ammonite painting

ammonite painting
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

i finished this little guy today.. it looks better in person, though.. and started another bigger strata painting with an ammonite. 10 x 20 inches.

i did not really think of it much at the time but it was appropriate to be working it while watching a documentary on the K-T boundary, the layer of earth that marks the end of the Cretaceous and the start of the Tertiary Era. Also there a many animals and plants that went extinct at this time - more than 75% of animal species. not everyone agrees on exactly how this scenario unfolded, but most people now generally agree that there was a large asteroid impact at the time and that led to various climate changes that meant an end to the dinosaurs - well, the non avian dinosaurs that is. birds are descendent from small dinosaurs, so you could say they are still with us in some form.

worlds within

new painting
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

this is one of my new paintings. it is 5 x 5 inches. it's called worlds within. it was inspired by the inside of an ammonite or nautilus shell.

here is what wikipedia has to say about the structure of a nautilus shell:
Internally, the shell divides into camerae (chambers), the chambered section being called the phragmocone. The divisions are defined by septa, each of which is pierced in the middle by a duct, the siphuncle. As the nautilus matures it creates new, larger camerae, and moves its growing body into the larger space, sealing the vacated chamber with a new septum.

anyway, i like the idea that each chamber for a time is the nautilus' world, and later is replaced by another, slightly larger world. but the earlier worlds are still with it. so maybe invertebrates are not so different from us humans in some ways, afterall.

Strata

6307paint1
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

this is one from the archives. it is the 1st strata painting, and it is 20x10". i made it for my friend audin, who is a mad scientist. one of his 1st jobs was working on an archeological dig on the strait of juan de fuca, at a place called hoko. it was what is called a "wet site" -- literally, near the strait and the hoko river. it was a makah site. there is a really cool makah museum at neah bay that i went to yeare ago - i want to go again:
http://www.makah.com/mcrchome.htm

anyway, so my interest in geology / paleontology / archaeology coupled with audin's interest inspired this painting, which inspired the whole series. And if you want to know more about my mad scientist friend, look for a link to his blog "angry viking" in my sidebar. Maybe I should mention that audin is a norwegian name derived from odin, who is the king of the gods in norwegian mythology. if you are familiar with wagner's ring cycle, odin is the same was wotan.

ammonite paintings

ammonite paintings
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

oof. i stayed up too late, painting. these are inspired by ammonites, ancient relatives of the squids and octopuses. imagine herds of these creatures, drifting through the seas of the triassic and cretaceous.

here is what Wikipedia has to say about the name, ammonite:

" Their name came from their spiral shape as their fossilized shells somewhat resemble tightly-coiled rams' horns. Pliny the Elder (d. 79 A.D. near Pompeii) called fossils of these animals ammonis cornua ("horns of Ammon") because the Egyptian god Ammon (Amun) was typically depicted wearing ram's horns"

and now i should get to bed.

2 stata paintings.. almost done!

2 stata paintings.. almost done!
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

i did not paint last night which makes me sad. i was so tired so i just read. i'm still tired today, though. i am not sure if i will get to paint tonight.

i have some ideas i want to look into incorporating into this series.. more fossils, canyons and canyonscapes, cliff homes (like anasazi and also like cappadocia in turkey), dreamtime, aboriginal dot paintings, and petroglyphs (both aboriginal and native americal) - i don't want to just jump onto another culture's band wagon, though, so i have to figure out how to make it my own interpretation... i like the idea of dreamtime. i had a dream a long time ago about a house that had wide front steps leading up and they were painted like an australian dot pianting, walking up them into the house felt like entering something.

but now i need to go enter some data.

Strata Paintings

paintings- almost done!
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

I have been painting a lot lately, on the Strata Series, which I have been working on for a while now. 2 years maybe? I've sold a few and given a few away so I am trying to get a pretty cohesive body of work pulled together so I can hopefully show them someplace. I got the paintings, or at least I am working on them, then will come finding a venue, which since I am basically a hermit artist will be the hard part for me. Most artists are not very good at marketing themselves and I am no exception!

These are just a few.

the trilobite painting is done!

the trilobite painting is done!
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

i wish i was better at taking pictures of these. maybe i should try scanning. i am just not getting the subtle details! still, anyhow, my little trilobite paintings is done and i have more paintings in the "strata" series in process. the trilobite is little, just 4x4 inches, acrylic and ink on canvas.

moleskine sketchbook

moleskine sketchbook
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

we are having what the local weatherman calls "the 1st sunny weekend since August." it certainly does my heart good! painted this morning and some new paintings i am very excited about. soon jesse and i are out to walk about ballard a bit and enjoy the weather! i <3 sun!

paintings in progress

paintings in progress
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

this is what i am working on now, though they have progressed a bit since this photo was taken. i want to paint all the time. every day. right now. but i have some other people's art to go catalog. i went to daniel smith's recently and bought a PILE of canvases, which is rather exciting.

Tree with Ivy

Tree with Ivy
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

Tree with Ivy in the Asylum Garden
1889
Vincent Van Gogh


"In The asylum garden below, Vincent paints paints paints, burning with a fire of unknown origin."

--Ian McDonald

molten stuff

071709art1
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

Autobiography is not important. Authenticity is important. The writer must fire herself through the text, be the molten stuff that welds together disparate elements. "-- Jeanette Winterson

artwork by henry darger

artwork by henry darger
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

i recently watched a documentary i had had in my netflix queue for some time and i am quite pleased i did. i was already familiar with henry darger's work and knew he was a reclusive outsider artist, but the details are so fascinating. this quiet mild mannered man came home from his janitorial job every night and wrote and created artwork - actually created his own world. After he died his landlords discovered a 15,145-page, called The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion. The documentary is fascinating and I recommend it. The creator, Jessica Yu, did a wonderful job, in the absence of much material to work with outside Darger's work itself -- he had no living relatives, no close friends, etc.

happy valentine's day!

happy valentine's day!
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

wishing you a happy valentine's day!

bird nest village

bird nest village
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

peep peep!
i did a lot of pen and ink drawings this week, sort of my sanity after a challenging day at work! but i was too tired to scan any until last night. i listed some on etsy - birds, nests, houses, and trilobites!
my etsy shop.

in progress

in progress
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

acrylic paintings are so hard to photograph. these look better in person. i took the day off work - a week earned vacation day - and in spite of feeling pretty poorly i worked on 4 paintings, 3 of which are shown here. it's been a challenging work week - both hard on my body physically and mentally. it was good to have a day off. i intended to work in greens but greys and browns took over. i might go in search of more canvases today.

hide and seek

hide and seek
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

look for:
octopus
houses
trees
broccoli
swing
teacup
trilobites
and more!
on etsy

Tribe of Trilobites & My Journey down Paleontology Lane

Tribe of Trilobites
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

this one, 5 x 5 inches, was done under the influence of Edgar Rice Burrough's At The Earth's Core. Which borrows heavily from Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. I have been listening it on Librivox, which I recently discovered. It's pretty neat - free audio books! books in the public domain read by volunteers. you can listen or volunteer at their website.

I think At the Earth's Core is a bit silly, but then I am not the target audience, a young man reading adventure novels in the early part of the last century. (It was originally published in 1914.) Anyway, I continue my journey down Paleontology Lane.

on the banks of trilobite river

on the banks of trilobite river
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

here is another of my geology / paleontology geek drawings. this one was inspired by:
ray troll
jules verne
and
laura ingalls wilder. how many people can say they were inspired by laura ingalls wilder and jules verne IN THE SAME PIECE? anyway, it, and another trilobite geeky drawing, are on Etsy.

mural by ryan henry ward

mural by ryan henry ward
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

see my previous post, too.
Ryan Henry Ward is an artist who has painted all over walls, cars, and buildings in Seattle. I love his art! And I bought one of his paintings today. Here are more of his murals, as seen on Flickr.

gnome by ryan henry ward

gnome
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

this painting is by ryan henry ward:
www.ryanhenryward.com/
i <3 it.
also when i was buying it, at short stop coffee in seattle, henry was there with his dog. i told henry he looks like a gome. i meant it in the good way, hope he took it that way! his dog has endearingly large paws.

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