lemon Bee and Other Peculiar Tales. Both of her books have been illustrated by Michele Bledsoe.