Tomte Show Ends Friday!

Some of these pieces are still available at Tomte Modern Craft on Platt Street in Denver through this coming Friday. Pop in if you can!

XOXO-

Lizzie

Tomte. It's the Swedish word for gnome.

Having my art show in a shop named for a sweet creature of my childhood imaginary play was  sweetness indeed. Such sweetness, that one of my real live childhood friends walked through the doors & we had a mini-reunion right there at the opening. I wish I had a pic of the 2 of us to share.
Ah, love. That love that wraps you up when you reconnect with old friends is so energetic. Thank you, Becky, for coming to play! It's amazing how a simple visit can make your heart can feel like it will just burst with LOVE. AND- Thank you, Tomte, for hosting me and my works about energy & luck, juju & good magical vibes. Yum.

(Sidebar).... When I was little & spent my summers on Bainbridge Island in Washington, I spent hours searching for gnomes. I was so sure they were lucky & would trust me to be their friend. It seemed to me that they lived in this patch of blackberry, since the thorns would protect them from adults.... or in the Scotch Broom (Cytisus Scoparius). (Something in me is drawn to all things Scotch... hmmmmmmm.)
I loved the way you could hear the seed pods as they would pop open in the August sun- and
sometimes I would be sure those sounds were really gnomes- skip-hopping from one branch to another without my seeing them. I'm sure those hours spent in their realm are what gave me the juju I have today....

I'm behind in documenting this show- so I'll share pics when I have them. It's super colorful. This one
image is from "ribbon day". The pieces simply poured out of me this month. I love it when that happens.


As for juju- (that energetic idea that I had been painting my little heart out about) it somehow did not completely follow me to Tomte (for my very first First Friday opening of my life as an artist- incert sad face). Instead, on the night of the opening, I had the experience of such illness that can only be described as my body using it's very loudest yelling voice & give me the slow down & take care of me message. I've been getting one of those messages every year for a while. And good gravy, this March, 2010, it was a big old message. Luckily I made it through the opening on only what can be described as the bliss that an artist has- seeing your work suspended on a wall with nice bright lights shining on it can give you, & after that promptly made it to the ER (With the help of my wonderful friend and neighbor who happens to be an ER doc to boot. I got the hook up, friends. There's that juju!).  It was a mellow sickness when I look at the big picture. It all began one week after a sweet little fiber cleanse, I had an abscess in my left tonsil. And that my friends, as I should know from keeping Louise Hay's book- You Can Heal Your Life in my bedside drawer, is my body reminding me that I had something to say. Something big. Big and festering and OLD.
Ew. Seriously. Ew.

I'm not much of a girl for confrontation, but in this instance, my body was confronting ME. So I'm listening. Listening close. 12 days of being ill and 12 days of liquid... ending with a weekend at the ER and a lovely gong bath!!!!!! YUMMY (the later, clearly)!!!! OMG, gong baths are so my kinda thing. Gary Fishman and his healing stones and his transcending vibrations are powerful in the most amazing way. Are you with me? L.O.V.E. Thank you sweet T for inspiring me to go!

I feel light and free. AND, it gave me inspiration for my new series- opening at Grand in April. It's all about this question: "Who are you?"... really. Not just in the Alice in Wonderland way, (which I can barely contain myself to keep from dropping everything to go see.... thank you, Tim! ---for the distraction, the inspiration, the color, & of course the WONDER... sigh.) but also in the way of exploring yourself. Exploring your limits, your lifestyle, your passion, your love, your way... and then considering who each person we meet is. And asking, "Who are you?" & then wondering this: "Is it you?".

SO. The work I'm flushing out (I smile as I type that phrase: "flushing out")... is all about this (see image):

I stumbled upon these cupcakes while reading a fun blog online. They are made by Laurel Avenue Bakery... click that last link to venture to their Bake Lab & see the other artful goodies this darling bakery creates. It was just days after this question became my inspiration & on the day I volunteered to make a class art project in my daughter's 1st grade class all about the same yumminess (photo to follow). All this cupcake business makes me remember a sweet little short animated piece a special friend shared once. Don't you love how connected we all are? I do. It makes me feel whole.

My canvases for this next Who are You show are big big big. Like some are 5' x 5' big, Yo. So, I moved some of the studio back out of the laundry room to prime & sketch this morning. Instead of cooking up cupcakes & cookies in the kitchen today, I was busy cooking up these:

Someone is asking the Universe for a studio. Someone is in need. That someone's amazing Universe is working on a different list first, though. Someone has gratitude. Lots.
Merci.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this song (click her name to enjoy it): You Make Me Happy by Lindsey Ray. It makes my heart soar.
Here are the lyrics:

It's the heart on your sleeve never making me wonder
It's the bond that we tie up and over and under
You're the sun and the rain and my grass is always green
With a kiss on my cheek, always letting me know I'm the birds and the bees
I'm the apple in your eye
I know that you know that I know you're all I need

And just when I thought it couldn't get any better
There you go and do it all again
Hope this feeling never ends

'Cause you
You make me happy
You
You make me happy

It's the sound of your voice at the end of the phone line
A tickle in my toes just to know that you're all mine
Like an ice cream sundae with a cherry on the top
It's the look in your eyes when I'm wearing your t-shirt
Your cute little smile after a long day of hard work
And I know that you know that I can't give you up

And just when I thought it couldn't get any better
There you go and do it all again
Hope this feeling never ends

'Cause you
You make me happy
You
You make me happy

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better
There you go and do it all again
Hope this feeling never ends

You
You make me happy
You
You make me happy
You
You make me happy
You
You make me happy


Happy March.
~Lizzie

March 5th, 2010... a show about luck + energy, good vibes + magic

Come see my new show at Tomte Modern Craft.

Friday, March 5th, 6-9pm.

and then it was february, twenty-ten!

time flies when.......

how is it the middle of february already, people? i. mean. really. seriously. H.O.W?
 
here's a peek at my work hanging in the sweet little flower shop show i did this month...
a heartfelt thank you to the darling little amore fiore for hosting my work!

it was so nice to see the little "sketches" get scooped up! thank you dear friends for your love + support. it means sooooooo much more than any of you know.... here's the thing:
i always wonder if anyone is going to come to an opening. and then i allow myself the dark moment to wonder if anyone will like my work. i know it's silly to even use good energy to write about angst- but, i think anytime we put ourselves out there, all vulnerable, exposed, and REALLY out there- all brave + hopeful- these scary, icky moments of self-doubt creep in.
it's such a ride as an artist.
pride + doubt circle each other like kittens chasing tails.
this circle becomes easier to ride the busier i stay.
so, i keep on working. reinventing + reflecting, bowing to that divine spirit that tells me what comes next. + then the work just feels so good- like every other BIG amazing thing in this life + the icky parts of the scary sorta melt away.

this february is all about this circle for me. focus + intention + reflection + truth + resolve + work.
it's really a circle- completely energizing + good-scary all at once.
am i making any sense?



it all comes back to that little whale painting in my last blog entry from january- let go + believe. i need to let go + believe. heart shining, blessings counted, other stuff edited,  + ready.
¡listo!
             or shall i say ¡listos!
             i wish i knew. silly circle.



bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla LOVE bla bla bla....
if you're still reading on.... thank you. i smile at the thought.

here is a little mixed media quadro i poured myself into:

"te quiero" 

12" x 12" mixed media on canvas

it's a collage about love. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
+ so is that other little one off to the right. it's called "favoritas" 4" x 4" ink on wood.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

sooooooo, that brings me to what's next. juju. that's what. here's the story, morning glory:
i'll try to make it snappy.


one of my little february highlights thus far was this: my step-momma, janice, called + asked me to  pop up to bainbrige island, washington to surprise my poppa-bear for his 60th birthday! it was truly B.L.I.S.S. for so many reasons. what a special time:
 

"bliss" 4" x 4" 
mixed media
on wood

shortly after i landed on bainbridge, all blissed out on the rush of popping into a party, unexpected, (after riding a bus, a plane, a train, a taxi, a ferry and another taxi...) a great friend of my dad told me why she picks him as a bridge partner... and it was this SWEETNESS that struck me: the way she described my dad's amazing confidence, his blind luck + his juju when it came to playing the game... + in that moment i knew where my sketches would go next. 
curious?
i'll be sharing this new series, all about juju, with anyone who can come- the first friday in march to a wonderful modern-craft gallery in denver called: tomte craft! it's sure to be a hoot. (i'll share some images of the works here too- in case you can't make it. just be patient with me. k?)

 i adore tomte, you will too!
click here to follow tomte on facebook!

~wishing you good juju... 
lizzie




p.s. fELiZ 60th geeps!

i have a little show tomorrow at a sweet flower shop called Amore Fiore in the neighborhood where i live. the pieces i've done for this show number 30. they are all inspired by love.
this one is about the way i felt yesterday. dreaming + sure.
"let go + believe" 6" x 6" ink and acrylic on canvas

i love the high contrast next to the low contrast, the peach next to the navy.... i wanted to leave my lines free of color- like a coloring book- waiting for paint. it actually makes me think of this song that i still don't know the name of. (doesn't it just bug you when you can't trace a song?)
it's about making connections that are real. real live organic connections, unlike the kind we all have with our techy toys of today.

i'll share some more pics from this series after i hang it tomorrow! can't wait!

we are about to list our house- so i moved my studio space into our laundry room in order to make it look like "normal" people lived here- i was anxious to see if i could actually get any work done in that room- and guess what! the space actually works really really well. It's truly too whimsical + magical in here to do just laundry! See:soooo... speaking of space... i just stumbled upon the work space of this über amazing artist i am a fan of :nathalie lete from paris. she paints, she makes rugs, she designs an earth-ware line for anthropologie, and makes art out of truly everything she touches. her workshop space makes me feel happy and brave. to see images of her pretty world is a delight to my soul... it's exactly the way i think about space and color. everywhere i go, i dream of doodling on the walls- the surfaces- playing with fabric like it was paint... i can see that this artist does too. i adore ms. lete.

happy wednesday,
l i z z i e

(Caveat: This will not be a short post. I have been a total slacker and therefore I will be unloading a season's worth of little details that I can actually remember. It's been a blur. So there you have it. Stop reading now if you're not into art, girly caca, or french macaroons, or Gaudi.)

Being the list lover I tend to be. Here's what's been lighting up my soul:

+++August + September were FULL of paintings for special people... here are little peeks from my studio (which has been a busy place!)

.

This is Sir Gillie. He was created by a lovely woman who just turned 80. Her family had me illustrate the story of Sir Gillie for her birthday. She was touched. It was soooo fun!

My friend Laura from Sweet Blossom Boutique had me help her with a new logo... I can's wait to share it with you.

+++September Tour of the South... a girly road trip from Atlanta to a 150 year old farm in Nashville, and then off to the most charming B & B in Columbus. It was a HOOT!

Lizzie & KP at some little shop somewhere along the road... goofin'.

This darling pond had a real live MAN lurking in it. We had the willies + the giggles all at once for a while over that sight. Let me just say- Columbus never stopped surprising us around every corner!

My girlies are pictured here- admiring an artist's flair in at the Country Living Magazine Fair... where I also found this: by Deirdre Friebely. Her work floors me. I love that she was able to make this darling piece with the words "hummingbird cake" clipped from a newspaper for inspiration. She certainly is a clever lady! +++ she puts little houses in her work, too... which made me feel instantly connected to her.

I went cuckoo for these. I have a thing for cuckoo clocks ever since (my then five year old) T asked Santa to bring him a cuckoo.

+++October brought me to Portland, Oregon. Where I think my family could up and move! I went to meet my new leetle cousin, Adam. What a doll! We enjoyed a morning at the Saturday Farmer's Market- it was truly lovely! We enjoyed hot cider with lavender + cardamom. My momma and I both LOVE cardamom- so we were floating about. And then I saw these dahlias... and oh, how a flower stall at an open air market can bring me to my knees. They also host a wonderful gluten free baker + thus bought T a bunch of treats for his lunch-box for the upcoming week. We popped into a wonderful little fabric store called Cool Cottons where I found this designer from Portland named Lizzy House. I adore her crisp, clean, whimsical designs- infused with her wit + charm.

Baby Adam's daddy had a nightly Daddy Dance Party that touched my soul + made me cry. Click here to hear one of his grooves. Adam's momma, Annie, is a poster child for breast feeding. Being in their cozy home with my momma was just what the doctor ordered for my soul this fall. I have dozens of paintings swimming in my heart from those tender days shared in Portland.

+++Late October in . . . . . . Paris!

Ahhhhhhhh. What a way to end the autumn!

The Paris Metro was so good to us. Lucky for me, B has a way with maps. Lucky for B, I have a way with French. Sorta. It was a good visit.

I had to double back in a Metro sortie to catch this little moment: Some street folk had peeled the paper back from this framed ad space + the color just spoke to me. If you came to my little art show at Sacred i Yoga this November, the piece called "Passion" was inspired by this wall. I love the humanity + grit to be seen on the Metro as much as the beauty + grace above ground in Paris.

Some things will always tug at my heart strings... one of them is thistle--just look at this tile from the exterior of a darling little boulangerie. It was just near this little skate shop where we rented skates for the Pari-Roller. The roller evening of MY LIFE! If you like to skate + find yourself in Paris on a Friday night- you must do this! I'll never forget wizzing by the Hotel de Ville at midnight with more than a thousand other skaters. Some were wearing actual roller skates as you see here. Hee Hee! On eve of Halloween- it was really cool to imagine the spirits of that lived in Montparnasse where the Pari Roller gathered to begin. It made me wonder.

Beauty and design. My goodness. There is a ball to be had at the Centre Pompidou. The installations, the cinema, the fountain by Niki de Saint Phalle + Jean Tinguely, the library store... and the shops in that neighborhood. Divine. From lingerie to noodles, art to thrift. It is a mecca of art, culture, and F.U.N.

A moment for Laudree Macaroons. My good God- the Lavender-Casis flavor could put me into a tizzy. They are perfection.

And another moment for the amazing Kenzo. Ever since Louis Vuitton bought the Kenzo brand- and even before then some pretty cool architectural design moments in Paris. Talk about eye candy. The Kenzo Spa- La Bulle is an amazing sight. I had read about it + in Wallpaper so I was excited to stumble upon it. Also on this eye candy list is Kong. This 2003 restaurant space was designed by Phillipe Starck. The juxtapose of the house music, the Starck acrylic chairs with pop images of ladies faces adorning them, the incredibly vivid colors with the panoramic view of grand Paris is powerful. It's like a place of fiction compared to the typical Parisian cafe. Kong has received really poor reviews since 2003- but, I say pop in for a drink after you're done touring Notre Dame +/or after you're done forcing your fellow to try on an incredible jacket at Kenzo downstairs.

I, of course, had a good old cry in the Musee de Orsay. There is nothing like visiting the master impressionists & post impressionists there. Emotion floods me as I climb the steps to the salons full of Van Gogh's, Gauguin, Matisse, Maurice de Vlaminck, Monet, and their contemporaries... It is overwhelming to see Manet's Olympia again as an adult. Yet, I was still fascinated by that black cat at the foot of the bed.

There was a James Ensor exhibit open at the Orsay. This rare + bizarre collection of pre-expressionism work is amazing to take in. Ensor used symbolism through masks to portray satire + irony in a series of works. These frightening + somewhat grotesque works were tender once you had a chance to read about Ensor's life... and a bit appropriate for a Halloween visit!

This is the humble view from bed. Take me back. Just saying.

This city blows me away!

+++November began for me in Barcelona.

BCN, O' BCN, Te quiero, te quiero. Te quiero all your green, your azure, your ochre, your shades of grey, + your amazing shades of rose. Thank goodness for all your color.

El Born is a wonderful little neighborhood in Barcelona, flanking the Gothic Quarter & Barcelonetta. The churches, shops, & tapas restaurants are AMAZING. I love how during the day they are open, then closed for siesta, then open for evening, then closed for a few hours & back at it again the next day.
The siesta schedule works for this girl's body clock.

It's so wild how the streets look like a foreign place when everything is closed. Its hard to imagine that a darling little boutiques lay behind these graffiti ridden doors.

I love the old + new all over this city. I was told this is the oldest public fountain in the city. It reminds me of my dad.

This dress is from 1803. I snapped a shot of it while I was walking by an antique store + 2 older women were standing in front chatting about it.

It was so wild to see because just a few doors down was this little H + M store... which in some ways is sad... but sorta great for us- because we don't have H + M in Colorado. SoOoooOOoooo... we paid a little visit.

What gets me about Barcelona is the pulse. It feels like home to my soul. The sea air, the creativity around every corner, the simple + pure food, the fashion, the music, the night life + evidence of Gaudi everywhere. I love it!

Lunch + a little hike around Parc Güell,

a tour of Gaudi's Casa Batllo + siesta by the sea is a near perfect vacation day for me.

The whole wonderful time went by in a flash... + there was very little sleep to be had in Barcelona. That city likes to dance + play...

¡Vamanos a Barcelona!

p.s. Check out the link for food above. It's for a restaurant called La Plata in the Gothic Quarter... They are famous for fried sardine tapas + it's been said the Bono has been known to eat there when in Barcelona. I'm not usually a star f***er. But, its the sweetest, cutest, littlest place with the teeniest menu ever. And just a few doors down is a handmade candy shop called Papabubble. It makes the streets smell so divine! I hope you get to go!

+++ if you find yourself wandering BCN- be sure to visit the museum- Fundacio Joan Miro. Then stop for a bite at Quimet + Quimet. Yummy.

Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you Nana Suzanna + PopPop for hanging out with our bambinos on Dayton Street so we could go!