Oil Paintings Oct 2011

This is Axel again. So I guess we are now private, which Terah informs me actually means that only she and I are going to read these anymore. That's OK. I only really write to her anyways. And now I guess I can break out all those swimsuit paintings I have done of Terah (JK hun!)...

The above was a portrait that kind of was inspired by VG's portrait I saw in the Mueso d'Orsey in Paris. His was so amazing, so subtle, so inspired. How the colors moved behind him and moved with him. I stood in front of that portrait and looked into his eyes for so long. Terah was great to keep the kids away so I could have some private time. What was he thinking? What drove his brilliance? Why does he affect me so much? I don't know, but I do know I had more than one or two tears in my eyes when I left. It is so great to think I get to go through my life trying to get close to what he was able to do and by doing so understand him better.
I have struggled for a long time with should I sign my stuff or not. I have often thought that I shouldn't and when I see how lame my writing of my name was, I was reassured I should just leave my paintings unsigned. But then I saw an artist who signed his stuff with his initials only and I thought perhaps that would be better. I played around with how it should look and the above is what I came up with. It is easy and sums me up I guess. And it has a bit of a Chinese look to it. JAB. John Axel Bromley.
This is a really big one of the SLC temple. I did one for Jane my sister and I really liked it. So I redid it for our family and this time I tried to make it a bit cleaner than the one I did for her. I spent my time on it and I really like how this one turned out. I am going to get it framed. Not many make it to that...
One of my four proudest piece of art I have ever done holding one she did of our family. Had to post this one of my Dilly Dilly Donut
Terah was able to not only save us 10K coming back from Utah but she was able to get us a bonus trip into Amsterdam for a layover that had enough time for me to make a pilgrimage to Van Gogh's museum there (see below post - it was amazing to watch her fight for it for over 8 hours and come out ahead!). One of the paintings I have always wanted to see was this one and it was there and in real life it was overpowering. Really, I just walked around that place awestruck like a kid in an all you can eat candy store. It was amazing and after seeing some there I hadn't done, I had to rush home and do them. This was one. He did a few of these, one with the colors and one with more white in the flowers. I did the one I saw.
THis was another one that totally took my breathe away in the VG museum. I knew I had to rush home and paint this one. But when I did it it looked all wrong. I had made the grass much more bright and kind of a pine tree green. I also had the whitish area behind the trees in yellow. Totally wrong and Terah took one look at it and said, make these changes. As she is always right when it comes to colors and what is wrong with my paintings, I mixed the paint how she told me to, painted it and this is what came out. I love it much more and especially the grass. This one is getting framed too.
Funny how I have my things I like to paint. Japanese art always comes back. This was one I did in the likeness of my two daughters. I put one reading a book as Heavah likes to read and Dona behind her.
THis huge painting was my 'climbing mount Everest'. I had this idea to paint the picture of Heavah at her baptism that Terah took of her with me behind her just before I baptized her. She had her smocked dress which Terah had made just for the baptism with a fuzzy sweater. I was in white but darker behind her - how do you paint an all white picture?. I also wanted to make it in the style of Seurat as I saw some of his work in the Museo d'Orsey as well and actually got a better appreciation for it. So I had what I wanted to do, but 1, I can't do faces or eyes, 2, I had never done pointialism and 3, if I got it wrong everyone would see it immediately as I would screw up one of my favorite pictures of my daughter and me. So for a long time after I drew it I just looked at it and didn't want to even start as I was so worried it wouldn't work. I went to go talk to the guy who got me started on all this (Brett Kearney) and who I respect so much as a painter. He gave me a piece of advice; just start. So I did. And the above is how it turned out after asking him for advice a 2nd time. I won't lie, I like it. I think it turned out well and now she will have a dress her mom made for her baptism and a painting of us done by me.
Her eyes took FOREVER before I felt like they were OK to move on. It is hard to try to add just enough dots of color but not too much. I don't know if I got it right or not, but I finally just gave up and followed Michalangelo's advice; art is never finished, it is simply abandoned. So true.
My hand. It was so hard to know what colors to do, what amounts to put... From a far it works I think.
I tried to make her dress have actual depth to it and make the sweater have the feeling like it was soft and thick.
When Terah and I were in Barcelona I saw a painting like this that looked so much like pioneers I thought I would do one like it with two boys and two girls on their way to SLC as the sun came up on the morning before they got there (symbolizing our four kids marching on the Shining Path to exaltation). I had to make it darker and darker to make the sunshine come out and try to give a feeling of a cold morning. I didn't get it the way I wanted it to. I should have used more grays and darks so the sun came out even more. I will try another one like it in the future. I need to practice using less color. I sometimes go too crazy on color. But it was a start. I bought the frame before and just stretched some canvas over the painting on it.
When we were in Jordan in Petra with the Petty's (LOVE THE PETTY'S!) we stayed at this hotel and had such a fun time talking about going to Petra, life and just hanging out. I don't have many friends because well, I really don't do friends well. I learned that when I was young and it has been true since - don't get me wrong, I do have them, but I go after quality, not quantity. Jason is one and I am really bummed out he had to leave Qatar. I did this in my style of tons of color. I tried to make the darker colors act like shadow. Don't know if it worked...
I did one of Terah in this style I loved. I knew I needed to do one of me. For the last three months I have been working out and on a all protein diet and I have lost about 20 lbs and gained muscle mass again. It is fun to start to get back to my days when I was working out 4 hours a day back before I got married while I was in SLC living at my mom's. I was pretty big back then (I maxed bench pressing at 400 lbs - now with my screwed up shoulders I stay with super light weights...). I am getting there. I would come home after working out with Terah and under one light I really liked how the shadows hit me. I made Terah take this picture of me and I did this one.

I am going to do the next one of Jesus like this and then a big square one and put each one of the kids faces in each quadrant in this style so we will have our whole family.

I am really happy with this picture. I makes me feel good about myself that my painting and my health is getting better. And since only Terah is going to read this, I guess I can say that and not worry about it!

Van Gogh on a Whim

Leaving America was a slight disaster. For days, people kept asking us, 'When are you leaving?' With 100% confidence, I said, 'The 4th'. Family members questioned me, 'Are you sure?' And I would reply with conviction, 'of course'. It wasn't until the morning of the 4th when we looked at our itinerary that we noticed the flight we were booked left on the 3rd. SUCH a rookie mistake for someone like me. Imagine my shame.

Yes, sit and imagine. The sheer humiliation. The complete disbelief that I was indeed COMPLETELY WRONG.

Then, for a moment think of the deep horror I felt when after a number of phone calls we were told there was no way they were going to book us on another flight. Instead, we had to pay the money and buy completely brand new tickets.

Care to know how much it would cost to bring your family of 6 to Doha for a spontaneous visit?

$12, 000. one way.

Axel was ready to pull out the card, but I could NOT stomach the thought. It was my fault and I had to own it. The humble pie I ate was 3 months expired, moldy, and had bugs crawling on it. I couldn't eat all of it. I had to do something.

9 phone calls

5 times hung up on

8 hours later

Shezzam! Booked tickets back to Doha free. of. charge. And who says that there are no longer miracles?

The special treat out of all of it was that we came home with a layover in Amsterdam with just the right amount of time to visit the Van Gogh museum. I have been meaning to surprise Axel with tickets to the Netherlands for the soul purpose of going to this museum. After several hours of flying we hopped off the plane and took a taxi straight to the mecca.

The kids were fried and found a bed anywhere they could. The stinky, dirty, concrete blocks worked just fine. At least they were 3 feet off the ground. The homeless can't be choosy.

Axel beamed from ear to ear the entire time. It was his Disneyland. For example, this creepy, dark, slightly gnarly painting (shown above) was one of Axel's favorites because it is of the Potato Eaters. Van Gogh claimed this painting as his turning point for when he really came into his own. I don't quite see it, but there was a mini party going on in my heart for my hubby.

Because we were there so early, it felt like we were the only people in the entire museum. Only 30 minutes after we arrived, it started to fill up and you couldn't get nearly as close to the paintings as you wanted. Another plus for arriving early is that I got a ton of decent illegal photos. I must take photos in a No Photo zone. Even if I don't want to, I must.

Here is a recreation of the same room that Van Gogh painted in Arles. Sarita also painted a copy of this painting and it was so cute when the kids said, 'Hey! Sarita painted this room. How did they know?'

It is speculated that the painting to the right is Van Gogh's last painting. It has a very dark essence for some reason. The crows were unlike Van Gogh and the overall emotion from the painting is somewhat unlike his many other paintings.

The Almond Blossoms almost took my breath away when I saw it. After looking at Axel's copy next to my bed month after month it was incredible to see the real thing. It was different than I had expected. The colors were more muted and his brush strokes were smoother. I sat in front of it in awe. It was especially fun to see Axel, a great lover of all of Van Gogh's paintings, and see him well up with emotion with specific paintings that he had studied and stared at for hours. When we saw Van Gogh's Hay Stacks at Museo d'Orsay in Paris Axel had tears in his eyes. I wrestled with kids in the corner for several minutes while he shared a moment, silently, reading the lines, colors and brush strokes. There was no question, it was a spiritual moment for him that I am sure he will share at another time.

I really love all of Van Gogh's work during his Japanese phase. It showed he was intrigued by other cultural works and had affinity for the east. In true Van Gogh style, the colors are vibrant and bold, but his Japanese characters just plain sucked.

Axel will have loads more to say about the Van Gogh museum so I won't elaborate. When Axel is ready to share his latest creations, I will have him express his true feelings about visiting there and the Museo d'Orsay. Prepare yourself for some passionate words. The guy has been forever changed.

Happy 4th!

This is evidence that I have a lot of time on my hands. Here are two more projects I have finally completed. This time with a deadline....

Dress number one. A peasant dress in my own design in Liberty fabric (again).

Dress number two. A smocked American flag in my own design.

Happy 4th to you all! May you gorge on hotdogs and see fire in the skies...

Summer Projects

Since we have been cooped up in the house for several weeks because of the debilitating weather outside, I have kept my hands busy. The following are some projects I have recently completed. I know there have been other finished projects, I just haven't taken photos. Here is what I have so far:

For cute baby boy #1

For cute baby boy #2

Feather headband made for my sweet Dona. I must celebrate that she is finally growing hair somehow.

The easy peasy pillowcase dress:


The pillowcase dress in Liberty fabric (my new found love, more on this later)

Cute peasant top for Heavah (also in Liberty fabric). I finally figured out a great style using smocking for older girls. This is a breakthrough for me!

This is a sneak preview of what I have been working on. It is a quilt representing various dresses I have made for Heavah over the years. It is a small sample of some of my favorite dresses I have made for her since she was 2 years old. I have decided to hand quilt it piece by piece. I will save the details for when I blog about the finished project. The pressure is on.

More to come...

The Easter Dress 2011

Since we traveled over the Easter weekend, I gave myself a little more time to finally complete Sedona's Easter dress. I feel like I am back in my groove.

Sedona is always pretty in pink

I am currently making a quilt for Heavah that represents a sample of the dresses I have made for her since she was 2. I then realized that I have not made nearly as many dresses for Sedona, and Sedona is a dress girl. I kicked it into high gear and started this Easter dress. It just might be one of my favorites.

I believe the sleeves are my favorite. It took more work, but so worth it.

For those of you who understand smock talk, I used the 'Double Delight' plate from Creative Needle's Nov/Dec 2003 issue. The pattern is Vogue 7435 , which is a Teresa Layman design.

The dress in progress is in honor of the Royal Wedding. Sedona's enchanted look during the ceremony put me back in the sewing room. I'll keep you posted.