Sugar Skulls -Cranial Yum Yums!

My first attempt at a sugar skull.

Dear Black Belladonna Arts Friends:

As I start to explore my artistic propensities, I noticed a popular trend of sugar skulls popping up everywhere.(please read the disclaimer regarding the fact I'm always BEHIND the trends by a few years.)

I was drawn to them because of the colorful patterns and I've always been a fan of "Day of the Dead" art. I love horror and Day of the Dead celebrations, in my mind, lend themselves to imaginative mischief, and I assume some real-life questionable shenanigans as well. 

Just in the same fashion I am fascinated by the tall, haunting, silently brooding buildings of the Eastern State Mental Hospital located here in Medical Lake, Washington. There is even an old graveyard and a closed down primate testing facility. How I long for Stephen King to discover this hidden gem nestled inside a treed campus. I know he could really do this place justice.

Back to Sugar Skulls....

Another oil pastel sugar skull.

 I was searching the net for sugar skull artists and found this awesome artist. His name is David Lozeau and below is Please check out his website.

http://www.davidlozeau.com/#.TjIkyBoRirk.facebook

I haven't had a chance to look through all his art yet, but it's on the top of my to-do list. I have refrained from looking at too many other artists for a number of reasons. First, I don't want to compare myself to them. It's like being the chubby chick at the gym. The skinny girls don't inspire me. They don't make me want to work out harder; they make me want to sneak donuts and drown my sorrows in chocolate syrup. I didn't want my art to become another way of me "not being good enough." I only began doing art as an escape from judgement. A way to do what I wanted, how I wanted. I never planned on ever showing my art to anyone outside of immediate family, let alone open myself up to the scrutiny of strangers, professionals,and the like.

I also have felt that my art is pure. I have been, up until this point, apprehensive to look at too many other artists since I'm just developing my talent and artistic voice. I want it to be my own. But now, I'm at a point where I need to start educating myself and familiarizing myself with other artists whose work I admire.

Plus that dude was pretty friendly on Facebook and I always expect people with that sort of talent to be pretentious and cold to novices like myself.  So if you need artistic inspiration or just want to enjoy some bad ass amazing art, check out David Lozeau.




Check out the links below:


How to Draw Sugar Skulls:

• http://www.art-is-fun.com/day-of-the-dead-art.html

• http://www.dragoart.com/tuts/2097/1/1/how-to-draw-a-sugar-skull-design.htm

• http://www.mexicansugarskull.com/sugar_skulls/instructions.html

 

There once was a girl...

With a curl in the middle of her forehead. And when she was good, she was very very good, and when she was bad, she was horrid. This girl was named Marlena and she had a sister, named Ella. These two little girls were the most beautiful little girls in all the land. But they were very badly behaved. The two of them ganged up relentlessly on their poor mother who just didn't know what to do. They didn't follow their mother's directions, they laughed and snickered and kicked walls. They answered back in snotty little snippets. Their mother loved and valued them more than her own extremities. She would give all her legs and arms for each one's happiness. But yet, the two little girls failed to realize how their behavior was moments off from making their mother cry. Being divorced from their father, she couldn't call him for discipline assistance. Either way, it was always him and his family against her and no family. The mother decided there was only one thing she could do. She could stop taking them to the water park, stop taking them to the merry go round, stop taking them for sushi, ice cream, and happy meals. They didn't appreciate it anyway. Perhaps good old fashioned plain boredom would be the only tool she needed to transform her darling little shews back into properly poised princesses.

Slacking on the Blog

So this blog is developing very slowly. Perhaps not at all. It seems that there are not enough hours in the day, especially when you get up after 9 a.m. The weather has been beautiful and we've been out and about at various water parks with Marlena and Ella. Last night we went for Sushi and snow cones and didn't get home until almost 10. I snuggled with the girls this morning and have accomplished nothing except making breakfast and getting lost on Facebook.
I am working on (haphazardly) a blog posting on Sugar Skulls and Day of the Dead art and I want to also do something on "low brow art." As I learn more about different genres of art hopefully this blog will be a place other people can learn and grow their knowledge of the arts with me. I just don't work well without supervision and unfortunately, I'm the supervisor. So, with that, I'm off into the shower to take the girls and a neighbor kid to Browne's Addition water park.

But, I'll leave you with this awesome photograph I call "Starving Artist"

Hard At Work

Working in my studio (ahem, okay my apartment floor) on a new series of acrylic on paper. Please ignore the stains on the carpet if you happen to know my landlord.  

Already so many things have happened this morning. First, I was invited to attend First Wednesday at Max @ Mirabeau in the Spokane Valley.  

Second, the Spokesman review is going to do an article on my art. 

I have a ton of framing to do for Wednesday's event. And when I say "I" I mean my awesome boyfriend who is making the girls and I apple crisp this morning. Of course, I've gained 30 lbs since I quit work. But I digress.

Anywho, as I'm trying to type this blog update, Stefan is playing obnoxious videos of me from Leavenworth when I had waaaay to much wine. I'll be sure not to post any of them. 

Please stay tuned for a blog post that is actually articulate. (Maybe)

First Blog Post

Welcome to my first actual blog post. I will try and make it happy and positive except, honestly, technology stinks. It offers so many options I spend weeks trying to decide on a silly font color. SO, here is my art blog; plain and simple.

My goal is to blog once per day and also upload a new piece of work each day. Also, I hope to write interesting and funny things to make you laugh and hopefully want to continue reading my ramblings.

My dilemma, as an artist and also as a SELF-EMPLOYED business woman (read I can't get out of bed in the morning) is how much of "myself" do I reveal? What do I blog about? What is the appropriate time of day to actually get out of my pajamas?

And how do I start thinking of myself as an "artist" (pronounced "art-teeeeeeest" for extra special fanciness!) and realize that painting pictures and blogging endlessly about  painting pictures constitutes work?

Honestly, this is my job? Why can't I get out of bed in the morning. Am I so conditioned to someone breathing down my neck demanding mundane, mentally exhausting tasks for their own benefit that I can't embrace freedom? Yes, I believe that is the answer.  And why, every time I hit enter to start a new paragraph in this blog it takes me to the beginning of the paragraph? Why oh why. That is so weird. And frustrating.

Also, can I curse on my blog? Aren't I an artist? Can't I what I #@%@#$@ well please now?

Well, I guess I'll leave it at that for now.

Cheers! Joy The ART-TEEEEEEEST BITCHES! :)

Welcome to Black Belladonna Arts!

Artist Statement:


Joy Tagliavia-Mizzoni - Artist

I have been creating a full body of work since the beginning of the year. Prior to this, I was an avid doodler; always scribbling here and there. Not prolific originally, my significant other exclaimed passionately about some older “doodles” and watercolors. He made such a huge deal over them and exclaimed enthusiastically that I was a “virtuoso artist!” He made me feel so good about what I considered insignificant drawings on notepaper that I thought maybe I’ll try drawing or painting something more concrete and my ‘women’ took over my studio.

This was the beginning of over 40 finished pieces in the course of six months and the start of my art career.

My art embodies the essence of “women” — sometimes happy; sometimes sad but always strong. I see myself expressing women through a beautiful cornucopia of colors.

I started experimenting with color as a way to mentally take ownership of my time. It was symbolic to me of creating something solely for my own benefit. Partially because I had been working in a structured, colorless atmosphere for the past four years that when I sat down to draw or paint I realized I could free myself and paint faces green if I wanted too. It was a way to reclaim my freedom from spending the past 8 hours doing something exactly how someone else wanted. Art is my time to what I want, how I want. There are no rules in art. My art is a complete anarchy of color.

I decided to pursue art full time because I found myself continually adapting to another person instead of expressing myself. As an artist, I aim for total expression through me when sitting down before a canvas.

I started by using Marilyn Monroe and Bridget Bardot, the epitome of the 40’s and 50’s starlet imagery; the perfect ‘women’ just as the basic guide for facial features. Then, I shut down the computer and let the faces become their own unique image. Instead of pushing control over the features I allow the mistakes, if you want to call them that, to take over the face. Like birthing a new being. Some don’t make it but all are born.