I am: Mother, artist, musician, free-spirited thinker, problem solver, gypsy, puddle stomper, moon jumper, food junkie, reader, writer, student, teacher, my daughter's hero. I love people, animals, art, melodies, ice-cream, vintage clothes, old books, movies, splashes of color, storm chasing, staying up really really late. ..
Interests? There are so many: my beautiful daughter Ella, creating art, helping children, philanthropy, promoting the arts, music, writing poetry - stories - songs, singing, museums, books, playing my guitar, experiencing life, happy gardens, fitness, fun houses, melotrons, theremins, my shiny blue metallic Ibanez bass, looking at little things, tornado chasing, watching a good storm, the smell of rain, giraffes, sushi, coffee and tea, good wine, Lindeman's kriek & frambois, cultures of the world, hiking in the rain forest, Australia, kookaburras, emus, kangaroos, New Zealand, coincidences, fossils, Brazil, fruit & vegetables, sitting by the fire, holding hands, memories, the ocean waves, learning to knit, inventing things, people's life stories, outer space, globes & maps, animals and reptiles, blueberry pie, the bottom of the ocean, the wonders of the world, mysteries, the seasons, flowers, dancing barefoot, having my hair brushed, pasta, Christmas, finally learning to swim, significant others, the pursuit of happiness, sparkly twinkly things, fireworks, optical illusions, things in 3-D, pop-up books, good shoes, flowery twirly dresses, silver jewelry, lipstick, rock formations, fireflies, old churches and abbeys, Lanercost Priory, the Cumbria district, London, tunnels of trees, driving, cats & dogs, insects, fairies, fairy lights, the Northern lights, butterflies & dragonflies, ponds, shells, stones, found objects, falling stars and wishing on them, a good film, travel, forensic science, mountain-climbing (but only in my dreams), old friends, new friends, passion, hugs, people with a zest for life, positive thinkers, strong women, honesty, respect,integrity
A recent charcoal/graphite drawing "I SHALL BE KING!"..
Here is the FINISHED back cover of the altered book for HONOR WITH ART - see my blog for details... ..
Just a bit of the music I love: Twinkly but eerie carnival music, Flight of the Conchords, Phoenix Foundation, my dear friend-the amazing Jason Becker, Sandy Denny, Fairport Convention, Richard Davies, The Moles, Cardinal, Dating Godot, Eva Cassidy, Nive Nielsen, The Feelies, Yung Wu, Bob Fay, Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Guided By Voices, Malcolm Travis, Eric Matthews, Kaleidoscope/Fairfield Parlour, Judee Sill, Don McGlashen & the Mutton Birds, Stephen Malkmus, Pavement, The Shins, Spoon, Milton Nascimento, Lo Borges, The Honkers, Jorge Ben, Fernando Brant, Beto Guedes, Paula Morelenbaum, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, Joao Gilberto, a lot of Brazilian Bossa Nova, Samba, etc., Selda Bagcan, Bulgarian Folk Music (most folk music), Kathleen Yearwood, Lloyd Cole, Ed Kuepper, The Marmalade, The Modern Lovers, Morgana King, Mable John, Mercedes Sosa, Sarah Vaughn, Nina Simone, David Werner, Nick Drake, The Monochrome Set, My Morning Jacket, Hugh Masekela, Dave Pike, The Beatles, Genesis (the early years), Big Star, Mountain Goats, Voom, Bob Mould, Husker Du, Grant Hart, Lindsay Buckingham, The Verlaines, Graeme Downes, Tall Dwarfs, Chris Knox, Dimmer, Abel Tasmans, JPSE, The Chills, The Bats, The Clean, David Kilgour, Bailterspace, Look Blue Go Purple, The Lils, Goldbug, Straitjacket Fits, Neil Finn, Neutral Milk Hotel, Son Volt/Jay Farrar, Wilco, Durutti Column, Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrell, Earth Wind & Fire, The Isley Brothers, Olivia Tremor Control, Wire, Comsat Angels, The Jam, The Who, Nick Cave, Roger "Syd" Barrett, Pink Floyd (early stuff), Bruce Springsteen, Radiohead, Yes, ELP, Mecca Normal, Miriam Makeba, King Crimson, Bodine, Dennis Wilson, Quartet Tres Bien, Elton John, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Sly & the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, Gnarls Barkley, Department of Eagles, Jana Hunter
Here's Judee Sill:
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watch Don McGlashen's new video:....
Guided By Voices back in the day:
Movies
Waitress, The Fall, The Orphanage, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Down To the Bone, Michael Clayton, Deep Water, Ratatouille, The Illusionist, Pan's Labyrinth, United 93, Supersize Me, Touching the Void, Rain, The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover, Two-Lane Blacktop, Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave, Death In Venice, Babette's Feast, Animal House, Brazil, The Pianist, The Shawshank Redemption, Breaking the Waves, Sexy Beast, An Angel at My Table, Memento, anything Alfred Hitchcock, Gaslight, John Garfield movies, The Manchurian Candidate (original), A History of Violence, Cape Fear (the original with Robert Mitchum), William Castle films, Carnival of Souls, This is Spinal Tap, The Usual Suspects, anything by Ingmar Bergman, The Piano, Silence of the Lambs, American Beauty, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Hotel Rwanda, Resevoir Dogs, Magnolia, Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, The Green Mile, Gladiator, The Deer Hunter, A Christmas Story, The Full Monty, It's a Wonderful Life, Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Muriel's Wedding, The Party, The Pink Panther, Harold and Maude, Stranger than Paradise, Down By Law, Heavenly Creatures, Sling Blade, Office Space, Don't Look Now, The Others...
Television
When I have time... Flight of the Conchords, Absolutely Fabulous, The League of Gentlemen, Fawlty Towers, Monty Python's Flying Circus, etc. and the odd dose of The Honeymooners, Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond, Night Gallery, Everest, I Shouldn't Be Alive, American Experience, The Sopranos, X Files, Twin Peaks, I Love Lucy, Seinfeld, Frazier, Animal Planet, The History Channel, Candid Camera, The Avengers, The Prisoner, The Saint, The Brady Bunch, Gilligan's Island, Land of the Giants, Dark Shadows, The Munsters, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Emergency, Thunderbirds, Underdog, Tom & Jerry, Gumby & Pokey, Looney Tunes & Merry Melodies...
Books
Wreck of the Carl D.: A True Story of Loss, Survival, and Rescue at Sea; The Hot Zone, Survive!: My Fight for Life in the High Sierras; Honor Killing, Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea, And I Alone Survived, Into Thin Air, Alive, The Stranger Beside Me, The Perfect Storm, Notes From a Small Island, Man's Search For Meaning, The San Francisco Earthquake, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Somerset Studio magazine, Arts and Antiques magazine, National Geographic, Where the Wild Things Are, The Moon Jumpers (illustrated by Maurice Sendak), 1984, Notes From New Zealand, Frog and Toad (all their adventures), Alice in Wonderland, The Anything Box, We Have Always Lived In the Castle, The October Country, The Secret Garden, Cordury, A Summertime Song, The Underwater Melon Man, anything by Keri Hulme, ...
Art should have a field of it's own, no? I'm a painter and mixed-media artist. See my work at http://shawnmariehardy.ebsqart.com or at http://www.magicmoon.etsy.com
3/27/09 - My latest piece, inspired by the sinking of the Carl D. Bradley in Lake Michigan, November 17, 1958. This is titled "Richard's Requiem" for deck watchman, Richard J. Book of Portsmouth, Iowa.
From 2006: "Ruth's Garden", 24 x 30", Golden acrylics, photo images, silver leaf, embroidery floss, silver & rhinestone brooch, vintage magazine clippings, and magic on canvas board
My latest finished piece: "Somewhere Between the Outback and a Dream", 9 x 12", Golden acrylics, photo images, and magic on canvas board
Another recent work "In Her Land of Solemn Secrets", 24 x 30", Golden acrylics, photo images, image transfers, silver leaf, and magic on gallery-wrapped canvas.
Finally finished (and SOLD!): "At the End of the Journey", 24 x 30", Golden acrylics, mixed-media, and magic on gallery-wrapped canvas.
and more: "The Quiet of the Night's Descent", 16 x 16", Golden acrylics, photo images, image transfer, silver leaf, and magic on gallery-wrapped canvas.
And a piece inspired by the mysteries of life: "Serefina's Dream", 24 x 30", Golden acrylics, photo images, image transfer, silver leaf, vintage earrings, and magic on gallery-wrapped canvas.
Here is a piece inspired by Jon Woode's song of the same title: "The Beauty and The Tenderness", 8 x 10", Golden acrylics, photo images, and magic on canvas board.
Tornado anyone? How about this one: "The Storm Chasers", 8 x 10", Golden acrylics, photo images, and magic on canvas board.
My largest painting to date: "People Tell Stories" , 30 x 30", Golden acrylics, vintage greeting card, silver leaf, photo images and magic on canvas board.
Recently finished: To The Wisdom Of Youth, 8 x 10", Golden acrylics, image transfer, photo images and magic on canvas board.
And two more recent pieces - The Temptress at Twilight, 24 x 30", Golden acrylics, image transfer, silver leaf, photo images and magic on gallery-wrapped canvas.
And: Calling Heaven, 24 x 24", Golden acrylics, image transfer, silver leaf, photo images and magic on gallery-wrapped canvas.
I am fortunate to have been brought into the world by two very creative parents so it was inevitable that I would have an interest in art. Most of what I know is self-taught, although I did spend one school year totally immersed in art classes at the City College of San Francisco from 1993 to 1994. Afterwards I spent the next several years traveling throughout New Zealand, Australia, and the U.K. In the interim I had my daughter, Ella, my current muse.
I create images that are emotive and tantalizing - impressions representing the core of my imagination, from transient thoughts and deep-rooted memories to endured tribulations. I am fascinated by dreams and the haunting images the mind conjures up while we're asleep. Most of my work is as spontaneous as these unconsious images and I tend to work directly on the canvas, rather than drawing a preliminary study or mixing paints separately on a palette.
I am also interested in spiritualism - not necessarily in the sense that the living communicate with the dead, but more in the sense that I question where our energy goes after we die. In the wonderment of these questions I create dreamy landscapes that represent the state of passing from present life into the next state of being. They are both light and dark, depicting both joy and melancholy, often with the focal point being a window of light or an ethereal, winged being on a path into the unknown. I sometimes incorporate copies of vintage photos into these landscapes - visages of unknown people who have passed on, in order to give them a purpose and to honor those lives that are long forgotten.
I am a perpetual student of art and art history and I continue to study the work of masters, past and present. I am inspired by many great artists and it is my talented uncle, Mark Esper, who gave me my very first drawing lesson and whose own work has been instrumental in fueling my desire to persevere in this challenging career.
SAT JUNE 20th AND EVERY SATURDAY @ Club Rio inside of Club 525. 21+ Imma be repring my Latinos who wants to dance Bachata, Merengue, Reggaeton, Salsa, Dancehall, Latin House, Cumbia and more! come party with me! -Guestlist is free before 11. JUST REPLY TO GET IN EXCLUSIVE GUEST LIST (iTS REALLY EXCLUSIVE!!!)
Underneath sub-dued tones, cries of angst; hands tightly clasped together with lucid hope, Interwoven tapestries, both, stranger and friend, amist the ancient of realms, I saw a banner gently waving. On it, artistique- rendered, " just believe."
Hello my friend!!! I'm not too bad, but I am still without computer and internet.. sob...Just the public library or internet cafe. Withdrawal has officially kicked in BIG TIME!!! lol How are you these days???
How kind of you. Well, things have been strange here. I'm working again. Didn't have to move to the mid-west. Yeah. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But I do need to be near coast-lines and ocean's etc.
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Online Now!
