My gratitude list is growing. I was interviewed via Zoom by long time long distance friend Loretta Louviere (formally Pompilio) who lives in the Finger Lakes of NY. Like me, she’s been an artist all her life and published a book, Soft people The Art of Dollcrafting by Loretta Pompilio. Photo below and link to interview video.
Today I woke up to a thrilling newsletter email from Janine at Uppercase magazine telling me my Sketchbooks feature is in the latest newsletter! Seriously, you should subscribe to this quarterly publication!
As featured in Uppercase newsletter As featured in Uppercase newsletter My favorite cloth doll designer
Greetings from Dallas! Climate, politics, Texas freakin’ politics, protests and wars, oh my! It’s all happening.
Personally, I’m on indictment watch while I carry on with my Art biz. And have you seen Uppercase magazine #58 yet? I’ll show you the full page photo of my piece in the “whimsy” section. And of course some new stuff I’m working on.
So I’m set to start a YouTube channel soon. The timing is auspicious. Look for Genie Geer Artyology.
Art Graf tailor’s chalk portraits started with abstract strokes. Then I saw the faces in the marks. A Junk Journal July ‘23 entryquilt wall art at the eye clinic last week!My cover for JJJ23My latest crush: Ranger Dylusions Creative Journal. Mungyo oil pastelsColor pencil Prismacolor alcohol markersStudio cat Isabel
Surprising how busy I’ve been, considering my chronic fatigue diagnosis which gave a name to what has hounded me all my life. How dare I have been calling myself lazy? Other people have. Take that! other people. At age 75, maybe the diagnosis is a gift in a couple ways. I can pat myself on the back when I manage to vacuum. I enjoy being alone. I have tightly curated collections of dolls, and heirlooms, and a wardrobe I love (I favor a flowing Swedish style and jazzy glasses). And can we talk about the art and decor books? So recently, I started curating my supplies / inventory. And had the Salvation Army haul off my 7 ft. sofa, in favor of keeping just the Barcelona chair and red curvy chaise lounge. Girl, I purged my closet too.
Trees across the parking lot. Holbein watercolorsWatercolor, acrylic, gouache, color pencil, magazine image collagePaint palette cleanup with collage and masksFreeform cutouts and book page images on tea dyed journal page
And finally, I was gobsmacked by the news from UPPERCASE magazine that my response to their call for entry in late April was selected to appear in the issue #58 July-Aug-Sept in the “Whimsey” feature! I have admired this creative periodical since it’s inception. What an honor! I must remember to be humble about this unbelievable opportunity!
I bet I post about it when the issue hit the stands!
I have a love affair with social media creatives. I follow and learn from YouTubers. My latest obsession involves making and working in altered books, junk and art journals; mixed media collage; giving all the characters and their environments a place to live on the page. I find I really like paper.
I’ve started to add tags, journal ephemera, cards, hang dolls and wall art to my Etsy shop, GENIE GEER ARTYOLOGY on Etsy.com. Below is a sneak peak of artwork going in very soon.
Thank you for stopping by! I will keep you posted. Hang on to hope in this world. I have to believe that The Times, They Are A Changin’.
Online challenges are a new passion of mine, having stumbled upon a free one a few months ago….maybe via Instagram? Somebody’s blog? I am losing track of how I found – and keep finding, such great talent on the web to learn from, maybe emulate, and share with. Then of course, you get chummy with the other artists involved in that challenge or class. You’re hooked.
I found more artists whose work I wanted to see more of, via a big clean-out of my many art books and periodicals. I will be downsizing even further in the next few months, and I needed the cash, so off to HalfPrice Books I went with a load. Before letting a good book go, I found it necessary to peruse it thoroughly; keepers were set aside and some pages torn out of various Stampington publications before trashing the rest of the magazine. Even so, there were plenty of pristine issues intact left to sell. You can find ’em at the HPB store on Northwest Highway.
Now I have roughly half the art and decor books I moved in with; which gave me the courage to toss a big trash bag full of fabric scraps. I’m not done ferreting around in my stash; I’m determined to be tough. I’ve had this stuff for many years. I used to enjoy popping in to the fabric store for the odd remnant but haven’t had that pleasure for a long time, ’cause I just didn’t want to add to my piles.
Last week I let my favorite doll that I made go; and it didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would! “Beth” is with her new mom now up in Glen Ellyn, IL. I listed her on Etsy and she wasn’t there for long, so I am encouraged to keep going with dolls and other artwork for sale. And selling at lower prices than I offered before; I am trying to find that sweet spot between what’s affordable for a buyer and gives me some profit, too. It’s the sharing of my work, and the recognition, and joy the buyer experiences that mean the most to me now.
I love Instagram for its ability to satisfy my need for instant gratification. I follow close to 200 artists world-wide now, and have some followers of my own. It keeps me on the creativity path. The online challenges have you upload your “homework” onto Instagram, and all the artists in the challenge view and comment on everyone’s work.
Shout out to Tara Leaver, a young abstract painter in Cornwall for her Art Notes news and encouragement! She has online classes in addition to an occasional free challenge.
Black gesso smudge, white charcoal and oil on small canvas paper. I didn’t plan it, I just pulled the imagery out of the black smudge.
White and Black charcoal
Still loving learning painting with soft pastels via Gail Sibley’s blog, How To Pastel
I fell in love with a business card featuring a photo of A Little Company stoneware/porcelain sculpture of these delightful characters
I wanted to see what would happen if I held two different tip size pens and made a quick sketch of a still life.
“Beth” doll is ready for mailing to her new mom in IL. I made her wrapping paper out of paper napkins stitched together.
Little fabric collage, or samplers. Using up favorite scraps, and loving the zen relaxation of making them. Just instinctive; no plan. Addictive. Jude Hill of Spirit Cloth got me onto this.
Pamela Hastings Book and the little figure I made from one of her patterns
It happened to me, what was unthinkable…..running out of money and resources in retirement; this Boomer who never planned for the future and was blind-sided by job losses and home equity losses, et al, blah blah blah. Now made the tough decision to sell my cottage on a tree-lined street near my beloved White Rock Lake, and – ohmygod, will rent an apartment for awhile. Perhaps a long while. After ten years of ownership, my equity is non-existent due to the housing crash, and this old cottage now needs upkeep and repair I cannot make. I dreamed of hanging on long enough to get a nice reverse mortgage, but the bathroom floor will have long caved in before that ever happens.
To my chagrin, I find that I qualify for subsidized housing for a one bedroom apartment. So that’s what I have to do. The For Sale sign went up in my yard today, and there have been three showings already.
My grandson will move back home with his mom and sisters and her boyfriend, and my son will have to find someone else besides me to stay with. I’ve done all I can do, and now it is time to let go and move on. I can’t help but think about everyone who rails against entitlements for the poor and ashamed to admit that in my callous youth, I was a snob. I wasn’t priviledged, just ignorant and naive. I wasn’t smart with money, and I gave most of my inheritance away or made bad investments during the recession. But I always worked and supported us, and paid my taxes. Now it’s my turn to hold out my hand for help from the government. There you have it.
So I made this little sampler cloth that had a horizontal piece up top, and it looked sort of like a pagoda, or perhaps an irregular cross. I had another piece of brown and cream toile by Laura Ashley and I cut a section out that had a female profile with an outstretched arm on it. After that, I drew a larger profile beside the printed toile one. She wanted boots for walking, so a periwinkle pair were stitched and stuffed, trapunto-style. Hands outstretched, she is garnering the courage to journey forward.
Paintings by Claudia McGill
Here are photos of little paintings by Claudia McGill, whom I discovered by linking into blogs here on WordPress. I adore her work! She is very generous, and had a giveaway on her blog. In exchange, I sent her a sampling of my work and am tickled to learn that she’s keeping them together like a little art journal. So cool.
Claudia McGill original acrylic paintings on canvas panels. displayed temporarily along a kitchen backsplash ledge
Reception and Gallery Walk at theSmall Gallery and Slant Gallery in Midtown
I took photos of every piece of artwork (well, I think I got it all) that was on display at theSmall Gallery and Slant Gallery recently and will share them with you. To start, here I am at the Reception attempting a selfie against my cloth head-ladies dolls.
That wraps up the Midtown gallery tours for April. If you made it this far into my blog post today, I hope you enjoyed it!
I am musing now…..does it matter where I live as long as I am surrounded by art that sustains me? I still have friends, family, and a host of folks to admire in social media and the blogesphere. But….Hopefully a view of leafy green or at least a flowering hanging basket from apartment windows. Pride, pride go away….give up the dream of home ownership. If it is a burden, then it is too much for me to handle. Been there, done that, as we say. Time to move on.
I continue to rework some older cloth dolls as the mood strikes me. I am still incubating ideas for new pieces. Often, before I fall asleep, I rehearse a technique and assemble all the parts completely in my head. I might even paint a picture (also in my head). Too bad all the inspired work going on in my head doesn’t actually come to fruition. Is this normal behavior?
Artists/Makers/Teachers whose work has influenced me lately are:
Paper doll project courtesy The Pale Rook. Lynne Perrella’s awesome book Beyond Paper Dolls inspires.
I pasted notes by The Pale Rook on back. I dressed the doll with cut outs from a fashion magazine
The Pale Rook paper doll joins other “store-bought” dolls in my very girlie bedroom
Framed Original collage circa 2004 by Claudine Hellmuth
Phoebe gets a makeover + paperclip
clothes are raw-edge and embellished with crude embroidery. And she “borrowed” another doll’s purse.
Back view highlights back of skirt
Marianne’s original face circa 1997
Makeover includes a chin lift underway (see needle, no, it doesn’t hurt)
I’d forgotten that I had even recycled a failed head, proving women do in fact have eyes in the back of their heads.
“New” Marianne still loves her old dress and boots.
New chin, makeup, hair…
My mom, D.J. Geer, who passed sixteen years ago, would have turned 90 this past July. She was an artist and especially loved any sort of textile art. We were playmates. She loved birds. When she died, I took her favorite ceramic purchase, a fat budgie. This is my watercolor of it.
Mom’s little budgie
Hey, New York: Hipsters thrive in Texas too!
Jake at Half Price Books in Dallas, TX
Over the last few months, I have been fortunate to supplement my social security income by typing, and helping edit, a dear friend’s memoir. It is turning into therapy for us both (besides the obvious learning experience). In addition, we are working on an art project together; I am scanning and mounting her drawings. Here’s a little sketch I made of her after a memoir session at my kitchen table:
April to present was filled with difficulties related to family issues and there were times I couldn’t make much art, or even read blogs; it was a struggle to open my email and Facebook. Just wanted to sleep round the clock. My memoir-writing friend has lent me her Inspector Gamache and The Walk novels, as I confessed to only reading my collection of “research” material related to Art or Decor or Fashion.
I needed an escape, and boy do I love Louise Penny’s and Richard Paul Evans’ work now! I’m an addictive personality and can barely put them down long enough to return to Blogs and Art. I expect to learn some things about Life and People, and maybe….maybe that will lead to some new Artwork, as well. Hope returns.
In light of current events, how can my need for creative expression possibly matter, given the frightening state of affairs in the world? Is that shallow of me? I am petrified of the term “shallow”. It has been used to describe me during my most rebellious periods and haunts me. I curse myself for my vast amount of shallowness in previous decades and wonder how much remains? Gawd. Sadness and Fear drifted in these last couple months more than expected, but also some great joy in family coming together.
Urgent family business requiring three stressful and relatively unpleasant trips Downtown and much paperwork prep, coupled with the sudden and unexpected death by cancer of my beloved cousin Ronald, laid me low a few days. I started mixing up house paint because my pale blue bedroom was on my nerves. There were 3 false starts until I finally mixed a pinky-peachy-beige and wanted it up on the wall NOW. But I stalled out! I just couldn’t get it done.
Meantime, I’m helping a friend type and edit her memoir which is a fascinating project and we have a lively monthly meeting at my kitchen table. Soon after Ronnie’s funeral, along comes a wonderful family celebration in Ennis, and I am rejuvenated by reconnecting and meeting some special new people, although cousin Ronald was dearly missed.
All during these difficult 2 months it felt like all my attempts at art making sucked, so I just fiddled around with ideas and snapped pics of the process. I cheered myself up with a purchase from Etsy artist Monnie Bean Folkart and took pics of him hanging around the house. He’s paperclay, and upon arrival on my doorstep, told me his name was “Trevor”.
I was so excited that artist, book author, and blogger Seth Apter included a photo I sent him of one of my artwork displays at home in the Living With Art section of his blog! ( I am having trouble making “insert link” work, so am inserting this the hard way)
Then Mother’s Day arrived and my son gave me a wonderful gift: He finished painting my bedroom for me! It’s a much more soothing room now and all the more so because of his hard work.
Click on any of the mis-mash of my images below to enlarge them.
Trevor (paperclay doll by Monnie Bean Folkart) supervises furniture painting
Paint colors test
West End Salvage TV show featured a little vintage Duncan Phyfe table like mine…which I am painting pink.
Project sketches
On my desk: David and Trevor
New loot by Pam Carriker & Seth Apter + cat = good lounging
My front yard. It’s spring!
Trevor drawing gone wrong
desk chaos 1
Desk tidy up
Spring studio view
Vintage teapot + notes on new doll project
Cloth doll in process of a re-do
Playing with mixed media.
The cloth doll goes in a whole new direction
Experiment gone wrong: Caran D’Ache watercolor pastels + gouach paint on Lokti paper
Mural by Dawn Cleaves of Artisan Finishes in Dallas, TX
Dawn holds her stenciled painted dress
A view of Richard’s woodworking studio
Artisan Richard Wincorn
ladder, windows and doors in Wincorn studio
painted fabric, mural, and red pepper in Artisan Finishes studio
Linda and I both enjoyed visiting with Gardiner as the kids played during the tour
Mrs. Goodwin reacts to the good vibes from Wincorn’s work and the light
We get autographed copies of Scouting The Best of Local Dallas, Texas
Foyer in Wincorn Studio
Yummy supplies at Artisan Finishes
Corner in Dawn’s studio
Studio view in Wincorn’s workshop
A sample of Wincorn’s pieces
His woodworking shop/studio boasts a lovely porch cover by Richard Wincorn
A freezing Dallas winter view from my front porch
Last weekend my artist buddy Linda Garten Goodwin and I went on our neighborhood’s Cayuga Plaza Open Studio tour. It sits just east of White Rock Lake, on the other side of the railroad track from my house. We love our train. When it rains, and the conductor blows that train whistle, there is no better sound.
Visit the websites of these talented artists, and visit their custom work studios. Call Dawn for an appointment to see her Artisan Finishes studio at 214-500-2063. And check out Richard Wincorn’s beautiful spread in Scouting The Best of Local Dallas Vol. 3 City Guide.
Genie Geer Artyology 