Thursday, April 26, 2012

Another Snail Project

When I hunt snails, I wave a scarf in front of me to ward off the mosquitoes. I got it into my head to make myself some 22 inch square scarves with actual snails on them for just that purpose. I drew up four designs in Illustrator. This is one of them.
Then I formatted it for Spoonflower and uploaded the designs. Less than a week later the fabric arrived. All I had to do was cut them out and stitch up the edges. Here's how they turned out.
I'm ready for my next snail hunt. The snails become active around late May and June and the little ones start hatching and climbing up the trees. If you want to see Liguus Tree Snails for yourself, just head to Big Cypress or the Everglades.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Homage to the Ladies and Literature of the 50's

Well as usual brainstorming for a direction to go for a piece in black and white took many turns before it finally settled on this poor unsuspecting mannequin. I was going to be a good girl but those darn, oh so intriguing oh so tempting, oh so wonderful Pulp Fiction covers just kept popping into my head. I knew it was useless to fight it so I just decided that everyone should get a little peek at the more Noir side of the 50's.
Here is a distant view of her in all her glory, full of thoughts, words and deed.

























If you get really close you can see what enticed men and boys to ask the man in the "paper store" what he had behind the counter. I am sure that outside of Massachusetts these magazines were on the shelves along with Readers Digest and Popular Mechanics!!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Tangled Webs Are Woven, 12 x 16 by Cindy Michaud


"Oh what a tangled web we weave..."
Acrylic and graphite on board, colored pencil
How many of us know the rest of the quote?
In naming my newest piece in the Tree Series this sentence came to mind as
I carefully worked on the tiniest of the branches which entertwined
one with the other.
When I asked for my husband's input on title suggestions a version
of this quote came to his mind as well.
So I officially named the piece:
"Tangled Webs Are Woven"

It signals to me that (intentionally or not) our lives are

so caught up in the lives of those around us that we tend to
get woven into their concerns and needs and sometimes it is hard to know
exactly where one branch starts and another picks up.
But as I wrote the title I figured I'd better double check on the quote that inspired it.
And it was not Mr. Shakespeare!
The entire quote goes:
"Oh the tangled webs we weave
When first we practice to deceive."
and it is attributed to
Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

I'm not sure these trees had any intention of practicing deception but I am going
to stick with the title as it captures the many thoughts I had while working on it.
Here's hoping that the branches of your life are all tangled up with
ones that add joy and meaning to your life.


 Framed in a black floater

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Mary Warnick Exhibit

Ballard Park

The Palm Bay Library is showing paintings by Mary Warnick during the month of April.  The Library is off of Port Malabar Blvd., on Santiago Ave. It is next to the Turtle Creek Santuary, in a lovely wooded section. The Library is open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9 am to 5 pm, and Wednesdays from 9 am to 8 pm.


Friday, April 6, 2012

Steve Jobs - Completed Collage

I suppose I should have read his biography first, but I was pressed for time, so I did this collage and now I'm reading the biography. He was a fascinating person and, as the book says, he revolutionized computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. I can tell you from personal experience that once you go Mac...you never go back.

The sketch:
Posted by Carmen

Ballard Park, Original Oil on Canvas

  I had not painted outside in two years, so this was quite a challenge. It was one of those paintings I had to improve upon in the studio. ...