Music and Paintings

 

My son is a pianist and he recently posted this lovely work on his YouTube channel.  I wanted to share it here.  I think it is so beautiful and one I had never heard before.  His style of playing is so expressive.

The Daughters of Elise
oil on cradled wood 12x16 inch
available here

This one of my more recent paintings.  It was inspired by a vintage photograph of a group of women.  I wrote a poem to go with it, something I have enjoyed doing lately, and I also created a short narrative video as well.   You can click on it to play.  

The Daughters of Elise

Elise had six daughters

All so close in age

She raised them to be strong women

Without a helping man's wage

The oldest had the most beauty

The second the purest of heart

The next three were closely knitted

The youngest the purest of heart

Elise was stoic, but friendly

Tired, but full of peace

And once her daughters were raised and gone

She folded her arms, closed her eyes, and embraced her sweet release

Paintings and Poetry: Mama Had Strength

 

Mama Had Strength
oil on wood
available here

This is my newest painting and it is based on an old photograph from a very large collection a friend gifted me years ago.  I pull them out from time to time to use as inspiration and this one in particular is a new favorite.  The photograph has so much power and I found myself haunted a bit by the souls reflected in the image.  I want to know more about them.  

The inspiration led me to make a "Painting and Poetry" video for my YouTube channel.  Here is the short video with a poem I wrote.  The poem is also called Mama Had Strength.  I hope you enjoy it.

Mama Had Strength 

Her eyes buried deep within their sockets

Dark circles like a trodden path from the footprints of the past

Life had hit hard, and fast, and it was cruel at times

Yet, look at her again

There is a sparkle of joy in her eye, and a slight upturn of her lips

There is power in the grip of the tissue that holds her tears

I know this power because it was witnessed by my brothers and sisters and I

Day after day, night after night

Mama had strength

Winter Sisters and Their Cat

Winter Sisters and Their Cat
oil on cradled board 5 x 5 inch
available here

I actually started this painting last year and then set it aside and forgot about it until I was picking up my studio recently.  I used an old photo dated 1925 of two little girls unknown to me and I've been calling this series "Past People" portraits.  I love painting them because it feels a little like honoring their memory. I find myself wishing I could somehow look through a window and see the real moment these photos were taken, to understand a little more of who they are and where they lived.  

Now that most photos are digital, don't you wonder what will happen to the memory of us once time marches on?  Fewer of our photos will end of up in a box at some antique store, and what about our blogs?  Our facebooks?  Our own computers where all our photos are stored?  The other day I uploaded 3,000 photos!  What will happen to those in 100 years?  It would be interesting to know, wouldn't it?

Until next time!

♥ Lisa

Sketchbook Work and Inspiration

sketchbook work in acrylic
inspired by front porches in Riverside

I have been working in my sketchbooks and lately I am loving houses and noticing especially front porches.  I have seen some lovely spaces that are so inviting.  You just want to take your cup of coffee and book and sit for a spell.

I also am working with vintage photos again and the photo below is a composition using three different photographs as inspiration.

I also have the 5th Finding Faith work planned out. Katie and I just need to work out a convenient time we can do the filming and photo shoot.  Her dress is so pretty.  I can't wait to paint it.  Stay tuned.

sketchbook work - acrylic and watercolor
inspired by vintage photos

See you soon.

♥ Lisa

A Family on Summer Vacation

A Family on Summer Vacation
oil on panel 12 x 9 inch

The vintage photo that inspired this piece  was the same photo I used to paint Mother Daughter in Blue, Brown and White.  Initially my attention was drawn to the woman with the girl on her lap, and as I painted I sort of grew attached to the whole group of people, feeling compelled to paint them as well.

detail

 I am assuming they are family, but I am not sure about that because the photo simply says Grandpa at Long Beach.  It must have been a cool day, as they are dressed in coats and hats in the photo.  I always think of southern California as warm and summery place.  Perhaps on the day these folks were there, it was not...thus the long faces.

detail

The color palette was also blue, brown and white (ultramarine blue, burnt umber and titanium white to be exact).  In the mother daughter painting, I used raw umber rather than burnt umber.  The raw umber makes it more green and the burnt umber is much more warm.  

I wanted to keep things loose, not get too fussy with facial details or any detail for that matter.  I wanted visible scratches and interesting lines too.  It came together in the end, but it was challenging  because of the number of people in it.  

the inspiration
1935 photo reading "grandpa at Long Beach"

I feel as if I know them now.  Isn't that strange?

Have a great rest of the week! 

♥ Lisa

Mother Daughter in Blue, Brown and White & Some Changes in Online Venues

 Mother Daughter in Blue, Brown and White

oil on panel 9 x 12 inch

This was a great study for me.  The limited palette was just what the doctor ordered to push me forward a bit.  I have already started a second, this time with all the people in the vintage photo (see previous post).

 detail

detail

News About Changes

I changed things up a bit on how I sell my art online.   I do not combine my small paintings, works on paper, drawings and art studies with my more refined paintings anymore.  I think my pricing will make more sense this way.  I am now offering the minor works and prints (eventually) on Etsy and my more refined paintings on Big Cartel...those paintings where I set out to do something grand. Now whether or not these paintings are indeed grand is a whole different discussion, but you see my point.  :)
Anyways...the links to both places are in the above tabs at the header, or click here for Etsy and here for Big Cartel if you cannot see the tabs on whatever device/browser you are viewing this with.  I still have work at Tessera Gallery here in Wichita, but those paintings are not listed online anymore. I hope these changes make sense to everyone.  Please let me know if they don't!  

I think that's everything.   Happy rest of the week everyone!

♥ Lisa

What Ultramarine Blue, Raw Umber and White Can Do

detail of WIP

My friend and amazing artist Julie Ford Oliver once told me about the artist Carolyn Plochmann and the beautiful book A Charmed Vision.  I bought the book as soon as Julie told me about it and I have looked at it often, it is one of my favorite art books.  There is a wonderful black and white image in the book called Mother and Child and it inspired me to do a painting with minimal color and interesting lines and strokes.  This has been a great exercise for me because I would like to improve how I paint shading and light, plus I am intrigued about how certain lines and squiggles can add so much to a painting.

The photos of the feet and hands are just details of the 9 x 12 inch piece.  My instructor in the art class that I am taking suggested three colors...a blue, a brown and white and I chose ultramarine blue, raw umber and titanium white.  This morning, as I was working on it, I accidentally used prussian blue and now their faces have a very green hue...oops.  I can fix it!

detail of WIP

         

First layers of 9 x 12

Above is the entire composition after beginning it in art class.  It is much further along now.

Below can you see the source of inspiration?  Is that not the sweetest child?  She looks as if she did not want to take a picture. And mom's hat!...(or is it grandma?).  As I look at this wonderful old photo, I am thinking at some point I would like to paint all the people in it.

the inspiration 

Happy weekend everyone.

♥ Lisa

Adeline and Sue on a Thursday in 1935

Adeline and Sue on a Thursday in 1935

Mixed media on 16 x 20 inch cradled panel
click photos to enlarge

As long as this painting took to do it was sheer joy from beginning to end.  I used an old photo of two women and it was dated October 17, 1935, but that is all. So I looked up October 17, 1935, but I couldn't find anything significant about that date other than it was a Thursday, thus the title.  I wonder what the ladies in the photo were doing posing in front of a house on a Thursday.  Having tea? 

As you can see, I did decide to cover up the open area in her dress, but not entirely.  Thank you for your feedback on that.  It really helped.  I added flowers too.

Their faces are painted in oil.  I love doing faces in oil.

I layered and sanded a lot.  You can see some of the scratches from the sanding.  I like that look...kind of aged.

The work is on a cradled 1 1/2 inch deep panel...what a nice substrate to work on.  They are a bit pricey and take up a lot of space to store, so I won't be using them often. 

The art looks so different everywhere you photograph it.  This will be listed on Etsy tomorrow and then I will take it to gallery to hang on my wall there.  I am allowed to do both, which is nice.

Hope you are having an amazing week!

♥ Lisa

Grandmother's Garden

Grandmother's Garden
mixed media on 24 x 24 inch wood

Not too long ago, a very generous and thoughtful person contacted me and asked me if I would be interested in taking some vintage photos off of her hands.  She said she had quite a collection, but would never be able to use them all and wanted to find good homes for them.  I had no idea I would receive so many and I teared up looking at them...so many past souls...men, women, children, families...and no one knows who they are anymore.  These photos are a treasure and I can't thank this person enough for thinking of me as a recipient.

For those who are interested in the process for this piece, read on...otherwise just skip to bottom of this post to see the photo that inspired this painting.

So about the process...

For this larger painting I wanted to try a combination of all the different techniques that have worked well in the past.  These are techniques that I love and frequently use, but not necessarily all at once.  I wanted to be sure to use all my favorite mediums.

Here is the shopping list:

24 x 24 inch wood 1/4 inch thick (cut by Home Depot)
white gesso - 1 thick coat
acrylic paints
oil paints
matte gel medium
scrapbook papers
acrylic ink
glazing medium
oil pastel
colored pencils
sandpaper
palette knives
flat brushes
detail brushes
sponges

putting it together

The wood was primed with white gesso first and allowed to dry for at least 24 hours. I then painted the entire surface with acrylic just to get the wood covered in color.  I blocked in the buildings, ground, sky, tree and figure, and then started the face, chest and arms also with acrylic paint.  I picked my basic color theme ahead of time.  It changed some as the painting progressed, but stayed pretty close to how it started out.

I cut long strips of paper for the buildings...the shed papers being skinnier than the house papers.  I also designed her dress with various papers.   I had to use tracing paper to help me get the size of her dress correct (lay tracing paper over the figure, draw the dress onto the tracing paper, cut it out and then use that shape to help you cut the scrapbook paper).  There may be an easier way, but this is all I know.

 All of this...buildings and  her dress were laid out while the board was flat.  This way I could stand over it and decide if the composition worked or not before gluing it down.

Just FYI:  Did you know that there are copyright laws for scrapbook paper?  The papers I use in my art come from large pads manufactured by Michael's Arts and Crafts and Hobby Lobby.  I checked with them a long time ago and they said that their paper is okay to use in art that will be sold...but you can't reproduce the paper to sell.  However, a lot of the singular sheets and other books of paper you buy have a copyright and you cannot use those in art that you sell unless they give you permission.

detail

Back to the painting...over time I have decided that painting faces with oil is easiest because it can be blended so smoothly.  Plus I just love the way it looks...so soft.  Her face, neck, chest and arms are all finished in oil, but underneath is acrylic.  Her hair is in oil too.  I smeared in on with a palette knife and then slice into it creating a more stranded look.  Her hair bows are in oil also...those were the very last thing I added.

detail

The grass is layers and layers and layers of acrylic paint and I had to get it right before the big white flowers were added.  Again, the shed is cut strips of paper.  I glazed over the buildings with a sheer earthy orange-brown.  The roof of the shed was painted and sanded, painted and sanded.  Sanding is a great way to add light to an area.  I also painted the table and chairs and added a few dots of different greens to make it look like a vine...keeping it very simple.

detail

I lucked out with the paper for the house...it is a wood grain pattern and as I laid glazes over it, it looked more and more like wood.  I kept spaces in between the strips of paper and this really added depth to the house.  When I first put the strips down, I put them against each other, but it didn't look right.  That's why you want to check your composition before gluing down the paper.  It takes time to get it to look right.  (I used the gel medium as my glue.) The windows are painted, there is no cut paper there.  

detail

The most tedious part was cutting all these little leaves with an X-ACTO knife and then gluing them down.  I was going to paint the leaves, but the cut paper leaves seem to add to the depth and tie in with the buildings really well, giving the whole work a new cohesiveness.  I went over and over these little papers with the matte gel medium and also transparent green glazes so those little pieces won't come off.

detail

I rubbed a thin layer of brown acrylic ink over her dress which gave it an antique look.  This is one of my favorite things to do to my art.  I learned this trick from Jane Spakowsky's class two years ago and I use it often.

The hardest part of this whole painting were those darn white flowers.  I have so much trouble painting flowers that look good.  I was finally happy with them after tracing the acrylic petals with oil pastel and going over stems and leaves with colored pencil.  That seem to do the trick by adding light to good places, but let me tell you they were tough to do because once they were down, it was a commitment since the rest of the painting was already finished. I think my heart skipped some beats prior to making that first mark of the petal...I was so afraid of ruining what was already done!

Thankfully it all worked out!

the muse

And here she is...the soul that inspired this piece.  Isn't that the sweetest smile?  I wonder who she was and where she is here and who took her picture.  Don't you?

More photo-inspired paintings to come.

♥ Lisa

PS:  Vic and I are celebrating 24 years of marriage today!