Religieuses

 I am at it again..sometimes I need to paint a pastry. Especially ones with white paper skirts. They give me joy. And capture moments for me. Lines that shimmer, color that makes me itch to paint it, and significance to source...and gratitude for many blessings. Sometimes a pastry is more than mere cake. Xoxo

I'm Painting Pastries. Want Some?

Let Them Eat Cake, 5" x 7" original oil paintings on linen in this sell out series will be available to order until the cut off November 17th, 2011 at midnight. If you like to indulge, believe that desire and cravings are a lovely little part of who we are...
Tell me "I gotta have one" in the comments below.
This is a temporarily insane offer at this price and for a very limited time only. I am very pleased to be able to feed a craving for luxury at an amuse bouche price for those who are quick, decisive and just gotta have some color and paint and pastry in their life.
I personally have been drooling over pastries lately and need a sweet indulgence. What better than a little squishy paint and an indulgence that keeps on giving?
Tell me "I gotta have one" in the comments below. I'll follow up with the details. We'll pick one that is just right for you and within a very short time it will be in your hot little hands and hanging on your wall...or hm...a gift for someone else? These will be sent as soon as the paint dries and well in time for that. :)xoxo
Talk to you soon,
Jan

Craving Pastries ?

I am craving pastries. More to the point I am craving to paint them.
I stumbled across a box of empty linen canvas boards in my supply cubby this week. And now here I am in a Proust pastry painting moment. Remembering how much fun it is to take a pastry chef's art, a tangible , oh so fragrant piece of yumminess...and how they smell and how the paint feels when I paint them. The care and detail the chef gave them and then passing that on in the paint with my response...it's a little call and response, a sweet little dance if you will.
And I am definitely craving more.

Ever had that hm..wouldn't that be yummy feeling?
And needing it actually?
That's where I am. I need just a special luxurious taste. A bit of amuse bouche, right here and right now.
It's that simple.
And I want it to be that special too.

I personally need a little bit more play, more color than the black and white larger studio work I am engaged in at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I love what I am working on, but I am craving that bistro crawling, cafe sitting, pastry indulgence that just might be a little bit of pleasure to tide me over on the bigger pieces. A sweet, sweet luxury. Something to capture all my painting senses.

And a little light and lovely fun pastry painting fun might just do the trick.

Yep.
Need some cake.
And a pastry or two.
And oh my yes something fruit-i-ly delicious.
Want some?

I don't want to break the bank or my studio schedule to get it.
Or my waist line.
Just want a little bit of delicious.
But special delicious.
At special price.

I am thinking...for a short time only, if you are interested, we may just have a Let Them Eat Cake play with pastries and paint reprise.

And a special gift price for the quickest of you for playing along.

And a treat just for raising your hand.

More details very soon, but if anyone has the taste for a luxurious little bit of delicious Let Them Eat Cake paint, to let me satisfy this craving, let me know in the comments below by posting "I'm interested" and stay tuned.

I will be opening a very short window of opportunity in the next few hours and days for anyone who is joining me in this craving... if you are in, leave an " I'm interested" in the comments below. And come with me into a little place of indulgence.

I can't wait. Who knew?

And while we're here, what is your favorite all time ever pastry or cake? What would you throw caution to the wind for, for just a few bites? Does chocolate do it for you? Raspberries and cream? Or do you have something else that gets you every time? You can see some of mine especially in the 2007 archives over there to the right. I will be cruising those too, just to see if I want to revisit some of them with my brush.

This is a very limited number of pieces.
A one time only price as a gift to you quick deciders, first come first served.

For now just let me know if you are interested, raise your hand.
I'll make sure there is a little treat in it for you, just for doing that.

So what do you do now?
Leave a comment with "I'm interested" and be sure you are first in line for this surprise bit o' fluffy fun.

And if you like the idea, pass this link along to your friends.
xoxo
Janice
Talk to you soon.
Going to scout pastries this weekend...:)

Today Is my Birthday

Today IS my birthday and I was a bit Naughty Friday, I delayed posting until today. Because I could not keep this under wraps a minute longer You'll find today's post there, in my new home. I love Paintingaday, my starter blog, and we are still in transition, so it will still be here for awhile. But it needed to become more user friendly for you all and we need some room to grow so...

So the guys at Men With Pens made me a new home. Come see. We'll have a bigger launch later. But for now , you get the first peek.

Cause it's my birthday, it's my birthday...

(editor's note: working on the link right now...new site is www.janicecartier.com)
(HAH: It wasn't me on the link snafu. It was Google! )

That Awkward Teenage Phase

Gangley arms.

Feet too big.

And voices not quite there.

There is a time in paintings that is awkward, the parts are almost there, but not quite yet. The balance is just about to be, but is slightly out of whack. The colors are present, but not totally integrated. Perhaps the cools out number the warms just a bit and need to be reconciled. Maybe the little bits are not yet soothed by some nice medium ones. But the bones are true, and the vision intact and there's still some room for it all.

It's that awkward teenage phase. It's just about done, almost what it is going to be. Almost. The painting has a logic of it's own so the white spaces, the final glazes, the detail here and there, all have a mission to make that logic work. And to capture the story. Make sure the voice is strong and true.

Here, once the marks are down they are down. So at this stage as much painting goes on in my head as on the paper. What I don't paint is as important as what I do paint. But something else can happen here, sometimes we hit upon a surprise. I found one last night.

Today, I think I'll pursue it. ( Hm, butterflies in my tummy when I saw it. That's usually a very good sign.)

But isn't that just like that teenage phase, that willingness to try new things?

Jason Wu and The Spotlight

Simple. Elegant. And Flowing. Not bad for dresses, words or brushstrokes. Even better for the artist. Can you imagine what Jason Wu's life became once that ivory gown was revealed? I saw the interviews and yesterday I read this article in the paper. He seems much like his gowns. And his workroom is spotless. He was drawn into it all as a child, with dolls to drape his dreams on. Every choice he made led him to that evening and the reveal of that gown. And what is he doing now? Why he is at work. Doing what he was meant to do. Simply, elegantly and flowing.

I bet he has his week all planned out. I am not sewing chiffon, or beading a dress, or fielding calls from the press, but it is Organizing Monday. I know what is at the top of the list, and then next, and next after that. But first, I am taping these pictures up so I can see them all week. Simple, elegant, and flowing. The yellow gown says just that.

Do you put up touchstones and reminders to keep yourself in the zone?

Places In Between

Pink Blossoms.
Blue skies.
Dark recesses.
And bits of chaos.

There is a lot to be said for staying in the present. Eckhardt Tolle builds his whole philosophy on it. So do the buddhists. But to move is to live. So one point becomes another with something in between. Those places in between are often messy. We breathe, we take a step. We begin. We endure. Those transitions, those are a blend of what was and what is to come. But how do we get from here to there?

I want this painting to be about that. So in between the beauty of blooms, is rubble, chaos. A wetland inundated. Evidence of wind. A bit of confusion. And then intertwined, the process of growth. Resurgence. And blue skies.

So there is a little bit of all three here: then, and now, and what hopefully will be. Each vital. The trick is to integrate them into some kind of logic and meaning. Add some poetic mystery.

Yes. Smiling here. No pressure there.

Now how do we get from here to Naughty? It's Friday after all.