last day, last snow of 2009

it snowed this morning, for the last time this year.
hope you all have a wonderful last day of 2009,
whether you are out celebrating or spending a quiet time at home.
i'm doing a little but of both!

i'm so thankful for all the love and support this year (every year!),
i am grateful every single day.
i moved my blog from my older one for a fresh start at the beginning of this year,
and i do feel like it did shift my mindset as well.

i'll definitely try to share more process photos
and sketchbook pages (i have tons of!) in the new year,
as i hope to experiment for a month or two.

2009 was kind of a great, yet very tough year for us.
hopefully the new year will bring all of you lots of happiness
and great memorable things.

thank you so much for reading,
and see you in 2010!
xo stella

Happy Holidays!!

we had our first snow storm on saturday, it was so nice to see real snow finally!
but now that the fluff and wonder of the first day have passed,
i am itching to bike outside instead of walking everywhere.


bento is looking out through the snow mounds on the window.
(i made a hole for a lookout as the snow fall was beyond their height).

and for some visual treat for the holidays,
look what i found in this wonderful neighborhood of ours :

yes that's right, it's a liquor store window decor, (click pics to enlarge)
consisting of vodka in machine gun bottle (with a grenade bottle!)
and whiskey in a cane with a sheath, no less!!
that makes the shoe shaped bottles look quite extraneous and trivial almost.

although i'll be painting away in my cold studio,
hope you all have warm, fuzzy, cozy holidays!

xo
stella

Multi-plane Piece : Secrets

Secrets. 12"x12". Mixed Media on Layered Glass Panes & Masonite. © 2009.

i finally got some photographs of the Multi-plane piece from the gallery.
above is the image shot by the gallery, which is why it's nicely shot without any glare on the glass layers!

this was probably one of the most difficult painting challenges i've had,
and a painting i didn't use oil paint at all for in a WHILE.
i started using oil paint but then it took what seemed an eternity to dry.
well, it never quite did, because i wiped off while it was still wet.

below's an alternate view of the piece revealing a bit of the face hidden under :


(click to view larger)
photo courtesy of @xtratweet

and some photos of layers shot in progress :


: the under layers of shapes painted with porcelain paint then baked to seal.
(one of the layers completely peeled off once, so i had to redo the face layer!)


: closeup of the other face on the back board underneath the 'main' face on glass layer.


: almost finished piece in progress.

+ you can see the rest of the show here or at the gallery till 01/09/2010!

Multi-plane group shot at Corey Helford Gallery

a special group show of 50 artists who painted on layers of glass sheets and a wood panel, opens this saturday, december 12th, at corey helford gallery in culver city, ca (los angeles).

The Multi-Plane Group Show
Opening December 12th, 7-10PM
(on the main floor till 12/17, in the loft til 1/9)
Corey Helford Gallery
8522 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310. 287. 2340
please inquire with the gallery for more info.
you can see some initial ingredients given by the gallery to each artist
and some pieces submitted by participating artists over here on arrestedmotion.com.

here's a glimpse of my piece :

i'll post a better image when i get one from the gallery...
among many challenges of painting on glass was photographing it.

this is a photo of miniatures i made out of acetate i had laying around
as studies before even attempting messing with glass pieces :


it was still a fun piece to work on so many physical layers,
and i am sure the show will be full of interesting things to see.
i'm bummed i'm not there to see them all in person.

but i'm definitely excited for audrey's debut solo in NYC opening this weekend!
it's gonna be an amazing show - you can see glimpses here and here.