Liberty High school and Rotary event

Yesterday we had a fun annual event in the arsenal. The Rotary club of Benicia and local wineries join together for a fundraiser for Liberty High School. It's a mini open studios for all of us in the arsenal and a chance to meet new people and have some fun. I always welcome these events as great advertising and I am happy to participate in open studios and meet all my fellow artists. There were wineries spread all around, the high school students volunteered to pass trays of food and the art gallery was open for viewing. The studios were open and a fun time was had by all. Miriam my part time helper came and we donned tutus for flair and fun, then we had some jr. hip chick's wanting in on the action. I happily obliged but most of my tutus are in my son's car for his photo shoot of the football team which will be happening today! I can hardly wait for these pictures.

Tomorrow this hip chick and her entourage will be road tripping to her favorite place, the place where the tutu first came on the scene, Bass Lake. I am bringing some tutu's along with my friend Kat, my daughter Abby and her friend Louise. Our friends are first timers so it's going to be fun to show them around. I guarantee Fork's burgers, thrift shopping and lots and lots of fun....stay tuned for more craziness and as always thanks for being on my team!!!

Art's Benicia Gala art preview and yet another new painting

Man I am on a roll! I am in a creative buzz and I am loving it. Today I was at the shop and I contemplated working on my angel piece and even my twirling tutu piece but I held off as I have a plan. Suffice it to say it's good and I will reveal it at a later time.. Instead I started yet another painting and as you can see I am taking pictures of it's evolution. This is VERY young, I only worked on it for less than an hour but I am diggin it already...I love how my tutu series is suddenly coming together, in many ways. First by my doing almost 3 paintings of different tutu concepts and second by my acquiring 6 more colored playmates. My son is getting the San Ramon Valley football team geared up, psyched up for it's tutu photo shoot next week. That's right we actually have 6 football studs willing to play football in a tutu, I am so proud I could cry. So add that to my portfolio of various tutu poses and we are really getting a good show together.

Next up is the Art's Benicia Gala which is next Friday the 24th at the Ironhorse showroom in Benicia and it features valet parking, drinks,dinner and a live art auction. All the art on my blog was taken at the gallery in the Arsenal today and is available for purchase at this event. This is my first time going to this Gala and I'm so excited to meet more of my fellow artists and enjoy a lovely sit down dinner with my hubbie. As you can see there is incredible art made in Benicia and I posted a few pictures for a general overview, if you want to see these better come to the gallery or better yet to the event itself. It promises to be a great time and I am hoping my piece "Spring Sherbet" fetches a buyer...

Stay tuned for more art, tutu's and shenanigans which are always in supply when Hip Chick is nearby.....

The Ascent

Today I started another painting as I have shown in the slideshow. I am diggin my new technique SO much. I was inspired to do a angel-ballerina by a photo on the internet taken from an event at the White house, the dancer in the photo looked gorgeous in her tutu-like dress. I was drawn to her pose and the fact she looked like she was wearing a tutu and then as I thought about how to paint it, I imaged her flying in the air with wings. I sketched the fairy on the canvas and then layered my washes of color to see it come alive, the best part about painting. I added the ribbons as a way to show her movement and grace, and to make her look airborne. I only worked on this for a total of 2 hours so it's still young, and needs more attention. But of course I was excited to share and I will keep taking pictures of the piece until it is finished. I have to admit I like seeing the painting in it's phases and I am glad I am taking the time to stop and take pictures during it's development. I started doing it to see how it would look and now I see it is very useful for myself as well. The title of this painting is "The Ascent" and I love the essence of spirituality it evokes. I hope it's not cheesy, flying fairies and all, it could really be seen that way. But the tutu series HAS to have a angel image and this is it. I am excited to see where it will go, and I am happy with my recent breakthroughs. I love your feedback and as always thank you for your support!
Here is the image that inspired me....

Traveling tutu's

 First I will say I'm over stimulated from the weekends events.  WOW, it was off the hook awesome.  Ok, I can hardly catch my breath.  I went to the studio last week and tried painting a palm tree, big deal, well I hated it and decided to scratch it.  So moving on I tried the one I posted of me on the beach in Hawaii.  I was so psyched because right from the start it flowed.  I am not proficient at water, actually I haven't painted many water scenes and I find it VERY challenging.  So I asked obiwan-Bob-kanobi my studio mate for some pointers and boy did it help!  I decided to take pics of the process for myself and anyone else who is interested to see how a painting develops.  This painting is unusually light in paint, almost like a watercolor and this is new for me.  I am not finished but me being impatient and a spaz couldn't wait to share with my sweet bloggin fans.  I will post the painting when it's finished but people like Robin who doesn't do facebook and only check my blog can see what I'm up to.  Hi Robin!! wink wink....

Ok, so as you can see from the other pictures I SCORED today at the Alameda antique in the tutu department.  I bought 6 more tutu's to add to my party and boy what a party it is....I am not kidding when I tell you these things have magic in them.  I can't tell you how many people stopped and asked about these tutu's, "are these all yours?  what do you do with them?  Do you sell them? " No one could believe I didn't want to sell them and that I just collect them.  Kat my partner in tutu crime and I were stopped by tons of people who wanted in on the tutu fun....it got me thinking maybe I need to take pictures of people in them for some money....God knows I could use some bucks and this is a possibility for the tutu future, so on we went on our merry way collecting hats, parasols and what not to compliment the tutu scene.  We met fun people like Mariah who stopped us and said "Let me take your picture", which we coyly agreed...haha.  Then we met Joel and George who are fun guys and had a blast putting on a dress skirt and kickin their heels up...Thanks guys.  It was magic how these tutu's make friends and I said jokingly to Kat , "maybe tutu's can bring world peace" and I fantasized about President Obama wearing one to an International convention and spouting the joys and merriment of the colorful skirt.  Can't you see the President of China or Iran wearing one and how it would cause such a ripple of change?  I know it's out there but you never know, they are that powerful.....

So now I am going to kick back, take a deep breath and count my blessings for the weekend and all the fun it provided.  That Alameda antique is the best place for good times, fun treasure and meeting new friends.  I can't wait to bring my new tutu friends 'home' to Hip Chick and hang them from the ceiling, just like I was dreaming, and see what else they have in store for me.....I have no doubt they will keep leading me there. 

Silhouette art class and Mosaics to come!

Saturday I learned a new art technique, silhouettes. It's amazingly easy, extremely relaxing and ultimately addicting. Jan my former "Roomie" from Room with a Past, was our fearless teacher, providing all materials and cinnamon rolls on a stick for a snack. So cute and so Jan. She's a class act. I always admired her talent back when we met at Room with a Past, she can make anything cute with her uncanny flair. She used to make silhouettes on big window panes with different words and images and they impressed me. I thought it looked really labor intensive and tricky. Wrong. Cats outta the bag now, they are really easy and fun. Only hard part is not making a mess, and taking your time. Now for some this is no problem, yet hip chick is impatient and rather messy so there were a couple of  lessons I learned here. 1. slow down 2. slow down 3. slow down. hahaha. But really I jumped right in and started, didn't even wait for instruction, otherwise mine might have been put on correctly instead of incorrectly. Then I decided to use oil paint for the tutu part of the image, and in my excitement and haste I put the paper back on before the paint dried and smudged the image slightly. Classic hip chick move, I want to hang a thing before it's even had a chance to dry, doesn't everyone do this???!!! I amuse even myself with my impatience and this was just another time I saw my spaziness get in the way of a masterpiece. The other students however did great, they listened, they put together their pieces and were delighted with the results. Jan provided all kinds of silhouette choices from birds, initials, dancers, Halloween images etc. and you place the image on the glass (backwards) ideally and then paint directly on the glass. Once you remove the outline you have a lovely silhouette and you can see your handiwork. Jan gave us fun paper choices to back the images or you could just go au natural and have it be a black and white look. I loved it, and I want to do more, bigger and with themes for the shop. Thanks Jan for teaching me something new, for bringing new faces to the store and for being my creative friend. I hope you teach many more classes at the studio and it encourages me to do the same. Any time I make something with my own hands I am energized and happy. The next art class is going to be a mosaic class taught by Jean in Oct 2nd and 3rd. Jean will provide all the materials and teach this two day class at Hip Chick studios. The mosaics are garden themed geckos and butterflies equipped with hanging devices, really colorful and fun decor pieces to keep or give for the up coming holidays. Sign up before it fills up, Jean's email is jeancernigoj@comcast.net for any questions. It's very rewarding for this hip chick to help other creatives to do their thing and shine. I also benefit by sharing my place and learning new techniques. Don't cha just love win win scenarios? 

Butterfly mosaic for class

Eva came back, and new painting, " Lei'd back"

Today was a fun day at the shop, EVA my cutest customer EVER came back, and she brought the whole family with her....Thanks Eva. I missed you. Your mom is so sweet and generous, buying lots of goodies and you and Luke looked great in the pictures. I hope you will come back much sooner and I will keep my eyes out for Eva-ish things ok...I also had Miriam my part-time employee come in with friends and do a tutu photo shoot, the kids were dying for their M&M's, gotta get some more, the jar is getting low now....and I painted "Lei'd back". The painting is inspired from the recent Hawaii trip, Ben gave us flower Lei's at the airport and Abby my daughter took the picture of the lei with the beach in the background. I liked the combination of the flowers with the water and I am pleased with the painting. It brings me right back to the tropics....ah....

Tomorrow we have our first Hip Chick Art Class taught by Jan Ely. There is still space and it's only $25.00 so come on down and learn something, I know I will. It's getting back to being busier, summer was so slow and it made me a bit sad. I am happy when I see my favorite customers and it inspires me to keep doing my thing. So come visit me at the shop and put on a tutu and have a good time!!

Tutus in paradise

Hip chick has been on vacation in paradise and that's her favorite place to be.  I took almost 500 pictures and I will share a few, as I'm a sharin and carin' kinda gal. There is so much to talk about I hardly know where to start, I'll try at the beginning and see how we go from there.  We left on Sunday the 8th of August and flew to the big island of Hawaii.  My husband Ben is a pilot but he doesn't get to fly us, no, we schlep it on the airlines while he flies the fancy global express, but at least we get to go to Hawaii right?!  Ben met us at the gate with flower leis and a sign saying "my family" so cute and fun and we all went to our condo to KB (kick-back,  in case you didn't know).  Now I won't bore you with every day details but pretty much everyday we 1.snorkeled 2. layed out at a beach 3. ate yummy food 4. listened to island music and 5. had fun.  One day we tried to find the dolphins we swam with from last year but they weren't at Cap't Cook's cove so we snorkeled and used our rented underwater camera.  We took the turtle shot and the underwater tutu pics and that was really fun.

A particularly fun encounter came with a spontaneous stopping at an antiques shop in Kona.  Being as we were with the boys who hate shopping it was a real treat for Ben to stop and let us look around.  I was happily looking at trinkets when Peter the owner of the shop and I got talking about art and antiques.  I told him about my shop and he told me he did art as well, so I asked where his art was and he said at home.  I said "WHAT?" so he thought maybe he would bring his art into his shop to sell and I wholeheartedly encouraged him.  Well naturally the tutu topic came up and he was such a good sport he said he'd be delighted to put it on and then he asked would I like him with or without his shirt on?  Well of course I said without and he rocked that tutu like a Vegas showgirl.  Thanks Peter for your good energy and I hope you use the pictures to show your customers what a fun place your shop is! 

Another fun time was going to Hapuna beach where my GREAT friend Robin was married, and we finally met her friend Maka, who runs things at the beach.  He was so generous and I finally found Robin's hotel and saw how much she loves it, it is gorgeous. We ate at Bamboo and Jacky Rays which were amazing, I love the fresh fish and all the yummy fruit in the islands.  I feel so healthy in the tropics, it's all swimming and eating light, fresh food.  One day we went to the airport and checked out Ben's plane, Abby and I sat in the cockpit and pretended we were pilots.  The funniest thing is I hate flying, I am a NERVOUS flier and here I am in the cockpit of a 35 million dollar plane.  Ironic I married a pilot, I know!  Of course I brought the tutu, you never know when you will find someone who wants to wear it!  Lori the flight attendant happily put it on and I snapped her picture. The tutu has a way of making everyone smile who puts it on.....

As the pictures show Hawaii is just a magical paradise and a photographers delight.  It was hard to choose which pictures to post, these are only a few of the hundreds.  Janna and Meredith our friends from here in Danville moved to Oahu a few years ago and we got to spend a few days together.  We started at Pearl Harbor, which was very sobering and educational.  I was shocked the tour was free and it was a good experience to see this historic spot and take some time to ponder that time in history.  One of the best days was our last one at Waimea beach. Tuesday was our last full day there and Meredith was given permission to skip school and go beachin with us.  It was a blast, we swam and layed out and the girls all jumped off the rock.  I fantasized about someone wearing the tutu and jumping, as well as wanting a local Hawaiian to don the tutu.  As you can see my dreams came true and I have to thank Lance for this.  I tapped poor Lance on the shoulder and gave him my best pretty please smile and said "Is there any way you would put this tutu skirt on for me?" and he thought I was joking of course until I assured him I was serious and then with the help of his friends and family was wearing the pink tutu.  I was in heaven.  Then it got EVEN better as they said, "brudda you gotta go jump the rock!" I almost fell over with happiness and off he goes to climb the rock wearing my pink tutu.  As you can imagine Lance got a lot of support from everyone on the beach and I just took shot after shot of this special moment.  His leap in mid air is by far my favorite tutu shot to date, and I thank you Lance for your generous and fun spirit.  You made my day and I'm sure many others with your daring tutu dive.  

It was hard to leave paradise I can tell you but also great to come home.  I was excited to share my pictures, report on my shenanigans and get in the studio.  It's only been 4 days and I am still trying to get my bearings, vacations have a way of making you more tired than if you didn't go away sometimes.  But I loved it and I loved bringing my tutu with me on all my adventures, sharing her with new friends and faces and seeing how easily she makes a splash.  Who knew some fabric skirt would end up being my signature calling card???