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Category Archives: Art

Ocean Art Poster Gets Curated Collection Nod

12 Thursday Apr 2018

Posted by CricketDiane in Art, Cricket Diane C Sparky Phillips, Ocean, Painting

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Art, cricket house studios art and design, cricketdiane, Ocean, Ocean Art, ocean gifts, ocean posters, Paintings

One of the ocean paintings that I’ve painted and made into a poster on Zazzle for people to buy as a special gift or poster for their home or beach house –

CricketDiane Ocean Poster - Ocean's Song Seascape

CricketDiane Ocean Poster – Ocean’s Song Seascape

by CricketDiane

**

This wonderful ocean art poster was made an Editor’s Pick on Zazzle to be in their curated collections of products – which is absolutely the coolest thing. There are several others that have been given that honor also among my paintings, art and designs on products there. Very nifty.

This and other ocean art that I’ve put on posters and prints at Zazzle make amazing gifts of the ocean for anyone who loves the sea and nautical decor, or beach decor. Great to have and dream of the ocean and the beach and the sea waves and being there at the ocean.

  • cricketdiane, 04-12-2018

**

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The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Doing Business Through Online Platforms

06 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by CricketDiane in Art, Artist, artist statement, Business Methods, Creativity, Cricket Diane C Sparky Phillips, cricketdiane, CricketHouseStudios, design, Designs, invention, inventiveness, Money

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Art, art business, Artwork, Cricket House Studios, cricket house studios art and design, cricketdiane, design, doing business online, good bad and ugly, good bad and ugly of online business, internet busineses, internet platforms, Marketing, online business, online business how to, online marketing, online platforms, print on demand, print on demand platforms, putting art online, small business how to, the business of art, writing for online platforms

When I started on Ebay years ago, it was simple enough for whatever put there to be seen by someone during the auctions – from when the auction started and especially, when it ended. That’s because, as listings were entered into Ebay, the listing showed up in the search results as it was made.

There was something very fair and level playing field about that which changed after the platform went to a Best Match style search results product they added and then paid positioning which was added not too many months after that.

I really don’t know how close the two things occurred – but those two changes made Ebay into a place where most individual sellers and smaller shop owners in particular were no longer able to compete in a fair marketplace.

A lot of Mom and Pop shops that were doing their business activities on the platform would not be seen in search results, auctions of things wouldn’t come up for twenty-six pages after all the paid results were listed, and many individuals and small businesses lost the income and audience that they had been building.

At the time I started on Ebay, I had already been putting my art – paintings specifically, onto the internet platforms of various kinds including art sites that were more like portfolio hosts in the beginning and then changed to offer prints of artist’s works with a tiny percentage going to the artist.

There were those and myspace and then a lot of people who had built their websites on geocities watched their sites be taken down without regard when it was sold. Then things like photobucket, deviantart and loth lorien sites where a lot of people simply picked up images to use without asking or paying or saying anything until I would find my artwork on sites somewhere without my name or any note of me having painted it or it being my work or anything. That happened from my blog too for that matter.

And, people said that being online to do business makes so many things possible for individuals because the whole world is out there and available from this single interaction sitting from wherever I might be.

Yes, then CafePress as a print on demand option which never did allow me to put in my tax number to get paid nor had anyone at their HQ who could help me really fix that. There is probably still things over there. The DeviantArt page or two that were put on without writing down the password and then when my email changed, I couldn’t even find a way to get in to do anything with it and there it sits.

It was pretty awful to watch what happened to the people creating content for Huffington Post without pay believing that they were building something together with the founders that would profit them eventually – and I still believe that the way it was presented to me and other content creators made it seem that way.

I didn’t push content there, though I might have posted one article once over to it, but I watched the dismal reality as writers, reporters, videographers and columnists, bloggers and others contributing material that built the platform by providing that content as they watched their audiences of followers turn out to not be theirs at all and not be paid for any of their work either, nor be hired on full-time, nor it be made into any kind of paying gig.

As the big money was paid to buy the platform, those contributors were not treated as part of what created the platform and gave it the value for which it was sold at that price, nope – not at all.

Anyway, I’ve seen a lot of these kinds of things over the years I’ve been working with the online concepts of doing business. The portfolio style platforms which started offering prints, from what I understand, wiped out those artists’ work that was being shown there to continue with some curated collection of prints from other sources without any regard for the artists whose works helped build their platforms’ traffic either.

By the time that happened, I had my artworks on about three of them, maybe four and didn’t even try to worry about it because every one of the platforms had been making some sales of my works as prints and I never could get my payments from them, even though it wasn’t a huge amount – still. And, too many headaches to worry about however many pieces I listed with them being deleted and the work I did to build a following. It is a zero sum game.

But recently, when YouTube changed its policies about paying the content creators and then a lady who had worked very hard to build a following was hit with censoring, then watched her audience numbers destroyed, then probably dropped from the revenue sharing on top of it all – after she had worked some years to build all that, I can see why she went off the edge. I don’t agree with her shooting up the YouTube HQ and then offing herself, of course, but I can certainly see what took her to the point of that.

This is the article about it from the LA Times.

It is one of the ugly sides of doing business through online platforms where the traffic is being built by the content and marketing efforts that are being provided by people like me and like her and like tens of thousands of us out here trying to get an opportunity to earn from our efforts doing it.

Yesterday, it was Polyvore that became a different platform without warning where millions of people had been interacting and providing content and efforts that built the value of the platform which lent its value to it being sold at a price in the $200 million range, first to Yahoo and then to the Montreal SSense, whoever it may be that owns them.

There are many people who made hundreds, if not thousands of collages on the site (called sets) by meticulously clipping out and creating beautiful groupings of clothes, furnishings or even artworks for the community there. And, now those things – all gone.

The company is allowing users to request a download of their sets, but basically – it is gone and no telling what those files will even look like once users get them. They probably won’t look like the sets that were created, nor the libraries of things they clipped to be able to use in the sets. And yes, my designer products and sets I made were on there too – several hundred probably. A lot of people are very worked up about it and understandably so.

My thoughts are a bit different about it at this point, I suppose. It doesn’t make sense to me that these companies would buy platforms that were built up by the users into a well trafficked platform and then dismantle it. Why buy it then? And why are the content creators not treated with more respect and value by the founders and companies that host these platforms to the online community? I don’t get that.

When YouTube changed its policies and then changed the revenue sharing, the content producers in the online community had spent valuable time, resources, talent, marketing efforts and faith in the premise of the platform to share in the revenue as it was presented to them by the company.

Then the changes were made considering none of that as having any value to them. I just don’t get that mental landscape. It doesn’t make sense, but I’ve watched it happen over and over on the internet and across American businesses throughout the country over the years. Customers don’t mean anything, employees don’t mean anything, the communities the company had served don’t mean anything and the well-being of those who have served the company across the board in extended communities of people and other businesses don’t mean anything. It is bizarre.

So, the good of the doing business through online platforms is the possibilities that it represents which, however hard to realize as a fruitful and prosperous business – do actually exist.

And, the fact that the whole world is out there with a massive set of communities and networks available to access through the internet, through the platforms – all that is a good thing about it, although it is very difficult to access those communities now for a variety of reasons not the least of which is, utter clutter.

The bad things about doing business through online platforms are mentioned above, like the platform being bought or changing its guiding mission or changing its rules about how revenue is derived by the content providers and those efforts having been invested to build an audience, a following, build a brand, build a business, become known and derive some reasonable income from it – are destroyed or decimated without regard.

The platforms online do provide low start up costs in money, but not in time and efforts. They do provide access to a global marketplace 24/7 in every currency and nearly every language – all good as well. But, unless I know about SEO and fifty other marketing things very specific to online marketing and talk about celebrities most of the time or some other trending topic, or do something that out-outrageous-es everything else out there in internet land, no one is going to find my things in that global landscape and marketplace.

There are other things too that are just genuinely bad about online business efforts through internet platforms that are provided in many different types now.

The main one I’m thinking about right now is that it puts anyone into direct competition, not just with others doing the same things but with every other retailer and every other product, design, use of money that could do something else and every other business selling anything including every service based company as well as the very largest well-placed competitors, to get even a dime from those efforts.

For the ugly, I think it is becoming obvious with the recent Cambridge Analytica / Facebook debacle. As one computer programmer recently said on twitter, if you aren’t paying for the service – then you are the product (or something close to that.) Although, to be honest, most of those services that are charging also sell the information and provide access to their information for a fee to third parties sooner or later – either because the company gets sold, goes bankrupt and is dismantled or changes their focus which changes their terms of agreement with customers and the content on their sites.

And, the services of online platforms that seem to not be charging like the print on demand types – are certainly charging each of the people using the site. On Zazzle, where my designs are now – it is like Lulu books or anything else, shutterstock and istock included, that are making money from my side of the interaction when anything sells and on the other sides of the dimensional equation from payment services fees to other revenue streams coming from the manufacturing companies for the products, or subscription fees to the customers as well, in the case of istock and shutterstock.

Ebay does that too and every other platform. Facebook has ad revenues that generate money from having the audience that all of the people having pages there are providing that audience and traffic from the real world of potential customers. Then, data is sold too. And, information of other kinds is sold too. I’m not on Facebook much, but on twitter – and definitely the same kinds of things can happen and may be happening with data harvesting.

But, the ugliest side of doing business through online platforms probably isn’t the data harvesting. The ugly is most likely having millions of people disenfranchised of their work and the internet’s promise and potential of providing a viable way to reach the world and create a sustainable income from it, particularly through these platforms, being less possible in reality than anyone would believe or try to do, if that were known.

When that lady shot up the YouTube offices a few days ago, she was lost – whatever she may have provided to the world was lost, her life was lost and the potential of everyone she shot was altered forever, and thankfully they didn’t die from it – but their lives were permanently altered because of it. So, in every way – it was a complete fail and a total loss rather than whatever it might have been without it ever happening.

In my case, I’d say the ugliest mistake I made with the online platforms was believing that it was a place to express my art, provide my art at a marketplace where I had access and that it would work well. That said, it has put my art and design into the hands of a lot of people across the world who would have never had access to it all otherwise.

The problem is that most of us likely buy into that idea about these online platforms freeing us to put our work into the hands of a larger marketplace – whatever our art may be – from writing and music to artwork and design.

That draws us – including me – into a place where the platforms thrive by getting content without cost to them and getting traffic, audience and communities built for them without any of the true costs of that as well. Yes, the backend efforts of the platform are being provided, but without content and audience – it would mean very little.

After spending years creating content online, and receiving very little if anything from those efforts, it looks to me like I could have declared it a holiday every day and never lifted one hand to any of it and come out better than I have for making those efforts. And that, I live with knowing every single day. Yet, somewhere – because I made those efforts, someone many times over, is enjoying what I created. It sits in their home. It was given as a special gift. It gives them some feeling that is nice when they see it. And, every single day somewhere around the world, every one who sees it is receiving something from it.

That part of it is really, really good.

  • cricketdiane, 04-06-2018

 

**

 

 

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New Designs from Cricket House Studios and CricketDiane made today

03 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by CricketDiane in Art, Artist, Creating, Creativity, Cricket Diane C Sparky Phillips, Cricket House Studios, cricketdiane, CricketHouseStudios, design, Designs, new designs, newest products

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american artist cricketdiane, Art, art products, artworks, Cricket House Studios, cricketdiane, cricketdiane designs, decor, design, designer, designer pillows, designer tshirts, Designs, Fashion, fun tshirts, new design, new designs, pillows, tshirts

Some of the new designs I made today for my Zazzle store at CricketDiane and Cricket House Studios Art and Design –

This design about love – with Valentine’s Day in mind and the Women’s March on Washington, DC that is happening on January 21, 2017.

Love Makes A Way Vibrant Hope Hopeful Inspiring T-Shirt

Love Makes A Way Vibrant Hope Hopeful Inspiring T-Shirt

by CricketDiane

**

Today, using Facebook Live – I made two videos for the first time ever using Facebook and my phone. Very interesting making them and lots of fun. Not bad for a first attempt and making music as I went along. Great thanks to my friend and roommate who let me borrow the keyboards for the project – as well as letting me play them. Wowsa!

**

Patriotic Pink Statue of Liberty Sparkly Glittery Poster

Patriotic Pink Statue of Liberty Sparkly Glittery Poster

by CricketDiane

**

Also made this pillow with two different designs – different on the front and back with one red dragon on the front with a glowing eye and starry night sky behind him – and two red dragons on the back with glowing eyes and a night sky. The dragon in this design was rendered with pen and ink, watercolors and fiddled with after photographing it, using the Photoshop software to clean the line widths and mottle the dragon’s skin.

The glowing eyes were made in Photoshop then added specifically as a collage element on these pillows. And, the starry night sky is a glittery photograph of glitter that I rendered and changed in Photoshop to use in a different way than the original glitter. Together – these elements make a great design for this fantasy art pillow I made today on Zazzle.

Red Dragon Sparkly Night Sky Fantasy Decor Throw Pillow

Red Dragon Sparkly Night Sky Fantasy Decor Throw Pillow

by CricketDiane

The back of the pillow looks like this –

Red Dragon Sparkly Night Sky Fantasy Decor Throw Pillow

Red Dragon Sparkly Night Sky Fantasy Decor Throw Pillow

by CricketDiane

**

Some of the designs I’ve made recently –

 

Lion Giraffe Artsy Fun Chic Artistic Animals Trend Leggings

Lion Giraffe Artsy Fun Chic Artistic Animals Trend Leggings

by CricketDiane

**

Rainbow Spectrum Bold Designer Fun Decor Large Clock

Rainbow Spectrum Bold Designer Fun Decor Large Clock

by CricketDiane

**

Slimming Sports Pants Workouts Dance Trendy Sporty

Slimming Sports Pants Workouts Dance Trendy Sporty

by CricketDiane

**

Balls to the Wall Clock Funny 3D Modern Rainbow

Balls to the Wall Clock Funny 3D Modern Rainbow

by CricketDiane

**

Awaken Mind Knowledge Education STEM Teaching T-Shirt

Awaken Mind Knowledge Education STEM Teaching T-Shirt

by CricketDiane

**

Born To Be Great Toddler Children Inspirational Baby T-Shirt

Born To Be Great Toddler Children Inspirational Baby T-Shirt

by CricketDiane

**

Sunshine Sun Golden Yellow Sunny Bright Round Clock

Sunshine Sun Golden Yellow Sunny Bright Round Clock

by CricketDiane

**

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New Designs

29 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by CricketDiane in Art, Creativity, Cricket Diane C Sparky Phillips, cricketdiane, CricketHouseStudios

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christmas designs, christmas tshirts, Cricket House Studios, cricketdiane, cricketdiane art, cricketdiane designs, fun holiday shirt, holiday tshirts, new designs

Holiday Tshirt Christmas Tree Lights Festive Party

Holiday Tshirt Christmas Tree Lights Festive Party

by CricketDiane

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Feeling a bit lost and confused but the art is interesting that I’ve been creating

29 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by CricketDiane in Art, cricket diane, Cricket Diane C Sparky Phillips, Cricket Diane Designs, Cricket House Studios, Cricket House Studios Art, cricketdiane, design, diane c phillips

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after fire destroyed, Art, Artwork, clay, Cricket House Studios, Cricket House Studios Art, cricketdiane, cricketdiane art, design, new art, new artwork, sculpture

It is difficult to write now – more than ever. Today, I finished glazing a sculpture at the ArtLab which is the last clay class until Winter session starts.

cricketdiane-sculpture-warrior-1-2016-2

Warrior figure – CricketDiane 2016 clay sculpture made at ArtLab Staten Island, NYC (this was taken before the glaze which was put on today in opaque white gloss and no other colors.)

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The Racism and Classism of Color in Design

28 Thursday Apr 2016

Posted by CricketDiane in America - USA, Art, Artist, artist statement, Civil Rights, Cricket Diane C Sparky Phillips

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America, Civil Rights, class, classism, color, cricketdiane, design, designer, racism, USA

I’ve been designing a long time and studying design even longer across the years of my life. Noticeably absent from wonderful popular trends most often in America, is color – bright, vibrant, beautiful diversity of color.

So, I got to thinking about that. What is it about color that very often causes it to socially fall out of favor or become muted, greyed out or darkened versions in popular use? What causes vibrant color to not be commonplace among fashions people wear or want in their homes in American culture?

What about diversity and intensity of color in American social context says something undesirable about color to the point of an ever-present tendency toward milktoast neutrals, whites, bland and homogenized looks? What does that?

For a stretch of mental exercise, and not necessarily rational nor factually based – I’ve been thinking about what I’ve seen in America across designs and trends in my lifetime. And I’m conjecturing some purely subjective based thoughts about it.

  1. Across many cultures and races, vibrant color is part of their world, part of their expression of identity. Is it racially motivated to steer clear of vibrant and expressive colors? Is it to turn away from those “lesser classes” who are allegedly not sophisticated enough to want a muted, neutral or greyed down palette?
    157587886-canal-with-colorful-houses-burano-veneto-gettyimages

    Canal with colorful houses – Burano, Veneto Italy – Credit: Romaoslo, Getty Images

  2. Rich enough to wear white, light grey, tan and muted pastels or to own a white couch because it says you don’t work, don’t get dirty, can afford someone else to clean it and are rich enough to do so? Is it classism and class defining to live in and wear designs that are within a strict limited palette that can’t get dirty without being totally ruined? Is it really sophistication to live in an environment where you don’t sit, wear clothing you can’t live in and support color palettes that aren’t appropriate for any real engaged lifestyle? 

     

     

    beautiful-all-white-living-rooms-18-554x694

    from: Artcafe.bg

  3. Houses that are painted brightly in the US are harassed. criticized and sued by homeowners associations and local jurisdictions, no matter how beautifully they are done. Why is that? What happened to freedom of expression and the freedom to express identity through style and color choices, whether in house colors or choices of landscaping with flowers of color rather than only hedges and trees, or in choices of clothing colors and the colors of furnishings? Is it really better for every house to be of a drab grey, tan, dirty white and black shutters variety that look dismal?
    513751375-colorful-houses-nyhavn-copenhagen-gettyimages

    Colorful Houses Nyhavn Copenhagen – Credit: Mlenny, Getty Images 

    557615245-colorful-house-in-christiania-commune-gettyimages

    Colorful house in Christiania commune, Copenhagen – Credit: Anna Gorin, Getty Images

  4. There are modern houses with modern furnishings that are kept streamlined in having not one thing where it is visible, no vibrant color – unless grey or tan are considered colors, and where not one person may have ever sat for longer than ten minutes, though people do live there. And are they to determine for everyone else what a color palette of sophistication should be when that appears to be the least qualified space as a living environment to qualify for anything but a photograph?

    a9ef880d0fc96441f2a55c46e3f83f45

    from:  t.living.msn.com

  5. Tribal and folk arts offer vibrant colors as part of their acceptable palette and are well loved by people everywhere despite not being born into that culture. In some cities and towns, bright vibrant colors define each home individually with an overall look that is stunning and beautiful with a happy, joyous feel to its place. Why is that not an acceptable practice in America – not in any subdivision, not in any city or town, not in any of NYC’s many boroughs despite its cultural “acceptance of diversity”?
    517840413-rajasthani-embroidered-tribal-dress-fabric-gettyimages

    Rajasthani embroidered tribal dress fabric – Credit: Glen Allison, Getty Images

 

 

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Thoughts of the Day – An ocean and a world away

19 Friday Jun 2015

Posted by CricketDiane in Art, Artist, Creating, Creativity, Ocean, Thoughts, Uncategorized

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Abstract, ACEO, Art, cricket diane, Cricket Diane C Phillips, Cricket House Studios, Fine Art, Ocean Waves, Painting, Sea, Surf

Cricket Diane Quote of the Day – “An uncluttered mind is a loss of space.”

Drama of the Sea painted by Cricket Diane C Phillips 20081-27-08 Drama of the Sea - By Cricket Diane C Phillips, 2008, Cricket House Studios

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Sea Waves At Play by Cricket Diane C Phillips

18 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by CricketDiane in Art, art deco, Artist, artist statement, Creating, Creativity, cricket diane, diane c phillips, fantasy, Ocean, Ocean Pictures, original art, Painting, Thoughts, Uncategorized, Writers, Writing

≈ 33 Comments

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ACEO, Art, Art Cards, Artist, Creating, Creativity, Cricket Diane C Phillips, cricketdiane, CricketHouseStudios, Ocean, Ocean Pictures, Ocean Waves, Painting, Sea, Seascape

Sea Waves At Play by Cricket Diane C Phillips - CricketHouseStudios - 2008Cricket Quote of the Day –

“The most magic thing I own is a pencil. A welcome to the infinite possibilities is ever present in it.” – quote by Cricket Diane C Phillips, 2007

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How To Paint Ocean Waves by Cricket Diane C Phillips, 2008

30 Saturday May 2015

Posted by CricketDiane in Activism, Human Rights, Civil Rights, Learning, How To, Online Resourcing, New Technology, Art, Artist, Creating, Creativity, Ocean, Ocean Pictures, Painting, Painting the sky, Save The Sea, Sea Waves, Thoughts, Uncategorized

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ACEO, Art, Art Cards, Artist, Atlanta GA, Cricket Diane C Phillips, Cricket House Studios, new modern, Ocean paintings, Ocean Pictures, Ocean Waves, Original paintings, Painting Ocean Waves, sea paintings, Sea Waves

How To Paint Ocean Waves 3 –
By Cricket Diane C. Phillips

Do you remember standing still at the ocean trying to capture every sound and every nuance of light and color dancing on the waves?

Can you feel the spray that lightly touched your face when you walked in the shallow surf where the waves were bouncing with foam nearby?

Have you thought about the feelings of what you were seeing when the ocean waves pulled into the sand near you and tugged their way back out again?

Are you reminded of the vastness of the ocean as you had looked at the horizon with its light haze and depth of surface color in the sea?

When you remember what it was like at the ocean – can you recall its colors, its feeling, the color of the sky and the ways it changed moment by moment?

These are the things you need to know in order to paint ocean waves and capture the feeling of the scenes you remember. The ideas of time and change are all in you – they are in your memories and you can recall them. Every moment at the sea, there is change – there is motion – there is a feeling, an essence and an idea that is captured in your memories. It isn’t only what you felt at the time, or your thoughts, or what was happening in your life at that time. There is something of the sea and the ocean’s spirit and power that is there too.

Sometimes, when I create – there is nothing but a request to my mind for a memory, a feeling or an essence of a time at the ocean. There is a sunset that comes to my mind with a looming storm beyond the horizon whose clouds are catching the last rays of the sun in brilliant colors against a lavender sky. There is a time when I was afraid to stand on the shore because the power of the waves crashing into the sand were so much greater than me and the winds drove the salty spray of the waves into my skin stinging as it came. But the colors – ooh the colors of that moment drove me to distraction to understand their shades and hues and subtleties. The sand felt different, the sea felt distant, though I stood right beside her, and the sky was filled with unusual textures and colors that I would love to describe in paint.

There are intricacies to painting which are like nothing else because from the mind of the artist directly to the mind of the viewer there is no boundary – no wall – no caption or remark to make. It is a direct route of communication without limitation in an immediate, encompassing sense. The best way to describe this is for you to choose a moment to capture in paint, let go of all your pre-conceived notions of how to go about it, let go and paint it. Make it so. Let the paint describe all of what you saw, all of what you experienced and all of what you felt in that moment. Push all the judgements about how it should be done or how it should look – out of your mind and let the paint be an extension of what you know. Then let someone see it and see what they see. There is nothing you can say that will add to their experience with it. The moment they have seen it, something has passed between your mind and theirs directly. Infinitely, genuinely and honestly – they have been given some part of that experience as you remembered it. If you want words for what they have seen – ask them, but often words fail to accurately describe experiences like this and many people fall back on whether they like it or not and try to get you to talk more about it.

Do you remember the sky, the day you stood at the ocean on a summer day? Can you feel the warmth of the sand under your feet and the clean smell of the gentle breeze that brought the sounds of people drifting on it?

Did you ever walk on the beach at night or wade in the water as the sun was sinking below the horizon? Do you remember the sparkly little foam that you kicked halfway across to the moon as you walked in the cool water with the wet sand tugging under your feet at each step? Can you recall what the sky looked like as the moon and stars lit the sea like thousands of tiny diamonds bobbing up and down with each little crest of a wave?

There are thousands of moments in each day and as we stand in the realm of the ocean’s power – her force is evident in seemingly infinite changes within each of those moments to everything surrounding her. The sky isn’t the same from one moment to the next – the colors fade toward the horizon one moment and some other time – the hue is deeper there. The foam on the sand ebbs and flows with the surf, but the reflections in it are never the same. Wet sand, dry sand are definitely different colors – yet, warm sand is many shades and cold sand seems grey whether it is or not.

Set up a horizon on the surface to paint.
Remember a moment to capture.
Define the sky with colors, swirls, textures, clouds and reflected light.
Play in the paint to achieve effects that describe details to include.
Stop touching it – the moment any part of it looks right.
Don’t fix it. Just do another one and each one will get better.
Enhance waves, shadows, contours and specific elements carefully – because it will change what you already have right.

And, last of all – remember – it is perfect because you did it this way today, this time and in capturing this one moment this way. Let it go and do another one.

Happy Painting!

***

May 2011 –

CricketDiane’s New Zazzle Store with products that have original cricketdiane artwork on them – ocean, flowers, paintings, photography, surrealism, weird and unusual, ugly mens’ ties, iPad covers and skateboard decks

http://www.zazzle.com/cricketdiane*

Also –

The new CricketDiane website where rights to use the ocean paintings and other artwork, writing and Got No Money Guides can be arranged –

http://www.cricketdiane.com/

***

Wander by and see them sometime –

Happy painting and creating wonderful things.

– cricketdiane

(added to this post 05-03-11)

***

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Plant a Green Thing – Save The Sea – a request from CricketD.

28 Thursday May 2015

Posted by CricketDiane in Air Quality, Art, Artist, artist statement, Creating, Creativity, cricket diane, diane c phillips, Ecology, Gardening, Global Warming, Ocean, Ocean Pictures, Oceanography, original art, Painting, Plants, Save The Sea, Thoughts, Writers, Writing

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Art, Artist, Creating, Creativity, Cricket Diane C Phillips, Cricket House Studios, Gardening, Global Warming, how to paint ocean waves, Ocean Pictures, Ocean Waves, Painting, save the ocean, Sea

Cricket D. Says – “Grow a Green Thing – Save The Sea”

If everyone plants as many leafy plants as they can inside and out – we could save our oceans.

Plants are the original nano-material for converting carbon dioxide into oxygen and safe, usable nutrients.

We may not be able to put back trees as fast as they are being torn down in our communities – but we can make a difference by planting as many green things as we can – hostas, ferns, flowers, evergreens, vines like philodendrons, morning glories and ivys, vegies and treelings.

Plant five Green Things a week in your yard. If we all do that throughout the summer and fall across America, we can start lowering the carbon dioxide levels that are affecting our oceans. It will improve our air quality, too.

Add plants indoors, on porches, in windows, and in offices and businesses, too. It could buy the time our scientists, inventors and engineers need to implement the green solutions they’ve created.

Clip your plants and start new ones from them. Plant seeds and nursery seedlings. Add mulch for fertilizer. Plant roses and shrubs. Divide plants and make two or three from each. Its easy and fun. Children might help but its time for the grown-ups to lead the way.
Grow a Green Thing (or two) and Save The Seas.

Written by Cricket Diane C Phillips
Cricket House Studios – 2008

Feel free to forward this and please let’s help each other to get some stuff planted. Thanks!

Sea Meeting Rocks - Cricket Diane C Phillips - Cricket House Studios - 2008

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