New Painting: Thaw

 Thaw

A new painting about opening up to change, to opportunity, and glorious new beginnings.

I'd say that's pretty spot on for our life right now....what is keeping us going is holding on to our vision of the life that we will build in Charleston and all of the new beginnings that this adventure holds.

Today the packers will come to pack everything that we have not packed already, and then they come tomorrow to move everything out. We are living out of suitcases, and then yesterday someone stole Frank phone and wallet out of his studio, which is going to make these last two days so much more complicated as now he'll be running around replacing and canceling everything that was in there!

Feels like we are being cracked open to the core of who we are in these last few days, but the biggest thing that I have been feeling is the love for all of my dear friends here. That is the biggest thing,
Love.

Lightness

Lightness

I've been working with an interior designer lately, she found me after feeling a real response to my work after seeing it featured on the cover of our church's Advent season bulletin back in the winter. Its interesting the way connections are made. She has started directing clients to my website, where they look for pieces that will go with their decor that the designer is working on. Recently, one of her clients purchased this painting, Lightness. Its a large piece that I did a few years ago, actually right before I became pregnant for the first time.

I was feeling light and joyful, but also hesitant and a little afraid of what the journey towards parenthood would hold.

As I am in another place of uncertainty, with our move looming, right now I see lots of things that I still relate to in this piece.

Overall there is a positive, buoyant energy that really speaks to me!

This one is new to my shop, I've just made prints available right here.

Additionally, with our big show around the corner, only one week away, I have been having lots of inquiries from people wanting to buy my originals. I have just updated my website, and in the painting gallery section there you will find all of my pieces that are available. If you are interested in a particular piece please let me know as soon as possible, so that I can set it aside for you before our big show. I sell originals by request as a custom listing in my Etsy shop.

xo

New Postcard Sets

Thank you so much for all of your wonderfully supportive comments on my last two posts about our planned move! Your affirmations and responses are so special to me! Amidst all the goings on here I managed to list a few new things in my shop...

I'm crazy about these new postcard sets, they are the same great quality as my original postcard sets, but this time I thought I'd shake things up and offer them in themes, all in sets of six. There is the Deer Set that you see above (with a few wild horses thrown in!). And the Lotus Set,

and the Bird Set,

I don't think I can pick a favorite set, as I had so much fun choosing which images to use in each one, but all are perfect for saving, framing or sharing.

Did you all enjoy 1/11/11 yesterday? There was a moment when I looked at the digital clock in our bathroom and it read 11:11, and that felt very special.

Also, if you have not seen this short documentary about the man behind the amazing blog The Sartorialist, you must go watch it now, it is fantastic and inspiring!

Winged Blessings

 As I've mentioned over the past few weeks, I have been working on a series of small turquoise paintings, and if you've been following along you got a sneak peak at some of them in my turquoise postcard set that I released a couple of weeks ago.

 A group of them developed into what I am calling my Winged Blessings series, they grew out of my longstanding desire to work again with the blooming lotus flower from my painting Blessing along with the ache that I've been feeling to work quickly on a few paintings. 

The thrill that I feel while I am working quickly and able to finish a painting within a day (or two) is like no other, the pieces that develop feel fated, like each element was meant to be just how they turn out. Since there is no time to "over think" those quick pieces I feel that they get me out of my head, so they become an exercise that I like to turn to when I have been putting in long hours in the studio, which I have been doing lately as I'm getting ready for a solo show coming up in December.

Winged Blessing {rising sun}

When I spend hours in the studio painting time passes quickly as I find myself in a waking dream state, painting as my mind wanders down well worn mental roads, even while also staying focused on the task that my hands are completing. The energy of these waking dreams infuse all of my work, I think of it sometimes as the place in which I feel fully whole, in which everything makes sense, in which I can do my most clear thinking, and understanding. With this series, as I painted, my mind was focused on thinking of sending blessings, sending joy, wanting these Winged Blessings to carry magical wishes to the recipient. With wishes on their wings they remind you that you are brave, passionate, vibrant and beautifully alive, and that...

Winged Blessing {sunset}

Your dreams are always worth pursuing!

 Winged Blessing {golden glow}

I love the hope that I see in them, and I already have one sitting in my little personal alter on the window sill in my studio. 

These are the first of a group of originals that I am planning to add to my shop over the coming Holiday Season. You can find them here, here and here.

Another thing that I love about working on small pieces quickly is that I am able to offer them priced very reasonably, that makes me so happy since I love for my originals to go out into the world!

Wishing you deep joy and deep peace on the glorious weekend.

xo

[Painting of the Week] Premonition

Premonition

I am stepping lightly with myself right now, we are sifting through the heaviness of loosing our friend last week, along with the departure of dear friends of ours who are moving to New Mexico this week. Goodbyes are so hard for me!
What has been a great blessing through all of it is that I have felt God's closeness so much in the past few days, especially at our friend's memorial which was stunning...an amazing testament to God's glory and to a beautiful creative life. Our friend was a musician, and I plan to share the lyrics to one of his songs here this week. He was richly talented.

Today I give you Premonition, another in my series of my favorite paintings that I've made over the past few years. This one is about a feeling that I have had many times, of knowing that something was "off", it is usually only the shadow of a feeling that I can chose to recognize, or to ignore. There is always a moment of choice with it.
This is one of my large paintings, the actual piece is body sized, 5 feet long by 4 feet high. When I worked in our warehouse studio I enjoyed working in that size to express a feeling, there is something about the way that your body responds to a human sized painting in person that is physically satisfying to me and I find that it effects the viewer in a different way than smaller more intimate pieces. I also love the way that I feel physically when I am painting this large. I enjoy working small so much in my little home studio these days, but I do look forward to time when I can work large again!

Wishing you a glorious start to your week!

[Painting of the Week] Harmony of the Microcosm

Harmony of the Microcosm

Today my Painting of the Week is one from a whole series of Lotus paintings that I did a few years ago. I had such fun painting the floating Lotus form here that repeats throughout the series. It seems almost to move as it becomes a character within the environment of the piece. As I painted this one I was thinking about small parts within a whole, a microcosm, and how everything in our world is interrelated from the smallest particle. Each small part is important to the whole and relates with its own symmetry and beauty. I had so much fun painting these Lotuses, each petal blending into the next, becoming a whole within the energy of the mark. You'll see more from my Lotus series in the coming weeks.
Prints are here.

Happy Monday!

Magnets

In the past couple of days things have been coming in the mail around here that have made it feel a little like Christmas all over again. I have a few surprise updates for my shop coming in that I'm just loving. Oh the delicious excitement of opening boxes full of anticipation and things long awaited!
The first that I want to share with you are these new sweet magnets.



They are 2 by 2 inches square, the perfect magnet size if you think about these things...really not too big as to overwhelm what it is holding, but big enough to hold it well.
I'm just so super pleased with how they turned out. It's wonderful how magnets can make my day isn't it?
Available as a set of three, or each on their own, here in my shop.


P.S. My note card set is featured this weekend in a very cute treasury on Etsy, worth checking out if you love paper products and stationary as much as I do!

Lotus Blooming

We have come to one of my favorite blooming seasons of the year...lotus flower blooming! We are fortunate to live close to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and have been taking advantage of this urban oasis for years. All summer long the garden stays open late on Wednesday evenings for members only, so we take the kids, eat dinner and let them run around at dusk. Usually there are only a handful of other people there and it feels like our own HUGE private garden (with lots of rabbits running around). As you can see I took a ton of pictures of the lotuses, they were breathtaking. These are images that I will mine all year in my paintings, especially in the long winter months when my eyes are starved for natural beauty and detail. I'm storing it up for the winter already!





Another thing that makes the Brooklyn Botanic Garden our special place is that we got married there! Seven whole years ago. In that beautiful glass conservatory just behind Frank, which also happens to be just next to...the lotus and waterlily ponds!