Happy New Year!

 

This year has been a beautiful one.  I painted.   I made dolls.  I gardened...a lot. So much peace comes from being outside in nature, and it is a big part of  what made the year feel so beautiful. I was outdoors for countless hours creating beds, mowing paths to reduce my lawn, planting seeds and just planting in general.  I put in dozens of trees, shrubs, and flowers.  I even put in a mini orchared with apple trees, strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. I studied permaculture and learned about rewilding, trying to apply those practices into my yard.  I cannot wait to see how it all looks next year.  

I put together a a video showing all the art from 2023.  Many of the dolls were actually made in 2022, but I never shared them until this year.  And below is my favorite photo this year from all the ones taken of my garden.

I hope you have a wonderful and Happy New Year! 

Gratitude Garden

 

Gratitude Garden
oil on cradled wood 14x11 inch
available here

Gardening used to be a favorite activity and I remember spending many many hours pulling weeds, sowing seeds, planting, transplanting, digging, raking and more raking.  It is a great way to get exercise and fresh air.  I used to feel so joyful and light by the end of the day in the garden.  As time has passed and with all of our moves, our yard got smaller and smaller.  I found myself buying a few pots to plant and calling that good enough by the time we moved to Colorado.  Now that we own a home again, we have another big yard, something we thought we were done with.  We spoke too soon!  

Our yard is sort of a blank canvas and it has a lot of potential to become something pretty special.  I hesitate though because a garden will take me away from painting and I am not sure I want that.  If I didn't need sleep, then problem would be solved.  For now, I plan to figure out how to get rid of all the lava rocks in the flower beds, plant a few herbs in pots, and then just watch the light this season before deciding what to do.  I am reading a lot about minimalism and simplistic gardening (if there is such a thing).  

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