Category Archives: painting

Arting for 365 Day 43: Wired for Empathy

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Day 43 (6/10/12): Yawn for Empathy

~5.75 x 2 x 3″ Mixed Media

Goal: To create one work of art each day for 365 consecutive days

As I was piddling around, trying to figure out what in the heck I was going to create for day 43’s project, I decided to turn on a Ted talk. I chose a presentation by Frans de Waal titled Moral Behavior in Animals. The talk seemed pretty interesting and chimps, which always promise to be adorable, were going to have a role in it.

De Waal had lots of good info, but what stuck with me most was a very minor piece about yawn contagion. Turns out that those contagious yawns we experience are partly due to people being empathetic. De Waal presented a study proving that chimps are not immune to contagious yawns either, helping to prove that they too experience empathy. I was amazed by the whole idea.

I began looking for images of yawning people and came across a picture of a yawning baby. It turns out, that while babies yawn, they don’t experience contagious yawning. This fact got me thinking about the relationship between human and chimp. I wanted to explore the idea of adult chimps being more human than humans at certain stages of life- at least in terms of morality.

This piece available for purchase at or by emailing me at micah@azzlsoft.com

Arting for 365 Day 42: Plinko

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Day 42 (6/9/12): Plinko

8.5 x 11″ mixed media on cardboard

Goal: To create one work of art each day for 365 consecutive days

I am a titch obsessed with the smell of wildfires. I like to think I have an amazing sense for detecting them via snout. In fact, I would go so far to say my uncanny ability is as near to a super power as one can get.  That is why I was shocked to see smoke from an 8,000 acre fire burning outside of Ft. Collins yesterday, long before I smelled it. I fear my super power is deteriorating. But don’t worry, I’m pretty sure I can replace it with another if needed.

For day 42’s piece I used black and red as homage to the smoke and fire taking over the hills outside of Fort Collins. I wound leaves and roots through what made me think of a red, plinko-like design created by painting bubble wrap and pressing it onto cardboard.

This work available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/listing/101823707/plinko-acrylic-painting or by emailing me at micah@azzlsoft.com

Arting for 365 Day 40: A Map to Blackberries

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Day 40 (6/7/12): A Map to Blueberries

6 x 6″ Blackberry juice, ink and oil pastel on paper

Goal: To create one work of art each day for 365 consecutive days

Once a week, the boyfriend and I make a date for coffee. Afterwards he drives off to his job, while I walk home to begin my day’s work. Typically the route I take involves some jay-walking, a trek through an industrial lot whose “Do Not Trespass” sign does not apply to me, and a jaunt across railroad tracks. I then say hi to workers who are loading up Farmers Brother’s Coffee and stroll a few more blocks home. It’s a route that I really enjoy because it is a bit off the beaten path.

Yesterday, due to my jay-walking street being incredibly busy, I had to take a more traditional route home. I started my way down a less adventurous, super trafficky street and to my surprise I came across a blackberry bush. Jackpot! I picked a handful of berries and later picked a white bud from a tree to use in day 40’s project.

Smeared blackberry juice, and drawn images of the white flower and a map to the berries complete the piece. Hand written directions are on back -complete with cross outs and edits.

Map to Blueberries Detail This piece available to purchase at https://www.etsy.com/listing/101674485/a-map-to-blackberries-mixed-media-art or by emailing me at micah@azzlsoft.com

Arting for 365 Day 38: Strings of Abstraction

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Day 38: Strings of AbstractionGoal: To create one work of art each day for 365 consecutive days

We’ve been watching this really cheesy show called Eureka. It’s about a town full of super brainy scientists whose experiments frequently go awry and a regular-Joe sheriff. Initially I thought the show was awful, but I must admit it has grown on me – even if it is highly predictable.

Last night, while having dinner, we watched an episode about a big bang experiment. This for some reason got me thinking about string theory (something I hardly/don’t grasp). Then I came across a small watercolor I had done and remembered a drawing my sister-in-law had commented on that, when I thought of it again, made me think of string theory.

Day 38’s work is a watercolor and ink Eureka, universe, string theory inspired tryptic. I think what I enjoy most about the piece, is that after I was done with it, I no longer thought about science-y stuff, I just enjoyed the shapes and figures that seemed to appear in the work.

Note: This great TED talk on mulit-universes & string theory by Brian Greene put me the closest I’ve ever been to actually understanding what these two things are about.

Strings of Abstraction Img 1Strings of Abstraction Img 2Strings of Abstraction Img 3This work available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/listing/101522495/strings-of-abstracction-mixed-media or by contacting me at micah@azzlsoft.com

Arting for 365 Day 36: The Meaning of Bubbles

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Day 36 (6/3/12): The Meaning of Bubbles

6 x 6″ watercolor and ink on paper

Goal: To create one work of art each day for 365 consecutive days

I created this little watercolor late last night as I was longing to go to bed. I have no idea what it is about. And I could leave this post at that, but I thought it would be more entertaining to make up some things to explain it. Below are my options. Feel free to add your own.

Option 1. The soft, organic growing pile of bubbles juxtaposed to the structured horizontal lines represents the discord between the real world and our ideal reality – with the umbrella symbolizing our attempt to shelter our ideal view. (This seems like a good one because we could apply the “ideal” metaphor to anything from politics to raising a puppy.)

Option 2. The lines in the piece are a measurement of how high our bubbles might grow before bursting. (Simple but good as it could be applied to a glass half full or half empty type person. One type probably sees them bursting, the others sees the page overflowing.)

Option 3. The pile of bubbles represents the constant cycle of life as bubbles continuously join and leave the pile. (A bit of a stretch perhaps…)

The Meaning of Bubbles Bubble detailThe Meaning of Bubbles umbrella detail

Work available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/listing/101366545/the-meaning-of-bubbles-mixed-media or by emailing me at micah@azzlsoft.com

Arting for 365 Day 33: Balls Rolling in an Orderly Fashion

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Day 33 95/31/12): Balls Rolling in an Orderly FashionAs I sat down to create day 33’s project, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. And not for a reason you might think. I am finishing up a few side jobs right now that are requiring quite a bit of my attention, but that was not the reason for my anxiety. Nor was the personal goal of creating art everyday. Nope, what got me all a flutter yesterday was my Twitter account.

Day 33: Balls Rolling in an Orderly Fashion DetailI had always thought that the Twits (unofficial term) were celebrities and other folks talking about fluff. But after looking into the Twitter a bit more I realized that it is an awesome resource for articles on art and design. Not to mention I like to hear some of the ridiculous things my brother has to say.  I would wager that most people follow hundreds, maybe even thousands of other people. I think I am following 30ish and it seems to be too much for me to take. Overstimulation. My brain seems exhausted as it tries to keep up with the sometimes great, sometimes not-so-great articles. The boyfriend questioned whether I was attempting to read all of those articles, which would definitely leave me overwhelmed. But I’m not. The information rolls onto my screen in what appears to be an orderly fashion, and I am left to wonder if my brain will ever adapt to this crazy stimulus.

Work available for purchase at http://www.etsy.com/shop/OriginalsByMicah or by emailing me at micah@azzlsoft.com