Shayla Maddox

Please. Indulge me:






Yep, so that's pretty much what I've been doing since they hatched last weekend. This is just the duck family near our condo, there are numerous duck families all over the complex. It's insanity here. In a cute way. Cute insanity.

Egret Interlude:



On our eco-system exploration walk on Sunday, (meaning, we walked around the complex) we also discovered a gigantic orange koi and a good sized turtle. This place constantly amazes me. My landlord told me, "Just wait for summer!" but if it actually gets better than this, I'll be knocked over with majestic hysteria.

Love it here.

This won't be the last time I gush about this.

You are warned.

Check out this interview I did for the awesome OC Arts & Culture website!

So cool.

:oD

Labels: awesomeness

Ingredients: acrylic, beach sand, crushed sea shells, crushed glass, phosphorescent pigments, varnish, water & light on canvas.

Nami is the word for Wave in Japanese. :o) The "sky" is made with thick layers of sand and shells. Already today, I've had 3 people ask me if that's the sun or the moon.

I'm leaving that one up to you.

A story: One day I had a vision to do a wave painting, although I wasn't exactly sure what that would look like, since I hadn't really done waves before. Squiggly lines, yes, but no waves. I sketched a few things out and quickly had a concept for something that I was really excited about. The sketch was put in a drawer for later, until my birthday rolled around, when the fam and I were eating at THE BEST sushi place in Orange County (that's right) and I had another idea.

Yada yada yada, I suddenly had a project to do a painting for Gen Kai (Dana Point), my favorite restaurant ever, which I've been going to for basically half my life. Of course, my immediate thought after I got home and the shock and excitement wore off a bit was: My wave painting!! How perfect.

Ta daaaa:

Nami now hangs on the wall in the lobby, the first thing you see when you walk through the door. There's bright filtered sunlight in the room all day, and then dim, romantic lights in the evening. Perfect to show off the light reactive fun. I equipped them with a blacklight flashlight to show anyone that's interested how brightly it glows.

I have to say, in my totally biased opinion, that it looks AWESOME there, and I'm absolutely giddy about this whole thing. Sushi and Art! Together!!!

If you'd like to see Nami in person (!!) stop by Gen Kai.

(949) 240-2004‎

Their weekday lunch specials are incredible, and the sushi bar is second to none. The chefs are amazing, the fish is the freshest, and the whole place just rocks. I'm truly honored, and completely thrilled. I have a feeling we'll be spending more time in Dana Point in the future.

Yay!

Labels: gen kai

Pardon the seemingly poor quality of that picture, it was actually taken in the low light of the evening. Yes, that's how much it's glowing when it's still light out.

!!

Crunch time this week. The painting will be finished on Friday, when I'm hanging it at that cool place I'm not going to name yet. Well, I'm hoping, I'm not exactly sure it will fit in either of our cars. (It's 36x60 inches.) I'll take all the pictures on Thursday, and post them on Friday.

I'm really, really excited about this piece.

I have some matching ACEOs that I used to sketch out ideas in the early stages of making this. I'll be listing those in my shop soon too.

Meaning my motivation, and inspiration, I think.


Actually, what I'm really excited about right now is that unfinished painting right there. It's going to eventually be hanging somewhere really cool, which I will refrain from telling you about until it's officially hanging there. But, trust me. It's cool.

I've been experimenting in dialogue lately. I've been practicing the art of talking about my art. It's difficult for me to explain my motivations and inspirations, especially when you see someone's eyes glaze over at the words "zen," "science," or "spirituality." More than that, I'm not sure that's even what I mean to say.

What I mean to say is that I love to color. I like to sit on the ground with my colors and make a picture look pretty (or cool or weird or dark or whatever it is that I'm interested in making.) I like to play with the texture and the shadows and the light, and see how it looks. I like to mix colors together, and mix stuff into the colors (like sand) and see how it changes the overall piece. To me, all my paintings are part of a neverending coloring book that I'm always adding new pages to. I don't have a coloring book that contains the images I want to color, so I have to make them myself. What comes out is a reflection of "zen," and "science," and "spirituality," but that's just because that's what my brain is filled with, after 29 years of interest in those things.

The point is to color.

The point is to wake up in my jammies and sit on the floor with my dog and dream of pretty pictures and make them a reality while the birds sing outside and the sun pours through the windows inside.

I'm not sure how I would phrase that to someone in the art business that expects me to sound intelligent. Maybe I don't have to, maybe it's not expected of me at all. Maybe people who love art understand "coloring on the ground like a 5 year old" more than any snooty, self-important, self-analytical, "intelligent" artist statement nonsense that I could ever come up with anyway.

Maybe I just hate talking about myself. I much prefer to express my life with actions and art. Actions are real. Talking is noise.

Starlit Hour and Dusk. Be the first to see them up close tonight at the William Meire Gallery during the monthly First Thursdays Art Walk in Laguna Beach.

The William Meire Gallery is located at:
1590 South Coast Hwy, Unit #1
Laguna Beach, CA 92651

It's on the corner of PCH and Bluebird. I'll be there from 6-9pm. Stop by, drink some wine, look at some art!