it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. Tree is up. My home is decorated and I am craving eggnog and the smell of holiday goodies baking in the oven. Yummm.

One more thing that I can count on this time of year is painted Christmas ornaments! They are so popular and have received so many requests this year. I am loving every single one. The perfect keepsake gift. I really should create ornaments all year long!! 

5th annual 'dark art' exhibition at SBDAC

What a fantastic night! Last night the 5th annual Dark Art 2021 at the Sidney Berne Davis Art Center presented by the Syzygy Collaboration Art Project was amazing!

This show features the very finest and most notorious collection of juried artwork in SWFL, all dedicated to the spirit of horror, macabre, and darkness during the Halloween season. I am honored to have been chosen this year to be included in such a spectacular event! The range of creativity expressed in the other artworks and performances was extraordinary. 

I really stepped out of my comfort zone for this one. Macabre or the spirit of horror is certainly not normally the subject of, well, any of my artwork up until now, but I was up to the challenge.

So, how on earth was I going to to create something that still follows this category without going somewhere I couldn't, or wouldn't, or even challenging my own faith. And even bring a touch of beauty to it, if possible. I didn't want to do something simple either. What else is new? LOL. 

Ultimately, I am really proud of this painting and it really did challenge me. It even kept showing up in my dreams - not in a bad way - just in a way that kept me grounded and faithful and reminded me that things that were uncomfortable were not necessarily bad. It really may not be a big deal for some, but it was a big deal for me and I am thankful to have decided to create the painting and chosen to be part of such a creative art show. 

new juried show - aquarium

I am so excited to be included in the juried 'Aquarium' show at the Cape Coral Art Center this month!

I will admit this piece challenged me in new ways and, well, I also ran out of time to finish her. Even after I dropped the painting off, I continued to paint and repaint portions of it in my mind for days and days afterward. Something tells me I will be revisiting this piece again after the show is over. 

Aquarium is a juried show with over 60 artworks ranging in media including painting, lampwork, ceramic, glass, metal, and more! Cap

'into the forest' solo show

What a fabulous night! 

The opening reception of my very first solo show was tonight and it was exciting and exhilarating and affirming and it just filled my soul! I heard amazing comments and compliments all night long and so much love filled the room. I tried very hard to just absorb the excitement of this special night and take it all in. I am on cloud nine. 

Tonight was a beginning. A different kind of beginning that I have only dreamt about year after year and I am looking forward to this new creative path God has me on. I can't wait for what lay ahead.

"And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul." - John Muir

solo art show prep

"And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul." - John Muir

Life has taken quite a few new turns since my last post. There is definitely quite a lot to tell about the last year and half and I'll do my best to get us caught up over the next several weeks. Essentially, in a nutshell, I just needed to step away from it all and 'figure things out', and boy, am I glad I did! It's amazing how much healing and self-awareness can take place when you learn to breathe again. 

Fast-forward to today. In two days, I will be at the opening reception of my first solo art show! The opening reception will be at DAAS CO-OP Art Gallery & Gifts in conjunction with the monthly Fort Myers Art Walk event. How cool is that? 

Inspired by the John Muir quote "And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul", this series I have been working on titled "Into the Forest" weaves figurative and nature together, as well as smaller botanical works. The figurative paintings express bold strength and beauty while a gentle kindness emerges. Something I believe every woman carries inside. 

Each painting begins with a collaboration of materials and photography that, once combined with mark-making, paints and a number of other expressive materials, create a new story of life energy and soul. When I created my first piece that provoked this series, it was sort of an experimentation and exploration. My goal: not to be bound by any medium and I wanted to paint using an assemblage of layers of, well, all the materials. All of them because I love them all!! Acrylics, inks, pastels, monoprints, photo transfers, vintage ephemeral papers or any other method or medium that struck my fancy. How can you choose just one, right? I wasn't going to listen or be swayed by trends or the latest set of rules for artists. I was just going to pick up a paint brush and go! And I did and it was FANTASTIC!! 

....and here we are, a couple days away from my first solo show. 

wood slice botanicals

Wood is such an amazing canvas to work on! I especially love wood slices. Oh, how I love wood slices!! Normally, you will find a lot of wood burning done on these wonderful slices of heaven, and although I enjoy that, too.... I especially love to use the unexpected tools such as pen & ink, watercolors, and gouache on my wood slice. What I have found, though, is I prefer to use them directly on unfinished wood. No prepping other than super-fine sandpaper. There is something special about how the watercolor is absorbed and is dictated by the grain of the wood. Some of it is in my control. Most of it is controlled by the tree. It becomes a marriage, of sorts. I respect the tree. The tree respects me. We come together, work together and, God willing, create something beautiful together.

the season of art shows

Life sure does get busy when you spend your days chasing and catching your dreams! What an adventure it has been!! Art shows, Vendor shows, Pop-Ups and the like. There was a lot to learn as I searched out what type of shows and events were best suited for me and my work. The outdoor events were the toughest. Here in Florida it can really take everything out of you. Even in the fall or winter seasons, it still feels like summer. My wearable art really received a lot of attention which I don't think I was expecting. I even had to replace a couple batches of earrings which I usually do in batches of around 100. It was definitely busy.




This past season was exhausting and exciting all at once and I look forward to the next one ahead. Not sure if I'm ready yet but there is still time. Sadly, I had a bad auto accident several months ago so this summer was spent just putting it all back together again instead of the intended and much needed painting and creating I needed to do. These kind of things can be so overwhelming sometimes and can really change the dynamics of your life as it shifts the order of importance on your list. At the same time, these bumps in the road can put things in perspective and force you to recognize what is most important at that time. As much as I craved picking up a paintbrush or an ink pen in the midst of all the chaos, I had to put it aside temporarily. Just temporarily.

But now it's time to get busy again. For I am an artist and no bumps in the road can change that!

living the life I imagined

I have always known I was an artist. Since I was very, very young I knew! If you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I would always say "an artist". I really didn't want to do anything else. I spent every extra hour sketching and painting and creating and I always received such positive feedback from everyone! Well, opportunity changed in drastic ways once it was time to decide to go off to college and begin the artist life I was destined for. Let's just say things didn't quite turn out like I had assumed.

Fast forward thirty-plus years after a lifetime of friendships, working as a nurse, having 2 children and raising them as a single parent, quitting everything and putting myself through school for graphic design, working in the field for many years and then one day telling myself "Lorrie, it's time you follow your dreams and work as an independent visual and design artist for a living". Not, 'do a project, event, or creative job here and there', but full-time, all day, every day! It was finally time to follow that dream I would build and create in my mind during all of those years where something else always came first.

This year has been quite an eye opener with everything that is happening in our country. Very concerning for sure! It really puts things in perspective, doesn't it? As we witness so much ugliness, hatred, verbal bullying and chastising, vulgar prejudices and one senseless tragedy after another it becomes acutely aware that it is time to live your life right NOW! Do not wait until tomorrow!

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”

Proverb 27:1

I love this ride I am on now, following that dream I had all the way back to when I was a little girl. Living my professional life as a full time independent artist! It's never too late you know! I mean Laura Ingalls Wilder didn't write and publish her first Little House book until she was 65!!

Maybe now is your time, too!

diy: build your own light box

I have needed a photo light box for quite some time now. Actually, much too long especially now as I am taking my work more serious, and since it has been raining almost non-stop lately here in Florida, well, that has now forced me into full buy it or make it mode! So let me explain...

I have been using my backyard as my photography studio so I can optimize the most perfect lighting that I have available to me at this time. My indoor space & studio just does not have ample enough natural light or the space to maneuver it. Of course, even outdoors, the perfect lighting window of time is very limited each day and even more-so when it's raining. 

So, I usually drag a table or stool outside to the backyard during that golden hour for photography and take several trips back and forth to collect all the supplies and art I will need for my little photoshoot set-up. I will admit it can get pretty challenging and even comical, at times. Such as when my back was turned and the neighbor's cat decided to jump onto my display bringing everything crashing down into the grass, or when a gust of wind decided to explode into the yard unannounced and scatter small pieces of art everywhere, or recently when it's sunny one minute and the next I am screaming at the top of my lungs in full panic-mode for the kids to come out and help "save the artwork" as rain comes pouring down. Welcome to Florida.

So, yeah, it's time for a light box!!

Anyone who knows me also knows that if it's an option, I will most often make it rather than buy it. There are a lot of tutorials out there for building one of these using everything from a cardboard box to pvc piping. The important thing for me was function, storage, durability and if possible, I wanted to use what I had on hand! 

My motto is and always will be

UPCYCLE - RECYCLE - REUSE

As I searched throughout my studio and garage, I knew a cardboard box just wasn't going to be sustainable for me. I wanted something that would LAST and would be easy to store away, too!

The one thing I do have available as an artist is tons and tons of student-grade, back-stapled canvases that I use to teach with or try out new techniques and so on, and I realized the wood frames would work perfectly! If you don't have these just laying around like I do, you can get these at your local craft store for just a few dollars. They are generally very inexpensive.

So let's get started....

YOU WILL NEED:

Three 16"x20" Student-Grade, Back-Stapled, Stretched Artist Canvas (used or new)

...you can use larger sized canvas also (I do believe that will be in my future, too)

Foam Core/Board

Poster Board, White (choose according to what you will be photographing)

15" or larger Parchment Paper

Two 8.5" or larger Utility Clamp Work Lights with Aluminum Reflector

Two Natural Daylight CFL Bulb's (Compact Fluorescent Light not LED)

4 Large Binder Clips

Duck Tape

Clear Package Tape or glue

Utility Knife, Scissors

Pliers

Sandpaper

First you will need to strip the canvas material off the wood frames using a utility knife. You can remove the staples that remain on the backside and sand the wood lightly.

Now it is time for construction. I thought I had some hinges in my toolbox and would have preferred that, but just couldn't find them, so duck tape was used instead. Laying two frames side by side joined at the 16" side, tape them together. Then 'fold' them into each other, like a book, taping the backside of the fold. Remember you want each side to fold inward eventually like a box, so make certain you are not taping both sides flat. Then, tape the remaining frame to one of the 16" sides.

The openings now need to be covered with a white material that will help diffuse the light coming from the lamps onto the item being photographed. There are a lot of options out there suggesting what to use, such as tissue paper and even old bedsheets. I decided parchment paper was my best option, I had it on hand, and it would have a bit more durability in the end. Cut three pieces that cover the openings of the frame and then glue or tape them down. I used clear packing tape.

We're almost there! Just a few more steps to go.....

Next you will need to cut a piece of foam core/board the size of the squared opening that remains at the top once it's set up (19.5"x20" for mine) and using 4 large binder clips, 2 at the back, and one at each front corner, you can sit the foam on top of one of the handles of each clip. There is also an option of creating a wood plank for the top with a cut-out circle in the middle so you can take photos from above, but I will show that construction at a later time.

The construction is basically done at this point, except for the lights and the backdrop.

LIGHTING

The lighting I use are a pair of 8.5" utility clamp work lights with aluminum reflector (you can find these for under $10 almost anywhere) and most important, the bulbs should be a Natural Daylight CFL - compact fluorescent light (not LED). I clamp my lights onto a couple blocks of wood I had laying around.

INFINITY CURVE BACKDROP

There are a lot of different options for the backdrop. Generally, I prefer an infinity curve backdrop so I get an ultra-smooth background with no corners or angles and since it doesn't have any corners, shadows won't gather in the background.

An easy and inexpensive option for this sized light box is poster board and it comes in a wide range of colors and prints. I love the faux wood planks poster board I found and can't wait to use it. Hang your backdrop from the 2 binder clips in the back, letting it curve down so it lays on top of the table and you are ready to photograph your product!!