This morning's sky

The sky this morning was so full... of peace, of deep meaning... and a something that could only be described as promise.

Sometimes optimism is only a matter of physically looking up and seeing what is always there.

The sky over Bedminster, NJ April 29, 2008 6:30 a.m.

Night waves

Contact tracyreinhardt.art@gmail.com for purchase information

unframed $75.00

I have this thing for the beach. I'm sure it's noticable. This is a 6 " x 6 " acrylic painting on masonite.

The picture of it didn't get the purple glow at the top or the clouds the moon is hiding behind. I really need to work on photographing my artwork.

I'm not sure if this is done yet or a work in progress. I thought photographing it would help but frankly the photo is so poor it doesnt help much.

I guess I'll live with it and see.

Baby Hats and other assorted crocheted things...

I started loom-knitting and crocheting about 2 years ago just so I could felt. I thought felting was about the neatest thing ever... The process of felting isn't complicated although it is time consuming. And it is more art than science - there is always an element of surprise in the finished product.

I don't mind that.




Loom-knit and felted rose baby hat


Crocheted and felted bracelet with rose


Loom-knit and felted baby apple hat

Crocheted flowers felted into a scarf

Crochet Inpiration is a book I admire very much. It's big and beautiful - colorful and exquisite. The ideas are perfect in themselves or as springboards for bigger projects. I have a seriousl love-fest with this book. So worth the money!

Mini Pin Love...

Ginger

TAMPOPO - A favorite DVD review

It's billed as a Japanese Noodle Western. That alone was enough for me to see it years ago. And I've been a fan ever since. It hit all my favorite quirky notes - the food shots were beyond fabulous...the story is unique... The shots of Japan are terrific.

It's just plain crazy-fun! Check out the other reviews on Amazon...I'm not the only one who's a fan of Tampopo!

Reflection

Sometimes I miss the details but catch them on reflection.

Photograph - Cape May, NJ Winter 2006

Ahead of you

Look beyond the gates and fences and notice infinite possibility lays ahead

Cape May Winter 2006

Simplicity

Beauty is not a complex thing. It can be seen in the lack of details.

Beauty is in the simplicity.

Photograph- Fence on a beach - Cape May, NJ Winter 2007

beruhigende Kälte

The cold can be many things... silmultaneously.

What can you say about a thing that is at once shockingly bracing, yet has a quiet peacefulness.

6 inch x 6 inch acrylic painting on masonite done for my friend, Jorg Leitner.

Not for sale.

August Night, a very long time ago

Once all that mattered was how many fire flies filled the spaces between blinks and nothing happened so bad that it couldn't be washed off once you were safe at home.

Acrylic on mulberry paper on canvas. 16x20

Exhaling with the tide

This is an acrylic painting on 16 x20 stretched canvas. The sides are painted black like the edges of the painting - it all flows together.

I started doing these horizons recently to loosen up my tight view of the world. I love my photographs but they make me a little obsessive.

There is something wonderful to me about the misty, haze and far off in the distance feel. I like the lack of foreground. I like the lack of 'the now'.

Works in progress...

I'm working with three photographs I took a few days ago. I was walking by my house as night and thinking how unusual the usual looks at night. I'm not sure where these pictures will go yet.

Finding joy...

I see too many people lacking a real sense of playfulness. They walk around with half-full glasses and sad faces waiting for something big to happen to make them feel happy. They have it backwards.











Happy is in the small things that give you joy everyday. The little things that make you smile...The sweet and charming things...The funny things... Tender things... The things you look at and smile.













I'm always looking for little things - fun things that will make my day a bit happier. I found out about cell phone charms a few years ago. They cost very little and something about seeing a bunch of them twirling from my phone makes me happy. I bought some yesterday from my favorite place to get them - Strapya. It's a gift, you know? To find something that makes you happy for a few dollars.

Strapya Goodies Found Here

Bar, North Maple Inn

Photograph taken several years ago

New Jersey Shore Photograph

This is a photograph I took of a boat docked somewhere at the Jersey shore. I've always liked it.


There is something quiet about it that reminds me of the paintings I'm doing.

Heaven thy name is Lindt...

Wow...Lindt chocolate balls come in white...

I'm not much a fan of white chocolate but these are amazing.


Creamy round clouds in gold paper wrappers....

This Beach, Cape May 2006

This is another of the Acrylic Paint on mulberry paper on canvas pieces that I've done in my attempts at peace.

It's based on a photograph I took in Cape May, NJ. This one has a stronger border than some of the others - where the dark border melds with the scene. The peace, for me, comes from the simplicity of color and design.

This Beach is done on a 16 x 20 stretched canvas with painted sides.

Working looser and getting erfüllte Sehnsucht

So. The tight way I work is getting to me. While I like the art I've been doing very much it's gotten to be a bit like a migraine. Tight. Very tight.

In an effort to loosen up my head and my thoughts I bought some canvas and paint. It's a very scary thing because I'm not a painter. I've never painted. The largeness of the brushes and the wetness and runniness of the paint makes me crazy but I thought it was called for.

What has happened has been magical. I started painting everyday in an attempt to learn how...and also to exercise my relax-muscles.

I'm enjoying the process more than I thought and enjoying the results. When I walk past what I've done my whole body feels a collective 'ahhh!'. Like a peaceful exhale. The things I'm doing are simple and loose up to a point. They are acrylic paintings done on canvas that has had mulberry paper collaged onto it prior to being painted.

The rough surface is visually pleasing and I like it much better than working on canvas. All the things I've tried on just canvas have been done over...and over and over... until I cover it up with paper and do it with the fun nooks and crannies.

I have a series of these misty blue and green landscape type paintings - one color fading into the next...fading to black at the edges. erfüllte Sehnsucht, I call them.

Fetal Aceo

I've been working with some tough images lately... This is a picture I just found and it's an early one. I was drawing like this in the summer of '97, months before I was diaganosed but I was very symptomatic. At that time I was more concerned with quickly getting feelings down on paper and I don't think I had started using colored pencils yet; I believe when I did this one I was still only using markers. They were fast to work with, they had blazing, sometimes shocking, color and they suited everything I needed at the time.

This card is about when it's all - everything and everyone - it's all just too much. How at some point you can't take a thing more - a good thing, a bad thing...anything.... not one thing more. And you know all that works to make it better is collapsing in on yourself. Curling up. Not hearing or seeing anything else until you are ready...

The card was done on a base of mat board cut into ACEO format. Through the main image you can see the base papers and I think that that gives even more of a feeling of vulnerability... The figure is not only curled into a fetal position but you can almost see through her...or partly...like she's fading away.

SOLD