New Year, New Work

Yup, been quite a while since we've had fresh images on here. Yet I have been painting up a storm (well, considering the holidays, and all). I began this batch of paintings just before Thanksgiving. All seen in progress, but some are in the home stretch. Still have a couple more canvases to begin, and then it'll be back to the store for more. Hope you all are rolling into a very fine new year as well.

Also Showing at...

Along with 55 other Northern California artists, I have a small piece included in the exhibition "Boxed In: Working Small" opening at the Quicksilver Mine Co. Gallery in Forestville this Saturday. The Opening Reception will be July 9th, from 4-6pm. Gallery is located at 6671 Front St. (Hwy. 116)

Something I've been up to...

I mentioned a few posts back that I was working on Bee Paintings. Well, I've continued to do so--and I've written about it over here. It feels like a convergence of my gardening and painting activities, and its a project that will continue throughout the year as bees move on to new plants for nectar & pollen as they come into bloom. If you'd care to follow along, and learn about the little critters along the way, join me at my new BeeBlog.

Of course I'll be doing other work too, and will continue to blog about it all here, sporadically, as is my way. Hope you all are well.

Studio Visits

If you're a follower of the Open Studios events in Sonoma County, you may have noticed I'm not listed in the June Catalog-- have no fear-- I'll be back on the roster in October for ArTrails!
In the meantime you have one more weekend to visit over a hundred fabulous participants in Art at the Source (I'm going to get out there some myself).

AND-- you can always come to visit me by appointment (write lisabee(at)sonic.net-- spell out the b-e-e but use the @ symbol) and Tony will be kicking off a summer-long print sale, starting this weekend (call 824-1587 if you need instructions).

Happy summer-- I think it's here now!

'The Abstract'-- show at Sandra Lee Gallery

I dropped off this painting today in San Francisco, as it was selected by the juror of the upcoming exhibition 'The Abstract' at Sandra Lee Gallery in SF. Looks like it'll be a fine show, juried by Phil Linhares of the Oakland Museum.

bees reprise

About this time last year I painted my first round of bees. Now I'm at it again!

Whilst in L.A.: Fresh Paint

Last month, during my Spring Break from teaching, Tony & I set off for L.A.-- a trip we had long spoken of, but somehow had a hard time getting around to.

It was short, but great in many ways. We went to lots of galleries-- in Culver City, Bergamot Station, & Beverly Hills, along with visiting the Getty Center.

I was particularly happy to get to visit Fresh Paint, a gallery in Culver City I had sent some work down to in the Fall as part of a group show. Here's some of what was on the walls the day we visited (all photos taken at Fresh Paint). Tony had a good time connecting with the gallery dogs, as well!

(click to enlarge any image)

six feet wide, with six feet tall

made with the Mandala HD app for iphone, see below.

more fun with apps...kaleidoscope version

I've been enjoying endless fascination & color palette analysis with my latest iphone app: Mandala HD, which spins out variations from any photo you take. I've been shooting areas from my paintings, and then watching what happens. What a great tool for a fabric designer, eh?

Angie Lewin, printmaker

I just discovered this artist-- Angie Lewin, predominantly a printmaker, who lives in the U.K.-- when I picked up her (beautifully designed) new book in a bookstore yesterday.
Don't know why I haven't known of her work sooner. She loves seed-pods & umbel flower forms... well, even more than I do.
Much info on her exists on the web, including her website.

Makes me think about exploring woodcuts for the first time in many a moon.
And maybe visiting England.

Click over here for photos of Queen Anne's Lace (a classic umbel) from the summer.

Their Own Page

Yup, now the portfolio of B.L.T.'s collaborative paintings can be seen over on their own blog.

Moving it along

work continues on this painting in progress 48 x 72 inches.

Keeping the ball rolling

With B.L.T.'s first exhibition hanging, we're eager to keep up the momentum. Here are two starts, heading off to Oakland.
The painting at left is all Tony so far, whereas the painting at right has been worked on by all three of us.
(More about this collaborative project over at www.bltcollective.blogspot.com)

Here's a work in progress-- gotta get back to it!

segments

Here are a couple of segments from out of the painting I'm currently working on.

The overall size of the painting is 6 feet wide, 4 feet tall.

Originally, it was inspired by some visitors not long ago who loved this other painting-- (6 feet tall,4 feet wide), but needed something horizontal to fit their home.



(I need to re-shoot this earlier piece as I've definitely changed it beyond this point as seen at left!)

vintage fabric

This fabric has been around the house, catching my eye for some time. Originally (when I bought it at a neighborhood rummage sale) it was sewn into a sort of shoe (or something) organizing thing-y. Eventually I disassembled it, and yesterday, started gluing it in to my current painting.

I haven't actually collaged fabric into a piece in a couple years (?)-- but it just felt right.
I love this print.

the color blue

In honor of the painting I'm currently working on (though it is nowhere near this intense) I bring you moments of inspiration by the color Blue.

Infinite caves

"Rare cave pearls fill dried-out terrace pools near the Garden of Edam in Hang Son Doong. This unusually large collection of stone spheres formed drip by drip over the centuries as calcite crystals left behind by water layered themselves around grains of sand, enlarging over time."

More info here, & many more photos are here.

wishing you all...

a very happy new year.

Thank you to all who have followed my humble & sporadic blog both recently & over the long haul!
and thank you especially to those who have supported and encouraged me along my artistic path. It's been a good year.

Truthfully, I tend to see it as a continuous flow, without big divisions at years beginning and end-- I don't tend to get caught up in 'the year's best' etc... Yet tradition encourages us to look back at what we've accomplished & experienced-- and forward to what we desire.

And so I say, It's been a good year!
And there is still so much to make & want & see & do!

Onward...

(image made with 'brushes' app on an iphone + photoshop words)