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

They Call it Connection Cafe

They Call it Connection Cafe
mixed media on canvas 20 x 20 inch

This painting is one of my newest and was inspired by those wonderful one-on-one chats that we have with friends or family...those soulful talks that leave an impression.  I'm sure we've all had them, both men and women and I find myself rather grateful for them.

 I am happy to announce this work was recently accepted into the Arts Council Annual Juried Art Show at City Arts here in Wichita, Kansas. You can read about the show here if you are interested.  The opening is tomorrow night and I plan to be there.

This is special because this is my first time entering a juried show and I am so honored to be in the mix of a lot of really talented artists.

Hope you're weekend to come is a great one.  Thanks as always for following my art.

Sophie and Samantha

Sophie and Samantha
mixed media on paper mounted to board
16 x 20 inch
available here

This painting has been in the works for a while.  Today as I worked on it in my art class, I decided to call it done.  Halting screech...DONE.  I feel very ready to work on something else.

I should tell you about the funny story that inspired it...of the two girls playing in their yard...one jumping up and down on the roof of a car with sounds of the metal giving beneath her feet with each jump...and her sweet little voice yelling across the street at me and my dog as we walked by "HI!"...and her presumably older sister shushing her and telling her not to talk to strangers...Mom said not to talk to strangers.

 I saw these same two girls weeks later playing with balls...both girls in dresses with up-do hair.  And it was at that point I decided to paint them.

Adorable impressions left in my mind.  

The Arkansas River on a very quiet day

Leaving you with this image.  We just need a pair of doves sitting on the lower wire, don't you agree?

Wishing you all peace today.

Inspiration of Sia's Song

Inspiration of Sia's Song
mixed media on canvas 12 x 12"

Some time last year my son sent me a link to a video he said I would probably like.  It was the music video to Sia's hit song called Chandelier, and I had never heard of neither singer nor song, being the "not-so-with-it" middle aged woman that I am.  For those younger ones reading, this will be old news to you.

Anyway, the video stars a young dancer by the name of Maddie Ziegler and in it she sports a platinum blonde wig which we assume represents Sia as herself.  It is filmed in a barren home of some sort and the young girl dances and flips about in a bizarre fashion all over the place.  What struck me most about the video was the fact that she was only 11 years old and could dance like she was 20.  I was emotionally moved watching her, and all of America must have felt the same because she was invited to perform her dance on The Ellen Show along with Sia.

Fast forward months later, I began thinking about the video once again and this painting was born.   And thanks to my son, I am a fan of Sia now too.  

Here's the video if you are interested.  It's worth watching if you appreciate dance and also popular music.