I made many mistakes while creating this symbolic self-portrait. I am at peace with that. Frankly, it’s absolutely appropriate because I am far from perfect, definitely flawed, and I learn great lessons from my mistakes…all too often.

As discussed in my previous blog post, the suit of HEARTS symbolizes spring, home, heart, emotion, love, childhood, vulnerability, art (poetry and music), water and karma. The better you know me the more you will understand, but look closely and play along.

Queen of Hearts, Mixed Media, 80 cm x 120 cm

The queen is an artist, certainly a vulnerable path to choose as critics wait to dissect and critique her work. She is painted with bright and cheerful colors of spring.  Choosing spring was appropriate.  The last four years, this queen has woken up to spring in four different cities.  Her transient lifestyle leads to fresh beginnings.

The fleur de lis represents her upbringing, heritage and love of anything French. Scripture pages and crosses symbolize her faith. Music pages, her palette and brush represent the arts. Cookbook pages and wine glasses represent daily passions. Four flowers represent her family.

Crossword puzzle paper appropriately represents this queen, who is often tough to figure out. You never quite know what she is thinking (or over-thinking!).  She doesn’t either.  Barely visible words in the crossword puzzle state, “Can’t Be Tamed,” the name of a pop song by a rebellious musician. This queen doesn’t want to be limited, or to conform. Individuality and independence are important, even though it can lead to a simple life.

This queen is no angel, but the green angel, placed near her heart represents a history and continuation of youthful bonded friendships, sisterhood, a strong education, and the building blocks of encouragement that started her on a path in the arts. For all of these and more, this queen is feeling grateful.

You’ve seen them and played with them hundreds of times. But have you ever contemplated the history or meaning behind the suits on a deck of cards? Recently, I was randomly curious about this, so I did a little research. I didn’t expect to be intrigued with my findings.  But they inspired a painting or two…

The oldest suit designs seem to be Muslim. These suits were coins, cups, swords and polo sticks (polo sticks?). As cards evolved, different cultures created their own suits and royalty face cards. Germany used leaves, hearts, hawk bells and acorns. In present day Spain, Greece, Portugal and Italy, suits of swords, cups, coins, and batons are still used (and I hope to find some in my European adventures!). Today’s design, the hearts, spades, clubs and diamonds, are a French design from the 15th century. These designs were flat, stenciled silhouettes, which were easily mass produced, and thus made their way to America. Each suit represents a social class. Spades are nobility. Hearts are clergy. Diamonds are merchants. Clubs are peasants.

Myth states that the four suits represent the four seasons, and that the 52 cards represent the 52 weeks of the year. I discovered that each individual suit has many themes:

Hearts represent spring, home, hearts, emotions, love, childhood, vulnerability, art, poetry music, water and Karma. Clubs represent summer, education, mind, intellect, musing, young, irresponsibility, literature, air and drama. Diamonds represent fall, career, security, values, judgement, adult, responsibility, entertainment, fire, and material goods. Spades represent winter, environment, wisdom, health, acceptance, old age, transformation, scripture, earth, workaholic, old souls and warriors.

My random thought about suits became the starting point for two symbolic portraits. Spades seemed to best represent the first portrait, The King of My Castle.

The King of My Castle, Mixed Media, 80 cm x 120 cm

I chose spades because my king is a warrior, as you can see from his ship, the flag of his country and his command wings. Long flowing contrails represent his life-long passion for flying and endless hours dedicated to work (thus the workaholic). Because spades represent winter (and this king was actually born in the winter), I chose a cool winter palette with snowflakes, a hint of evergreen and an artic white border. Numbers represent his wisdom (and he really IS good at math). Antiqued scripture pages were specifically chosen for the background including verses on War, Faith, Wisdom, Marriage, Courage and Responsibility. A Celtic cross represents his Irish heritage and faith. Three stars on his crown represent his offspring. The earth in the center of the painting keeps him centered while he moves all over the world. His favorite past-time decorates his garment. Finally, a gold heart (created with the lively label of a favorite German beer, of course) shines on his sword.  Why the heart? On the outside he may come off as quiet and intimidating, but on the inside he has a heart of gold. He truly cares about his people, friends and family.  That very heart won the heart of his queen.  Who is this lucky guy?

Next up…the queen.

I often worried that my kids wouldn’t ever truly enjoy reading.  Video games, cell phones, overscheduled extracurricular activities, reality television, and social media intensely compete with books for their generation.  Isn’t it great when your child or student begins to read?  What’s even more exciting to me, however, is when my kids get hooked on reading…when they carry books around, they read on every short jaunt in the car, or I find them endlessly curled up on the couch, consumed by a new series.   Words come alive and paint a story in their minds, and they start sharing the stories.  For my family, it was always a book series that first grabbed their attention.  Strangely, this always seemed to happen in fifth grade. This school year, my Olivia became hooked on reading.  J.K. Rowling is to blame, and I couldn’t be more grateful.  Numerous series and fabulous authors exist.  Too many to name. But that moment is great, when you know your child has opened their mind to the world of words, which will forever educate, inform, and often magically entertain.

I have FINALLY finished a three piece series that I started last spring.  I simply could not decide how I wanted to handle the third piece.  I had always envisioned it having to do with family, travel and exploration.

The first piece, It’s No Cakewalk, was about marriage.  I wrote about it on a previous blog post, so I won’t explain it further here.

The second piece, Dig In, was about jumping into life fully.  It was also the subject of a previous blog post (even though I have given it a much-needed facelift since that posting).  Both of these mixed media pieces have couples collaged within, suggesting life partnership.

The final piece in the series, however, adds a child to the partnership.  I did this purposely.  Children are often, but not always, the fruit of a partnership, so it seemed to be a natural progression.

In the piece, the family sits on top of a camera that the father is driving through a collage of monuments.  The child has an excited look on his face (and, of course, I love that he is looking at the St. Louis Gateway Arch!).   The entire collage is grounded with a home.  Why this final piece?  I think it is our responsibility as parents to expose children to their world, no matter where you live.  Whether visiting the neighborhood farmer’s market or traveling beyond borders, or simply traveling to books at the library, exposure to life and culture is a great thing for a child’s imagination.  I honestly believe that imagination creates dreams.  Dreams create goals.  Goals offer direction and determination.  This entire chain leads to good things.

My parents stuffed their five kids in our station wagon for long, and often painful, road trips to national parks.  I am certain I complained at the time, but those experiences are forever and positively burned into my memory. Now, I am the one “dragging” my family to museums and markets, national parks and monuments, sporting events and weird restaurants.  I am positive that they are rolling their eyes and complaining, but I happily ignore that nonsense.  At the end of the day, their imagination is inspired and their dreams can grow…not such a bad idea in an often closed-minded world.  Bring It On.

I decided to take a break from my ladies series and paint a still life.  I was trying to relax and not overthink the piece.  But I do I like a rich base to add interest and movement (and little surprises).  While the end result looks like a still life, there is so much more underneath.  Prayers, cartoons, pages from a 1970’s farmers almanac, calendar pages, maps, and more.  And, obviously, I have a thing for incorporating a word. There is so much more to appreciate if you can see it in person, but here’s how it works:

I take a canvas and add a variety of papers with matt medium and let it dry completely. I think about an overall theme.  Something like this (which is a new piece I painted today):

Then I choose a color palette and start adding paint.  If I build it up too much, I take sandpaper and sand the paint off after its dry, which softens everything.

Finally, I added my still life, built it up, sanded it to soften it, added some accents and a word.  Presto.

If you and your kids are bored this winter, dig out the scrapbook papers that you haven’t used in years.  Tear and cut them up.   Buy some small canvases, matte medium or (matte modge podge), and simple acrylic paints and brushes at the arts and crafts store.  Build it up, add some paint, and have some fun!  And don’t forget to send me a picture of the finished project!

Last spring, I attended a workshop in leadership and resiliency training for military spouses.  The Myers Briggs personality test, among several others, was utilized. I did not realize the depth of personal identification and awareness we would explore, including how we react in conflicted situations.  It was a week of investigating and appreciating the introvert and extrovert.

The self-discovery was beautifully exhausting, but I found myself distracted.  You see, I am an introvert.  For a split second, I thought this to be a negative thing. Often unfairly labeled as quiet, shy, off in the corner, uptight, standoffish, or even bitchy (gasp!), introverts turn inward.  We recharge our energy in our quiet spirit.  For us, time alone isn’t such a bad thing.  It’s actually a necessity which I can fully appreciate.

The extroverts, however, turn outside of themselves to refuel their energy.  They are outgoing, concerned with the world and embracing its physical and social environment.   The extrovert gets labeled as loud, chatty, bossy, bold, energized, and the life of the party.  I admire these traits.  To me, the extrovert is seemingly fearless!

The leadership workshop lasted one week.  After we analyzed our personalities, we conquered conflict, advised and shared.  We discussed the dangers of judgment. We agreed and disagreed. There was laughter, there were tears. We discovered hidden strengths.  We used these strengths and our differences to work together, not just to benefit military spouses, but all women we encounter.

On the final day, we secretly wrote positive words about everyone in the room.  I was tickled to read, “quiet strength, spark of mischief” which is exactly how I want the world to view me.  I guess being an introvert isn’t such a bad thing.

Ever since the workshop,  I have felt compelled to add the introvert and extrovert to my painting collection.  Ironically, I had a harder time painting the introvert.  But I think they each successfully possess the proper vibes.  I often think about the ladies in the workshop. We have all moved to different parts of the world.  In our new location, I have come across a whole new slew of introverts and extroverts and

BOTH are BEAUTIFUL.

I love to devour thrift shops and antique stores in the hopes of finding fabulous old papers to incorporate in my work.  I was drawn to some old sheet music I discovered, titled “Just A Baby’s Prayer At Twilight”.   Written during the World War II era, the song describes a young daughter’s evening prayer while her soldier daddy is away at war.  The words display her innocence and her awareness of the dangers of war, in addition to her mother’s emotion in overhearing her prayers.   I immediately knew this sheet music had great potential to anchor a collage about one of the major challenges of the military family – separation in time of war.  As a military spouse, the traditional sense of war and battlefields is still constant and real and ever-changing.

This piece has many facets.  I’ll just speak of the main ideas and then let you explore more closely.  The soldier daddy is on the left, confident and fighting for his country and cause.  His loyal wife faces him, holding her head high and beautifully keeping the home front in order.  The world separates the two, but they still gravitate towards each other.  A young daughter is in the middle, facing her father with prayer and hope for his safe return. Advertisements from the same era, ironic and full of propaganda for war, cheer for victory and peace.  This family seems to have it all together.  But honestly, it’s hard when your spouse is far away defending freedom.  And it hurts to see children in pain while missing a parent for months.  And some nights, getting a nice dinner on the table just doesn’t happen (along with many other things).

So what holds the military family together when they are separated by war?  Devotion. Devotion to our country.  Devotion to the mission.  Devotion to faith.  Devotion to each other.

It’s not easy and it’s not pretty.  Devotion is the key.

de·vo·tion \di ‘vō shən\ n 2b. the fact or state of being ardently dedicated and loyal (as to an idea or person)

This 12″ x 12″ mixed media is the second of three pieces in my recent collage series, following It’s No Cakewalk.  In this small piece, a couple dives into words and water, with a flower sunset and musical clouds.   To infuse the spirit means to  pour yourself deeply into something.  Shouldn’t we infuse our spirits in all we do?  It’s much easier to say than to do. I find that Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote “It is not length of life, but depth of life” encourages this thought.  Don’t remain on the surface.  You may miss out. Whether it’s your job, your hobby, your family, your relationship, or your faith, Dig In….deeply!

Several times over the last year, one of my sisters has repeatedly suggested that I paint a field of sunflowers.  She has fond memories of driving through the seemingly endless sunflower fields while living in Italy.  I would gently acknowledge her suggestion, but I was wrapped up in other projects.  And honestly, I wasn’t so interested.  Why?  Because I have been so absorbed in mixed media pieces that required research and paper and overthinking that I couldn’t imagine just sitting down and painting a field of flowers.

Until this week.  I needed to reconnect with the brushes and the paint. I needed a new challenge, new subject matter, and my sister’s voice kept ringing in my ear…So I made a plan to work fast and make it warm, light, and wonderful.  After all, it’s been a long, frigid winter in Pennsylvania.

The challenge was greater than I anticipated.  Foreshortening, perspective, landscape, sunsets?  It has been years since I painted in such fashion. I tried not to over think.  I relaxed and had fun.  I laughed at my mistakes.  I learned.  Honestly, the sunflower challenge put me in good creative spirits.   So thank you, sister, for your suggestion.  I have another 30″x30″ inch canvas that needs a painting.   Tonight, my daughter suggested I paint a field of poppies.  I chuckled.  We shall see….

I have a hard time turning my brain off.  Ideas are constantly churning about a new collage or painting.  I poured over this piece, which was only 12″ x 12″, but really challenged my thought process because I want to use images and words to send a certain message. This collage was made from layers of paper and paint, stenciled words, book pages, my own photography, and an old image that caught my eye.

Recently, I came across various images of families from the 1950’s, which were used in advertisements.  I am intrigued by this era, and I love the attire and smiles of this dancing couple.   We see a quiet moment through a window, where they are dancing sweetly through a room of a home that they have built together. Not a house, but a HOME.  In today’s fast-moving society, when is the last time you took the time to dance in the living room with your spouse?  This collage is a reminder: a reminder that marriage can be sweet, but marriage is no cakewalk.  Vows remind us that marriage is a decision, and a promise.  It deserves time and attention, and should be celebrated often with a slow dance and a smile.