Heading in an Abstract Direction

This year has brought a big shift in my paintings, its a shift that I have felt the undercurrents of for a while, and really feels like a natural transition in my style. Specifically I am finding myself letting go of much of the botanical imagery in my work, in favor of a more abstract space in which geometric forms have come to take the place of the birds and flowers that once inhabited it.

 After coming out of 2012 and 2013 when I had an infant again and was figuring out how to parent 3 kids, 2014 has felt expansive in the studio. Like I'm stretching my arms after a long nap, then standing up and ideas are just pouring out of me. The studio has always been my "happy place", so moving into my first studio space outside of our home since having kiddos (10 years ago!) and now getting into a weekly rhythm of being able to work in my studio alone, has felt deeply luxurious. It has really felt like a year of coming back to myself and my work, that kicked off back in January with my trip to Bali.

I still love and feel drawn to my floating lotuses (don't expect them to fully leave), but now I have begun to feel the work becoming more about pattern and geometric abstraction. Having worked in studio spaces within our home for so many years, for practical reasons I simply could not paint in the free-washy-splashy-way that I had loved exploring when I could make a big mess in my studio! Now I am loving the freedom to drip and run paint everywhere again, and within those layers to explore a wide variety of mark making. I am specifically drawn to the triangle and am enjoying playing with its many variations in layers upon layers of paint. 

 The triangle has so many beautiful analogies, symbolizing the trinity in religious tradition, as well as the relationship in a marriage between man-woman-god which is one of my personal favorites. Also, having three children I love the symbology of the three sided shape....its just come to hold so much for me.

The layers of color and texture that my work has always been about, seem like they are speaking louder now. When I began to allow myself to let go of the botanical images I felt a lightness in the work, that's how I always know I'm on the right track with something, I feel a lightness inside. My work is really about allowing myself to follow my heart, and part of that is being honest with myself about where my interest lies now.

These pieces are feeling so energetic and vital to me, I just can't help but be excited about this direction. Its not without irony that I was looking through old images recently and realized that this new abstract work is really picking up a dialogue with paintings that I was making back in the early 2000's. Its almost as if I had just stepped away for a bit but now am right back in it and it feels very energized and free. Like with so many things in life, I feel like I have completed a circle, I'm back to one of those places that I have known before but seeing it now through the new eyes of 10 more years of experience.

I can't wait to see where this new direction leads me!

Mini Mandala Painting Flash Sale Tomorrow!

When I was up in New Hampshire a couple of weeks ago visiting my friend Em, we not only offered a dreamy mandala painting workshop, we also used our collaborative energy to create this yummy series of 18 mini mandala paintings. I couldn't love each of them more!!!! They felt so special as we really got our creativity flowing while creating them and each of them has a little bit of each of us!

We are planning a flash sale tomorrow of all 18 paintings, to kick off our new shared Instagram account called inourelement (In Our Element) that's the name that we are using for our retreats and collaborative offerings. We hope you'll join us over there where we'll share information about our plans, gatherings, upcoming retreats, as well as pop up sales, art and inspiration. You can click right here to check it out.

I'm really excited about it all....and here are a few of my favorite mini mandala paintings that we'll be offering tomorrow. The sale starts at noon, EST. We'll post all 18 paintings over on Inourelement on IG, if you aren't familiar with the IG pop-up shop format all you need to do to buy a piece is be the first to leave your Paypal email address in the comment section of the painting you want. Then we'll send you a Paypal invoice directly, easy easy! xo

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

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

Turquoise Postcards

I am love love loving these new postcards that just came in! Its a serious Turquoise fiesta.

My favorite color, in a series of 5 paintings that I've been working on for the past month. This set of postcards is now available in my shop here, and I'm excited to share more about these new paintings soon. 

The bottom three, with the lotus and the butterfly, are part of my new Winged Blessings series, and the other two are part of a series that I am working on about Journeys.

I think that they all fit together so nicely!

Thanks so much for your enthusiasm about our Disney trip, it was such a great time with our kids and my in-laws, perfect for family reunions. The one big thing that I have learned after going for three years now is to pace your self and take days off to just sit by the pool. Disney can be exhausting, probably because it is so much fun!

Feeling, Holding, Waiting

Feeling, Holding, Waiting; acrylic on canvas

Yesterday was a very productive studio day for me, and I was able to put the finishing touches on a couple of paintings, including this little one that I worked on through out the summer, but it just did not feel resolved until yesterday. The details finally came together, and this post really is about details.

Thank you so much friends for your response to my interview over at Dana's blog. I see that the question,"How do you get your creative work done when you are responsible for a home and for kids?", deeply resonates with so many of us, and just hearing how we all make it work in our own way is like getting a resounding "Yes" from the universe! Yes, it is possible, look we are doing it and see all of the goodness that is spreading through our making time for the work that we need to make!

In my thinking and journaling about this topic there is something else that I only really touched on in the interview but I think that it needs more attention.
One of my biggest hurdles to getting my work done
 is that it is easier for me to see the interruptions and the care-giving as obstacles, harder for me to remember that these "obstacles" are my life. But sometimes, when my mind and heart have the right focus I see that the interruptions ARE what drives me.
I remember that these things that are happening around me are the art, this is what I am painting about, those bath times, playground times, meal times, story times...they are all adding up to relationships that are so full and rich that they teach me more about love and joy than I could ever learn another way. They are the meat of my life. The heart of everything lies right there, right now.
What if our creative life and our practical life aren't separate?

I am trying not to separate my art and my life, and the integration is hard, and the rewards are boundless.
I just know that I can not put off making my art until everything is perfect, when there are no interruptions, it is too easy to put it off and think that, "I'll get back to this at a better time."
There is no better time.
And so, I do the work to be present in the "now", to notice the details and develop a practice of mindfulness because it is the little things, swirling around me as I work, that hold immense inspiration.

Everything is Beautiful

Everything is Beautiful, acrylic and pencil on canvas

Now that we are almost through the first full week, of our first school year, I can truly say that school is exhausting, for all of us! Just getting Jasper to Kindergarten in the mornings dressed and well fed is a whirlwind, but he loves his school so far and I feel blessed knowing that he is excited to be where he is right now.

With the new time that I am having in the studio I have finally been able to focus on the new season ahead. I have lots of exciting things in store, including a huge shop update that I am working on, plans for the holiday shop season (already!) and a fabulous interview that I just finished. I'll post more on that soon!
I also can't wait to try this, creating a font out of your own handwriting, how fun! I'm hoping to work that into some projects for the holiday season as I am teaching myself a little photoshop, really just in baby steps. Other things that I've been loving in the studio lately are this song (the whole album is great!) and this interview.

Frank and I are getting prints and paintings ready for the Gowanus Open Studio tour and, after doing a lot of research, we splurged on a new printer for our art prints! We are loving this new toy, Epson Stylus Photo R1900 Large Format Photo Printer (C11C698201). With the new quality in the prints that I am making, I am also planning to raise the prices in my shop. 

I'll be raising the prices right away but since I love all of you, my lovely blog readers, so much I'm creating a special code....you can still have the old price of $20 on prints by entering "Everything is Beautiful" at checkout. I'll refund the difference to your Paypal account, simple. This code will be good through the rest of September, so please feel free to take advantage of it until October 1st.

We had some wild fall weather yesterday evening as a tornado touched down in our neighborhood of Brooklyn, a very surprising and unusual weather event. We were indoors and watched it all out of our windows, it was something very surreal. There was no damage on our block, but in the surrounding area many trees were taken down from the roots up, crushing lots of cars and breaking shop windows and signs. I am humbled this morning by nature's power.

I'm adding prints of this painting Everything is Beautiful (one of my favorites, as I painted it for my boy on his 3rd birthday, almost 3 years ago!) to my shop for the first time today, right here.

The excitement of fall is truly in the air.

xo

[Painting of the Week] Cascade

Cascade, mixed media on canvas

This piece is about how I feel when I'm full to brimming with emotion, with energy, with ideas...all buzzing around in my heart and in my head creating an overflow,

a Cascade.
We have spent the past week exploring beautiful Cornwall, the south west peninsula of England, where we stayed in a cottage on a farm. It has been breath-taking and overwhelming for the senses, just fantastic.
I can't wait to share photos of all that beauty here. I think I'll have a moment to sit in quiet tonight at my brother's house and process it all. 
More England... coming soon.

[Painting of the Week] Inflorescence

Inflorescence, 4 by 5 feet, oil and mixed media on canvas

Here is another of my all time favorite pieces, this is one of my larger works that I made in a series all of this same size, about 10 years ago...time flies!

I wanted to share this painting with you during our time in England, while we are visiting gardens and manor homes, as there is a lush overgrown garden feeling to this one, and the black stenciled vine reminds me of the wrought iron fences and gates that I have seen so often here. I wanted this painting to feel like something broken down, old and faded but still quite beautiful. 

Right at the center of the piece there is a swarm of dragonflies making their way through the flowers, I imagine them darting to and fro.

Before we moved into our house in Brooklyn with a backyard, after years of apartment living, I often felt that I directed my yearning to garden into my paintings, which this one really bears evidence of. The huge garden in my mind, wild and free!

*My work was just featured in this gorgeous Etsy treasury, each piece is very feminine with a slightly moody, nostalgic edge.

[Painting of the Week] Waking

Waking

Waking as if from a dream, through winter and into spring.
This painting is about the waking up of the senses, the body and the mind during springtime. It is about the way that even the buds on the plants almost seem to laugh at that time of year!  Everything is so new, so fresh.
At about this time in summer I often tend to have amnesia about how much I longed for the warmth during wintertime, and I get annoyed with summer for getting me all hot and bothered. This painting reminds be to enjoy each moment for the beauty that it holds.
Prints of this painting are now available here.

Happy Monday, and happy August (how is it August??)!

[Painting of the Week] Dawn

Dawn

Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of the twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the presence of weak sunlight, while the sun itself is still below the horizon.

Here is another of my favorites from the past few years, and one that is very close to my heart. I made this painting when I was newly pregnant for the first time, 7 years ago this month. I was so full of hope, excitement and joy, but also hesitant, fearful and really struggling with embracing the unknown.

I still see all of that in this piece.

Sending you rich blessings for this Monday!

[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!

Paintings of the Week

Spore Hill

I'm starting a new summer tradition.
Every Monday until September I will be uploading one of my favorite paintings that I've made in the past few years. I'm calling this my [Painting of the Week], and each of them is special in a different way. With some of them I'll share a bit of the history of the piece and what I was thinking about when I made the painting. These will all be paintings that are new to my shop, and perhaps new to you as well. I'm super excited about sharing them, and making them as prints.

So, I'm beginning this series today with Spore Hill, a piece that was inspired when I was looking at some photographs of cactus flowers, and began imagining them as whole colony. This is a playful piece to me, I love the simplicity of this one and the little pops of color. It just makes me happy! I imagine each spore just slowly beginning to float away on the soft wind.
Prints are available here.

More Paintings of the week...
Harmony of the Microcosm
Premonition
Dawn
Waking
Taking Flight
Nest
Inflorescence
Cascade
Feeling, Holding, Waiting
New Light
Through the Darkness
Union
Angel
Unfurling

Milestone and a Sale!

Meditation

On Monday I made the 100th sale in my Etsy shop! Yeay! This was a goal that I had set for 2010, and having made it there in May really makes me happy, and it is less than a year since I started selling my prints on Etsy! To share my joy with you I am having my very first Etsy shop sale!
From today through next Wednesday, I will be offering a buy one get one free sale on all of my $20 prints. Yes, buy one and I'll send you another print of your choice for free, just let me know what you'd like your second print to be at check-out.
I am also really excited to put prints of my painting Meditation up in my shop today for the first time. This is one of my all time favorite paintings, it has a prominent spot on our kitchen wall. I know I've mentioned it on the blog before and included it in this post about our home. There is something about the layers of this painting that I can get lost in, there is a depth and sort of a wild, fiery life to it.

I also wanted to let you know that my paintings have recently been featured in a few really wonderful Etsy treasuries full of lovely work, you can check them out here:
In Full Bloom
Spring Frost
Lotus Flower Blessing
Shamaness Enchantment

Enjoy!

Horizon

Horizon

I have always been drawn to Horizons. That point of intersection between the earth, sky and sea holds so much allure. There are the emotional and mental sort of horizons as well, when you can just feel something coming close...a breakthrough, or breakdown. You can catch glimpses of what's approaching, and gain insights into the bigger picture.
Inspired by Asian landscapes, enchantment and mystery this painting is about the possibility that Horizons hold.

I just added this new original painting to my shop, prints will be available soon.

Thicket

Thicket

Can you feel it, the spring energy, its there...even if maybe right now it is all just in my head and in my body.
Yes, I'm dreaming of the smell of the earth, of a thick, dense growth of shrubs and flowers.
I am ready and waiting.

Prints of this new painting are in the shop today.

Deep Ocean

Deep Ocean

::The heart is deeper than any ocean, wider than any sea::

Today its a snow day here in NYC, the flakes are coming down thick and the city has pretty much called everything off...people are walking down the middle of the streets, pulling kids on sleds, and everyone is in a jubilant mood.
I think that we'll spend this afternoon building a snow fort in our backyard, then coming inside to get cozy.
I'm leaving you with another new painting, Deep Ocean...a piece about probing the layers and depths within our own hearts.
Its over in the shop now.
Happy Snow Day!

Haven

Haven

::Your heart is my haven, between mountain and sea::

A sweet new painting inspired by origami paper and thoughts on love. Here are those little birds again, I am really loving them, I think I'd hug them if I could!
They have found a soft landing here, a safe haven.
This print is new in the shop today.
Happy weekending!

Little hands

Here, in my journal I traced their little hands. Then, I filled the outlines in with little circles in the colors that are their favorites...one such a boy, the other all girl.
I will need these little colored hands, you see, because I am going away for a few days. For the first time. Without my children.
Wow.
I feel very dramatic about it, but also thrilled. A long time ago I used to love to travel alone, but my wheels are rusty...won't that make it an even bigger adventure?! I am flying tomorrow to Los Angeles to visit a dear friend for 5 days where we will bike at the beach, watch the sunset, eat long brunches and generally laugh a lot.
While I'll be checking in here from over on the west coast, I wanted to leave you with a brand new painting that seemed to just happen while I was playing the other night in the studio...

Love Letters

These sweet little birds have been popping up in my most recent paintings and I am loving their energy.
OK, now I've got to run and go make some "love letters" of my own, for my little ones to open every morning that I am away...wish me luck!