On Being Authentic

Nuff said. 

On My Obsession with Frida Kahlo and Why I like to Paint Her So Much

Firstly, I know I know.. my blog still looks atrocious. After consulting some professionals and getting their quote back, I'm afraid I just can't justifly $2.5k on a little ole art blog. SO I am mulling over a few different options... No. 1 - delete this blog and start again. I can't for the life of me get rid of this background that I put up years ago. I spent hours and hours trying to work it out, searching the help section and finally just gave up.. so that is one option - START AGAIN... No.2 is to start my own website and get my own domain name. This is has a cost to it, but might potentially be a better option. Anyway, a bit more time is needed to make the final decision.

But this post was meant to be about Ms Frida Kahlo and why I am a lil bit obsessed with her. So here goes for those wondering why I'm always drawn to this beautiful creature and why I want to paint her all the time....

No.1 - She was strikingly beautiful

No. 2 - She was not afraid to be different 

Frida Kahlo - dressed as a boy

No. 3 - She also loved to paint beautiful women, mainly self portraits (quite often people have said to me that my girls look a little like me)

Frida Kahlo's Self-Portrait With Necklace - 1933

I guess you could say she was the queen of selfies!

No. 4 - Her dress sense and style (not to mention those to die for statement eyebrows)

Interesting fact - Frida Kahlo's closest was locked up for 58 years and was only recently opened and exhibited. Her clothing aimed for style and self-protection but it also made a statement, both political and cultural.

No. 5 - The fact that she was not afraid to paint her pain 

The painting above, called The Two Fridas/Las Dos Fridas is one of my favorites, expressing pain and abandonment on the left, love and health on the right. It’s a sad comparison between the way Frida wanted to feel and appear vs. the unfortunate reality of her life.

Above are just a few reasons of why I am drawn to this fiesty and talented Mexican artist, and I could go on and on, but instead I'll leave you with this uber cute photo of a little girl dressed as Kahlo......

(Photo courtesy Ohhappyday.com)

On Owning It

Well my blog still looks atrocious. 

After spending pretty much a whole day trying to make it look pretty, and feeling sadder and sadder by the minute because it was just looking worse and worse.... I finally had an ah-ha moment.  

It was time to come to terms with the fact that I totally don't have the time or the inclination to fiddle around with it any more and that I'd rather be spending what precious little time I have spare - making art. So I've put the word out to a professional. Here's hoping that they get back to me soon.

So after that little hiccup, I started on this piece.

She's a big 'un. 40 x 60 inches. Just so you can see how big she is, I'm standing next to her. Ok I'm 5'2, so I am pretty short, but you can get a better feel for just how big she is when I am standing next to her. 

Titled 

el salvaje

or translated to English

The Wild One

On Being Beautiful

I love this so much!

I have a 14 year old daughter, so 

this video resonated so loudly with me.

Please take the 8 minutes to watch this video, 

even if you don't have a son or daughter around this age

I am sure that it will strike a chord with most of you.

"Social media is widening the definition of what beauty is."

On Being a Better Blogger and time for a re-vamp

This blog has always been about show casing my art. I've never felt comfortable in sharing my private life in this space. However.....

I follow A LOT of blogs and they are all inspiring and the one thing I have noticed about them all, is that they share regularly (at least on a daily basis).. that's what keeps them interesting. It doesn't have to always be about their work (whether they are an artist or a photographer), they share different bits and pieces about stuff that I either find interesting or not (if not, then I dont read it and move on to the next).

So the little ephiphany I had this morning, was that this blog doesn't have to only be about Showcasing my Art either (gosh that makes me sound like I have a huge ego), but like other artists, I can talk about what I find interesting in this world and maybe others might find a little bit interesting too.

So Step 1 on this road to newness - is time for this much neglected blog to have a big ole re-vamp! However I have no idea where to start. So I thought I would put a call out there - to all those techno savvy people that know what they are doing and perhaps we could exchange a commission piece of art, for an overhaul of this blog? what do you think?

Please have a look at my art here - https://www.facebook.com/NatalieRBriney?ref=hl  before you decide if you want to take on this challenge in exchange for a piece of my art.

I am very excited for some big changes in 2014.. It's all about striving for BALANCE....

Please contact me on brineys@bigpond.com if you are up for this challenge. :-)

Day of the Dead Inspiration

My latest painting

16 x 36 inches

Day of the Dead Inspired

"Lenore"

Close up of "Lenore" and her friend

and from another angle

and a close up of the skull.

As always, thank you for taking

the time to pop by and view my art work.

xx

testing

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First painting for 2014

I'm not really one for chatting too much on here about my personal

life or circumstances. I'd much rather leave my art to speak for itself.

2013 was not a bad year... it had it's fair shares of ups and downs

but I think that is a common thing for most people. You need the downs

to make the up's so much better.

Anyway on to 2014

and let's hope that it brings plenty 

more of those ups for all of us.

Firda Kahlo Dia De Los Muertos - Day of the Dead

She is 16 x 36 inches

And here is a close up

and another from a different angle.

She is sold with many thanks

as always thanks for looking and 

may 2014 be a good one for all

xx

Where's Alice

My latest painting 

Titled

Where's Alice

24 x 30 inches

Close up of her knee's

where you can see the music

paper peeking through.

and from another angle.

I'm kinda obssessed with

Alice in Wonderland

As always thanks for looking

Gemini Frida's

My latest painting

titled 

Gemini Frida's

24 x 36 inches

Close up of one of the girls

and from another angle.

This painting has sold

as always 

thank you for stopping by

Frida in Wonderland

So I obviously love all things Frida and now I'm also a little obsessed with Alice in Wonderland... So my crazy brain thought, "well why not combine the two"... so here is what I came up with.

24 x 36 inches

Frida in Wonderland

evil bunny

close up Frida

From a different angle

as always

thank you

for taking the time

to view my work

Bunny Love

Something a little different for a change...

some Bunny Lovin :-)

 and a close up of the texture

and from another angle

As always thank you for looking 

:-)

Latest Painting - Titled "T"

I wish I had the time to paint all day

every day... but alas being a full time

office worker and a mum of two 

cherubs, just doesn't allow much time

to get my hands dirty with paint.

But the time that I do get spare, 

I just want to paint beautiful things.

Sometimes I manage this, sometimes not.

This time I think I have created a beautiful Angel. 

So I am pleased.

She is titled simply

"T"

16 x 20 inches

as always thank you for visiting.

A Christmas Wish

My latest painting

Titled

A Christmas Wish

I know it's only October, but

Christmas is on my mind.

And there are two girls here who are

wishing for wings for Christmas.

A close up of one of the angels.

and from another angle.

Love you to the Moon and Back

Hi Hi,

Thanks for popping by....

So from my previous posts,

you can see two video's (my first ever video's on YouTube)

showing how I went about creating the background for this painting.

and

here is the finished product I made using that background.

 and from another angle

and a close up of Mr and Mrs Owl xx

as always thank you for looking :-)

oh and here is a little video I made with progress shots 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh5zRi00cfA

Second video to the "how I create a background" series

Please feel free to pop over for a look

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n8cuYbh24s&feature=youtu.be

First Ever Video

EEEEEKKKK my first ever "how to" video.

This is the first step or Part 1. 

As I continue on with this painting, I'll do part 2, 3, 4 etc etc until it's complete. 

Please be kind, as I know I say UM a lot!! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVYfBPYpTew&feature=youtu.be

After I created this video, I really thought that maybe I should have put some make up on and some pretty clothes, but realistically this is how I look when I paint... thanks for taking the time to check it out ♥>

A Special Friend

My latest painting

18 x 36 inches

Titled

A Special Friend

From another angle

and a close up

Latest Painting - Sweet Memories

On a bit of a flower roll at the moment. 

Can't stop painting them

I go through phases like that.

Lot's of girls faces

then back to flowers

then back to girls

then abstract 

and on it goes

Titled Sweet Memories

24 x 24 inches

very hard to see from the picture above

the texture and the shimmer

close up of the texture

still hard to see the shimmer though

and from another angle

AS ALWAYS
THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG

Happy Memories

My latest painting titled

Happy Memories

20 x 24 inches

Hard to see from this photo, but there is a lot of 

twinkle/sparkle in the watercolours

and also a lot of texture

From another angle, where you can see the texture better

and a close up

thank you for taking the time to look