A Great Post by Artist Evie Coates

Hazel’s Granddaughter

POSTED BY Evie Coates

As I sling imperfect measurements of flour and brown sugar into a big enamelware bowl this morning, as I sip my coffee out of the Swede coffee cup (”you can always tell a Swede but you can’t tell him much”), as I drag my brushes through the vibrant liquid colors and commit them to the paper, my grandma is with me in the kitchen today. Hazel was my mother’s mother. Her middle name was Fern.

She loved her family and was a consummate homemaker. She loved the nothingness of the Arizona desert. She loved the pink, cloudy evening skies of the West. In her opinion, the Tetons were God’s most extravagant gift to his children. She was an artist and took painting courses by correspondence. She had a real gypsy spirit and didn’t mind moving around, wherever the winds of opportunity blew her and her family. She was a rascally tomboy when she was young, and kept a healthy portion of that feisty nature as long as she lived.
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I new drawing, a long time coming.

I have finally finished a drawing I was asked to do a long time ago.  I spent a long time trying to figure out how to accomplish what I was asked to do.  I was asked to do some sort of commemorative drawing to go into the center of a mat signed by a bunch of people (myself included) who worked at Blodgett's Family Birth Center over the years.  I ended up doing a collage of images representing the building, old and new, and a mother and baby (Molly and Ellie).  Honestly the hand drawn lettering was probably the hardest part of it all.  I still have no idea where this piece will reside in the end.  But its finally done nonetheless.

New Andrew Peterson Video

In a few days a new Andrew Peterson album, Counting Stars, will be released.  If I haven't mentioned before he is my favorite living artist.  I have posted the video of one of the songs from this album, Dancing in the Minefields.  If you're not married some of its significance may be lost on you, but if you are... well if you are I think you'll enjoy it.

I forgot...

You forget, ya know.  So easily really.  You forget what's hidden in the quiet because the noise becomes so commonplace.  So you just believe that noise is really the truth, ya know.  But maybe the noise is mostly lies.  I don't know, maybe its not that sinister, maybe its just noise.  Maybe its kind of neutral.  But if life holds good, bad, and neutral, isn't the neutral really just bad after all?  Maybe its the worst kind of bad because it has a disguise and an alias.

Anyways, back to forgetting what lies in quiet reflection.  Maybe the worst thing isn't forgetting all the "whats" found in the silence, but forgetting the "whats" are found there in the first place.  What if the greatest thought, or inspiration, or revelation lies just on the outskirts of a city called "noise" (who some refer to as "life") and we forget to take a stroll out past the glow and clamor of that collective mass.  I'm starting to think that forgetting in general might just be one of the saddest things in life.  Forgetting is a giant eraser to your life. And somehow, despite the many great moments I've enjoyed in quiet solitude, I always end up back at some noisy location thinking "oh that wasn't so great or unique, you just romanticized it you old dreamer."  (which is probably what you are thinking about me right now).  I forget what lies in the quiet.

Lo, I am sticking a marker in the ground right now.  Quiet reflection holds treasures.  -Treasures the noise cannot possibly offer, despite its many claims to the contrary.  Don't forget.

A poem...


If I told you, it would ruin it.
If I exposed it to the air it would evaporate.
If I did what I am tempted to do, I could never undo it.
I know a beauty, that if spoken of, would wither and darken.
The good has been done and anything more would corrupt it.
So I will treasure up all these things and ponder them in my heart.


I'm planning on returning to the 30 days thing here soon.  I had a couple things going on in  life that made it very tough to continue. Don't get me wrong, all is well.  Expect a revisit soon.

Day 4 Result, Day 5 Idea Request

Here's today's result of my 30 Day Creative Challenge.  No, its not a beer!  The idea selected from yesterday was Michael's, who simply suggested, "Tea."  So I brewed a pot of tea, poured myself a hot cup, got my oil paints out and painted my hot cup of tea in my favorite clear tea mug.  I like to drink tea out of this mug because I can see how strong or weak i have made it very easily.  This was painted with only Titanium White, Ivory Black, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, and a touch of Yellow Ochre Light.  This is the one I've had the most fun doing but probably only because this is more my style.  Oh well, I did it in under two hours so I am most happy with that fact.  Usually when I have an inspiration for a painting I consider how to go about it, sketch it, plan it out, and then consider all the work its going to take to complete it and I get overwhelmed and never tackle it, let alone finish it.  This little experiment has been very encouraging to my and what I think it takes to produce something I am not embarrassed of.  This one's yours Michael.  Ok y'all,   let's hear your next batch of ideas!  I don't know how crazy my night will be tomorrow but hopefully I can hit it again then.  Get your ideas in by 5pm tomorrow evening just in case!

Day 3 Result, Day 4 Idea Request

Well it has not been consecutive days but here is the result of Day 3 of my 30 Day Art Challange.  Heather's idea was randomly selected.  Her idea was: "Sara Groves writes "I just showed up for my own life....the glory of God is man fully alive." What does it look like to choose to live fully alive. Alive to our longings- met and unmet-, alive to who we were truly created to be, unafraid of ourselves, restored, honest in the struggle of the journey we are on, showing up each day as the best version of ourselves..."
   

Just Showed Up For My Own Life...

Interestingly I have always liked this song myself.  Its really tough to try to produce something with a fairly developed concept in a very short amount of time.  Something like his scene is what I picture when I hear this song and think about this concept.  I have long been intrigued by Van Gogh's "Sower with the Setting Sun" which is about the infinite God and man shown here.  

Some of you may have picked up on the likeness to that painting.  In tribute to his work, and because it so not my normal style and because I only had an hour or so, I did an oil painting.  It is what it is.  Heather it's yours for whatever you want to do with it.   


Ok, let's hear some new ideas (or un-picked ones again, whatever).  I may get to a new one tomorrow night.  Thanks again guys!  

Day 2 Result, Day 3 Request

So the idea for today's 30 Day Art Challenge was Joseph's and it was "the lights at the end of the optics are different colors make up a city."  He also included a link to a picture of some fiber optics lit up similar to the one above.  I wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that but this is what I made.  It was created in Photoshop from a photo of some fiber optic filaments and a night photo of Grand Rapids.  The only other idea i had was to actually create a fiber optic city scene.  You can purchase the filament pretty cheaply and I figured you could use black foam-core to sketch a city on and poke pin holes through to feed the fibers through.  I could  use different colored LEDs to light the fibers and it'd be pretty cool.  Buuuutttt...  obviously I don't have the time to order the filament (they didn't have any at Hobby Lobby, I checked) and figure it all out if I have to do this in an hour or so of my time.  So this is what ya get.  It's weird but kinda cool at the same time I think.  I had to do quite a bit to the city photo to get those colors, get it glowing right, and merge it with the photo so it looked reasonable.  Oh well, weird but Day 2 anyway!
It's time to submit your ideas for day 3.  New rule:  Only one submission per person.  If you have more than one good idea, save it for another day.  If you really want to see me try to do an idea of yours that didn't get picked, resubmit it again the next day and so on.  Please keep them fairly general and do not include directions for process (i.e.- "a painting..." or " a drawing..." etc.) I want to figure that part out from your idea.  Ok let's hear 'em ya'll!

Day 1 results and Day 2 subject request

This is the results of Day 1 of my 30 day experiment.  Ok, so Ken's idea was chosen by random selection from a hat and here is my take.  I have never been too much of a cartoon-type illustrator but this is about stretching  myself so here's a stretch...really.  Its a pretty bad photo of it but if you click on it you can see it a little better.  I hope you at least get the idea.  Ninjas are supposedly always around us, we just don't see them because they're so...uh... ninja-ie.  So here's rush hour in a typical day when everyone in the world is a Ninja.  By the way, that is a dead cat with a throwing star stuck in it, in the road.  I'm not a cat hater, its just what I think a world full of Ninjas would look like.  Ken's Idea, my take.
Alright, day 2.  Let's have some good ideas.  Feel free to re-submit any ideas from previous days that didn't get chosen but also feel free to come up with new ones.  They can be things/feelings/senerios, one word or many, -its up to you.  List them below!

A thought, an experiment...

30 days, 30 creations.  For 30 days I am going to try and attempt to produce 30 new creations from your ideas.  I have a family, a job, and a life (at least I consider it that) so this is tailored to fit that context.  I have a problem of  taking too long to move a creative idea to artistic completion.  Sometimes its so long the completion never comes.  I need to stretch myself on quickness and creativity.  It's a speed exercise for a an artist who has become too used to running distance.  Its an experiment.  And hopefully it will be fun.  Here's the deal:
Each day I will take subject ideas from you (whoever you are) and produce something...er...creative from one of the suggestions.  If there is none, I will ask someone specifically for an Idea.  I will then spend some time in the evening making something related to the subject chosen.  Here's the fun part...Who's-ever's idea I work on, they will get whatever I create.  Hopefully that's a little incentive for some ideas.  I don't know what will result.  It may be a sketch, it may be a painting, it may be a sculpture, who knows!  It may be something you like.  I may be something you end up eating TV dinners off of.  It may be something you tell me to throw away quickly. -Hey, it's an experiment.  But it may be good for both of us.  First one starts March 18.  Please make your subject suggestion by posting it as a comment on the CURRENT DAY on this blog.  I will try and make a post each day with the winner from the previous day and a new request for subjects that day.  I am looking for subject ideas, not project ideas, -that's my part.  I really hope you guys throw some good random ideas out there for me.  Here's to a fun 30 days.