Most all my life I’ve spent hours making a picture or a Christmas card then usually viewers say, “I like it but what is it?” I couldn’t wait to go to art school so I could draw FASTER. By the time I left art school it took three times longer per picture! But it was a much better picture and I wasn’t depending on happy mistakes. But outsider art pieces still cause that same old question. nancymauerman.com
Yellow Hair
We finally can look at things as small as an electron but guess what; electrons aren’t there. What is there is intelligence and energy. We now understand this intelligent/energy doesn’t appear in a place then rotate around neutrons and protons. Instead it blinks its presence within its sphere of influence here then there. I’m reminded of a child on his mom’s lap, his head tucked under her chin and with her arms around him. The child’s surrounded and sometimes Mom taps his head with her chin, sometimes she nudges him with her arm or leg. But she is always and constantly there.
We discovered another oddity. As we gaze at an electron the electron knows it and acts differently.
If a baboon sits in the forest he reacts one way if another baboon walks in then he acts differently if a human walks in.
Now my question: Does an electron act one way if a baboon watches it and differently when a human does. I propose yes. nancymauerman.com
A Detached Web Flew Flat Through The Air
Ever had a bad hair day? I mean bad hairs on the head, on the back of your hand, the tiny hairs on your tail bone, the teeny ones on your toes?
In the past pictures have been made about a person’s station in life by indicating the clothes he wore or places he stands. For instance he may by in decorated room or under a tree overlooking his vast estates. Personality was hinted at by his activity such as riding a war horse in a battle he’s won or, one of my favorites, a pretty young woman cradling and stroking a ferret. I’d love to meet her!
We see the person in the picture as an individual plus we relate to him from our shared person- hood. But what if we take the individual out and emphasize the human condition only. A moment of distress, depression, fear, over all badness is a certain mix of emotions we can sum up under the term ‘bad hair day’. Instead of set of words to indicate a state of being why not have a picture? See more outsider art surprises at nancymauerman.com
Untitled
The child was told to wait in the car while Mommy went in the pet store. It was the child’s birthday and the little girl had begged for a pet for the longest time. In the car she waited and waited wondering if a puppy or a kitten would be best and just hoped her mom wouldn’t bring out a fish.
The child was wrong in all her speculations. She was devastated, crushed and changed forever. Her mommy finally brought out a small paper bag and inside were four jumping beans.
This is a true story and the “Mommy” was certainly a creative person, too bad she created chaos instead of love.
Parenting can be full of challenges, excitement, and joy. I write children’s books to not only entertain and stretch minds of all ages but the encourage parents and give moms and dads fun parenting ideas like Girl’s Day (see Eagles And Banana Peels.) and birthday parties for pets (see Chickens In Birthday Suites). More portraits, Outsider Art and children’s books can be found at nancymauerman.com, my web site.
Jumping Beans
Why not draw a portrait of someone’s onion breath?
In times past portraits of people told us about their station in life by the clothing they wore, or gave a hint at their personality through posture, background and sometimes their activity.
How would you draw someone’s onion breath if you were assigned that task?
see pictures at nancymauerman.com
Ribbed Sweater
I look better in my Dad’s shirt than in ruffles.
Scarf
A new lady said yes she’d bring a main course. Several women were also signed up to bring the main course and all received the same recipe. It was a recipe, one very often used.
The day of the dinner came but during dessert the new lady looked worried so someone asked, “Is there a problem?” “Not sure,” was the answer. “So far no one looks sick.” You see the recipe used that night had a name. I, years before, and the new lady considered this name very unconventional, FUNERAL POTATOES! The dish is what the rest of the world calls Scalloped Potatoes but this cultural group used the term Funeral Potatoes for maybe a hundred years. At one time the name knocked me off balance too when I was new to the group.
But I do appreciate non traditional thinking as in the example below. My sweater is full of bunnies and snakes, birds and vines but not lined up in rows. The critters wander around on it like they would in a field. nancymauerman.com
sweater and close ups
We turned the television on to find the last half of a movie. We were recording it and I asked, “Have you seen this before?”
“Nope, I don’t think so,” John said. Then he tried to say he didn’t want to start the program in the middle. We could see the movie revolved around a tight plot so John said, “I don’t want to see it before I see it, in case I haven’t seen it.” nancymauerman.com
Let me get this straight. In California a people MUST say the words, “Yes,” before intimate relations. BUT a California lawyer says If an underage girl is groomed by and has sex with a school teacher she does not have to say the word,” Yes,” because by her actions she has said yes.
The picture below is called Melted Portrait nancymauerman.com
Melted Self Portrait
John’s Mom found a trash can full to the brim with abalone shells. Immediately Mom bent her head and studied the swirls as if she were staring up at the sky at cloud patterns. She found four to eight stories in every shell spending maybe twenty minutes per shell.
We were visiting my brother’s family so there were seven of us who took turns gazing into the shells with her as she spun stories non stop for HOURS. She never tired. Her legs never faltered. Her imagination always swirling like spinning water.
About four hours later Philip, shown below, helped Mom put the shells back in the bucket and to our shock and surprise said, “We have another container full of shells. Wanna see it?” nancymauerman.com
