Archive for July, 2012
It’s the classic story of child meets balloon; child get’s balloon, balloon brings great joy, then balloon goes away. Except this story is about a 31-year old woman and her dog (who happens to be a balloon).
In a grocery store in Oklahoma City was a bin of helium balloons that instead of floating to the ceiling are weighted with legs that allow them to “walk” along behind you.
I played with one for a bit, put it back in the bin, made my purchases and moved on with my life.
But the next morning before heading home to Kansas City my sister and I had this gut feeling we needed to go back to the store and “adopt” a souvenir. I gravitated to the little dog with blue bows in her hair and my sister settled on a more stout pug. She called it Pickles. Mine became Robin.
Walking the dogs through the store turned a lot of heads and had people smiling and joking. Kids looked on in envy and adults seemed amused. When we walked outside they took to the air like kites and we joked about our new pets needing to settle down from all the excitement of leaving the store/pound. 
We stuffed them in the back seat and set out on the interstate. When we cracked a window the air flow sent them rushing to the front seat just as nervous little dogs do when they get scared. We talked about them and gave them personalities. They became very special.
We stopped for food in Wichita and by this time of day it was surely about 100 degrees. We ate lunch in a restaurant, walked around downtown and returned to our car to find our happy doggies in their backseat spot. 
We made one more stop before leaving Wichita. We went back to the doughnut place to pick up treats for the family back home. We were only in there a couple minutes. But it was a couple minutes too long.
After getting back in the car my sister looked back at the pups and screamed. The look of shock on her face said it all. I already knew.
But I looked anyway and saw my Robin’s head had burst open. It was the heat. How stupid of me! It’s a million degrees in the car and I should have never expected them to survive. I was cry-laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. My sister grabbed her Pickles and hugged it.
But Pickles’ story doesn’t end well either. About an hour past Wichita my sister noticed Pickles looking a little thinner. He was losing air. Further inspection proved several small holes developed on his head. By the time we got back to Kansas City Pickles (who always was a bit lop-sided) could barely stand. 
It’s hard to describe without sounding cuckoo-crazy how happy those two dogs made us feel. They were silly and cute and totally over priced but they were worth the pain. And I think anyone who has ever loved anything (if only for a moment) understands that.
I knew when I got home that I would want to paint something to remember Robin and Pickles. I cut out a doggie-shaped stencil and developed this painting, a little lady swept away with a little balloon magic.
Donuts, the dessert you eat for breakfast, have been on my mind since I heard about a place in Wichita, KS that makes unique flavors like salted caramel, orange cream cake, oatmeal cookie, and maple bacon. Passing through on a weekend vacation to Oklahoma City with my sister gave me the perfect opportunity to pick up a dozen for the road.
As you can see by the photograph we had no trouble at all sampling 12 different donuts in two days.
Donuts, like pizza, cookies, cheeseburgers and other circular shaped foods, come in such varieties that the design and color of the food is almost as exciting as the taste.
(clever segue, eh?)
I thought so. Above is one of my newer paintings – another featuring stenciled shapes with embellished patterns and textures. I’m really enjoying the lighter feeling these recent paintings have shown and all that can be done with a a simple shape and overlapping colors.
Looking at this painting now really has me thinking about what other objects (food or otherwise) are circle shaped…bowl of soup, cup of coffee…what is your favorite circle shaped item?
“I think it is in collaboration that the nature of art is revealed.” – Steve Lacy, composer, jazz saxophonist.
As much as I appear to be a one-woman operation here at Lauren Alexander Art headquarters I enjoy the opportunity to collaborate with others. When I saw The Charm Lady on Etsy I knew it was meant to be.
I contacted her to see if she does custom work. She does. I picked out some of my favorite new paintings….we work out the details… she melts metal…bada bing bada boom… I get the most beautiful art-jewelry pieces I have ever had the pleasure of selling.
There are a total of 5 different necklaces. BUT each necklace has TWO sides, two designs, yes that’s two necklaces (really) for the price of one.
Have I lost you you yet?
Stay with me. I did not make these necklaces. But they were custom made for me by Lori, the Charm Lady, a talented artist and downright awesome person to work with. Here she is explaining her work to me:
“Your gorgeous images are sandwiched between 2 pieces of glass, wrapped with copperfoil tape and then soldered around the edges with a lead-free silver solder. Each piece is finished of with some light sanding and polishing 
“
You can only find these wearable artworks in my store. And I only have a few of each. So think of your friend, your mother, grandmother, favorite aunt, wife or girlfriend, or for goodness sakes just think of yourself!
You can find the selection of necklaces here. I hope you like them as much as I do. I am totally in love with this collaboration. I’d love to hear your ideas and feedback.
I’m here: www.laurenalexanderart.com or go directly to my shop: www.fromsmallthings.etsy.com
And you can find the amazing work of The Charm Lady, Lori here:
www.thecharmlady.etsy.com and www.thecharmlady.blogspot.com
Sunset; digital collage sheet by Lauren Alexander on Etsy
You know who you are. You walk into a garage sale and see a chair with three legs and shredded upholstery and think, “SCORE, I can’t believe they are selling this future shabby chic vintage ottoman!”
Foxy; digital collage sheet by Lauren Alexander
Yes you, who saves your wrapping paper, toilet rolls, and/or pine cones. Or maybe you just stroll through Pinterest marking amazing projects you never thought of because you don’t re-envision everything you see as a handy new paper towel holder. But someone does….
Today is your day! You are a visionary, and I applaud your talent.
You may or may not know it but over a period of about 5 years I made hundreds of small trading card sized paintings. Each of those paintings were sold, some were made into prints, and some just evaporated. Most of them were pretty cool though and I think they deserve a second life…
I will get to the point. All of my “old” small paintings are being re-born as a supply for your never-ending creative drive. I am making digital collage sheets for yo
ur downloading pleasure. There is no limit to the possibilities of what you can do with them, but then I don’t have to tell you that.
Right now I have 6 different collage sheets of my small original paintings. Each sheet has different designs from the other. So it’s best to collect all of them. Better get craftin’!
Which One Are You; Original watercolor painting by Lauren Alexander on Etsy
In March I traveled to New York City. I was lucky to stay with someone who took in a stranger and helped me navigate the high-pressure subway system. On one of our long rides from midtown to 170-something street we both stared up at an advertisement.
The person, a woman, a professional, and single Manhattan-ite whom I learned a lot from and admire to this day asked me a question that I never got out of my mind.
We were staring at a sign that displayed a row of models posing in lively happy ways in pretty bright colored dresses. I have no idea what the ad was for…hopefully dresses but god knows it could be for pest repellant or some unrelated thing.
“Which one are you?” she asked making conversation.
Looking at the row of ladies all in different dresses I knew exactly which ones I wasn’t. I was not the flowy flirty blue blonde….or the sassy strapless giggle box.
I told her I was the one in the black dress. “But if the dress were longer.” I must have sounded like someone from the “compound” in Utah with that qualification but to be honest I didn’t see myself as any of those ladies.
Her response was priceless, “With your legs? Oh puh-leeze.”
I love this woman.
Cone by Cone; original watercolor painting 9″x12″ by Lauren Alexander
All my life I’ve sat in corners of my home painting the hours away on numerous projects. At first I painted huge portraits and landscapes and still lifes and thought I was God’s gift to watercolor art. I was serious and driven and couldn’t wait to be appreciated.
There’s been some ups and downs. I’m slightly more humble now than I was years ago. I didn’t become the next great artist, the most successful book illustrator, or a great commercial success either.
Nor did I become completely miserable or dead so I guess I have done some things right.
Yesterday I finished the painting above and gave it a title after the book I was reading, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. I really enjoyed her writing, at times laughing out loud. She’s as crazy as I am (maybe a little more so). She gets to the heart of the writing process and provides some tools for managing your mind so you’re not always playing your own worst enemy.
I enjoyed the book most of all because reading it helped me understand the last half of my life as an artist. It’s also given me direction and hope for the future (with a little less self-consciousness, please).
