Art on the Mesa Art Show

My wall at the Gold Hills Mesa Community Center

The Art on the Mesa Art Exhibit at the Gold Hills Mesa Community Center in Colorado Springs opened on Thursday February 7 and it was a great night.  A lot of people braved the cold and dark to come out and see the show.  I was so happy to be feeling up to it as I had oral surgery that turned out to be more extensive than I thought and it had been a rough couple of weeks.  This is my first time showing publicly in Colorado since moving here last April.

I took very few photos during the evening because I was so busy visiting, but I did get some of the beautiful venue the day we hung the show which are shown below.   It was a joint show with artists Phyllis Davis and Lelia Davis (mother and daughter in-law), and I have really loved getting to know them a little more.  The show was curated by artist Carol Naylor who teaches watercolor batik.  Phyllis, Lelia and I plan to take her class which we hear is an absolute blast.

Lelia Davis' work, hanging in progress

Phylis Davis

The views at the community center are spectacular.

I loved the comments I received during the evening.  Words like "unique", "primitive", and "story telling" were said repetitively.  For any painter, it is always encouraging when people respond to your work and take the time to study the paintings.  At this showing, people seem to like my interior paintings the best, which I am standing in front of.  (You can see them in the first photo of this post).  There were also a several that questioned the meaning behind They Have Come to Bring Us Spring and I was pleased to know that most had guessed it correctly. 

The show will be hanging until May 1, so if you find yourself in Colorado Springs you can check it out.  It is free and open to the public.

 Gold Hills Mesa Community Center
142 S. Raven Mine Road

Until next time!

♥ Lisa

A Lot of Snow and What I am Working On

I am sitting here on a cold day recovering from some oral surgery I put off way too long.  I am full of pain medications, so I hope whatever I write here makes good sense.

We have had so much snow here in Colorado and the locals tell me it is just getting started.  Most of it occurs in February and March.  I love snow, but the late ones take some getting used to for me because in Kansas it starts to feel like spring in those months.  The birds are starting to show up, the days are longer and warmer and the air smells like spring.  Not that Kansas never gets snow in those months, but the usual is what I just said.  I am pretty sure I will adjust just fine.  It is lovely here.

I am working on a painting containing geese and another surprise in the composition.  The surprise is the fun part and I don't want to give it away.  It's taken a long time because I have been layering the oil paints and glazing quite a bit, so it all needs to dry between the layers otherwise it becomes a muddy mess.

In the meantime, I've been sketching a lot with acrylic paint in my hardback sketchbooks.  The above was done after a neighborhood walk.  The one below was done while cooking dinner.  I love olives and munch on a few while I cook...along with a glass of wine-yum!  The olives on the left were painted with care and the ones on the right were blobbed on with my fingertip.  I think I like the one on the right best.  Friends on my Instagram said the same thing.

I have enjoyed sketching these so much, I decided to try to do this more regularly.  It feels more free to paint in a sketchbook where you know it will not hang in a show or sell online.  

The above photo was taken last year and I just came across it.  The painting is one I did called They Have Come to Bring Us Spring and it's going to be shown at the Art on the Mesa show at Gold Hills Mesa Community Center in Colorado Springs.  The opening reception is February 7,  5-7 pm and the show will be up through May 1st.  This will be my first Colorado show so I am very excited to be participating with two wonderful artists:  Lelia Davis and Phyllis Davis.  I met Phyllis at Julie Ford Oliver's workshop years ago and it was Julie who helped reconnect me to Phyllis so that I could be a part of this.  I am so grateful!  I will share photos of the show after it happens.

This is a view from our backyard deck.  Snow snow snow!

But isn't it beauitful when the sun is shining?  This is a scene on a neighborhood path I take during my daily walks.  Sometimes I just can't believe what I am seeing.  The mountains have such a presence.  So quiet, yet so rugged and wild at the same time.  I am enjoying leaving footprints everywhere I go here. :)

I hope you are having a good month of January.  I am going to close for now and take a nap!  

Until next time!

♥ Lisa

Various Narratives Show at City Arts

Last Fall my painting They Call it Connection Cafe was accepted into the Arts Council Annual Juried Art Show at City Arts here in Wichita.  Shortly after the opening night I received an invitation to show in the Main Hall Gallery for the Final Friday art crawl in January which opened last night.  The new and beautifully renovated space, gorgeous weather, and four diverse art shows brought a huge crowd with a lot of fun energy.

Various Narratives from left to right:  Releve',
The Backyard Bench, Reading Space,
On the Way to Afternoon Tea

These are a few of my ten paintings on display, all various in sizes and mediums.  On the Way to Afternoon Tea has a new home and all the praise and kind words were enough to keep me painting for quite a while.

I want to thank those that came out last night, it was so fun visiting with you!  And a HUGE thank you to the staff at City Arts for all the hard work. You all make such a great team. The show was beautifully displayed!

And blog friends...see you in a week or so...I am painting like a maniac these days and I will have some new work to show you very soon.  Thank you for your wonderful comments and your supportive words as always!

See you soon!

♥ Lisa

Awakenings in the Upper Room

Awakenings in the Upper Room
20 x 16 inch acrylic and pumice on canvas panel
reserved for art show at City Arts

 I love interior paintings.  I know I have said this before.  They are a joy to look at and a joy to paint.  This is the last of my 2013 paintings and it was a fun one in every way.  I was looking at the image of one of Balthus' paintings Les joueurs de cartes and just had to paint a table with a checked table cloth, and this is the result.  Once it was finished, the new theme for my art show at City Arts in April was decided...rooms!  

detail

I already have enough work for an entire show because several of my paintings are  set in a room of some sort.  However, now that I have some direction on the theme, I am sure more interior paintings will emerge. 

detail

One thing that always eludes me is how to keep layering my paintings once the composition is down.  I liked the composition in this painting and didn't want to lose anything, but it was difficult for me to know how build up the layers. 

detail

  

 I went over each little check on that table cloth about three times and it just seemed to only change the color, rather than add interesting layers.  The same goes for all the other areas of the painting...the girl, the carpet, the picture, the window..etc. It was tedious and with little result.   The easiest parts to layer were the walls and ceiling.  They actually had more layers at one point, but I wiped them off and sanded them down because it seemed to bury all the other elements.   

detail

If I had a chance to change anything, I think I would have done this in oil rather than acrylic.  It probably would have layered the way I was striving for.   I am happy with it, but I do plan on practicing ways of building up the entire painting a little more...it's probably time to hit the sketchbooks and stay there a while.  

Are you having a good week?

Letting Go of the of The Art of Letting Go

Me
opening night of The Art of Letting Go exhibit

It went beautifully.  I could not have asked for more.  So many friends and family came to give their support.  I spoke with numerous art enthusiasts, collectors and artists, and their comments about my work was very uplifting...the kind of words that make you want to keep painting.

The two Featured Artist walls in the front area of Tessera Fine Art Gallery

Three 9 x 12" paintings sold that evening.

The Wishing Sisters

Brooklyn from a Boat

She's Out in Blue Meadow

One of the back walls at Tessera Fine Art Gallery

 On the following day someone went back to the gallery and purchased two of my larger works.

Among the Yellow Roses

Fortunes on Vincent's Poplar Avenue

The Eight in Payne's Gray series

In the above photo, many of you probably remember the Eight in Payne's Gray series of 16 x 20 inch paintings I did last year for a one night show called Art In-laws done with my brother in-law Dewayne Horner .  These ladies have not found a home yet even though they have been shown at Dock 410, City Arts and Rebecca's and people seem to love them.  They are pretty funky, but I just know that some day the right person(s) will come along and buy them. 

One of the front walls at Tessera Fine Art Gallery

You have not seen the painting in the upper right in the photo above.  She is called Medicine Maker and she made her debut at this show.  There is a special story to go with her, but that is for another blog post.

A precious family...among the first friends that stopped by opening night

My only regret of the evening is that I did not take pictures of all the people that were coming and going.  I took the picture above of our sweet friends at the very beginning with every intention of taking lots more like it, however after that point it was nonstop visiting.  I literally forgot about taking pictures...and my camera was in my pocket!!!  I missed SO many photo opportunities!  Our son KC came and played his keyboard during the event and it added such a nice ambiance to the evening...but not one picture of him either!  Next time I will designate someone to take pictures.  

 As a help for those of you wanting to start selling your art too, I will tell you that I did price my work relatively low for this exhibit.  It was a hard decision to come by, but after discussions with the gallery owner and reading hours of numerous articles online, it felt like the right thing to do since 1.  my art is still evolving and  2.  I am an unknown artist.  And now some of my larger pieces have been released into the world which means as much (maybe even more) to me as earning the dollars for the work that was done on them.  It was a good sacrifice to make I think.

Did I forget to tell you anything?  If I did...leave a comment and I will answer here on the blog. I am open to any questions you might have, especially if it will help you launch your art into the world if you have not done so yet.

So that's it.  That's how it all went.
I am still feeling exhausted...but it's a good kind of tired.  

Thanks for reading everyone!  I am going to start trying to make some rounds this week and get caught up with you my artist blogging friends.

♥ Lisa

Ragamuffin Rena

Ragamuffin Rena

papers, gel medium, acrylic, glazing medium and ink

16 x 20 inch on stretched canvas

So which one is Ragamuffin?  Bet you can't guess.  I was excited about this painting and couldn't wait to show you, my blog friends.  

I hope tonight...for the opening reception at my show I look a little more like a Rena than a Ragamuffin. I think Rena has a better chance at selling art, don't you? :)

Huge warm hugs, thank yous, and high fives to all of you for the good luck wishes. I appreciate you all so much and I will be imagining you are there with me tonight.

♥ Lisa

PS:  I won't be doing a Share Sunday post this weekend...need some rest.