Posts tagged ‘artwork’
What did people do before cell phone cameras? Or digital cameras for that matter. I mean, did we wander the world noticing beautiful things and simply commit them to memory? Stupid little things like a leaf on a wind shield… the shadow of your dog…a really great home made pizza…how did we record such non-events?
In a book about writing I remember one suggestion for finding and recording inspiration was carry note cards and a pencil to take notes on good ideas or observations that appear at inopportune times. The book was written before the term “smart phone” was invented.
I think the note card system is sound advice. As a painter I think my camera phone is my note card and pencil. It’s with me all the time. It’s so handy for just about anything that piques my interest…good or bad.
Several weeks ago I forgot to bring my lunch to work and bought the “chef” salad from my cafeteria. The lettuce was brown and soggy. Very slimy. I took a picture, but I’ll spare you.
Later I had a work-related meeting at an art college. You have to see the bathroom doors:
In case you don’t have eagle vision that’s a sign on the ladies room door about not putting paint down the drain. What…..so….. is it cool if they dump the paint down the men’s room drains?
An-ee-way I just thought it interesting to come to the conclusion that I am using my 21st century skill (carrying an electronic device in my pocket that governs my life) to find creative inspiration for things I may want to paint some day.
For now, I shy away from painting gross salads and stupid bathroom signs. Back to that leaf on the wind shield …I was on to something with that…
*If you want to know what book about writing I am talking about don’t think just buy this.
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.
This is the latest thing I painted and the first thing that I finished in 2012. It felt really good marking the back with the first day of the new year. This picture came about after a trip to a history museum that focuses on the evolution of the suburban life. I rode there in a minivan with another family and as we drove to the museum we stopped and called out to some horses that were by the road. Normally I wouldn’t think to stop a car and try to talk to some horses. They don’t talk back after all and if they did, what would I say to a horse?
Anyway the whole thing was surreal to me. Visiting an entire exhibit detailing the takeover of American Indian territory and the systematic separation of races. It’s a complicated history. I started to see my personal history differently. I think I see my choices from a broader angle. I don’t’ know if that will reflect in the kind of paintings I make or drawings I start with. But I know it will reflect in the choices I make in my life from this point on.
Oh – I called this painting Pastoral. It was a word that kept running through my head the whole time I was working on it (and this one took a while to come out). I read up on it and realized that in literature it is used to describe a complex idea in much simpler terms. I think I’ll borrow that meaning for my painting.
These and more on sale now! by Lauren Alexander on Etsy
Been keeping the shop tonight. Normally I work in the morning on Saturdays painting and packing orders in between making special weekend breakfast for the crew. But since I was out way past my bedtime Friday night having some grown up good times seeing live music and having long over due fun my entire Saturday got thrown out of whack. Since I’m home on a Saturday night what better things to do than sit around creating new listings for my Etsy store and make sure things are in order for this sudden rush of holiday shoppers? Oh and of course wasting precious time on the Twitter. Which I pronounce Tvee-ter. It’s because I’m Swedish.
Are you making the most of your weekend? How so?
And finally it must be shared that I am offering you something really sweet this shopping season. Truly, I am a dear by offering you FREE shipping to where ever you live all over the world! (Until the 17th). But you gotta enter a special coupon code when you check out to get your shipping knocked off. That top secret code is FREEHOLIDAYS because I want you to be free of worry about the added expense of online shopping.
Sigh. All this shop sweeping has got me wiped out. I think I’ll go watch some old holiday movie and pass out on the sofa.
Okay! (claps hands) It’s shopping season. Millions of people will flood major store chains starting at midnight on Thanksgiving. But not me. I will stay home, all warm and snuggly with a belly full of pie. Sure I’ll have to swing into the big stores for certain things sometime this holiday season BUT I really want to get most of those pesky little obligatory gifts out of the way by shopping from independent merchants. It’s just the right thing to do. So let me help you help yourself (and more importantly help the world) by making a few suggestions from the independent merchant right here, moi.
For your Mother-in-law:
Brooch; original framed artwork 3.5"x5" by Lauren Alexander on Etsy
Ladies. Feel me out here. You stole your husband away from his mother. She’s all lonesome inside (and that’s why she makes it her personal mission to torture you). So you should give her a gift that is not only beautiful but evokes a feeling of comfort. This painting features soft baby blue tones that will remind her of when she was young and in love with her brand new baby boy (that you stole from her). But never mind that part – the white frame goes with any decor and this is a truly unique one of a kind gift you can give her just like the son she once had all to herself.
For your baby-crazed-soon-to-be mom friend:
Playing Hard to Forget - archival 3.5"x5" art print by Lauren Alexander on Etsy
You that friend of yours that won’t stop talking about her future fantasy nursery and how she plans to have 3 boys and two girls all in about four years? The friend that sends you links to bedding from Pottery Barn and registers for 100 dollar crib sheets? She’s crazy. But why not indulge her quest for a catalog perfect nest with my small art prints. You can get a choice mix of 10 for only $25! Boy, girl, whatever she’s having (0r intending to have) your friend will delight at the options and inter-changeable beauty of a nursery adorned with Lauren Alexander art.
For your child’s overworked and underpaid teacher:
2012 Lauren Alexander Art Desk Calendar by Lauren Alexander on Etsy
Don’t delay. Winter break rolls up just three short weeks after Thanksgiving. You know you want to score some extra brownie (aka report card) points with your kid’s teacher by giving them a beautiful, artful, handmade school countdown tracking device like my oh-so-adorable desk calendar. It’s smaller so the year will seem shorter. And that’s what teachers want to believe! There are even free note cards included that the teacher can use to send home those little notes that tell you how wonderful your kid is in the midst of thirty screaming emotionally unstable hooligans.
This weekend marks one year ago that we signed the paperwork to officially adopt my daughter. It’s been a wonderful year. To celebrate I am offering you a free 2012 calendar (handmade featuring 12 unique artworks by me) with your purchase this weekend only. Buy anything you want and mention Adoption Day in the notes to seller when you check out. I’ll put it in with your order. Easy! Visit my shop here: Lauren Alexander Art on Etsy.
