Proceed

Proceed
mixed media on cradled board
12 x 16 inch
available at Tessera Gallery

I did this painting earlier this summer.  It was an intuitive piece that became a bit spiritual, however not on purpose.  There has been a lot of loss in my family this past year and half, which I am sure is being reflected here.  They say art is healing and I believe it is, but in the case of the losses I experienced this summer and the loss of my mother last summer,  I cannot say that painting this helped my sadness.  Only time has done that and continues to do so.

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I am happy to say that it has been a great week with lots of family time during the Thanksgiving holiday and I will be continuing spending time with more of my family in New York City starting tomorrow!  I love New York at Christmas time!  

I will be back soon to share some photos with you.

Thanks for visiting as always and I will see you soon!

♥Lisa

Grandpa Was a Beekeeper

Grandpa Was a Beekeeper
mixed media on canvas
20 x 20 inch
(sold)

I got stuck on this one for quite a while.  It actually sat long enough to collect dust.  When I finally started on it again, I lighted the walls dramatically and that was almost like a clean slate for me, sort of like resetting the stage.  I was then able to gently glaze in order to warm things up again.

detail

Once the color was right, I began on all the small things. The details in the room took an entire day to paint.  It is one of those scenes where you could keep adding, but I felt ready to be finished and I think the painting did too.

detail

  The inspiration for this piece came from the wonderful and beautiful movie Mr. Holmes.  You can click here to see the movie trailer.  My story in this painting has bits and pieces from things I loved about the film.  I hope you enjoy both the painting and the movie if you haven't already seen it.

detail

I hope everyone has a beautiful week.

♥ Lisa

Dining in Small Spaces

Yellow Dinner Table
mixed media on paper 4 x 6 inch
available here

You know how I have a thing for chairs.  I love to paint them and I've actually entertained the idea of purchasing real chairs and painting on those, kind of like an art doll, only an art chair.  But I am always filled with big ideas and little time to do them.  Probably because I am so busy implementing my other ideas...like painting these tiny dining rooms.  Appropriate with Thanksgiving coming up, right?  :)

Dining Room in Pink
mixed media on paper 4 x 6 inch
available here

Chair Number 20
mixed media on paper4 x 6 inch
available here

I wish you all a great  weekend!

♥ Lisa

Jovialities

Jovialities
mixed media on canvas
14 x 14 inch

This new painting along with many others was just delivered to Tessera Gallery here in Wichita.  A happy painting to go with a happy mood on the day I painted it not long ago.

I wish ALL days were like that...for everyone.  Don't you?

Thank you for visiting!

Around Here Lately

Picasso Colored Fields
mixed media on panel 5 x 7 inch

Lately, I have been doing a lot of painting.  And I've felt inspired by some of the colors in Picasso's work.

And it got me thinking about color mixing which made me watch this video by Gillian Lee Smith (Cox now).  

Then I kept thinking about all those pretty pinks on the palette which made me order this pink strawberry cake at a women's fair with a friend the other day.  Yummo.

Katie is Protective of Kendra
mixed media on panel 5 x 7 inch

 I began experimenting with my Shiva Oil Paintstiks once again and loved the tones they gave to these faces.  

I have been painting mostly in the early hours of the morning.

I was involved in an art auction to benefit those suffering from Juvenile Arthritis.  This is me and the sweet 12 year old I worked with this past summer.  We worked on one 16 x 20 inch together (left painting) and I created one that went with the theme she chose.  Our pieces auctioned for $350!  I love that she chose happy colored flowers to reflect her happier days...she has been in remission for some time now which is wonderful.  I wish it was that way for all the children that were there that  night.

Enjoying the Fall colors along our street.  

And watching the sky and the river at The Keeper of the Plains bridge.  

Taking bike rides with a long time friend.

And conquering Kansas mountains...which is a lot harder than it looks.

Making comfort food.

Ordered a bohemian art pillow from Sparkle Day Studio  AKA Corrine Gilman.  

And more walks on the river...

and down the streets...

and the sidewalks...

taking it all in...

with my furry walking companion Hurley.

and listening to Philip Glass' beautiful theme music from The Truman Show. 

And enjoying the blue Morning Glories and the other flowers I planted in the back yard this past Spring...getting ready to say goodbye to them.

What have you been up to lately?

♥ Lisa

A Special Kind of Halloween Weekend

Mixed media in 8 1/2 x 11 sketchbook

 Just a quick post to tell you all we had the best Halloween.  The reason is because this is the first Halloween at our new house and our block was swamped with Trick-Or-Treaters.  We were delighted because at our old house I think we had six in 16 years.  I am not kidding.

 There were all kinds of costumes, but these are the ones that were the most adorable and we were delighted to see so many parents out too.  I think the kid with his head in a box was supposed to be a character from a video game of some sort.

The little girl in the blue wig and bright yellow rain coat probably gets the prize...her costume was just so unique.

But this kid stole my heart.  He could hardly see to get up the stairs to our door...his Ninja Turtle Raphael mask was falling down over his eyes.  Too cute!!!

Hurley loved all the company and watched at the door for quite a while.  He finally got bored with it and went to lay down about an hour before we stopped passing out candy.  The pumpkin on the porch was the first one I had carved in years.  Not bad, eh?

Me at the juried show Friday night

The juried art show I mentioned in the last post was Friday night and was truly wonderful...a great crowd!  It was such a diverse show with 60 works and I enjoyed taking it all in and visiting with some of the other artists.  It will be up for a month and hopefully find a new home.

And this was from today.  I sat outside to eat lunch and this was on the table.  It is a maple leaf if you don't recognize it.  I thought the reds and greens were so beautiful, it deserved its own photo shoot.  So it got one.

I hope your weekend was just as wonderful.

♥ Lisa