bleeding love

bleeding love
11 1/4 " x 15 3/4" mixed media painting on watercolor paper

"Ecstasy is a Feeling that comes Only When the Heart is tuned to that pitch of Love Which melts it...Which makes it Tender...Which gives it Gentleness... Which makes it Humble"
-hazat inayat kaan

I find it difficult sometimes to pull myself away from my journal.....lol. Actually, I'm working on a few paintings and one's an abstract..... we'll see how that goes! This one took a couple of days because I got really frustrated with the open mouth. I will remind myself next time to keep the mouth shut...lol. I also realize I've been doing a lot of tears lately but I can honestly tell you that they're not sad. These tears are conveying passion.
Passion for life, passion for love and passion for art.

fill your heart with art

-manon

i am

7" x 10" mixed media journal page

“I am in You, You are in Me, There is no distance or distinction.”
-sri sathya sai baba quotes (Indian Spiritual leader, b.1926)

fill your heart with art

-manon

alex's heart

alex's heart
10" x 10" mixed media painting on canvas

Chance made you my daughter; love made you my friend. ~Unknown

My daughter, Alex, is leaving next week for college so I went up to her room to check out what she was taking. OMG..... I was floored! She's rooming with two other girls and bringing enough stuff to furnish a small house. I'm really not sure what she's thinking.... maybe all freshmen go through this. She's tricking out her dorm room like it's a car on "Pimp My Ride"! Alex even bought herself a piggy bank. In the eighteen years she's lived here I don't remember her saving any money....lol! I'm probably going to be stuck bringing half of this stuff back with me! Yikes.

Alex also bought three posters. Brando, Hepburn and Dylan will grace her walls. Great choices but I thought she needed a Manon so I made a painting for her. Hopefully, it won't get destroyed during a dorm party...lol!



I have so many canvases to fill! I'm surrounded! Help!! I keep buying them on sale but now I've go to do something with them!!
I need to lock myself in my studio for a week and go crazy...... lol.

fill your heart with art

-manon

uncovering my heritage

7" x 10" mixed media journal page

The Track of the sun
across the Sky
leaves its shining message,
Illuminating,
Strengthening,
Warming,
us who are here,
showing us we are not alone,
we are yet ALIVE!
And this fire......
Our fire.....
Shall not die

Antoni (Choctaw)

My mom's side of the family is pretty interesting. She is one of 19....yes .... this is not a typo...... really unbelievable if not a little crazy. Aside from being French Canadian and having a ton of relatives I'm also a third generation Native American Indian. Both of my maternal great grandmothers were Indian. We are descendants of the Huron tribe. Last year, my mom decided to consult an aboriginal genealogical researcher to begin researching my grandmother's side of the family. The most fascinating part of the story occurred in 1644.

Marie Olivier Sylvestre was a little Indian girl who was adopted by a well-to-do French family with the surname LeTardif. She was privately tutored by the Ursulin Nuns of Quebec. At 16, she married a 33 year old man named Martin Prevost...... not too cool these days. This marriage would mark the first time on record that an Indian girl and a French colonist joined hands in marriage. The marriage took place November 3rd 1644 in Quebec.

We didn't know about our heritage for many years because my relatives were embarrassed. Not me.... I'm proud of it. I feel such a connection to it.

fill your heart with art

-manon

how to finish the back of your work

I'm always asked how I finish the backs of my work so I thought I'd show you. You can get all these things at any hardware store in your area. I'm a pro at Lowe's.... i think they should offer me a job. I asked a guy in there a question the other day and by the time I finished rambling on I had answered my own question.... he never said a word..lol.



This is cradled art board. Basically any picture mounting hardware will do. If it's too heavy you'll probably want to do something else.



I use hardware for mirrors on my mosaic mirrors and paintings done on wood. It comes in different sizes and you'll have to figure out what you need according to weight and size. Measure down from the top to determine where you're going to attach it. A few inches is good. Don't go to the middle of your work or it will look like it's about to topple over. I always drill a pilot hole to make it easier to put the screws in. Please, please don't go too deep with the drill or you'll have a pretty little hole coming through the front of your work.



Next you'll take the right size screws and screw them in. Again... make sure they're not too long.



When the hardware is mounted you'll need to attach picture wire. That comes in different gauges so find the one most appropriate. I always use the heavy duty wire. I just like it. You will need wire cutters to cut it. Finish it by winding the wire around itself. Sometimes I'll solder the little ends.



When you're done sign the piece!!



I went down to do some repairs on Brutus yesterday. Too many people were stepping on the base and some of the tiles popped off. Ugh! He's housed at the Schottenstein Center which is the basketball arena for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Glad he has a good home. Hopefully I won't be back to fix him!!

fill your heart with art

-manon

practice happiness

Well I looked into the sky for my anthem
And the words and the music came through
But words and music can never touch the beauty that Ive seen
Looking into you -- and thats true
-jackson browne

Yesterday I was flipping through a magazine and I read the words... practice happiness. Wow... love those words. I consider myself the eternal optimist just like my mom. Sure, I have those sad days but they're infrequent and I've come to accept them. For the most part I'm a happy camper. One of the benefits of getting older is that you really discover what it is that gives you joy. I've been keeping a gratitude journal now for over a year and the most simple things have made me feel the best. Practice happiness by smelling the roses, laughing, playing, letting loose and loving yourself. Ya... that's what it's all about.

fill your heart with art and happiness

-manon

journal page and paint storage tip

7" x 10" mixed media journal page

Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road.
- dag hammarskjold

I have a few projects on the go right now but I always feel the need and desire to work in my journal. It's always somewhere I can go and just let go. The journals have been extremely therapeutic for me. I wrestled with whether I should even share them at first, but it's fun to put them out there and see what everyone thinks. I must admit that the journals give me creative joy!



I have found the best thing to keep acrylic paint fresh for a few weeks. The little plastic containers below can be purchased at any art store and boy do they do the job. I usually mix up a lot of flesh colored paint and then I'll put it in one of these containers. I can't tell you how much paint I've saved since starting to use these.



fill your heart with art

-manon

the way

7" x 10" mixed media journal page

The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.
-buddha

On our journey through life sometimes we lose our way. I've been in this situation many times in my life. When I've felt lost I looked everywhere for answers. I looked really hard.... really, really hard. Funny thing is that those answers appeared when I least expected them. At times they came crashing down on me and at other times they landed in the sweetest way...... a beautiful surprise. I believe the answers are found in the heart and if you let it happen your heart will show you the way.

fill your heart with art

-manon

ladder to my soul

ladder to my soul
6" x 24" mixed media painting

Invite your soul
To enter into your mind-jungle
To clear it up.
Invite your soul
To enter into your heart-insecurity
To strengthen it.
Invite your soul
To encourage you in all that you do and say.
Your soul will inspire you,
Fulfil you
And
Immortalise you

- excerpt from Transcendence-Perfection by Sri Chinmoy.

This painting was impossible to photograph due to the unusual size. It's 6" x 24" on a 2 inch cradle. The full pic appears dull but I hope you can see what the colors really look like in the other photos.

I love these fun canvas sizes. They give me so many juicy ideas.... tons of possibilities. I kind of wish I had more hours in a day to do it all...lol!

BTW..... if anyone knows how to get that first picture centered on this blog page please let me know.

Just got lucky.... my web guy, Brian Monroe, fixed it for me!!

fill your heart with art

-manon

your heart

your heart
9" x 12" mixed media painting



The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth, the delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that for you the world is transformed.
-jiddu krishnamurti


So today I had an interesting morning. I had to go to my dentist for a four hour appointment to replace two old crowns in the back of my mouth. BTW... this might be too much info... not so sure. Anyway the right side of my mouth doesn't respond to the numbing medication that well so my dentist suggested I take 2 valium before the appointment. Now .... I'm not into prescription meds unless I absolutely have to but the thought of all that pain made me say, "Ya... I'm in!"

Half an hour into the appointment I felt like I'd had a bottle of wine and a shot of Tequila. I tried to hold an intelligent conversation with my dentist. No go. All that came out of my mouth was wha, wha wha...... then i passed out for four hours. Now that's what I call a day at the dental spa.

When I finally got home Alex took one look at me and told me I better lie down. She put on a movie until I slowly started to come back to my senses.

Thought I could paint.... and I did. Painted the piece I posted... lol. I can now say I've painted with two Valium stuck in me but I don't recommend it.
Glad I've returned to normal.......somewhat! LOL

fill your heart with art

-manon

inspired by love

7" x 10" mixed media journal page

Love is the only bow on life's dark cloud.
It is the Morning and the Evening Star.
It shines upon the cradle of the babe,
and sheds its radiance upon the quiet tomb.
It is the mother of Art,
inspirer of poet, patriot, and philosopher.
It is the air and light of every heart, builder of every home,
kindler of every fire on every hearth.
It was the first to dream of immortality.
It fills the world with melody,
for Music is the voice of Love.
Love is the magician, the enchanter,
that changes worthless things to joy,
and makes right royal kings and queens of common clay.
It is the perfume of the wondrous flower -- the heart
and without that sacred passion, that divine swoon,
we are less than beasts;
but with it, earth is heaven
and we are gods.

- robert g. ingersoll

I was thinking about this quote all day. I considered talking about it but realized I had nothing to add. It says it all.



My daughter, Alex, will be leaving for college in 4 weeks. She's ready to fly off and begin a new phase in her life. I will miss her but I'm so excited for her. I'm sure I will cry move in day ..... that's what I do...... but I'll be fine because I know that she's ready for the road ahead of her.

fill your heart with art

-manon