Always Cold

Always Cold
oil on 5 x 7" paper - mounted to mat board
SOLD

This is true today.  Right now it's 16 degrees.  Many others in the USA know this same pain.  Ah, but fear not...it will warm up.  It always does.

A huge thank you for your wonderful comments about my news of gallery representation. I am still on cloud 9 about all the wonderful friends and opportunities this could bring.

However, I want to be quiet now and to say no more...I truly want to come see your blogs...so here I come.

♥ Lisa

Lisa Graham Art 2013: a Video

Lisa Graham Art 2013

slideshow video (enlarge in lower right hand corner for better viewing)

This is what I spent a good portion of my weekend putting together.  It was fun to do, but not easy (for me anyways)...and it was very hard to choose the music for the video.  The choices are a bit limited on YouTube...you won't find names like The Beatles or Led Zeppelin, but I was thrilled when I found My Time by Mackintosh Braun.  It is a song I have shared before here on the blog.  I was going to choose a Chopin etude (that is what my son KC said I should have done), but it didn't have the funky thing going...which I think is what my art calls for at this point and time.  :)

I hope you like the video.  I took the time to put the titles on the pieces to make it more enjoyable for you.

Happy Monday and thanks for all your support friends!

♥ 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?

Rosa

Rosa
9 x 12" acrylic and gold leaf on canvas paper
mounted to panel
available on Etsy

One evening I was looking at an art book on Balthus (thank you Lynne Hoppe for telling me about him) and I saw this image.  I really wanted to try painting a figure in a very open space and this was the result. It was tempting to keep adding layers, but there was something so pleasing about her face I was afraid to go on...afraid to ruin it.

Rosa
scanned version

This was a difficult one to photograph...all the dark colors seem to just pull in light which made the background look brighter and more blotchy than it actually is.  I was able to capture the truest color by scanning it, but our scanner is not large enough to get the entire painting, plus scanning made her face more blurry. 

And did you know that "Rosa" means pink in Italian?  I am half Italian...my great grandparents were from Sicily, so this interests me. 

Hope all is well with you.  See you soon!  

Table For One

Table for One
9 x 12 inch mixed media on birch panel
available on Etsy

This was painted in October after a discussion with someone who lost her husband years ago when he was only in his 50's.  She would not mind my telling you that she has never gotten over that loss, and  now that she is 87, seeing him again is all she can think about.  As I painted this I thought of how many have gone through this and that this is also what divorce looks like...because divorce is like death for many.  These are bleak thoughts I know, but they are a reality of the world we live in.

detail of Table for One

I don't wish to spread a spirit of gloom, so let me point out that the chair next to her is empty...which leaves plenty of room for possibility. 

detail of Table for One

Hope prevails...always. 

Meridian Fields...the Finished Painting Revealed

detail of Meridian Fields while in progress

I am not sure if you remember this image or not...it was a WIP from several posts ago...an oil and cold wax painting.

It is finished now.  It seems to be taking forever to dry...I think it is because of the cold wax.  I can scratch paint off of it rather easily with my fingernail.  I have had to touch up the green grass three times to cover up my scratch marks.

Meridian Fields
oil and cold wax
on 9 x 12 inch gessoed panel
available here

It was inspired by this photo that I took close to home.  The lighting at sunset earlier this fall made these fields glow so beautifully.  

Kansas field
Lisa Graham

Below is some music to go with the art...Eva Cassidy's version of Fields of Gold.

It's a beautiful song that was originally written and performed by Sting.

Have a great start to your week!

♥ Lisa

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