CMSA; PLEASE DON'T GIVE ADVICE AS TO HOW TO STOP PERPETUAL "HACK" ON MY FB PAGE, BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL YOU I'VE DONE IT ALL OVER AND OVER AGAIN, FACEBOOK COULD CARE LESS, STILL HAVN'T MANAGED TO REACH A LIVE HUMAN BEING IN ALL MY ATTEMPTS TO REACH THEM, LATEST INFO I GOT FROM FRIEND WAS, IF YOU CLICK ON IT PORN COMES UP!!!!!!!!! I GIVE UP.
August 15th, 2017.
CMSA: Today's post courtesy of David Arshawsky; who dares to judge a few of the idiots who are calling the shots these days in this marvelous monster he made..IT REMINDS ME OF TWO OF THE BIGGEST, YES, potus, but also the "potus" of art, Damien hirst (you've seen pics of hirsts latest right David? If not, what a wonderful coincidence , check it out)..i can't believe the" art world "is finally noticing: "the emperor has no clothes!!!!!!!!!!!!!", IDIOTS, I HOPE THEY ALL LOOSE A TON OF MONEY and WE ONE DAY WE GET "ART" AND OUR COUNTRY AWAY FROM THE THOUGHTLESS MERCENARIES ....
July 26th, 2017.
CMSA: THE TRANSITioNAL PAINTINGS. I work in a serial fashion, a series can be just a few paintings or, ( like the most recent one)take five years to complete, i never know much (consciously anyway) about the new series; what it's about exactly, how long it will take, or what it may mean. and most important to me, what it will look like? This period is super exciting but also super scary because it's so full of unknowns, it can feel like groping for something in a dark room. In the end I have to have faith in the subliminal mind and trust it will produce the sublime. At this point the best i can do is try to trust in the process, and stay out of my own way. Because the conscious mind insists(unless it's asleep or very bored ) on being in the drivers seat, keeping it at bay requires alot of psychic energy and discipline (like meditating or yoga). This process seems to go on forever: taking days, weeks, months, and in this case a full fucking year to complete one transitional painting. The weirdest thing is i don't know at first that the paintig i'm working on is the transitional one that i've been talking about. First clue is i keep changing my mind and repainting stuff (well i always do this, but here i'm talking about doing it so much that i doubt my sanity!), Every time i step back and look at it i hate it, resulting in ever more extreme changes so it starts to look completely unlike what i had in mind or the rest of the series. I will call it done and than 24 hours later feel compelled to take it done and make more major changes... I 'm filled with doubt and i'm not sure i know how to paint. All this comes with much anxiety and hand wringing....So that's what i've been up to this last year, painting and repainting and repainting the same painting, trying to figure out what happens next. And i have questioned my sanity and despaired with much hand wringing, but finally i think i see the light and i do have a sense of where i'm going next...you'll have to tune in next season to see this latest transitional painting, don't want to post it til it's done. But here are a few transitional paintings from previous series. `
July 17th, 2017.
CMSA; dear mature famous oil painter in the usa; i wonder if you would mind sending me a few bucks every now and again? I think it'd only be fair; after all, in this crazy upside down art world you and i have alot in common; we've both been painting our hearts out for about 40 years and we've both gotten pretty damn good at our craft. The difference between us is that you are the 1% of oil painters, who make a very good living whereas i, still mired in the mob of "emerging artists" , make literally pennies an hour for the exact same effort and discipline......so that being said; could you spare a few bucks every now and then? Sincerely, cynda ps. cvalle "dressed to kill"
June 22nd. 2017.
CMSA: The Muse
I have a muse, but it's not a beautiful woman...It's a gnarly dude named ART....ART wears a stained wife beater and sits around all day drinking beer in a broken down old Barcalounger and giving orders; He's a jealous lover too (in case he knocks on your studio door one night);he wants your undivided attention regardless of any real life commitments(family , job etc) you may have...He'd rather you be with him (in the studio) than sleep....You must attend to his every whim, cuz if you don't he may leave you and go hang out in someone else's studio...(That's happened before and you hated it!). In fact even though you love him completely and madly he will take many other lovers. Despite it all you are infatuated and do your best to please him. so if there's a knock on the studio door one night ANSWER IT, but beware
June 18th, 2017.
cmsa; i just read a timely article about the paradox of a humans need to connect with other souls (both human and animal), while at the same time, eventually, we all end up fearing the pain of love and avoiding intimacy in order to protect ourselves from it...THIS IS REASON #465 WHY I LOVE THE BREWERY AND FACEBOOK; to me, both fell like safe, secure platforms where I can make lovely heartfelt connections, while retaining strong boundaries and an inviolate personal space, to which I can take refuge any time i'm feeling fearful.. Just knowing i have a safe "homeplace" gives me the courage to explore...
May 20th, 2017.
CMSA; MEMORIES OF TYLER SCHOOL OF ART 75 THRU '78;
i remember working as a figure model to make my way through tyler. one beautiful afternoon i posed nude "alaprima". Thought the high stone wall keep the session hidden from public eye, too bad a bus load of senior citizens (who lived locally) went by high enough to see over the wall. pandemonium ensued, we all ran inside and hid from the police when they arrived. story 2; figure modeling after a cup of hot sweet tea; bee landed on my lower lip, and stayed there; his little mouth thingie i could feel as he settled in to eat all the sugar off my lips...pandemonium issued, much discussion about how to best remove bee w/o stinging my lips...i was afraid to speak lest i disturb the little devil, so all i could do when the students decided to swat it off my lip fast enough to avoid a sting, was to groan imploringly (that's what i was going for anyway). Just as a maniacal student approached me with a sketch book raised to swat, a cigarette smoker (most chain smoked in class in the 70'as) cut in front, blew smoke in my face and the bee flew away... i was saved...what was tyler like in the 70's? all i can say it was never boring!.....
May 1st, 2017.
CMSA; my young model was just 15 when i painted this one.
April 16th, 2017.
CMSA; todays post inspired by painter Angelia Leal "regarding painting, for me the struggle is that every day when i sit down to work, i'm not exactly sure of what i was doing yesterday , and i honestly fear i'll never be able to do it well again today. "creative courage is continuing despite your doubts, not quitting because of them ": Rollo May. i want to get his words tattooed backwards on my forehead so i'll be reminded whenever i look in a mirror...old work from my distant past, i was painting on black velvet at the time, "i dreamed i was not alone" c valle
April 3rd, 2017.
CMSA; todays thoughts inspired by an artist i respect and whose work shines out to me (i'll never fforget those heads in jars); Pamela Rae Baker ; Pamela, u would not believe how many greater paintings exist under the final versions of mine.....but in the end, if you just keep going, you reach that point where you "can live with it" as you say...i like to get them out of the studio at this point...otherwise i never feel done, always something i want to add or take away, not surprising, considering we're aiming at a virtually impossible goal: PERFECTION!!!!!!!! don't know the title of this pamela painting but i love it and call it "People In Jars", by Pamela Rae Baker
March 18th, 2017.
CMSA; When i was a girl in school the most common complaint i heard from my teachers was "pay attention!!!". I'm pretty sure they said that when they caught me day dreaming when i should of been focused outward, towards them. As an instructor of creativity and painting, when i say "pay attention!" i mean, turn inward, and listen carefully for that quiet inner voice, to hear the muse requires your full and careful attention.
Febuary 3rd, 2017.
CMSA; I guess he was absent at school on the day they explained about the constitution, and our unalienable rights!!!!!!!!!!!!!when i lost a dear old friend on fb last week, i realized everybody's gonna have to choose a side and get busy, regardless of how many friends are lost in the process...
January 30th, 2017.
CMSA...oldest oil painting i still have; at the universidad de bellas artes, in chihuahua, Mexico...
January 9th, 2017.
CMSA; finally finished a series called "alone together" after 4 years of work. so i've been wondering what my next series would be, i usually figure it out when i notice that i've visited an idea more than once...so looks like i'll be painting about "a cage of her own design" many more times. come see alone together series at the manhattan beach art center opens jan 13 (6 to 9) up two months
December 20th, 2016.
CMSA, "the guardian", oil on linen; story of ophelia changed; instead of dying she wakes up in the water, and says to herself; "die for the sins of the men in my life? heck no! and goes on to live happpily ever after!
December 10th, 2016.
CMSA; i've noticed a couple new tv shows where the art director is asked to make the set look like the "near future"...the strange thing is i've seen this a few times now with different art directors and the concept is the same; the walls of the set are dressed with abstract paintings...the assumption is abstract is the kind of art will we value in the near future? oddly i would guess exactly the opposite, as our world is defined more and more by technology, we will value more and more the handmade figurative work that depicts some aspect of the human condition; real "intelligence" , , not ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) IS WHAT WE WILL CRAVE...as chance would have it, i know a figurative artist who fits that description...here's a sample of her work, after 40 years, maybe this is finally her/my time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 13th, 2016.
CMSA: notes from los angeles. On the morning walk; my neighborhood is so beautiful...has this great old dusty early 20th century vibe...full of california bungalows and "mature landscaping" (means flowering bushes have grown to the size of trees here)literally having been allowed to grow almost 100 years...lots of older residents and multiple generation families, i won't mention what neighborhood i'm in though, as we are clearly not gentrified yet and the rent here is still reasonable (for la).. and nothing beats socal morning light,( well except maybe socal late afternoon light)..Don Don McKinney; photo of colored flags reminded me of your "fragment" series paintings. The one on the right shows that "mature landscaping" i was talking about...
November 9th, 2016.
CMSA; we can't go forward if we have an "enemy orientation" towards our fellow americans...somehow we have to overcome fear and anger in favor of compassion...we can do this because we have to!!! DIVIDE AND CONQUER? hell no!...don't let them do that to us!!!!!!!!!!!
October 7th, 2016.
CMSA;these words of wisdom brought to you by facebook friend, Chris DeBruler ; in general an earth mama, and specifically mom to one of my best young friends; my favorite ginger Ashley Alexis Olds ..everyone should get to paint her atleast once....here's what chris says ;;"I totally get it, darling g one...found great support with a few dear friends to help me ride the waves...as an introvert, I have had to force myself to reach out with these vulnerabilities. We were raised as boomers to bite off our feelings......I am learning it is normal to feel lost, alone and scared at times. NAMASTE, sweetie." WHAT SHE SAID, THANKS CHRIS
October 5th, 2016.
CMSA; sometimes the right move is the hardest and most painful one....i keep reminding myself (based on years of experience!!!) that broken hearts (metaphorically speaking) are NOT fatal...my new mantra; "feelings are not facts"
