The Ribbon

Sitting here in my studio today, staring at the red ribbon in the middle of the floor, I really looked at it and gave it some actual thought.

Now for a little bit of history, I have to admit this ribbon has been lying on this floor for the better part of five years. I received it on a gift from someone years ago.

I have a fancy organizer for wrapping paper, bows and bags which is where it belongs.

However, for some reason it is too much trouble for me to pick the ribbon up, walk four steps (round-trip), unzip the holder and poke it in. I don’t even have to put it away nicely. But for some reason, I am always torn between whether I should just throw the damn thing away or save it, so I just leave it laying there. 🤣

Every time I come in to my studio I see it. Sometimes it gets moved. One day, I actually thought about using it, but I couldn’t find it on the floor. I am beginning to think this ribbon may like it here. 🤔

Today as I watched my dog chewing on it, I thought, “Why the hell don’t you just throw that thing away? You’re never going to use it. Your dog was chewing on it.” (Note the two dog toys within a paw’s reach.)

I had a pretty good laugh thinking about how silly this whole thing is. But then I thought maybe having a bit of familiarity, even if it’s a really insignificant thing, is good. I think I would be sad if it wasn’t here anymore, so there it lies.

Maybe that ribbon is my muse…

Heart in your Art

Some people wander and some people ponder. I am the latter. I spend a lot of time thinking about things and how things could be better. I wonder what can I do about it. I recently felt I have a calling to just put my thoughts out there. I’m putting my art out there. I might as well put my heart out there too. My heart shows in my art but sometimes I need to be more raw.

Just now, as I am dictating this to my phone, I noticed that it changed art to heart. And then I thought how art comes from the heart and that makes the word “heart” even more meaningful to me. My best art comes from my heart.

This doesn’t just apply to painting art, it applies to all art forms. Whenever you put your heart into what you’re creating, it’s much more meaningful to the receiver of the art as well as yourself.

Copyright Judy Kaplan 2023

Welcome to my blog

I have spent many years playing with color in many art forms. I’m not a professional artist by any means. I love color and feel it has healing qualities. I spent several years creating stained glass mosaics. I love glass, but after a while I found the process to be too tedious. It takes too long to get to the payoff of a beautiful piece of art. I’ve also left quite a bit of DNA in my artwork from handling glass. 🙂 I occasionally spent time playing with alcohol ink, acrylic pour painting and polymer clay. All of these led me to find what I truly love – abstract painting in acrylics.

I’ve chosen to share my art and my thoughts because I feel we can all use a break from reality every once in a while. I spend probably too much time pondering all types of things. I’ve decided to share some of my thoughts here. Maybe you’ll be able to relate to some of these ideas.

I hope you’ll take a minute or two to look around. My hope is that these pieces will give you a moment of peace and a break from the world.

You may be wondering why I chose to title my website “My Ugly Paintings”. The reason I is that I found many art classes or tutorials suggest that we paint an ugly painting. In doing so, we create something unique and beautiful in the process. Basically it’s about letting go of expectations. So, I thought that would be a fitting title. It might also elicit curiosity and bring viewers to my site.