Angelena Jolie as Cleopatra

Cleopatra

Encaustic Wax/Rinestones

12" X 16"

Judy Vars

NFS

Ok, so I'll admit it! I am fascinated by Angelina Jolie, her full voluptuous lips, her exotic beauty,  her dark side, and her compassionate human side. She is an intriguing creature/woman. While I painted her I listened to books on tape; the Unauthorized Biography of Angelina Jolie by Andrew Morton This was the first paragraph… “The room was stark and bare: white carpet, white curtains, white walls, and no furniture except for a white crib. For more than a year, a baby girl lived there, cared for by a ragtag assortment of babysitters. The child rarely knew if the person putting her to bed was the one who would dress and feed her in the morning. There were days when her mother, who lived in an apartment three stories below, would not visit.

That baby girl was Angelina Jolie. She was sent to live in the white room after her father, Jon Voight, left her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, for another woman. Marcheline said, “Angie reminds me so much of Jon right now that I cannot be around her. It’s just too painful.”

The other book was Anthony and Cleopatra by Colleen McCullough. This is a long historical fiction that was quite accurate.

This painting is now part of my menagerie of "Modern Icons" that I am working upon for my "Hall of the Famous and the Infamous." These will all be painted with encaustic beeswax in the Greek style like the Fayum Mummy Portraits. All are painted with the traditional palette of colors, yellow ocre, mars red, black and white while using the same tools that the ancients used (except of course electricity). I know these are obscure and definitely not mainstream, however I must follow where my heart takes me. I am in love with the idea of icons, what makes an icon, who they are, who they were, and why do they catch our attention.
I am even planning to do Sarah Palin! I know! She could even pose for me in person! otherwise it would be the unauthorized icon of Sarah. Saint Sarah No, I am not being sarcastic.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

The Black Madonna

The Black Madonna

Encaustic Painting

by

Judy Vars

I have been invited to be a major part of the 25th Annual Anchorage Museum Gala April 9th by donating a piece of my original Art!

Wow!* I'm on my way to having a normal and healthy body. I look foreward to buying an evening gown that will look simply marvelous at the Gala.  http://www.anchoragemuseum.org/ 

On September 7th I embarked on a HCG Protocol this is a very strict regime of eating only 500 calories and then only certain foods like brussel sprouts, spinach, kale, shrimp, steak and drinking a gallon of water a day. Some 73 odd days later I have released (that’s the term) 33 pounds of pure FAT. That’s right! Don’t judge me I did not get a lap band, or get my gut stapled. The fun thing is I won the first months worth of Dr. Visits, Blood tests, and HCG $1,000’s worth. It was a gift from the universe I did not throw it back. I have been so fed up with my weight and ashamed of me for letting it get so out of control. I am powerless over late night snacking and ice cream with Hershey’s Chocolate salty carb snacks and cookies - who cares. Try as I might I could not find the power of will to get back my normal weight healthy body. When I tried to count calories and walk my ass off after a week there was only a little weight loss my body just did not want to cooperate. We change as we get older and I needed something to jump start my metabolism. The results are astounding and it’s definitely worth the sacrifice. That's not the best thing folks! I quit smoking cigarettes on September 7th. My body is being overhauled.

Today I rearranged the furniture in the living room, ran the new ozone machine, and dusted, washed all the surfaces with a mild solution of vinegar and water and vacuumed. Paring down the things I now longer need and finding a new home for the other things. My shedding of pounds is also a process of letting go of the extra stuff I have pack ratted away or has outlived it’s usefulness deciding what to keep and what to shed, making room for new iinspiration and new clothes.

I also read some books today; Transformation by Bill Phillips http://www.transformation.com/  , Forever Young by Nicholas Perricone, MD and the Mayo Clinic Diet. OMG I sound obsessive compulsive? I've got allot of energy lately.

The temperature outside is below 20 degrees for three days, therefore I have not been encaustic painting. I hate to vent out the warm indoor air and heat outside. So I am cleaning instead, it is a good thing I enjoy cleaning.

WANTED: Personal Assistant. You will be the personal assistant to a highly creative artistic genius. Respondent must possess patience and supreme organizational skills. Qualities also must include a strong, patient and lighthearted attitude with a positive outlook. A strong ability to organize, prioritize time and think outside the box and work steady until the job in complete.
Schedule is flexible but generally 8:00 am to 5:00 pm - Monday to Friday and Saturday and Sunday on call as needed. Other duties would include catorgizing and inventorying bodies of work, creating a data base of collectors, clients, galleries, museums. Current computer skills including Adobe Photoshop, promoting, updating and branding web site, maintaining online stores. Utilize the current online technology for promoting and advertising. You will be responsible for scheduling events, deadlines, meetings, lunches etc.
Please respond to this blog for an interview.

I've Just Been Thinkin

Winter Birch Trees

Encaustic Beeswax

24" x 12"

Judy Vars

200.00

Currently at the Alaska Gallery

104 Artic Avenue

Palmer, Alaska



How do I put a Pay Pal button on my blog there are so many things in the art and marketing world that I could, should, outta be doin that it makes me tired. I need a young assistant! any takers for the job.

The other day a young lady, artist, and mother with three small children made this snide comment: "Since I am young I have all the time I need to explore my art, take risks improve my talents" which seemed to imply to my friend and I both fifty somethings that we have less of that precious commodity time.

She raises her little bambinos with her oil paints and shit right in the middle of the living room floor. OMG! these children are normal bratty kids they must get into it. I do not know how she paints and takes care of a young family at the same time. I give her my admiration even though she makes insensitive comments about old ladies. My only satisfaction is that. #1 She will be where I am at (age wise) one day in the future and

#2 I have finally arrived at a place where, thankfully, I do not care as much what others think. The important thing is whether I am being true to myself and honoring my own unique creative process.

Question? Do you feel like it takes a certain solitary selfish commitment and that women inherently and usually have a caretaking role so there is and less time and passion to devote to being an artist?

Dia de los Muertos 2010 & Reminder to Keep Your Little Light Shining