Monster Monday

 Welcome to

 

Not very scary today but they work. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And now for some pretties.

 

and some surreal 

 

 

That's it for now. 

Wishing everyone a great week. 

 Nicole 

Sunday in the Art Room SITAR

 Welcome to

SITAR is about ANYTHING art. Your art, someone else's art, writing, photography, the art of cooking, the art of sewing and textiles. Sharing historical art, street art, a story about art. Do you have a question or need help with art? Write a blog post and link it up here. We will all try to help with it. My only rule is that if someone asks for critique it must be done with generosity and consideration. 

This is a place of learning, encouragement and inspiration.

 

I have so many subjects that I want to share on SITAR that I have made a list so I don't forget them. LOL

One of our bloggers, Andrea, From the Sol

Has a question for anyone about watercolor. I'm not a watercolor person at all so for those of you who are please visit Andrea.  

Being in bed for over a week, I have been watching some great art, and art lessons on YouTube. As we know every instructor has their own way of doing things that might not work for us. However, there is always something to learn. The more I learn the more I can find my own style.

Here is a few of the YouTubes.

This first one is beginner pastels. I actually learned a few tips from him.

 

I also have been watching this guy.

He has a lot of videos in different venues. 

 

I found a great website that features Forgotten Women Artists.

If you visit real art galleries and museums you may find a few of the women who pioneered the way for all women in art. But, probably not. Those woman struggled to get their talent recognized and presented in the galleries that were virtually all men. Even today, the women of old are not given the notoriety they deserve.

 

This first woman,  

Plautilla Nelli

(1524–1588)

 Was a self taught artist and the first ever known female Renaissance painter of Florence. She became a nun at the age of 14, taking the name Suor Plautilla, at the Dominican convent of St Catherine of Siena. She is one of the few female artists mentioned in Vasari's Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. Her work is characterized by religious themes, with vivid portrayals of emotion on her characters' faces. Nelli lacked any formal training and her male figures are said to have “feminine characteristics”, as her religious vocation prohibited study of the nude male.

You can read her history here and here 

 

Next we have

Sofonisba Anguissola
(1532–1625)

This is a self portrait from the Smithsonian. 

Sofonisba Anguissola was an artist who came from a noble family in Cremona (northern Italy). She is well known for the paintings she made of herself and her family (she was the oldest of seven children). In 1559, she became a lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Spain, Elisabeth de Valois, and continued to produce works while at the court of King Philip II until 1573. Interestingly, Sofonisba painted at least twelve self-portraits at a time when this was not a particularly common subject for artists (in the next century, Rembrandt would be the first artist to make the self-portrait a major part of his oeuvre). 

 

Next is  

  Lavinia Fontana

 (1552–1614)

She made great strides in the field of portraiture, which garnered her fame within and beyond Italy. In fact, Fontana is regarded as the first woman artist, working within the same sphere as her male counterparts, outside a court or convent. At age 25, Fontana married a fellow painter from a noble family, who acted as his wife’s assistant and managed their growing household (the couple had 11 children, only three of whom outlived their mother). For 20 years beginning in the 1580s, Fontana was the portraitist of choice among Bolognese noblewomen. She also painted likenesses of important individuals connected with the University of Bologna. You can finish this at the National Museum of Women in the arts.
 

The last one today is 

Artemisia Gentileschi
(1593–1624) 

Taken from  The National Gallery in London

Artemisia is the most celebrated female painter of the 17th century. She worked in Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples and London, for the highest echelons of European society, including the Grand Duke of Tuscany and Philip IV of Spain.

Artemisia was born in Rome, the eldest of five children and only daughter of Orazio Gentileschi, under whom she trained. Artemisia’s earliest signed and dated painting, ‘Susanna and the Elders’ (Schloss Weißenstein collection, Pommersfelden, Germany), is from 1610. A year later Artemisia was raped by the painter Agostino Tassi, an acquaintance and collaborator of her father’s. An infamous trial, meticulously recorded in documents that survive, ensued in 1612. Tassi was found guilty and banished from Rome, though his punishment was never enforced. Just going to court in that time is an accomplishment.

Following the trial Artemisia married a little-known Florentine artist by the name of Pierantonio di Vincenzo Stiattesi, and left Rome for Florence shortly thereafter. There she had five children and established herself as an independent artist, becoming an early woman member of the Academy of the Arts of Drawing in 1616. Artemisia returned to Rome in 1620, beset by creditors after running up debts, and she remained there for 10 years (except for a trip to Venice in 1628).

From 1630 she settled in Naples, where she ran a successful studio until her death. She briefly visited London in 1639, perhaps to assist her ailing father on the ceiling painting of the Queen’s House in Greenwich (now at Marlborough House in London), but was back in Naples the following year. The precise date of her death is not known but a recently discovered document records her still living in Naples in August 1654.

 

I hope you enjoyed the history and will look up to read more in depth about these incredible women artist.

 

That's it for now. I look forward to seeing you in Sunday in the Art Room 

Nicole 

 

Saturday

 Hi Everyone!

I woke up this morning full of energy and raring to go. My thought was maybe this darn lupus flare is over. However, my cheeks are glowing with malar rash so I'm not quite out of the woods yet but I sure do feel better. 

Believe me you would NEVER catch me in a dress. LOL
I was on the phone most of the day yesterday with my daughter. It was her birthday. She is 54.

Thank you for all of the well wishes, prayers, and healing energy. 

Have a great Saturday.

Nicole 

Friday Face OFF FFO

 

Welcome To Friday Face OFF (FFO)

This is the place to show off your face art.

You know, ANY type of face, nature, the face of a flower, photography, drawings, paintings, AI. There just needs to be a face in your blog post, a link back to my blog and please use the image below. 

Thank you.

I'm writing this post a little bit each day. As well as trying to create some art. If I just lay down and give into lupus then it will over take me. I refuse to allow that.

Thank you for all of the well wishes.

 

All of you know I'm a self taught artist, in every venue I've explored. Just want you to remember that. 😁

I started this portrait a few weeks ago. Her expression with biting her lower lip was inviting for me and a challenge. This is the photo I worked from. 

I swear I took more step by step photos but they are not on my camera or on my PC. Must be lupus brain fog. LOL

Here is what I have.

Getting started. 

and the finish. The eye patch needs an explanation.  After I thought I was finished with the face I took a hard look and her left eye was huge and bulging out of her head. This is where you remember I'm a self taught artist. I thought, "Oh I can erase a certain part and fix it." Uhhh no! That didn't work for me.  I liked the rest of the face and didn't want to start over. So, I gave her an eye patch. Not as attractive. but it works.

My main goal was to get the lips right and I do like her mouth.

I have to remind myself that art is a learning experience. That with every mistake I learn something new. That we are all on different levels in our art journey. This is just a stepping stone for me. Ya know getting the eyes right. LOL

I haven't been on NightCafe much but here are a few faces.

 

Ready for some features?

 

Gillena and her brother. I really love this photo. 

Carola bARTz Take a exciting trip with this lovely lady.

Don't forget April 24, 2026 is the day to show off your FFO Challenge face (s)

Create a face that is one or all of these expressions.

Happy, Sad, Tired, Surprised.  

Any medium accepted.

 Also join in with SITAR this Sunday Anything Art.

That's it for me. 

Now show me your face

Nicole

 

Stronger than the disease

 Hi Everyone!

Just when I start feeling a bit better my body decides to flare up again. Thank the gods I have a very competent P.C. now. She is taking really good care of me. I'm on some antibiotics and some stomach meds. 

I can feel them working, hopefully they will do the trick. 

Anyone with autoimmune knows that we have to be stronger than the disease.

Nicole 

Monster Monday

  Welcome to

I haven't been creating much on NightCafe with not feeling 100%. Plus there is a quest challenge and I've been creating for that.

Here are the not so monstery AI.

 

 

 

I have had several people say I should create the monster in the white house. I think the next few says it all.

 

The five time draft dodger has always wanted a war. Any war, anywhere, with anyone. He has now fulfilled his dream and it is my kids and your kids that will pay the price.

My granddaughter and 2 grandsons are in the military. As he sits in his golden castle knowing that his kid won't be called.

 

Now to change the mood here are a few pretties.

 

That's it for now. 

Wishing everyone a great week. 

 Nicole 

SITAR New Month

 Welcome to

I have had a lot of questions about SITAR and what it's about. It's about ANYTHING art. Your art, someone else's art, writing, photography, the art of cooking, the art of sewing and textiles. Sharing historical art, street art, a story about art. Do you have a question or need help with art? Write a blog post and link it up here. We will all try to help with it. My only rule is that if someone asks for critique 

it must be done with generosity and consideration. 

This is a place of encouragement and inspiration.

 

OK, now that that's out of the way. 

I have something very special to share today. I think it's special. Some of you know my good friend Luiz Gomes. He lives in Brazil and for many, many years has been sharing the beauty of his country and the art that has been and is being created there. More than several years ago, and honestly I can't remember the date, I drew a portrait of Luiz. 

I look at this now and see all of my lack of knowledge in drawing. However, the likeness from the photo is spot on. I've been blessed with that ability. I have to work hard on the rest of it. LOL

Today, is not about my portrait of Luiz, rather the art that he shares on his blog.

He's such a cool guy. 

Luiz is a professor, and he likes beaches, waterfalls, caves and making trails in the midst of nature. He did tell me he hasn't done that in awhile due to time constraints. You can find his love for nature in older posts on his blog. Luiz, also enjoys Cultural Centers, Museums, and Urban Art. He has be featuring the most exquisite art and museum exhibitions. 

Here are just a few photos to peek your interest to visit Luiz. These are all from different posts.

 Each post has a host of art photos that I know you will enjoy along with descriptions.

Here is another photo of Luiz.

 Here Luiz sits at a desk in the City Hall of the historic city, of Mariana in the state of  Minas Gerais, which is 329 years old. 

That's it for now. I look forward to seeing you in Sunday in the Art Room

Nicole