Bina Garry

Done tonight...

2012-01-27T22:59:00.000-07:00

For sale

2012-01-26T22:15:00.001-07:00

a sneak peak...
http://www.artistrising.com/galleries/ginabarryharris
I will post more soon...

Sent from my iPad

Red tree

2012-01-26T22:06:00.003-07:00

Brix paintings?

2012-01-26T22:06:00.001-07:00

More for teaching... Not sure when they hit the calendar...

A new little tree

2012-01-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

Starting to grow...

Gratitude - 35 things I am grateful for today

2012-01-25T09:21:00.001-07:00

I am grateful for:

… my Family and Friends - they are always first and most important on my gratitude list- each and every one of the people in my life could make the list and there would be no room for all the other things - so consider this the list of all the people past and present that have touched my life. I am so grateful and would not be the person I am today without all of the people in my life - this means you… really - thanks for all the help support challenge and love - I am so grateful ...

... Chocolate - darker the better

… Coffee - especially that found in Paris France - I don't know what they do, but it is the best coffee I have ever had

… Yoga - it has come back into my life and I am so grateful to have found it again

… Happiness as found in a funny remark made by a certain 4 year old that is to be named in #1
...Silliness songs and other creative outlets - see #5
...Painting - I am all over the place with style and content, but it gives me something bigger than me to work on. I hope I continue even when it seems futile.

...Teaching painting classes - feels like coming home and I love every second of it.

...A new job in 2011 - coordinating software testing at Exempla - it is a relief to have a job with some security - even if life has no guarantees, it is nice to know I don't worry about layoffs in the same way as before

… iPad - amazed at how much I use this thing… for movies, email, books, life…

...Cell phones - it is nice to be able to call someone when I think of it and not have to think of it when I am by the phone.
...Trip to Paris - this year I finally took my mom on our trip. It was amazing and I have the travel bug like never before. I must get to Italy… maybe in 2013…
...selling my first painting to a stranger - and then she commissioned another and then I got another commission from a friend - I hope it is the beginning of something more to come!
… Camping trips - we only made it out 1 time this last summer - but had a great time with friends that are like family :)
...our Family stay-cation in Colorado springs - we had a family trip and got in a bunch of things in our own back yard. The Colorado springs zoo is the best!

… A Quick Chicago trip - our friend got married and we had the pleasure of going to the wedding - had a great time catching up with old friends.

… a Gunnison weekend - made it back to college town for a quick girl trip. I love that town and enjoyed that little flash back. Campus has changed so much! Mira said she wants to move to the mountains!

...Curling League - is a blast and we almost won the championship last winter. So much fun playing a game I never thought I would play much less enjoy so much.

...Groupon glass classes - made some glass beads - and a necklace - added a new medium to the art check list.

...Husbands day job - no more nights and weekends working for the restaurant biz. He has an hourly income with benefits and lots of perks and loves his job.

… Books on CD/ audio books - to listen to on the way to work. The stories make me glad to go to work even on high traffic days!
...Studio space - a space to have to make art is a great thing and helps me get to my work
... a great daycare place - for my kid - she loves school and the group is really good for her to be among kids and so close to home

...Nuvi the GPS - this has changed my life - I get lost much less…

...a window in my office - I am not alone in a window office, but the fact that I have natural light all day is a huge thing to be grateful for
...Candles - that make my house smell nice
...Water bottles with straws that help me drink more water.
...Cuties - tiny oranges that are easy to peel… isn't genetically engineered food fun…?
...$1 drinks from McDonalds - I know but for a break from my work and to go get an ice tea for only $1 it sure makes a nice cheap way to get away…
...Bucket lists - to mark off all the dreams we have and to have dreams we didn't even know we had until we wrote them down
...Art shows in 2011 - I have art hanging in a public place for sale as I write - I also had art in another shop this year - and the one at west Elm that actually lead to a sale and a commission - art hanging on walls in public spaces is worthy of a bullet point in a list of things to be grateful for…
...Colorado - I love where I live - I drive along the foot hills to work every day and I feel like I live in a painting. The sun sets and the clouds turn into colorful painted moving blobs… or something poetic… It is beautiful here - from the hot days of summer to the snowy days of winter.
...Being close to family - this may seem like cheating - since #1 is everyone in my life - but this is more specific than that. As I go through life - family is such a mixed bag - some are close - some are tolerated but I am a very very lucky girl that my family is both close and I genuinely like them and I think they like me. I would choose to hang out with them… and that, I find to be rather rare in this world.
...Food - I know this seem obvious. But if you really think about it, having the food that we have - good/bad depending on the day… leaves us time for things like working in an office, playing with our kids, and painting. If all your time is spent growing killing and preparing, there isn't time for all the other things in life.

...a wanting to... or the drive, motivation or call to action that has grown in me in the past year. I have been doodling around with art for many years but something is differnt in me since my trip. I want to paint and do more than just hang art in my house or give it to family. I want to make a living doing what I love and help bring joy into people's lives by making art and sharing what i see. I feel like this is what I am supposed to do and have never felt that before.

Division

2012-01-24T22:37:00.001-07:00

Circles in the space between...

Green life

2012-01-12T22:03:00.000-07:00

Paint and brush strokes are the focus of this little painting. Still a tree but not like most of my pen and ink drawing trees... Still exploring and learning. I may never paint the same tree twice... Until I do...

Two trees on texture

2012-01-12T22:01:00.001-07:00

The theme of trees repeats in my art. But not the tree living in a forest or by a babbling brook. I paint the tree not in landscape. Few have foreground. Few are planted in the earth. The trees I paint are like portraits. A simple view if a tree. Focus on form and texture. Not photo realism. I could paint the landscape, but that is not my muse. I am bored with the grass and the sky. I paint my tree subject in simplicity and without the rules that I know of landscape, but of the importance of the character of the subject.

Trees

2012-01-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

8 x 10
Circles and trees...

Picking colors next to each other on the color wheel to bring harmony
But they some how remind me of beetle juice...
With the stripes and spiral circles...
Perhaps my recent viewing of corpse bride had more of an influence than I admit.

Bridges

2012-01-03T22:34:00.000-07:00

Bridges..

2012-01-03T22:31:00.000-07:00

He got new eyes...

2012-01-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

New bird friends...

2012-01-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

Finished mira's toy box..

2012-01-02T14:26:00.000-07:00

One more coat of varnish... And it is ready!

Bridge

2012-01-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

Bridge 3 finished.
12x21
Acrylic on board

Doodles of passage by

2011-12-30T23:18:00.000-07:00

Waiting today downtown,
I found myself drawing people again...
Some quick sketches to kill time.
A quick glance at someone and then I draw...
Breaking all the drawing rules

Blue

2011-12-29T22:44:00.000-07:00

This tree evolved tonight. I found my motivation, Its been hiding in the basement all this time, waiting for me to find my way downstairs. No particular plan. Sitting down to paint without a plan is pretty rare for me. I am a planner... Started out red and yellow and evolved to blues and browns... Interesting how that keeps happening.

It is big for me, at about 18 x 24...
Circles and trees, still have more in me.

Its a Winter tree I think.... I wish I could bottle the motivatn to paint and uncork it every time I hear those voices that tell me I can't. If I don't who will? I know it isnt great high art, but I wish that I could find a way to paint to see if I could get to high art... No one is going to do that for me, so I have to get busy in the time I have to see if I can. Here's hoping for a new year full of new paintings and maybe something to come of it...

Flower...

2011-12-11T22:14:00.000-07:00

Some doodles today...

Palette

2011-11-29T22:22:00.000-07:00

Looks so organized...
How unlike me...
:)

Bike for brix

2011-11-29T22:11:00.000-07:00

A painting that may hit a class...?
Pretty fun...
Warm colors in the bike and cool colors around it... Mostly...
Could be a fun class?

Thick

2011-11-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

This morning
on the way to work
the light and the trees just
Blew me away
I couldn't stop to take a picture
so i tried to remember it all day
I thought about how I would paint the light...
Holding that image,
light up in gold and brown.
And come home and try to paint it...

I tried to capture this feeling.
I did not succeed, it doesnt look like my mind
But it evolved to something else...

The paint was thick in some spots I went with it.

In paris, i discovered one of my favorite crazy painter, vincent...
painted thick piles of paint in small brush size dabs...
So I went with it.

It is hard for me to leave it alone and not blend...
So this doodle painting 8 x10 on wood...
will be hard to paint over if I decide to change it
maybe I can sand it down...

Not a great painting but a step that is hard to take is worth note?

Two more

2011-11-25T23:35:00.000-07:00

I think these two are done.

Trees in trees with trees.
Oh and there are bridges,
But they got a little overgrown.

12x12
Mixed media
Paper and paint
On board

Another shape

2011-11-22T22:33:00.000-07:00

Trees and bridges...
Each one is so different.
Textures and trees.
Not done, just another step forward.

Another tree found a bridge...

2011-11-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

Bridge 3 continues...

2011-11-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

Adding ink... But have a long way to go and feeling a little lost....
The paintings I struggle with are my favorite. It must mean more to fight for it.

Chairs grew into trees

2011-11-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

An old painting got a new look tonight.
Think I will paint over it but it is a good exercise....

Study

2011-11-17T21:59:00.000-07:00

Apparently this tree had a very strong effect...
3 trees
Tonight I started these...
Wonder where they will end up...
Goodnight...

Premature post...

2011-11-16T21:36:00.000-07:00

It is done for tonight... After it dries I bet I will add some pen :)
Maybe this is my blue period :)
Or my bridge and tree period...
Or an actual style and series emerging from the chaos...

Still giddy...

Trees and bridges are evolving....

2011-11-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

One more tree today

2011-11-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

This little guy has been hanging out a while.
Unfinished and waiting for me to find the rest of it...
Today, I think I did.
Mixed media
8x10

Dream tree...

2011-11-13T12:02:00.000-07:00

This is closer to my actual dream...
16x20
Acrylic on canvas...

The whole thing...

2011-11-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

Dream tree

2011-11-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

I had the most vivid dream of a painting
I have ever had early Thursday morning...
This is a piece of it. Painted into an unfinished piece...
I think this is getting close to complete...

Happy 11-11-11

2011-11-11T21:05:00.001-07:00

Vision board

2011-11-10T18:01:00.000-07:00

Last night Jamie and I went to a vision board class at brix.
This is my vision board from class. Lots of art and travel...

Great class. Great energy and I am honored to be a part of things at the art on the brix.
I wonder if I am worthy...

So the girl in the middle all at peace and skinny,
I just got a Big Ass push to have her become my reality....
Nothing huge, but a sign that I am not as young as I was...
And I need to get my butt in gear.
high cholesterol and low vitamin d...
Time to make some changes.

More dragonflies...

2011-11-06T18:03:00.000-07:00

8x10 mixed media... Commission...
I love making stuff...

Let it snow

2011-11-04T21:45:00.000-07:00

Oh mistmass tree

2011-11-01T18:31:00.001-07:00

A mixed media tree for a December class???

Dragon flys

2011-10-19T21:37:00.000-07:00

Another painting done tonight for art on the brix. This one may be next week! Fun fun!

Sunflower inspired by Vincent

2011-10-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

A little painting for art on the brix. Not sure when this will hit the calendar!

Commission just delivered

2011-10-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

Some trees from a free app...

2011-10-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

Touch Sketch Drawing: 10/5/11 6:22:13 PM

2011-10-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

Touch Sketch Drawing: 10/10/11 9:03:39 PM

2011-10-11T16:05:00.000-07:00

Bridge2

2011-10-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

I think this is progressing
this bridge with Eiffel elements.
The pen over paint is becoming a trend...

Sometimes I think I am several different artists all shoved into one body.
Tonight I paint bridges with dark edges.
Last night was a giraffe and then some trees.

I sorta feel like this is how I live,
One moment i am a mom, who paints silly birds and bunnies,
Next I am a traveler inspired By a beautiful walk among a bridge at night
And at times the trees are my muse,

Art emulates life... How many people am I?

Blues and yellows and greens

2011-10-04T20:07:00.000-07:00

The weeds are so beautiful... I had to paint them....

Giraffe

2011-10-04T20:03:00.000-07:00

I am having a UFO night...
UnFinished Objects.
This giraffe got his spots tonight.
Define giraffe? No problem his spots say it all.

Birds came home....

2011-10-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

After a few months the birds come home to roost in Mira's bathroom. No sales at the store, so maybe it is time to try something else...

Piano

2011-10-02T20:35:00.000-07:00

We got a piano.
Sounds good, if not a bit rusty.
Oh wait, that's me that's rusty, not the piano.

Trees for fall

2011-10-02T20:33:00.001-07:00

A quick "painting" made with dyed paper and pen on board.
It is 6" x 10" ish. Is it just me or do these trees have elbows?

Bridge 2 day 2

2011-09-29T20:52:00.001-07:00

Added some more to this guy tonight too.
Camera is charging or I would take a better one of this guy.

Bridges 3

2011-09-29T20:51:00.000-07:00

Started a 3rd bridge painting.
This is 2 paintings
Smaller than the others.
Using some hand dyed paper.

Messy. And fun!

Movie review... Yep.

2011-09-28T19:55:00.000-07:00

"Exit through the Gift Shop" – a movie review and ramble.

It isn't often that I am compelled to write about a movie.

It isn't often a movie asks questions without answers.

"Exit through the gift shop" was not at all what I thought it would be.

I thought this was a documentary about graffiti art –
expected a gritty and cutting edge and provocative movie

and showing the hidden side of an art form –
get all the haters to see it through the eyes of the artists and they will love it..

Maybe they would talk about how graffiti is as misunderstood

as the first chair cain that showed up on Picasso's canvas.

I didn't read the back cover very well- but I was not disappointed.

Side note:

Picasso is one of those artists we love to hate

but he had the background in classical art.

He could paint a portrait with the best of them.

He took that core knowledge and abstracted it.

In its day much of his technique was unappealing to critics.
He and his fellow artists pushed the edges of modern art

However he was not without his praise and fame. Obviously.

Much like many critics feel about graffiti.

Go watch this movie and come back.

Spoiler alert!

Gina's Movie Summary:

Guy who likes to video tape everything,

finds his way into the underground world of graffiti art

He films all the antics of these artists

as they pursue their art in the wee small hours of the night.

Unlike me, they work on art at night to avoid getting caught.

He spends years taping these artists

under the guise that he's making a documentary.

Making these tapes is his way into the hearts

and trust of the street art elite.

After many years - graffiti art hits the big time –
gallery shows etc. People can't get enough.

Right place at the right time? Maybe.

Our tape guy is asked to make an actual movie with all this footage.

Tape guy just likes the camera in his hand –
doesn't actually watch any of the tape he makes.

But he finally makes a movie… and it sucks.

So much for that idea.

Gives all his tape to his best graffiti buddy

(the maker of this movie – btw)

Next, our fearless tape maker decides to have an art show –

At the suggestion of his best graffiti buddy…

So he does.

Hires a staff to help him run the screen printers and computers.

He picks the photos and art directs.

Soup cans become spray cans with "Campbell's soup" on them.
Warhol esk Madonna and other famous faces are printed poster size.

We are lead to believe he didn't do this either.

His hired help did it.

He lands a couple of endorsements

from his tagging elite friends –

who are just putting out a few words about their tape buddy – unknowing how big this will be.

and then – the art show opens and guess what –

tape guy makes millions.

SO…

It IS all about who you know.

(@&#^$*!&)

Tape guy has no art background formal or not.

other than years spent watching the underground art movement.

Our tape guy has NO

blood

sweat

and tears

wasted learning to draw or paint or sculpt.

NO hours in front of the computer

learning to manipulate images

in Photoshop.

Nope,

He is a rule breaker.

He copies other artists most famous works –

mostly popular art we all know and love/hate.

manipulates and emulates them in a graffiti style.

Not really an original perspective either.

He hires a staff to help to make his vision a reality.

(not unusual for artists to do, but not ones without any experience)

He spent his time following and documenting a secret society –

And failing at what he did with it.

He didn't learn to tag,

or did he?

Were they all duped?

Is he just a cheap knockoff just doing what he saw and learning from the best all those years.

In around 6 months he manages to put together a multi-million dollar art show.
His show is all art made from stealing the ideas and art from the famous.

Fascinating – you have to see this movie!

Is this art? There is no easy answer.

And part of why I thought I am taking all this time to write my thoughts –

because I keep going back and forth.

My snobby art school side says:

One:

He has no art background!

Damnit.

I am not saying you have to have formal training to be an artist.

But I do think he has to have done something…

Spent time making his own art.

Drawing, painting…

or making taped movies and watching others do it... (see I can contradict myself even in a thought…)

DAMN IT.

TWO!

How would I feel if he did this to my art?

Am I supposed to be Flattered? Hardly…

Emulation maybe the highest form of flattery –

but when you work hard

and others reap the benefits of it without the hard work… it sucks.

no one likes that.

I would not be flattered, I'd be crappy and angry and calling my lawyer.

Three:

It doesn't make it right if an artist has an MFA in painting,

and would choose to take my work to make it his own and sell it off.

In fact someone with that much art background should know better.

For me,

There is a difference in my heart when I struggle to make the color right

or reshape the angle

or struggle through the ugly stage to make things work

and turn the ugly into something I love.

Somehow I feel like someone with a background in it- the time and struggle part,

would respect it more –

and not outright steal…???

And yet I am sure the well educated – perfectly capable "artists" do steal art

and have as this topic continues to be a copyright crazy world.

I know how hard it is to be original

and I strive to make my work my own.

Even though, sometimes I do copy, if I want to learn more,

but then I don't sell it for thousands.

And the last voice - my modern art is not definable voice- says:

Pushing the edges is what it is all about, right?

Andy Warhol ripped off soup cans and called it art.

Few liked it when Picasso used actual texture in his art.

Impressionists – painted the light? What kind of subject is that?

What are all these squiggles?

But it is history that decides what is good art and what is not.

So many movements of art came from people pushing past the usual –
pushing past the paint and adding something more –
painting more than Madonna and Child as assigned by the church.

Without these pushes – we would all still be mixing our own paint with linseed oil.

And the mighty dollar.

Our Mr. tape maker making money.

He is rich and famous now.

But should he be?

Should or not, he is.

I guess in conclusion -

progress is scary

for we who toil in the paint

hoping for something good to come of it.

and art is subjective –

If Mr. Tape had an art background, I wonder if he would do what he did.

If he had ability, maybe he would still do it.

And maybe I would value it more.

His drawing ability or lack of, hasn't hurt him.

We will never know – the what ifs.

And even as I write this I go back and forth about it.

I know that I don't have to like it to call it art.

I do know that when I can see an original painting –

with beautiful piles of paint –

An artist making changes buried beneath –

colors changed and manipulated

lines drawn in the canvas

other mistakes made

and then covered over –

decisions changed and

entire faces painted over…

I have more respect for the artist.

When one has to work for it,

I value it more

and I feel like I can be a better artist

by making and learning from my mistakes.

I learn from those out there doing –

rather than those riding on the coat tails of others.

For me it is the process of making art that I love.

And I can imagine the money part would be nice.

For whatever that is worth…it is interesting.

And artish and pushes the edges.

Daily doodle 9/28

2011-09-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

Closer

2011-09-22T21:07:00.001-07:00

Working on a commission piece tonight.
Purple pink and orange... TREE!
Just a little piece of this much bigger painting.
Circles and trees, ah home.

Palette

2011-09-22T20:42:00.001-07:00

Palettes

Why is it that sometimes the best thing I make in a night is the paint I mix?

Sad.

Another new painting...

2011-09-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

This just evolved...
Bad photo, but the leaves art dictionary pages...
:)

bridge 2 - day 1

2011-09-17T20:08:00.001-07:00

another painting started -
Progressing nicely - just day 1 though -

Paris painting - Bridge 1

2011-09-17T16:08:00.006-07:00

16" x 18"on wood

acrylic and ink

This is the first of many paintings
in my head
from my trip to Paris.

The bridges of Paris are each different.
Each one tells the story of when it was made.
This one has a story.
I am just not sure what it is yet :)

Day2 of a bridge painting

2011-09-15T20:57:00.001-07:00

Not sure where it is going,
Paris is on my brain!
Grey, white brown and black and a touch of blue and green...
Added a little fussy bits, let's see if they stay?

Bridge day 1

2011-09-14T22:05:00.001-07:00

Inspired by my trip to Paris,
and walking the bridges over the Seine river,
I started this painting tonight.

I saw a painting by Toulouse at the d'Orsay museum where he painted on the raw wood, so I did too. Not sure if the photo does it justice, but you can see the wood grain through the paint.

Can't wait to see where it goes from here.

Art for sale

2011-08-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

I have some art for sale at http://naturallylovedbaby.com/

Very excited!
go in, check it out...

or for a sneak peak...

For Jamie... Bird in skates

2011-07-24T19:32:00.000-07:00

Bigger

2011-07-23T17:20:00.001-07:00

Black crows

2011-07-23T17:19:00.002-07:00

Green

2011-07-23T17:19:00.001-07:00

Three

2011-07-23T17:19:00.000-07:00

Two

2011-07-23T17:18:00.002-07:00

Learned a big lesion...
When you use words, read them...
Having kkk on kids art,
is not so good....

Fortunately I discovered it,
Sadly it doesn't get to be in the set to sell...

One

2011-07-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

Tree circle trees

2011-07-05T22:02:00.000-07:00

more trees if you please

2011-07-05T18:23:00.000-07:00


8" x 10" mixed media on canvas

8" x 10" mixed media on canvas

poppies for 3

2011-07-05T18:15:00.001-07:00

big red... flowers

2011-07-05T18:11:00.000-07:00

15" x 30"

acrylic and mixed media on canvas board

a detail.. the circles are paper texture that is off the board,

don't know if this shows it well,

but here it is...

old buildings

2011-07-05T18:06:00.000-07:00

a little catch up...

been blogging more now that I have the ipad, but older work never got up...

so here is some...

mixed media on canvas (each is 5"x5")

Red tree

2011-06-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

Ever green

2011-06-26T21:47:00.000-07:00

Droopy grass

2011-06-26T21:46:00.001-07:00

Fire grass

2011-06-26T21:46:00.000-07:00

Six tree

2011-06-26T21:45:00.001-07:00

Tree four

2011-06-26T21:45:00.000-07:00

Forest

2011-06-26T17:35:00.000-07:00

Foot study

2011-06-25T07:14:00.000-07:00

The tree wished it could be a different kind of tree

2011-06-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

Weeds

2011-06-25T07:07:00.001-07:00

Dog

2011-06-25T07:07:00.000-07:00

Cat

2011-06-25T07:05:00.000-07:00

Husband

2011-06-25T07:03:00.000-07:00

A little doodle of the man in my life.

Circle trees swirly

2011-06-21T20:16:00.000-07:00

Wild haired tree

2011-06-09T21:38:00.000-07:00

Swirls of tree like form

2011-06-09T21:31:00.000-07:00

Scribble bubble

2011-05-31T20:31:00.000-07:00

Rocks

2011-05-31T20:29:00.001-07:00

Tree in the wind

2011-05-31T20:29:00.000-07:00

Circles

2011-05-30T20:06:00.000-07:00

Burning up

2011-05-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

Sketchbook blog

2011-05-27T08:33:00.001-07:00

Hi -

I got myself an ipad this week.
Decided to make the digital leap
into sketching on the ipad.
and I found the Harmony ipad app
and am thrilled with it.

So look for my sketches and doodles that are all on the ipad!
woo hoo - maybe this will lead to even more drawing...

thanks for lending me your eyes.

scratch board? nah ipad

2011-05-27T07:52:00.003-07:00

my first post

she looks a little sad -
but I love this look -
just similar to "ye olde" scratch board projects
I did in elementary school.

Sent from my iPad

Harmony Tool is new again...

2011-04-14T20:19:00.001-07:00

two more experiments...

2011-04-13T20:24:00.000-07:00

image transfer on canvas -

some of the base paint rubbed off a little

but I really love this stuff.

maybe i need to seal it once and then do the transfer....

image transfer again - but this one is over other collage pieces

paper and paint on board.

allowing myself to experiment with this is a big step -

messing around is fun...