Tiger Dreams

Tiger Dreams

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Tiger Dreams
oil on cradled wood panel
12 x 24 x 1.5 inches
This item is unframed but ready to hang
(click on the image to purchase)

​celestial circles of sugary goodness
icing and sprinkles and fat
my tongue salivating
my heart palpitating
let them fall
in the mouth
of this cat

November and malarkey go together like, well, tigers and donuts.  

​In the gloomy Pacific Northwest, it's easy to hunker down and forget to play. Especially as adults, when rain boots, snow boots, cold and wet don't seem as much fun as they did long ago. But getting out in it makes the coming home sweeter. Puddle stomping and dripping into the front hallway make a chocolate chip cookie sweeter. Crouching over a backyard sieve to rinse tumbled stones in a downpour feels deliciously frivolous and joy-filled. 

In the studio, a body of shenanigan-filled work is growing. Everything is fair game for the canvas. And to make room for all this new, playful goodness, the annual gesso murder begins in two weeks. WHAT? Yep, a fun-filled fall SELL OR DIE sale, as is my annual tradition. Get ready art - it's a reality survival show with dire implications. Muwahahaha!

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BONUS MALARKEY!

Wonder Mike is in training to accompany us on some future hikes. He now loves to go "in the bag" every evening (as long as there are treats involved).  
​We hope he will be dreaming of hiking in the bag the way tigers dream of donuts!

​(If you have any trouble loading the video, here is a link to it on YouTube)

About the art:  I have not had a playdate with the AI bot in a bit, and I do believe it is missing me (if AI bots can be trusted, which, trust me, they cannot) so off I went on a malarkey caper in imaginging mashups of things and characters. And OH-HO do I ever have an inspiration folder now! The point of which is launching myself out of my art box and onto the playground. And so, beginning with a gesso'd wood panel, I covered it in a wash of hot pink. An underpainting which only survived in snippets, but inspired me to run off the deep end of the jungle gym and put a tiger and some donuts on it. A lightly drawn form, a few circles, then the first layer of background paint. Once dry, I worked from the mouth outward, adding successively thicker layers until the I reached the desired intensity of color.  More layers for the background, more layers for donuts. The "sprinkles" achieved with the end of a chopstick dipped in various colors and pressed into the paint. Finally, a layer of varnish to gloss up the place. This guy makes me chuckle every time I walk past him. :)

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​Get your drumroll going! 
The first ever "Question Exchange" October Reader Giveaway winner is....

​(if you have any trouble loading the video, here is a link to it on YouTube)