Stephanie Hilvitz

We Paint Together...Day 16

we've committed to re-commit to our weekly painting gatherings in 2016

we paint, we share, we solve all our art world problems

grateful indeed for this tribe

in the Moment

I have this little box that I use to create and recreate tableaus, a living, ever changing study...adding and removing elements.  A new Santos hand added recently...

what happened I wonder to the Santos.  Why so many Santos hands on the market...any ideas?

Edit: This from Constance, If carved, most likely come from Indonesia. ( learned from my friend Mike who has shop Bodega and sells them) If cast in resin I don't know where they come from.

I am fine with the fact that these are reproductions as I didn't like the idea of real Santos's being pillaged for their hands.

Today I document this moveable feast in black and white with a touch of red.

Evolution...Revelation

A single spark is sometimes all it takes to start down a new rabbit hole.

Last year I began experimenting with using my original photographs in these photo paintings...using texture paint, acrylic, caran d'ache...some scraping and scratching.  I saw possibilities...

 
now with the addition of some wax I found a way to a deeper story.  Carving, hiding, revealing...

wood nymph images in my journal will jump off the page soon...

as stories of portals...

slowly unfold

Finding Fossil Fuel

of inspiration from last months National Geographic magazine which has a fascinating article on the evolution of feathers. 

photo of 150 million year old feather fossil by Robert Clark

The beautiful photography of Robert Clark has me playing

another of Robert Clarks bird fossil photographs

with composition and color...

and my cabinets of curiosity.  What is fueling your inspiration?

Noticing as Landscape

noticing

looking...at details

of natural elements

as landscape ...as ecstasy

Conga Line

 
nuff said other than this dance brings me great JOY!

Putting it all Together

I have filled my coffers with goodies from San Miguel, the best part of this creative process is pulling it all together...

wonderful bits of tin and steel ...waiting to be picked...

new Kitchen Goddess's dressed in painted milagro hearts and bits of oilcloth

and a silk screened St Michael on tin embelished with some of this and some of that...

In Decay...Stories Unfold

The first layer of my work is always the written word...most often in the form of stream of consciousness...this is the story that unfolded from this piece based on a photograph from the 'ghost town school' in Mineral de Pozas

The silent doorway beckons

a story surely there, if only one listens deeply.

Lives lived, laughter rings out, children running up and down those now lonely steps

looking out upon the rural landscape.

Faces lining the wide windows...tell us your stories.

We care, we will listen

Moonlight now plays off the old stone, patina of time grace the walls.

Graffiti of a new generation leave their mark.

Talk to us, we will listen and hold you near.

and a bit of synchronicity...as Rebecca shares Pozos too...

Things that go Round

circles prominent...paint...

From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun

 

and stencils in the journal

There's more to see than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done

 

snap peas popping up in our new community garden

There's far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found

 

flowers in the garden

But the sun rolling high
Through the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small on the endless round

 

photoshopping images to play with...

It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all

 

mother earth

Through despair and hope
Through faith and love

bike wheels spinning 'round...finally

Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle

The Circle of Life

lyrics by Tim Rice from the Lion King

Curious Flora and Fauna

I was so very inspired by the show at the Museum of Art and Design in NY and the concept of the cabinet of curiosities... which in Victorian times was regarded as a microcosm or theater of the world and paved the way for modern Natural History Museum displays.  

So many ideas buzzing around my head and it was this that was my focus as I foraged through the various shops we visited.  Only the most delicate did I carry home with me...the rest are soon to follow.

oh so many ideas......