Baby Its Cold Outside!

January 1, 2011

Oh Shoot,” January is without a doubt our coldest, toughest, and certainly without a doubt in this world...the most dreary months of the entire year!
We all survive the cold wind and maybe a couple of snow flurries. Years ago we use to at least get maybe one big snow storm way in our winter time down here in our deep south every year in good ‘ole Mississippi, but each year lately the pure white pretty snow just seems to pass us by and head way up north instead to maybe the eastern part of the USA. Oh well!
We still just about “freeze to death” as we say every January, and this old very popular song truly says it all, “Baby It’s Cold Outside!”
What does this artist do when she knows she is sort of snow bound inside the cozy warm rooms of this old family home of ours as well as having a slight case of “cabin fever” too. We long to be outside all day long instead.
How does this artist reach down deeply inside her heart, soul, and now down into her old bones that are shaking, rattling, and rolling to that very spot inside her body called two things, inspiration and creation ?
This artist sincerely longs to be outside with her easel, paints, brushes, and her floppy straw hat perched on top of her head just sitting in her tall red director’s chair, and creating a painting on her canvas. What shall I do until springtime ?
Now, let me see if I can explain to you in my own words to you, my viewers of my paintings, and my readers of my of my weekly Sunday columns in our Starkville Daily Newspaper what it is like to an artist and have these feelings of inspiration and creation simply, and very suddenly and without warning hits you.
It’s definitely a drive or something deep inside of me to use my expression of how I see the world we all live, play and enjoy together. You may not be an artist, but you appreciate the inspiration and the creations of an artist. Do you not? I surely hope so.
I guess an artist might see this ‘ole world of ours differently than you might see it. I am always looking for shades, shapes, colors, designs, certain faces, fantastic places, and fabulous things that I am inspired to then create on my canvas to love, hold, and thus keep forever as a painting. You might say I might be whimsical, carefree, free-spirited, but I truly know that the creative drive steers me much like a steering wheel in a car towards one sentence, “Hey, Carole, do something today to make yourself supremely happy, and to make other human beings as happy as I am by simply doing my thing!”
I am trying to tell you what my life as an artist is to me. Being first inspired to use mediums of acrylic, oil, water color, pencils, ink, and pastels... then the creation itself, and finally the finished piece of work makes me the happiest lady in all the world that day until the sun rises, and it is the next day to search for, find, and paint another painting.
I enjoy, not only creating a painting, but it maybe the creation of some wild hat, or an unusual and very odd thing I just might put together using all the shapes, materials, or colors I see right around me. It has to be unique, different, and especially spectacular! Why not dream your own dream, and then make this dream a reality. I can honestly say, “it’s fun, and carrying forth an inspiration and then executing the creation makes me feel, oh, so complete, and gives me personally a great sense of accomplishment. As a little girl, my Moma and Daddy always said to me, “Carole, go with your dreams and always be true to yourself” as well as “always just be yourself.” “Contribute to this ‘ole world of ours, and use your talent of art as your contribution.” “Remember these words all of your life.”
I am sharing with all of you today my inspiration and my creation of what January should and could be for all of us. I am doing just this with a smile and joy in my own heart. It’s a brand new year, 2011, and this is Sunday, Jan. 2, and we have a long, long way baby to go until next Jan. 2, 2012. Does this not seem a long lifetime away? This is my New Year’s gift to you! Come along with me today, and be an artist with me. It’s cold and what is a cold color? It’s is blue mixed with white, with a touch of hot pink, and my favorite color of red thrown in too to keep us warm. It is a red glowing happy smile or two also. Everyone of us can smile instead of shiver, and make the most out of this old cold, cold, cold and dreaded month called January.
“Dottie” is our sitting “wo-mannequin” who lives “jest a sitting” on her throne right by the big glass front door of a bay window entrance on our big wrap-a-round front porch at 501 Louisville Street, Starkville, on one of the busiest streets in town, Louisville Street. “Dottie” is cozy and warm in her powder blue jump suit wearing a soft white furry sweater around her shoulders. She has on a stylish furry white hat with a soft white pom pom blue velvet bow and blue flower on her hat too. White gloves keep her hands warm, and an added white woolen muff around her neck. She has on black dressy low heals and warm stockings to keep her feet warm as well. She is very elegantly dressed for winter time. Her granddaughter is standing close by her “Granny,” and her name is “Mollie Golly” is sporting a warm furry “Snow Girl” hat on her head to keep her ears warm. “Molly Golly” does not dare want to get an ear ache and be sick. Her “Granny” made sure she was warm for the front porch winds that blow, blow, blow.
We know that her hat is named, “Snow Girl.” Instead of a snowman cause she has a pretty blue bow on top of her hat and a blue scarf tied around her neck. “Mollie Golly” is wearing a pretty very feminine blue velvet dress with a snow flake or two on the bottom of her dress. She has on white leggings to keep her legs warm and black shiny patent leather shoes.
Who really “takes the big piece of cake this January?” May I introduce you to “Miss Snow Flaky” and her little grand daughter, “Little Miss Flaky.” Near by is “Miss Silly Snow Teenage Girl,” and a very large “Miss Swinging Snow Lady.” Look very closely at “Miss Tiny, Tiny, Tiny Snow Flaky” on top of “Miss Snow Flaky’s Pink and Black hat. There is a surprise snow girl, “Miss Mississippi State University Bully Belle” with here real sure enough genuine cow bell in her tiny cold hands. There are seven snow gals. Count them. “Miss Flaky” “Miss Tiny, Tiny, Tiny Snow Flaky” “Little Miss Flaky,” “Miss Snow Girl Hat,” “Miss Silly Snow Teenage Girl,” and “Miss Swinging Snow Lady,” and Miss MSU Bully Belle.”
It’s definitely true, January is the time for snow. Come on Mississippi, “let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!!!!”
Where in Mississippi does this artist begin to play in snow here? I rolled out of “make believe” snow and molded and sculpted this character, “Miss Flaky?” I got three white large kitchen garbage bags out of our kitchen pantry, and I began to stuff each of the three bags with old used Starkville Daily News papers by crumbling, rolling, and pressing each one as fast as I could into all three bags to form the three parts of a snow girl. I called them, the base, “her” largest of the three parts, “her” middle, and “her” head. I then attached each of the top two together with doubling Gorilla Tape to “her” base and “her” head.
“Her” base stood alone without tape holding “her” middle and head on top. I stood back and said to myself, “Oh, my goodness...” “She” is beginning to live and breathe for me. “Miss Flaky” is beginning to look a lot like one of my portraits that I love to paint.
I used only Starkville Daily Newspapers since “She” was a native Starkvillian, and “She” must be stuffed with a touch of Starkville of course! I had to eventually make a trip over to the big dumpster by Fire Station Number One to retrieve a few extra SDN papers to add to “Her’ body.
“Miss Flaky” needed an extra special personality, and I took black duck tape, real plastic eyes and a squirt of white paint and let it drip down into her cheeks, after all she must look as if she is slightly melting a tiny bitsy bit to be just plain charming! Agree?
I added curly black pipe cleaners to become “her” eye lashes. She was beginning to truly be real snow by now, and these white garbage bags felt cold just like real snow, and drippy from the snow that I had formed in my own two hands.
Come on now, use your imagination cause sometimes imagination beats true reality.
You might have guessed by now, I am not good at math and science, cause it doesn’t allow a great deal of inspiration or creativity. Both seem slightly boring to me. I know we need math and science in our world, but I shall leave them both up to the more intelligent folks.
I often wonder if poets, writers, and musicians don’t also feel like an artist too? We are all artists! Everyone can enjoy and love music, poetry, and art.
Let’s return back to creating “Miss Flaky” “Her” eyes will melt your heart away.
A big red duck tape mouth with each side turning up with real paint to make her have oh such a flirty smile, as she now looks, winks and surely flirts with you!
I threw in two pink cheeks, after all it is cold outside, and her cheeks are beginning to get that cold blustery wind blown right on her soft white cheeks turning them to the warmer color, pink.
“She” has a cute little turned up fluffy red yarn round nose that seems quite like a pug nose.
I threw on a cute small plaid man’s fedora hat, a low soft hat with a curled brim and the crown has a length way of hot pink and black to throw in a warm color too.
A fedora hat is worn by both men and women now, and is so popular today. I have several fedora hats in my massive hat collection.
“Miss Flaky” definitely needed a hat since I adore and truly love hats very much. Why “She” would not be completely dressed without “Her” Red and gold bows as “Her” buttons, and “ She” is sporting a big blue very elegant velvet bow trimmed in silver which is also a cool color as her neck scarf.
“Miss Flaky” blends in now with “Dottie,” “Mollie Golly” as do all the other seven snow gals as your eyes cruise this now what I suddenly see as my landscape, filled with portraits of nine characters right in front of you.
Who says an artist has to use a canvas to be creative after she has been oh so inspired.
I used my own 100 year old wooden blue gray front porch as my canvas, and these nine characters became my portraits this day.
You are looking at a Starkville “home-grown” landscape filled with portraits too!
Just look, feel art cause it is everywhere around you, and it is the artist who puts what she sees all together to give you pleasure and great joy.
Look at all the colors and shapes you see right in front of you. You can touch and feel them with your eyes.
Three old ordinary plastic kitchen bags, stuffed with The Starkville Daily News papers suddenly became snow that was cold and drippy on my two hands to “rock” and “roll” into a character, “Miss Flaky!” Let’s put it into words, ‘SHE ROCKS!’
Now this whole old porch... “ROCKS, RATTLES, AND ROLLS” with shapes, colors, and lots of imagination!
So we all complain and gripe about January. There are 31 days in this month, and why not just smile and laugh and say, “Oh, I just love January, and drive by glance, and you cruise with your eyes at an old wooden front porch in our deep south of Mississippi, but don’t have a wreck... look over at our porch know.
Know for sure that spring time is just around the corner, and just try hard to enjoy the dull, dismal, dreary cold time January. Maybe this colorless time of winter gives us all time to take a break, sleep, and dream and learn to think of something inspiring and then go out an be creative even if it just on an old front porch. My old white swing is swaying right now in the cold wind, but I know soon the sunshine will shine warmly again, and I’ll be swinging and swaying in that old swing watching the world pass me by on Louisville Street very soon.
I know deep in my heart and way down deep in my very soul that I shall soon be outside painting the bright, warm, happy Daffodil flowers really soon now.
Spring is just around the corner, but this seems a long, long way from Jan. 2.
Lean back and make the most of this cold winter time. Hey, we might just have a mild winter instead. Think positively and with many upbeat thoughts cause this will get your through our bleak winter time in Mississippi.
Look for that red cardinal high up in a tall old Pecan tree, and I bet this warm and hot color of a red bird will lift your spirits on any winter’s day.
This is my good luck, black-eyed peas, with hot buttered corn bread New Year’s special gift to each one of you, Happy 2011!
I just saw “Dottie”, “Mollie Golly”, “Little Snow Girl Hat”, “Miss Flaky” and “Little Miss Flaky”, “Tiny, Tiny Tiny Snow Flaky”, “Silly Snow Girl”, “Swinging Snow Girl” and “Miss MSU Bully Belle” who is ringing in this brand 2011 with a real MSU cow bell.