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June 15th, 2014
June 15th, 2014
Connie Barbie, 2014, digital manipulation, 20″ x 20″
I felt very exposed and vulnerable in the process of this project. I am of course quite self-conscious of my weight, so to have my photo taken in that pose and then show the extreme difference between me and a Barbie’s figure….was quite uncomfortable to say the least. It was a good growth experience for me. The end figure is all me – tweaked and transformed – except the hair.
June 15th, 2014
June 15th, 2014
June 15th, 2014
Looking for the Christmas Tree, 2013, oil on wood panel, 24″ x 36″
This piece was entirely inspired by a short animated film produced by a fellow artist, Amy Whatley. I LOVE this little “movie”! It is barely over a minute long and yet tells the story of the life long struggle to find your place in the world, to not be defined or limited by what others say you “should be” and that when you are in the place you belong….everyone else will benefit. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMBKcI2qKWY
June 15th, 2014
The Strength Within, From Sheros Series, 2013, oil on canvas, 30″ x 40″
I am a feminist.
You have no idea how long that has taken me to admit. I have always been accused of being ONE, but have aggressively defended myself and explained the reasons why I’m not. I believe that women are amazing and strong and regularly underestimated (usually by themselves) and capable of so much, but I’m not a feminist. I had no problem with my father “giving me away” at my wedding, I am not offended by mail that is addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Eric Johns and I love to let men carry my luggage or loosen jars. Growing up in the 70s and 80s the picture I had of a feminist was a crazy butch woman with no makeup who HATED men. They didn’t want everyone to know that woman were equal to men, they believed woman were better than men, in every way imaginable, and a world without men all together would be paradise. I don’t. Although I can be regularly over heard saying “Are you kidding me, I don’t need a man to….fill in the blank”, I love the men in my life. I know that woman can be lifted by and made better by wonderful men and that while it would be possible to survive without them (assuming we found another way to procreate), it is not a world I would want to live in. I have taught me sons to treat women with respect, open the doors, lift heavy things, kill spiders, and take care of the women in their lives. I have taught my daughters (too well perhaps) that it’s great to have a man around to take out the trash, shovel the walks and operate power tools….but they don’t NEED a man to do these things. You need to learn how to take care of yourself so that you are not completely helpless and pathetic on your own. So guess what, I’m a feminist…. a raging feminist it turns out, and proud of it.
We Can Do It!
“Rosie”, as she is usually referred to, was a huge iconic symbol for the feminist movement of the 80s and therefore had a negative connotation in my mind. Now that I have embraced my title as a feminist I have reexamined my opinion of Rosie…and I think she’s awesome! In this painting I have tried to show both sides of an amazing woman like myself. The face has been painted with smooth transitions using a soft brush while the background has been rendered with aggressive strokes using a palette knife. I am both a soft, loving, compassionate woman and the SAME TIME that I can take on anything in my path and demolish it! She is emerging from and fading into the background to represent that she is hidden or held “within”. We as women do not always realize our own strength but dig deep enough and I would bet you could find this woman inside all of us. So even though I have titled this piece The Strength Within, it could just as easily retain it’s original title WE CAN DO IT!
June 15th, 2014
April 26, 1995 – Opening Day, 2013, acrylic on canvas, 48″ x 36″
This was a big day in Colorado – opening day of Coors Field. For me it will always be remembered as the day my youngest baby boy was born! Gideon came into the world early in the morning, and then Eric was able to go to the game in the afternoon…you know, to buy souvenirs……..for Gideon……….. right?
June 15th, 2014
June 15th, 2014
Living in the Moment, 2013, acrylic paint & oil pastels, 12″ x 36″
If this life is one act why do we lay all these traps? We put them right in our path, when we just wanna be free.
I will not waste my days, making up all kinds of ways, to worry about all the things that will not happen to me.
So I just let go of what I know I don’t know, and I know I’ll only do this by living in the moment.
Living my life, easy and breezy, with peace in my mind, with peace in my heart, peace in my soul,
Wherever I’m going, I’m already home.
I’m letting myself off the hook for things I’ve done, I let my past go past and now I’m having more fun.
I’m letting go of the thoughts that do not make me strong, and I believe this way can be the same for everyone.
I can’t walk through life facing backwards, I have tried. I tried more than once to just make sure,
And I was denied the future I’d been searching for, but I spun around and hurt no more by living in the moment.
- Jason Mraz
June 15th, 2014