the artist side of vivienne strauss: September 2008

Confrontational Cameras
Originally uploaded by viviennestrauss

collage

Full of Hope
Originally uploaded by viviennestrauss

or trying to give that illusion...

Man Ray with His Sun Ray
Originally uploaded by viviennestrauss

collage

Vintage Fall Lookbook
Originally uploaded by anja louise verdugo

I have not been inspired by "current" fashion in several years and have succumbed to mainly dressing in jeans and a black & white striped shirt. After looking at this creative and sensational fashion layout with one saucy girl and her camera I am inspired!!!

check this out! www.clevernettle.com/lookbook

Camera Girl by Design
Originally uploaded by viviennestrauss

new collage

Irene in Green
Originally uploaded by viviennestrauss

new collage

First it was Six Feet Under, then it was Dexter. My latest guilty pleasure is Pushing Daisies. Kind of Edward Scissorhands meets Dexter without the gore. I have to say, I think Olive is my favorite character, then it would be the Darling Mermaid Darlings, Lily and Vivian.

Mary Harris in Her One Room Flat, New South Wales, August 14, 1923
Originally uploaded by viviennestrauss

gouache, ink and colored pencil on plywood

Dora Likes Patterns and Spending Lots of Time Alone to Think About Things
Originally uploaded by viviennestrauss

10" x 15" gouache and ink on illustration board

I watched "Harold and Maude" the other night for the umpteenth time but I don't think I've ever watched it this closely before. After the first time I saw it, I was usually doing something else while it was one and didn't focus on all the nuances and small details. Maybe it was my mood, maybe it was because I was giving it my full on attention but it seemed a lot less funny and pretty darn sad. I used to think I was Maude but I think I've somehow turned into Harold (before his awakening to life). It was a good reminder to try to get back to being in the here and now and live life!

I'll get back to work as soon as I finish this book, I swear. I started reading this book because someone said that my paintings reminded them of this book and I could see why, just a short quote here, "Gloria was in her boudoir--a delirious vision of a 1930s Hollywood set director, pushed to the farthest, pinkest extreme. Not a hard surface existed anywhere in the room."

okay, now look at my painting, "Daphne Had a Penchant for Pink, Her Pekinese, and Men in Uniform".

This is really an excerpt from the book the main character is writing (based on Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf), one of my all time favorite movies... More to come once I finish!