EXCITING NEWS & Making art permanent..

Hello everyone,

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ATTENTION 

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So Remember that time when Lee DeWyze & Andrew Michael Golden wrote, directed and shot the music video for Lee's single "Fight"?!?! Well it won "Best Music Video" at the LA Indie Film Fest 2014!!!!! Congrats! Very exciting! The  crochet dolls of Lee & Jonna were created by Leesasaur, you can see her other work here: http://www.leesasaur.com/p/abouts.html?m=1 

Ok, had to get that out, woke up to that news! Very exciting! Now back to my original post:

Just stopping by to say hello and give you a few updates because I have realized that it’s been forever since my last post. Hopefully you noticed that I have not been posting and it’s more “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” and not “out of sight, out of mind”…. There is always a thin line there... 

Between my son and my husband’s bike stuff, traveling and work, I have had no time to sketch. Hopefully things slow down soon and I start having that time back again. I get into a funk when I feel rushed and can not create. I guess it’s good that I am having a little break now because we all know Lee is busy in the studio making new music and as soon as we can hear it…. My mind will flood with images.  Words can not describe how excited I am to hear what he has been working on.

On instagram he posted a little clip and just that few seconds sounds amazing.

You can see the short video clip here: http://instagram.com/p/uqruG6lQog/

I am loving the vibe that comes with that little sample.

 

As for the updates: I finally got my new tattoo!

 For the last 3 years I have been thinking about the perfect tattoo to get to incorporate my art & Lee’s music into the perfect design. I have 6 other tattoos that are thankfully hidden because in the past I never put too much thought into them. They were  just what I liked at the time, which is why it took me 3 years to decide on this one.

 

Ever since the first time I heard “Hummingbird” (aka Lullaby), I knew I wanted it to be a hummingbird. The problem was, I was not happy with any of my own designs. The other issue was I wanted to incorporate the art & music thing, without having it holding a paintbrush in it's mouth or actual lyrics on it because I like things super simple, especially for something that I’ll have the rest of my life, ya know?

 

I finally got a design that a friend drew up for me (Thank you Liz!),  it was exactly how I pictured it, simple and “sketchy” looking. So now, how do we incorporate the meaning and why it’s so important to me? Braille! It’s very hard to see if you do not know to look for it, but there were “shading” dots on the head when Liz drew it up, so I looked up the word “Muse” on Braille and replaced those random dots with the word “Muse”.  I was pretty excited about this detail and the meaning, because as we all know, Lee DeWyze is definitely my muse. I know for a fact that I could not create without him.

My other plan was to have it in white ink, but there aren’t very many shops that will do a white ink tattoo due to how quickly they fade, etc. So I decided that I wanted just the sketched outline, in a sepia tone. I wanted it to look almost like a scar from being branded.

I found a shop while we were in Kentucky the other week and let me tell you…. Even on the phone talking about my idea, they had the best customer service and attitudes I’ve ever seen in a tattoo shop. I was very impressed and I highly recommend them! It’s Called “Tattoo Charlies” my tattoo was done by Joel.

 

Joel had to mix up a sepia color, in the little cup and it was the perfect shade, but on my wrist it’s more orange. Although it’s not the color I really wanted, I am still happy with it. It’s subtle, meaningful and it's  totally my style.

 

As for art in general, I have started a commissioned piece for a dear friend. It’s only in the beginning stages, but it is coming along nicely I think.

 

I hope to have this completed by next weekend!

 

Also, Before I forget… to everyone seeing Lee in Indiana tonight, Chicago tomorrow or better yet…both…. Have a great time! I wish I was there!

Have a good day everyone!!!!

"The Siren"

Hi! Whoa… 2 posts in a row?

Last night I tweeted that I was working on an awesome tattoo design. As promised, here it is! “The Siren” ; I’m super excited by it because of the speed I did it… it just “flowed” and I love when that happens. For some reason it was just relatable I guess. (I’m sure we all know people like this character, whether it be a woman OR a man…) I’m gonna go out on a limb here and assume you know that I am speaking metaphorically, not people that actually eat or kill you. Lol.

 

Although this is not related to Lee’s music I wanted to share it with you because 1) It’s a pretty kick ass design & I’m super proud of it  and 2) It has an awesome story.  Besides art (obviously), when I was in school, I LOVED when we learned about Greek Mythology. I love stuff like that, it fascinates me. It was much more interesting than real life history…it was a world created by folklore and magic. So… I was excited when a friend asked me to design a tattoo of a siren from book 12 of the Odyssey. She wanted it done in my faceless style.  I have not read this book myself, but I was sort of familiar with the story. It’s funny because about 10 minutes before I was asked to do this, I was talking to someone else about wanting to sketch a mermaid. I have been thinking about doing a beautiful mermaid sketch ever since Lee posted the pictures he did with his wife,Jonna for the Project Mermaid shoot she did. Project Mermaid is actually a very cool project and you can read about it here:http://www.projectmermaids.com/

So I guess if you think about it, it kinda IS Lee-related because if it weren’t for him inspiring me to paint and draw again… no one would even know I could draw, let alone ask me to design something that they want permanently on their body! I also probably would have not thought to draw a mermaid either, but I can not wait to see it after it is done. *actually if you want to appt Lee art to this concept... I just realized it works PERFECTLY with "stay away" don't you think? 

Lol it's almost like 6 degrees of Lee DeWyze lyrics lol

ANYWAY:

For those of you that do NOT know what a Siren is, here is a summary if them that I saw on  http://www.gods-and-monsters.com/sirens-mythology.html

According to this site, “With the Sirens, mythology has created a physical personification of the danger of falling for a beautiful woman.

As any man knows, beautiful women can be dangerous. In Greek mythology, some beautiful women can be straight up deadly.

The Sirens of Greek mythology began specifically as a group of creatures who looked like beautiful women, but were really man-eating beasts. They sat on the shore and sang with voices so seductive and compelling that anyone who heard their song became absolutely mesmerized with them. So mesmerized, in fact, that they became obsessed with reaching the shore to get closer to the sound. And then the Sirens would eat them.

The term "siren" is used both in ancient and modern mythology, as well as in modern language in general, to describe something that is simultaneously dangerous and compelling. In later myths and legends, any creature that lured a man in only to cause harm might be considered "a siren" in the general context of the term.

With the original Greek Sirens, mythology depicts these creatures as beautiful women with angelic wings who play there lutes and sing. They were aloof and didn't make eye-contact with their victims, which made them seem all the more innocent and mysterious.

Different versions of siren mythology have them as having mostly bird-like bodies with the heads of women, or sometimes they had the torso of a woman and the tail of a fish. Both of these versions are likely confusing the sirens with harpies and mermaids, respectively.

The Sirens appeared most famously in Homer's classic "The Odyssey", where Odysseus had his men tie him to the ship and plug their ears so he could hear the legendary song of the Sirens and not rush to his death in a fit of insanity. As expected, as soon as Odysseus heard the song he begged his men to untie him, but he wisely had warned them not to do so. It was said that no one every got to hear the sirens song and live, though, as usual, certain heroes of ancient myth found a way. “

 

 I hope you like it because I do :-) anyway, back to my Lee art. ..... Talk to you soon!!! 

"Muse"

This painting is called “Muse”. It was not based on a song; I just wanted to capture the amazing picture that was taken by one of my awesome Twitter friends, a fabulous Lee Fan, @yoyosassy. (Thank you Yolanda for letting me use your photo!)

**this one is not yet finished. I had too many other ideas that I had to put this one on hold. But just to give you a visual, I have a special wooden frame idea in mind for this one. I’m going to paint each side of the frame with the designs from Lee’s guitar straps. As you can imagine, this will take some time… bare with me. It will be awesome though**

Since this painting was not inspired by a specific song, I had to think of a title for it. Right off the bat, no question about it… I thought “Muse” was the perfect Title. It’s the first thing that popped in my head the first time I even saw the picture.

What exactly is a Muse? The muse is something or someone that has the ability to excite our creative passion and call forth our creative spirit to create. It is an interesting character. At one level it is a figment of our imagination and doesn’t exist. At another level it is very real and vital to our creative endeavor and without them we are robbed of our creative power (this definition was taken from this site, which has all the different kinds of muse definitions-http://ryuc.info/common/creation_process/muse.htm )– My muse is the later part of this definition. My muse is very real and vital to my creative endeavor. You hear that lee DeWyze? If you ever stopped making music, I’d be robbed of my creative power…haha, so…keep doing your thang….I can not create unless you create (no pressure or anything)

It’s hard to explain exactly how I feel when I paint these, even to other Lee fans because there just aren’t words. The best way to describe it really is this strong, overwhelming unconscious burst of creativity every time I hear his voice. Sounds a bit dramatic, I know…but that is what it is. Having something affect you this strongly is rare. For some reason, I just connect with everything about this music, his voice, the lyrics… something is driving me to paint… so why would I ever want to stop that? Why not roll with it, ya know? Again, I do not expect people to understand it because I still don’t; I just create when my heart tells me to.

I have to admit something though, sometimes it is frustrating because painting these songs truly make me happy… it’s what I want to do….but it’s not like I can paint Lee art as a career. So then I think, what am I doing this for? (The answer is that it’s my outlet, but I mean on a broader spectrum) Haha. People at work ask me all the time “why are you here?” “Why don’t you get a job doing art?” Like I said before… I’m not happy doing art just because I am good at it. I have to FEEL it and right now… this is all I feel and this is what I want to do. It makes me happy, even if it’s a path that leads nowhere. End of story. I hope that at least makes a little bit of sense…

Now… here are the perspectives of my sister as someone just view the art as is and Mare, as a Lee DeWyze fan…(passes the torch…)

 

My sister, Danielle Mazzo:

Muse.....this painting explains my sister and her journey into her own mind. The birds flying from the feather to me is my sisters creativity flying into action...taking off from her once....I wanna paint but...into her OMG I have to paint!!! My sister has always been a great artist to me...because well she'd kick my butt if I didn't say that...jk but since she found her ”muse" she has grown into a phenomenal artist. This muse has given her art structure...heart....feeling!! Muse is not just a painting of a musician's ink....its art taking flight from the perspective of artists both in lyric and on canvas!! Many years my sister and I didn't really know each other as we are two very different people...but since her Muse came along I can finally catch a glimpse into my sister's heart mind and soul. So I guess thanks Lee DeWyze is in order. The more you inspire her the closer we get. Who would've thought a musician could do so much without even knowing it. 

And Mare :

 

 Inspiration..... we all need it. With it comes joy, clarity, creativity..... It comes in many forms for each of us. But for each one of us.... inspiration breathes LIFE into our days. It influences our emotions, our thoughts and our actions....and sometimes it can bring people together. When the sole, original inspiration is so influential, that it creates a circle of creativity... what comes out of that can be amazing. 

Music. It speaks to all of us. It’s a form of communication... and often times, it takes the place of words. With the “right” music.... it speaks to those dusty corners of our soul. It creates stories, pictures, new ways of thinking.... an outlet for the words we can’t find ourselves. Sometimes those notes and words create a visual, a vibe, a feeling, a snapshot of your own world. When you connect to music, it becomes YOUR story.  

During the day, I am a pediatric speech pathologist. I LOVE what I do. I think communication is important. It’s how we connect as human beings. Communication isn’t always speech. It’s a touch, a look, an expression, a feeling, a posture, a drawing, a picture, a painting.......music. Music and writing are a large part of my life. It’s how I express what speech can’t. Words and notes inspire me..... they breathe life into what gets trapped by “thought”. Add to that, someone who can take a feeling of mine, an intangible “thing”... and allow me to see what it looks like.

I’m an extremely hard person to get to know and understand. I have definite walls....Writing for the music and art makes me REALLY look inside myself. I have to be able to let myself FEEL.... dig into my own heart.... and then let people have a glimpse of that. My thoughts, my heart.... It makes my walls come down when I write. Being inspired enough to trust and let go..... I’d say a “muse”  is a very important part of life....

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this one, it started out close to my heart already ... But adding Danielle's & Mare's points of view just set it off.

 Coming up will be my picture book album review of Lee's new album "Frames" I'll be posting the paintings for the each song in the order they appear on the album... Stay tuned! Excited!!!!! 

-Jenn