Lola Jovan Art Musings and Random Thoughts

Valin and the Flying Monkeys

7/29/2024

Valin and the Flying Monkeys. (listen to the blog post by clicking the DOWNLOAD button below)

“Valin and the Flying Monkeys” - oil on Yupo, 20 x 26 inches. This item is sold unmounted and unframed. (click on the image to purchase)

Valin could not escape the flying monkeys.

His mother said they appeared when he was born. Bat-like monkeys who clung to him and hovered over his bed, and who later followed him to school and back again. He and his parents spent many a day trying to figure out why on earth he was cursed with the creatures. The village holy man gave Valin talismans and charms to scare off the winged nuisances. The local doctor prepared tinctures and tonics for the harried boy. His siblings tried using sling-shots to scare them away, but they only flew higher and higher, circling like vultures until the coast was clear. Nothing moved the beasts from his side and his airspace.

Once he became a young man, Valin embraced his entourage and found them quite comforting. Finding roommates who could deal with the mess and constant chatter was another matter entirely.

Oh oh OH and here we GO!

Another piece inspired by a friend. This one a result of a conversation about narcissists and flying monkeys. I simply could not get the winged minions out of my head, and so they appeared in the paint. In this case, the airborne companions became comforters instead of manipulative messengers. Protectors instead of attackers. A way of extending energy outward and upward.

That's one of the things about art, I suppose. It allows us to transform one idea into another. Because there are no limits other than our own imaginations. xo

About the art: another piece on dreamy Yupo, involving many layers and lots of drying time. The goal with this painting was to catch that bit of light on the boy's face and forward hand, to play with fabric and folds and to amp up the value contrast. Playing the "hard" red/orange background against the soft earth-toned left side border felt really effective. And the diagonal bit at the top right gives a sense of depth and movement.

Thank you to everyone who left comments this month and entered the July Reader Giveaway! Wonder Mike had a tough time choosing, and so there are THREE winners this month. Congratulations to Charlynn, Lisa C-G and Thamer! Please send your mailing address to Wonder Mike at [email protected]. A new contest begins next month! Huzzah!

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The Oddity of Octavia

7/22/2024

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The Oddity of Octavia

“The Oddity of Octavia” - oil on paper, 22 x 17 inches. SOLD

Octavia caused quite the controversy when she first moved to town.

No one really knew what to make of her - was she an octopus? A monster? A lady who needed some good dental care? A sea witch? She practically floated down the sidewalk on her way to the market, all those tentacles moving in a fluid dance that left one wondering if she ever touched the ground. Though the townsfolk gave her a wide berth, she was never really alone. Oddities and peculiarities accompanied her. Their adoration and passion for her was well beyond the average public display of affection. Ahem. Look the other way, if you can.

Um, so here's the thing about living in a two-artist household: we cannot help but influence (challenge, critique) each other. Malcolm encourages me to push boundaries; to move waaaaaay outside the box.

And he's not the only one.

Once upon a time, more than a handful of years ago in a stellar on-going art class in south Florida, the instructor told me to "embrace the peculiar" - she saw that direction in my art way back then, and she gave me the courage to keep going when the inner censor/critic said "whoa, Nellie!"

And then there are those of you, dear readers, who are also drawn to the peculiar side of things and grab these pieces for your own. Thank you - you make me feel downright brazen.

What are your thoughts about boxes and boundaries in art? What is the role of the artist in redrawing those lines? How do you push outside of your "normal" and into the more unexpected? I'd love to hear!

About the art: I have a digital folder of inspiration ideas and images for days when I feel confident, adventurous and mischievous. This piece was inspired by one of a dozen or so concepts the AI bot and I worked on for several days. The AI bot loves (LOVES) tentacles and octopods. And female faces. Beginning with gesso'd oil painting paper, I drew a rough sketch with a wet brush and blocked in the darks. Oil painting paper wants many layers of glazing to get the color to pop, which works well with a rough sketch, as there are a lot of refining moves required to get the angles and proportions just right. The requisite 80 million layers of paint followed. Funny enough, the hardest thing to resist was the urge to whiten/brighten all the teeth, which are meant to be a bit yellowed and dingy to add a bit of the horrific. I settled for something in the middle. It makes me rub my hands together and say "muhwahahahahah".

It's the last week to enter the July Reader Giveaway! Leave a comment and automatically be entered in this month's random drawing for a free piece of original art. Thanks so much for your participation!

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Have Coffee With Your Demons

7/15/2024

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Have Coffee With Your Demons

"Have Coffee With Your Demons" - pen and ink on Yupo, 9 x 9 inches. This item is sold unmounted and unframed. (click on the image to purchase)

You should dance with the skeletons in your closet.
Learn their names,
so you can ask them to leave.
Have coffee with your demons.
Ask them important questions like, "What keeps you here?"
Learn what doors they keep finding open, and kick them out.
- Pierre Alex Jeanty

This piece was inspired by a friend and Facebook follower, who posted the quote and also threw down the challenge gauntlet when I oooooh'd and aaaaaahhhhh'd over the words she shared (thank you, Erica!)

It's been a post-it note on my wall for more than a month - HAVE COFFEE WITH YOUR DEMONS. Oh oh OH! I have so many (so so so many) ideas and inspiration images around this concept.

"What keeps you here?" I ask the demon. Slowly, relentlessly, I am closing those open doors.

About the art: Yupo loves pen and ink. I use a Rotring Tikky Graphic pen with pigmented ink, which glides easily and has a consistent output (no unexpected blops or skips). In general, I design a pen and ink piece around a small square or rectangle, resisting the urge to expand the scene or add too many details. I want the feeling of intimacy - a spotlight on the figure(s) and the moment. I don't pre sketch on the Yupo, which is a throwback to the wabi-sabi of my early days of doodling. I do measure out the critical parts - size of a face, proximity to edges, etc., but then it's a free for all. Often, this means a few failed attempts (no erasing here, no painting over! a trust-fall with ink!) but it does force me to be present and to contemplate every stroke of the pen. Pen and ink meditation, anyone?

The July Reader Giveaway continues! Leave a comment (or several) this month - each comment counts as an entry! On July 29th, one (or more) lucky readers will be selected at random by my trusty studio hound to win a piece of original art absolutely free. Thanks so much for participating - your comments, feedback and energy make this little creative space extra special! xo

And here's a little something that just sets my creative sparkle on fire - I need a warehouse studio!

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The Wildling

7/8/2024

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The Wildling

“The Wildling” - oil on Yupo, 14 x 23 inches. This item is sold unmounted and unframed. (Click on the image to purchase)

Ebba’s very existence was a matter often debated among children, especially around the campfire or at a sleepover after dark.

There wasn’t a single human who could say they had actually seen Ebba. Sure, pies and potatoes went missing. The henhouse sometimes had no eggs in the morning. Random bits of beads and feathers were left in their place - as payment, perhaps? Oh, there was more than one youngster who was double-dog-dared to stay up all night in the yard in hopes of catching a glimpse of the elusive wildling. Inevitably, sleep overtook each one who tried. But someone, something covered the sleeping youth with straw, moss and leaves.

It was enough to give them goosebumps, but no explanations.

About the art: once more I find myself playing with flat color and bold contrast, trying to push the limits of darks and lights and marry them with muted flat tones. The Yupo allows many washes and layers of color in silky smoothness, but also lets me scratch and carve back into the paint easily to create texture.

Somehow I image myself as Ebba when we're hiking in the wilderness - sprouting horns, ears lengthening and softening, hair becoming (more) scraggly and stringy. It is an oft repeated theme in my work - wildlings, wild child, re-wilding. Methinks it is a rebellion against becoming overly civilized. :)

It's the July Reader Giveaway! Leave a comment (or more than one - each comment counts as an entry!) on any of this month's blog posts. At the end of the month, one (or more) lucky winners will be selected at random to receive a free piece of art. Huzzah!

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Awaiting Myself on Both Sides

7/1/2024

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Awaiting Myself on Both Sides

"Awaiting Myself on Both Sides" - oil on clayboard panel, 14 .25vx 18.5 inches. (click on the image to purchase)

“I am the shore and the ocean, awaiting myself on both sides.”
― Dejan Stojanovic, The Shape

I am the solid ground of the shoreline, the. mountains, the rocks, cliffs and loamy forest floor. And I am the tempestuous, ever-changing ocean, sometimes with rip currents and sneaker waves and other times glassy and warm against the feet wading within it. We don't have to be one thing or the other - we can be both.

We live in polarized times - black and white, one way or the other, you're ok or you're not.

But really we are ever-changing beings, growing and transforming with each day, each experience and every thought and interaction. It is really alright to wake up one day and be the mountain, and another day the ocean. We are many-layered, complex beings, expansive and ethereal.

I've spent a long time trying to put myself in boxes that no longer fit (or did not fit in the first place). This includes creative boxes - trying to make the things other people think I should be making, or that the market says are hot, or that my skill level feels comfortable with. Oh no OH NO!

Do you find yourself sitting inside those boxes, too? Let's bust out together.

About the art - I began with a happenstance series of inspiration images generated by the AI bot (I love when it surprises and delights me!) and then choosing the elements within those images that called to me. I sketched directly onto the clayboard with walnut oil thinned oil paint, then began building the layers. To achieve the effect of water, I applied many light layers of glaze drawn across the clayboard horizontally with a wide rubber wedge. Lots of drying time between layers! Resisting the urge to overly define (what is the dark rectangle in the upper left? The viewer's eye gets to decide) - walking away before mucking about too much.

It's time for the July Reader Giveaway! Leave a comment on a blog post this month and be automatically entered in the drawing for FREE ART! Woot! Your participation helps me, helps others and adds some sparkle to the universe. Thank you!!

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Valin and the Flying Monkeys

The Oddity of Octavia

Have Coffee With Your Demons

The Wildling

Awaiting Myself on Both Sides

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