Paintings, Sun and Seascapes

The lines blur, who knows where the sun, the light and the seas begin and end.
I am continuing in my series and studies of sun, light and seas... getting lost in the lines of where one begins and one ends... as I paint the textures and rhythms of the waves, clouds, or shimmers. Painting these are like meditations for me, going to a serene peaceful place with no time, swimming in the unconscious bliss...
I have a couple more canvases ready for my brushstrokes, they are waiting for me to bring them to life. Soon, maybe tomorrow I will step into my studio and flood them with color.

Meanwhile, I have been attending to life... travel, my sometimes sick kitty, lots of telephone talk with my family at a distance sharing in the events and ups and downs of days that swim by so fast as we all get older, taking small steps to organize a completely disorganized studio, and participating in the camaraderie of various art groups. And so, also I have not blogged as much as I had for a while, as I attend to all my other interests, and of course, the so short summer we are having here in the Pacific Northwest. But soon, more postings to come, with updates and photos on travels and some fibery art I have been creating....

Art Show, Painting and Seascapes

Summer time, a lovely time for arty events...On the postcard above, the small painting with tulip fields is mine. I have been so busy, painting and painting.... I just hung my artwork for this show yesterday, 18 new acrylic and mixed media paintings, mostly seascapes, suns. Feels great to see them finished and hanging... And this morning I started on 3 more canvases! I am loving the colors and textures....

Join us if you can, here are the details for the art show this weekend, plus the artist's reception on Friday.

July 15-18: Thu/Fri 4-8pm, Sat/Sun 10am-5pm

ArtWorks, 201 2nd Avenue, Edmonds

• Original artwork by over 35 artists • Miniature Sale

• Artist demos • Free admission & parking • Visa & Mastercard accepted

For more detailed information, visit the ARTSplash website.

Artists Reception - You're Invited!

Friday, July 16, 6-8pm, Food & Refreshments
ArtWorks Building, Second & Dayton, Edmonds, 425-774-6049
ArtistsConnect is an affiliate of the Edmonds Arts Festival and Foundation.
A portion of the event proceeds support community arts programs.
postcard design by Spectral Designs, LLC

Painting Sun and Water and Inspirations

Sun rising... a new day... every day... the light comes in... and pushes away the dark

"Sun Rising Over the Glorious Waters" , Acrylic 4"x6" copyright Delorse Lovelady

Painting
I am back to painting one of my very favorite subjects: suns and light, waters and waves. I find it very meditative to stroke those waves into life and those flashes of light, a kind of rhythm in the painting process. I am continuing my foray into acrylics and texture. So far, it has been satisfying, though at times, I find myself frustrated with the paints. They are not so fluid and mobile as those juicy watercolors... but I am definitely loving the dimensional textures that I could never get with the watercolors.

This small painting will hang in the upcoming July Artsplash show listed in my sidebar. If you are local, be sure to put it on your calendar, as there will be over 35 artists represented with a wide variety of style, plus a miniatures show.

Inspirations
Meanwhile, here is another photo from one of my spring trips. Not bad, considering it was shot through a car window on our way. I'm always looking for the ultimate sky photo, or ocean/water photo, my favorites. These are the kind of scenes that inspire me for painting. Most often, I find I'm painting from my imagination, most likely, little pieces of scenes, composites of years of experiences here and there, so that the painting are not usually so specific a place.

Of Big Skies, Red Dirt and Horses...

I was immersed in the landscape and the culture of Texas....

Big Skies... Horses... and Longhorns...

Aside from being a wonderful family visit, my recent trip to Texas re-immersed me into the landscape and some of what defines the area and the culture of being Texan.... More fun with my camera... still sorting through hundreds of photos. Travel is such a wonderful thing for opening your senses, your mind, getting a fresh view, getting re-acquainted, noticing the extraordinary ordinary things...... like the red dirt or the big big skies with huge white clouds...

Red water... Red dirt.... and fishing in the channels...
we went fishing and caught a huge basketful of crappie. Imagine my surprise, I caught 15 of these "barn door" sized fish... and even helped clean them...

Pick-up trucks... and guns... and outdoor BBQ's
(goat, beef, pork, chicken, fish, you name it, and they grill it)...

Seed and feed buildings... and grain elevators... old and rusting and rustic...

Flatland... and oil pumpers... and pastures,
and seeing for miles and miles...
in the Lone Star state...

Spring, Flowers, and More Flowers

Savoring the Texas spring beauty, overflowing with color...
On my recent April/May trip to Texas I saw so many wildflowers everywhere. I had plenty of practice with my camera's macro setting.

I love the spring in Texas when it is so green, and yes, temperatures are even balmy. During my visit it was mostly in the 60's and low 70's with thunderstorms rolling in one after the other, so dramatic with lightning skies. Sometimes I miss those, as in the Northwest we get mostly quiet slow drizzly rain. Right after I left at the end of May, the heat began with days of 90's, and soon all those lovely greens and colorful flowers will have burnt away to those dulled yellow and brown fields.

I tried shooting a few pix out the window as we were on a road trip to Arkansas too, and some are not too bad. Here you see a vivid yellow field of flowers. The highways were shouting with flowers all along the way.
I am still sorting through photos from my several spring trips and have much inspiration for creating new paintings.... so many colors, textures, shapes to get lost in.

Sunday Meditations, Light, Just Be, and Oceans

Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.... Kurt Cobain

This photo is of an antique crystal chandelier in the Ashland, Or Cabaret Theater.

Planning for future museum trips I found that one of our local museums has a Kurt Cobain exhibit on, he being the Seattle founder of "grunge rock". Now I never was a follower of same, but I like his quote above.

Somehow it ties in with my photo of this exquisite chandelier that I've often admired when we trek to Ashland for theater, as we did in March.

The lone candle in the dark among all the lit ones... seemed like such a metaphor. So, sending out thoughts today about...

Seeing the surrounding light outside shimmering,
No matter how dark it seems for you...
Let that light enter your eyes, your heart, your being
Join in the circle, the everlasting circle of life
And Just Be, today, Now, whoever you are ...

Peace

This photo is of beautiful Bandon Beach, Oregon from our March trip.

Gratitude for our beautiful life-giving oceans and beaches,
And all the creatures they feed, including us.

Shame and sadness on our abuses of them.
Praying for Restraint on the corporate dinosaurs who pollute,
AndWisdom for our politicians,
And the Voices of the people standing up for what is right.

Paintings, Clouds, Sea, and Rock and Art Shows

Floating among the clouds and the sea, unbound spirit, limitless space...

"Floating Among the Clouds and the Sea" , Acrylic 4"x5" Delorse Lovelady Apr2010

Ocean Inspirations
The painting above is one recently completed which was inspired by our recent travel in March to the Oregon coast, a place of breathtaking beauty. I composed the 17 syllable Haiku above to attempt to convey the expansiveness that being near the sea brings, not an easy thing to capture in words.

Here is another of my paintings inspired by this area. This one is more specific, as we stayed in a small motel on a bluff in Bandon, Oregon overlooking the sea, haystacks, and stunning sunsets. There was a set of stairs built into the bluff that we climbed down every day to get to this rugged beach. I will share more paintings and photos of this area in a future posting.

"There was a Hole in the Rock", Acrylic 4"x5" Delorse Lovelady Apr2010

Here is a photograph of this place, and as you can see, I have taken artistic liberty to use different colors and alter the actual look of it.
A June Art Show
Both of the paintings were juried/accepted into the Edmonds Art Festival miniature show which will be held from June 18-20. I was surprised and actually thought that my two other paintings entered would be more likely to be accepted into this show, as they are more colorful. You can see them here. It just goes to show, you never know! Anyway, I am pleased that two are accepted, and I will continue my exploration in the world of acrylics and mixed media, and more abstraction in my work.
Meanwhile I am planning and painting for the July Artsplash show in Edmonds sponsored by the Artists Connect. My space will be 48" x 48" plus a table for smaller items... which means I will be very busy the next couple of months!

Travels and Art
So far, my year has been full and some changes are occurring. I have withdrawn from some retreats and swaps, and instead have focused on my own art. It's good to hear myself and not get drowned in the tidal wave of following the crowd or the super-saturation of our culture...

And we have taken several trips that always provide much fuel for creativity. In fact, I just returned from a month long sojourn with my family in Texas, which included a road trip to Arkansas to hunt for diamonds... No paintings produced, however, I spent time and had fun with family and entertained myself with art journeling and sketching, esp., birds. I will share more about these travels in future posts. Stay tuned.

Fiber Fun, Peyote Beading, and Buttons

A stitch here, a bead or button there, creating with various media is fun...

The photo above and directly below are random compositions made of recycled fabric, threads, metals that I did within a machine embroidery group that I below to. These were done earlier this year. Every month we get together and experiment with new techniques on our sewing machines, and perhaps also add some hand stitching later. The top photo continues my interest in seascapes in an abstract kind of way. Both have lots of stitching in gold thread which may not show up well in the pictures. I'm anticipating framing them as mixed media art pieces.
And below are three more peyote stitch bracelets. The bottom two were taken apart and redone in April, because the first time I beaded them, they were rather "wonky" and would not lay flat. I like them better and have learned how to get the rhythm of the beading and how to get a nice flat band without the puckering. Now they need the clasps. I suppose learning new art forms is like that, keeping at it, til you get the rhythm of whatever it is, without having to think so much about each step.
And lastly, I took a button bracelet class with some sewing buddies, and here is my creation. I believe I completed this one in March, and of course, have plans to stitch up more. It's a great way to use those old or colorful buttons, if you collect them like I do...

Faces, Sketches, and Drawing Practice

Faces, faces everywhere, all so interesting, all carrying a story...
Here are a few sketches of faces from some drawing sessions earlier this year... I constantly am trying to improve and capture a moment in time....
And below, here is one that I painted on a small 5"x7" hard canvas... mixed media.

Paintings, Color, and Spring

"Color has taken possession of me; no longer do I have to chase after it. I know that it has hold of me forever... Color and I are one. I am a painter." Paul Klee

Delorse Lovelady 2010 "Oh, Give Me Color Today!" 4x6 acrylic

Paintings and Spring
I have managed to do some small paintings to enter into a local juried miniatures show, the Edmonds Art Fair that is held every year in June. I won't know til May if any of the four I am submitting will be accepted.

The top one is inspired by our yearly trek to the Skagit Valley tulip fields where we usually enjoy viewing the farmlands, beautiful vista's and sometimes, snow geese. I used my imagination this time, didn't feel like pulling out reference photos. We won't be able to go this year as April is slipping away and other plans are brewing, so here is my tribute to the colorful tulips and springtime in the Valley. However, I am enjoying the many tulips and other flowers blooming in our yard... so lovely...
The second painting is another imagination painting.... I was thinking about the distance, viewing something in the far distance, a panorama. Though not quite a desert scene (or maybe it could be?), I thought of Georgia O'Keeffe and her fascination and love of the desert, what she called the "faraway"... "a beautiful, untouched lonely feeling place", of infinite beauty and space... a place I enter in my mind sometimes in a painting like this one.

Delorse Lovelady 2010 "Somewhere in the Far Away" 4x6 Acrylic

I was disappointed that we didn't make it to the Death Valley desert as intended in March, however, instead we went on a wonderful road trip in Oregon I will soon post about...

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky. " Rabindranath Tagore