Sara, you're the poet in my heart...

I got the idea to paint Nancy. This is the practice drawing, but I got the idea of doing another grisaille oil on canvas. So I've been practicing drawing her, and I might do that. Then I remembered that she's a Pisces

I kept hearing the song Sara by Stevie Nicks. And I'm not really a Stevie fan, and I don't know why it came on at that moment, or why I thought of Nancy. But then I thought Nancy was singing to me in my head. NO, I'm not crazy. Well, maybe a little. But these words:

Written by Stevie nicks.

Wait a minute baby...
Stay with me awhile
Said you'd give me light
But you never told be about the fire

Drowning in the sea of love
Where everyone would love to drown
And now its gone
It doesn't matter anymore
When you build your house
Call me home

And he was just like a great dark wing
Within the wings of a storm
I think I had met my match -- he was singing
And undoing the laces
Undoing the laces

Drowning in the sea of love
Where everyone would love to drown
And now its gone
It doesn't matter anymore
When you build your house
Call me home

Hold on
The night is coming and the starling flew for days
Id stay home at night all the time
Id go anywhere, anywhere
Ask me and I'm there because I care

Sara, you're the poet in my heart
Never change, never stop
And now its gone
It doesn't matter what for
When you build your house
Ill come by

Drowning in the sea of love
Where everyone would love to drown
And now its gone
It doesn't matter anymore
When you build your house
Call me home

All I ever wanted
Was to know that you were dreaming
(theres a heartbeat
And it never really died)

Then I thought about doing a painting of Dee Dee Ramone, as well. And then one of Sid. And if I do that, then Aileen will be in a category of her own--which she is. I like that idea. Maybe even do a sort of altar or triptyche of some sort, the Chelsea Trinity. I could build something out of wood and attach it with hinges, where it would open. And maybe have different numbers around the outside, coinciding with the tarot card readings and certain dates, room numbers, floors of the Chelsea.

Nancy...

And now its gone
It doesn't matter anymore
When you build your house
Call me home

...makes me cry.

I'm thinking about a series of trees. I want to paint my Labrinyth Tree and my Number Tree.

We went to Faulkners house last week. I love that house so much. And the grounds remind me of the Grove of Seasons, except in summer colors. The Grove does have green, lush areas, I'm sure, but it also has the Fall colors.

I need to look up painting on masonite. I think the preparation is simply to gesso it, but I'm not sure.

Nancy...

Hold on
The night is coming and the starling flew for days
Id stay home at night all the time
Id go anywhere, anywhere
Ask me and I'm there because I care

I do. I care.

Those stairs

I was just looking at this Prismacolor pencil drawing of the first floor steps. These have a deep meaning to me. I dreamed about them long before I ever visited there. I always thought it was a house--in my dream, I mean. When I found the steps, I fell to pieces, and I have no idea why. That was years ago, and I still have no idea why. But they mean something, and I'm going to go that way. I'm going to walk up and down these halls and these steps in the halls of my mind until I find the no-thing that speaks to me.

I just want to do more and more and more. So far my favorites are all color pencil and oil paint. So I'll just use those for now.

Asking forgiveness

I feel like I need to put the original painting in here so that I can compare it to the other works. I keep saying I don't like it, but you know what? I'm going to stop that. It's my baby too. I want to honor it. And I do honor it. It's beautiful. It is what it is, and it's one of the important steps in my journey.

So here's to you, first Chelsea painting that is hanging over my mantle! You are beautiful and I love you!

Corel work

I just found this painting I did last year in Corel Painter. It's from an older photograph of the Chelsea. It's not the 10th floor, but I remember when I did this, I loved the painterly affect it had. The large painting I'd done of the hotel Chelsea didn't have the painterly quality. It was all Emporer and no Empress. This one is full of passion, movement. Although the practice one I just finished this weekend isn't as lose as this one, I'm getting there! I'd forgotten about these. It seems so easy in Corel painter, using the Wacom tablet to make something look like this. But considering the photo was cloned underneath it, I dunno..it always seems like cheating. But I still had to paint over it, digital or no. I know I can draw it, so that's not a problem. I still sound like I'm making excuses, like I cheated or something. I feel that's what the painters used to feel when photography was first introduced.

Also I found this one...and I really love how this one looks, so lose, so buttery, so melting. I know where this is...this is the first floor, middle hallway, looking down towards where Sid and Nancy's room was. I hope to do one like this as well. And I was even thinking of perhaps doing them on Corel and then painting the large oil painting from looking at the Corel version. That would be two steps from the original photograph--three steps from the original place.

I love white outlines. I did some works with those white outlines. I think I'll put the other work, both practice and finished into the Arcane Harvest blog. Right now ..it's empty. It's waiting for it's treats. I think I'll do that.

Journey from the Top Floor

I bought a bunch of acrylic paint and some acrylic medium, with all intentions of learning to paint with acrylics again. I thought I'd use it during the painting/sketches, because they dry fast and clean up with water, and that would make it so easy to paint the small paintings as I was working up the larger Chelsea paintings (which would be in oil on canvas). Well, I worked three days with acrylic. They dry too fast, even with the medium. And I think because I bought the less-expensive paints, they just didn't work at all. I spent more time arguing with them than actually completing any work. So finally, I put them aside and dragged out the oils. At first, they were so foreign to me. It's been so long since I've painted. But it didn't take too long, they became that comfortable pillow again. I knew them. They smelled familiar, they felt familiar and I fell in love with them again. I was surprised that some of them hadn't even dried up. It's been over a year since I painted with oils. It took no time, though. And they were back in my hand, flowing like colorful butter and going where I wanted them to--doing what I wanted them to do.

I did my first practice painting of the Chelsea from the new photographs. This is the 10th floor center hall. It's always dark in the middle and light on each side. I suppose because above the center is the skylight. But this was taken at night, when the contrast of light is the most evident. In numerology, I find it interesting that 10 reduces to 1. The first time I was in the Chelsea I only went to the 1st floor, to room 100. All reducing to 1. And the first time I went to the 10th floor was in the 10th month, October. All of those reduce to 1, the Magician. The last time I was there I stayed on the 3rd floor (The Empress). The Empress always tell me to incorporate passion in what I do. Without the Empress, there is no extreme feeling. How can one love without passion? There are secrets, there, as well. I need 0, 1, 2, 3...I need the Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess and the Empress. The Emporer I have plenty of. I don't need any more rules. I need passion. I need hidden wisdom. I need to step off the precipice without fear. No Fear. Love. It's the only equation that makes sense.