Chalk Drawing

This was done for the annual Street Painting Competition in Troy, NY on the weekend of June 18th. It was done only with sidewalk chalk (like what kids draw with) and hunks of charcoal. I think it turned out pretty well. I paid homage to one of my favorite artists, Brandon Boyd of Incubus.

man or fish?

Here's my first finished summer painting, titled "man.or.fish"
Dimensions: 2 feet by 4 feet
acrylic and broken mirror on canvas

Fence 2010 Artist Salon

Hi All, just a quick update on what I'm up to. I'm taking part in the Fence 2010 Artist Salon, held by the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy, NY. It runs through July 19, and I have 2 paintings in the show. They are "Generations" and "Like Eating Glass." Stop on over and check them out if you have time! The Arts Center website is www.artscenteronline.org if you want to check their hours or any other information.
Hope you all can stop by and see it :-)

Are you Man....or Fish?

Well it's taken me about 5 months, but I've finally finished another piece, entitled "man.or.fish" -- it's acrylic/shattered mirror on canvas. The size is 24" x 48" (2 ft x 4 ft), and is my largest one to date. I'm thinking it probably would have taken me less time if I had made myself work on it more often, but I'm satisfied with it and happy that it's done. These last few weeks I have really pushed myself to finish it, and I'm glad I did. The inspiration for the piece came from a doodle I did while hanging with the bf and the words "Are you man or fish?" just sort of came to me. I guess it's like "are you man or mouse?" ...except, of course, with fish. I think fish are lovely and I've never done them in a painting before. These ones are loosely based on koi fish, and if I was to do another painting with fish, I think I'd shoot for something shaped more like a rainbow trout (those are gorgeous, as far as fish go).

Below is a view of the entire painting, and then some detail shots. I also set up the "photo shoot" according to research I've done about shooting your own work if you're too poor to hire a professional photographer, so I hope these are acceptable for now, because I'm broke.

This Studio Ain't Big Enough...

I'm working on finishing up my most recent piece (it's a big one), and every time I work on it, I am reminded of how small my bedroom studio at home is! I'm also broke as hell, so I can't afford to rent a nice studio in the nearest city or anything, but I'm making do with what I have for now. Sometimes I feel like it's so hard to get into the zone and just do my thing without worrying over a bunch of things, like spilling paint/paint-y water on the carpet, marking up the walls, and running out of storage space. I also wish I had a way of hanging up my paints on some sort of rack so that I could grab them and organize them a lot more easily. In my dream studio, I will have that and a ginormous table for painting on and I won't ever worry about spilling paint because it won't be a huge deal.

The easel I have is a little unsteady at times, but it does the trick, and I'm so glad I have it. Years ago, when I had only been working on smaller canvases, I wouldn't dream of using an easel because it seemed like holding my wrist at a weird angle to paint wasn't very useful...but I feel like getting used to an easel takes a little work, and it's a very helpful instrument, especially for larger canvases.

I also just realized that I'm blathering on about things that might not be that interesting, but I want you all to know that even when I haven't posted something new in a while, art is on my mind and in my room and always in progress here in LaurenLiz's world. :-)

Fun With Markers in Sassy J's Room

A couple weeks ago, my friend Sassy J told me that she was painting her room in a brilliant red and bright orange because she wanted an Indian-inspired motif. And since I can't keep my nose out of artsy things (and because she let me), I used gold paint markers to do Indian/henna-type designs on her bookshelf and nightstand drawer face. She also loves elephants, so I did some elephant silhouettes in gold on her door. I'm hoping she lets me go all-out again, because it was 3 hours of fun for me, and I still have loads of ideas for her room, some of which include fake gems that you can get at a craft store. I'm pretty sure that gems are a brilliant idea --though Sassy J didn't seem so keen on it, so we'll see. Maybe I'll do a border of elephant silhouettes around her room if I have the time and she lets me. Here are some photos of what I did.

Happy, Happy Spring!

Hey y'all!

I haven't finished my painting yet (nor have I worked on it as much as I would've liked this past week), but I've been busy working odd jobs and waitressing trying to make money. In my free time, I have embarked on a quick creative endeavor with a friend. My friend Sassy J and I have begun our very first duct tape dress, after much deliberation and talking about how awesome it would be, and designing on paper with sharpies like there's no tomorrow.
We weren't sure how to start, but looked up online how-to's and found some helpful things. So we spent about 4 hours working on it the other day, and it's decent for our first attempt. Hopefully, we'll have it finished by next week, and I can post some pictures of the process and the final result.

Until then, enjoy the lovely weather everyone, and I wish you sunshine and blue skies! <3

Working on a New Painting

Currently, I am working on a piece that is titled "Man or Fish" and is another one of the bigger canvases I've ever done. It's definitely a challenge for me to do bigger pieces, if only because I find myself getting way too detailed with the images. Like with this one, I started with a whole conglomeration of stuff and have been trying to whittle it down so that it's not so overwhelming. I like to create pieces that are a little complex so that the viewer sees something new every time he or she looks at it, but sometimes I get carried away. So with this painting, my main focus is to make sure everything ties together in a coherent way, so that it doesn't look like I just threw a bunch of stuff together.

When I post the finished piece, I will give more info about the dimensions, how long it took to finish, and anything else you might want to know. Until then, I hope you are all well, and that snow doesn't fall on New England until at least November or December (but who knows, we might get a blizzard in June, the weather here is crazy!).

Volunteer Work

It's been a while since I posted, and that's because a lot has been going on in my personal life that's kept my mind on other things (ie a death in the family, job changes, etc) but I vow to myself --and you!-- that I'll be updating regularly from here on out. Even if I don't have a new picture to show you, I will definitely be writing about my artwork and other appealing things. :-)

Now, on to other things...

During the last two weeks of March of this year, I found an ad on craigslist (sometimes that site is awesome, sometimes it's sketchy as hell) that was looking for volunteer artists, so of course, I sent in a submission for acceptance. It's for the "BoardedUP!" series in Albany, NY for the Grand Street Community Arts program. (Their website is www.grandarts.org/ if you want more information, it's a great bunch of people coming together to make their community more exciting and artsy!) I ran over to the church at the corner of Grand and Madison to pick up a piece of 1/4"-thick plywood and was told I can paint anything on it that was family-friendly. So I decided to do something colorful and abstract, which is my true passion, at least at this point in my life. The board is roughly 2-1/2 feet by 5 feet.
Here's a few pictures of my piece, and the one against the gray stone background is the picture I took of it installed.

Pictures from Ambition Cafe

This past weekend, I stopped by Ambition Cafe on Jay Street in Schenectady, NY and took some photos of my art on the cafe's walls. The pieces on display (with prices) are:

• Water Under the Bridge - $250
• Generations - $450
• Like Eating Glass - $500
• Blue Giraffe - $350
• African Love - $350
• Sorry, We're All Out - $200

All pieces are on sale; contact me via email or phone if you are interested in purchasing any artwork.

Thanks!

Displaying in Schenectady

Yesterday, I headed over to Ambition Cafe on Jay St. in Schenectady, NY to hang up six pieces of my artwork on the main wall. It took about twenty minutes, since I had to take down the last artist's work (which was seven beautiful watercolors, I forgot her name). Thankfully, I had my wonderful boyfriend Paul to help me out; otherwise, I might have gotten all clumsy and fallen off a table or something. It's really exciting for me to have my work on display...this is the first time since high school that I've had a public exhibition of my paintings. (When I was in high school, I was part of a county-wide high school art show at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA.) All of the paintings I have on display at Ambition are for sale, with prices ranging from $250 to $500, and it would be incredible to sell one! :-D Hopefully, at the least, people will enjoy them while they're sipping the delicious coffee or eating a tasty sandwich at the cafe.

Today, I am working on a logo for LaurenLiz Designs. I've got a couple ideas, but am not sure which one to stick with. I'm so indecisive!

Happy Autumn everyone!

Generations

Finished another painting tonight; it's called "Generations" and is acrylic/mixed media on canvas. My apologies for the poor picture quality, all I have is a digital camera and am far too broke to pay for professional photography. Hope you enjoy it though. The price is $500.

Work in Progress...

I've been working like crazy on my newest painting, and it's nearly finished. Which is good, because my exhibit at Ambition Cafe in Schenectady, NY is less than a month away! It usually takes me about a month or so to finish a painting (depending on the size). The one I'm working on is a mixed media piece of mirror and acrylics on canvas. I'll be posting the new piece as soon as it's finished. :-)

Giraffe-arific!

This is my new painting, entitled "Blue Giraffe." It's a 16" x 20" acrylic on canvas. Inspirations for this piece were National Geographic magazine, my mother's love for giraffes, and trying out new color schemes. It would look bangin' in a kid's room or a Rainforest Cafe-type restaurant, I think. Don't you?

price: $525

Abstract with Mirrors: New Painting

This is the painting I forgot to post when I finished it about a month ago. It's entitled "Beneath the City," and is valued at $400. It's a 16"x 20" acrylic/mixed media on canvas. The silver parts are shattered mirrors, which I have been experimenting with for a little while.

It took a couple months to finish, and is inspired by the works of Brandon Boyd (of the band INCUBUS) and Morris Bennett, a local artist. You can see some of his works at http://www.morrisbennett.com .


EDIT 7.29.2009: This painting has been sold and is no longer available.

Experiments in Canvas...or What-Have-You

I'm always looking for new ways to bring my creative ideas to life, and have been thinking about different "canvases" I can use for my artwork. Typically, I stick with the traditional canvas of 16"x20" or smaller...however, there is a whole world of cool things out there that I could try painting on. In response to requests from others and my own ideas, I have painted designs and images on chairs, old milk jugs, an antique saw (sandblasted first to give it a paintable surface), and recently, slate rock direct from an old house that was torn down. What I really like about these various surfaces is that each one presents a different challenge for me. For example, the slate was difficult to deal with, mostly because it is not completely flat, as a canvas is, and the paint didn't take so well to it at first (acrylic and varnish). Perseverence pays off though. My finished product was made even more unique and interesting because I started off with a blank slate (pun intended). :-D

AND, as you all know, spring is here, and that can only mean one thing: TAG SALES! The beautiful thing about tag sales is that antique-looking items are selling for cheap, and here is where your creativity can come into play. As you wander through a tag sale, it is probable that you will spot at least a couple items that can serve as fantastic "canvases." As I mentioned before, an old saw can set the stage for a lovely countryside folk art painting. There are endless possibilities. If you're like me and working with a strict budget, tag sales (and even independent antique shops) are the way to go.

You are only limited by the extent of your own imagination...and what's available to you, of course. I encourage all artists out there to challenge themselves as well and try something that might seem totally odd or too difficult...you never know where it will land you, and the finished product is so often worth it!

More Examples of My Artwork

1. "Self Portrait 2007," charcoal on paper, 2-1/2' x 3-1/2' (30"x 42")

2. "Kentucky," acrylic on canvas, 3' x 2'

3. ""Our House," acrylic on canvas, 16" x 20"

4. "Zach," pastel on paper, 16" x 19"

Note: These works are NOT for sale, but they serve as a part of my portfolio.