Art for the Mantle, Art for the Season

Springtime calls for a new, fresh look. The winter canvas headed to the basement, and I created a bright design to match my goofy little banner. These colours are so fresh and cheerful. Reminds me of what is to come, once the tulips start poking through the ground, and the buds on the apple tree in our yard burst open.

I love spring. I love winter. I love all the seasons. Life is what you make of it.

"Come with me into the woods where spring is. advancing, as it does, no matter what, not being singular or particular, but one. of the forever gifts, and certainly visible." - Mary Oliver

xo
Lis

FURTHER READING

Art looks like many different things in my life. I have collected all of my art-related posts under one tag, which you can access here.

One of my favourite themes that I keep coming back to is what I call "Big Messy Flowers." This restyled vintage record stand is one of the favourite favourites.

Painting Details

• Canvas measures 27 inches square
• Assorted acrylic paints
• "Neocolour" watersoluble pastels by Caran D'Ache
• Stencils by Balzer Designs (Crafter's Workshop)

Big Messy Flowers + Vintage Vinyl Stand

There is nothing quite like finishing a fun project and then waiting 6 months to blog about it...

I received this perfectly beautiful vintage vinyl stand from my friend Erika (cause she knows I like old things + records), but the top was kind of un-useable for like putting things on and stuff.

So I had my trusty carpenter BFF cut a top to fit. We attached it to the metal brackets on the shelf using some other brackets and screws underneath. And then I had a top. But that wasn't where my plan ended...

...obviously, or else that would be a really boring blog post.

I mean, the actual blog post resulting from this project is going to be borderline boring, but here we are. Can't split hairs anymore. Gotta just roll with it.

Here we go!

(My living room has been re-arranged 2-3 times since these photos were taken...I have a problem...)

I'm not a fan of sharing my (failed) DIY projects on the blog anymore, but I think this counts more as sharing my art, which I am definitely a fan of!

xo

p.s. For a laugh, try searching the DIY label on the right there. Ugh, what was I even thinking?!

Impostor Syndrome

I am jealous of the artist who doesn't feel like they are an impostor. Cause I sure as hell do.

But I'm working on it. Sloooooowly....

The panels below are from last month. They are in varying states of completion.

I haven't really pushed myself to create art, and I think that really needs to change if I am going to make the most of this. I'm getting too old to wait.

Hey, thanks for sticking around this year. I hope to have a couple of year-end-style posts up over the next couple of weeks.

How the fuck is it December 22 already?!

xo

p.s. I have been spelling impostor wrong my whole damn life. Thank you red squiggly line for correcting my shameful ways.

SO...I painted this painting see...

It's my first "commissioned" piece, and I am really proud with how it turned out. BFF gave me a general idea of what he wanted to see - PBR being poured on a buy riding a penny farthing holding an umbrella - and I took it from there. I have grown a lot as an artist in my life, and I am still finding my voice and my style, and I am always learning and improving and practicing...and for that I am even more grateful.

I'm not sure what my favourite part is, the beer can or the hand! I have previously really sucked at drawing and painting hands...but this looks like a real hand!! I was actually very relaxed, and very excited to work on this. I knew I was going to have a happy customer no matter what, and it was so liberating to create without that pressure. So much so, that I found I wasn't even putting undue pressure on myself. I had a vision, and I executed it, and for all the artists out there, you know how hard that can be sometimes.

When it was all finished, I asked Lucas what he thought. And as he looked closer at it, he smiled and said: "That beer can looks just like the beers you drink! Mom, you're a real artist!"

And Dan really loves it. But he's an easy audience to please.

Success, all across the board. Perhaps I need to keep working on this "painting thing"...tee hee!

Lisa

Just what I needed

I was busy last weekend...Enjoy!

Inspired by Kal Barteski and Alisa Burke.

later loves

Paint and Paper

I have been playing lately and crossing off a goal from my May list.

The previous two photos show the covers, front, back & insides.

I don't use any special foot or technique when I do machine stitching on my paper. I keep it on the same settings no matter what I sew, and unless the paper is getting ripped I just push on through.

The previous three images show details of some of the pages.

I have LOADS more that I could share, but that's probably good for now. Here's some of the specifics, for those of you who are interested.

Binding // hand-stitched with embroidery floss
Pages // embossed cardstock (gessoed, then painted), patterned paper, sewn back-to-back
Wet Media // gesso, spray ink that I apply with a paintbrush cause none of the sprayers work anymore...poot
Pens // Sharpie, Pigma Micron (now those are sweet pens...)
Other Crap // various ribbons & papers from my stash, hand-stitching with more embroidery floss, machine stitching,  words cut out from an old issue of Vue Weekly.

Text // You will see a lot of song lyrics in my art journals. Sometimes it represents the music I was listening to when I made the page. And some represent a song that is stuck in my head, usually because the words are completely relevant to something I am trying to work through and work out in my journal. I also include my own words, but I didn't feel like sharing those this time!

It's not quite finished, but it's finished enough. And that's enough. It's not my best or most favourite art-journal-mini I have ever made, but I enjoyed it, and that's definitely enough.
later loves

Long Weekend!

Long weekends are good for getting shit done and lazing around. If you can get in a little of each, you've had a good weekend.

We went to the park.

We hung out on the front step. Pulled out some lawn chairs. And painted. And played iPad. And went to the mall (I hate the mall). And got a slush. And ate dinner outside. And ate dinner out. And wandered through my dream neighbourhood. And smelled the lilacs and May Day trees. And had great conversation (me, me, me, me). And dug in the dirt (me again). And did some laundry. And played with the neighbours. And cleaned the house! And then made it messy again! And played Wii. And bought new shoes (not me!) And had a time out. And vacuumed. And sorted Lego. And texted BFF. And trolled Instragram. And blogged. And made art. And got a sun tan. And ate some BBQ. And hung out with family. And played in a giant sandbox. And went for a couple of runs (me...still loving it.)

It was a good long weekend. Hell, it was an awesome long weekend.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! It's here at last! Let's make the most of it....

later loves

I'll Paint Anything

Like Rocks, for example. I pocketed some on my walk home from the mall a couple of Sundays ago, and Dude & I got to work.

My favourites...

I also "borrowed" some a neighbour's alley pile. That he probably paid for. Oh well...they look even better with blue polka dots!

later loves

Making Me Happy

I was feeling kind of crummy last Saturday. I spent all day cleaning, and got a lot accomplished, but also felt like I was kind of going in circles. By the end of the day I was very tired and very grumpy. Like, "texting f-bombs" grumpy.

So I did a little painting & sketching, and I felt way better. Like a completely different person. And it took BFF telling me he was glad I was painting, and then pointing it out to me to recognize that painting makes me happy...thanks friend.

I thought I would share some of my recent happy thoughts...

And this is what I was working on at the end of my crap day...Hi Nadine.

So many things bringing me bliss...

later loves

p.s. Many thanks to my Instagram followers for loving these first!