In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

- by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918), Canadian Army

Read the story behind the poem here. 


God bless,
Lana

Doing What You Love

 That's what I'm doing right now. I am painting more than I have in the past and I love it!

                                                                                                                                                                  

I'm self-taught, so much of what I do is intuitive and by trial and error. But that's okay. I am learning to loosen up and not stress if something isn't like what I perceived it should be or how everybody else is doing it.

I'm finding my way, discovering my style, and think it's pretty awesome! Not my work, although I am loving what's coming from my brushes, but the freedom one feels when they finally are not worried about fitting in, about staying in the lines, or wearing white after Labor Day! ;)

I am finding JOY in my art and I hope it spills over to you and to others as I share it from time to time.

I'll be back in a few days to let you know why I'm not doing needlework for the Lavender Festival and share what I am doing instead.

Blessings ~
Lana

And the Winners Are...

Friend

Heidi! Her favorite was the Friend print as seen above.

Ask, Believe, Receive

Sue! She chose Ask, Believe, Receive.
 
and Judy! She also wanted a Friend print.

Ok, ladies, I'll be emailing you in a little while to get your mailing addresses.

Thanks so much to everyone that entered the art print giveaway!

Take care and God bless,
Lana

Don't Miss Out!

Have you signed up for the Lana Manis Designs newsletter?
Thursday I'll announce a customer appreciation giveaway in the newsletter, for newsletter recipients only. Don't miss out!
Sign up here.

Blessings,
Lana 

You Have to Start Somewhere

I'm glad I found that quote (as seen the photo) by Mr. Haskins this morning. It can mean different things to different people, depending on where you're at in your life, but for me, at this moment, I'm reminded that even the smallest of things can become grand, but they start out small. Even the least important aspects of our lives can have great meaning once we see the bigger picture... although that can sometimes take a long time to happen... but on their own they seem insignificant.

I'm struggling (again) with what I'm to be or where I'm going with my creative life. I thought I was back on track especially after I announced that this was the year for me... that I could just feel it. And then I stalled. I know in my heart I'll figure it out... but boy, is this road hard! Lack of self-confidence, thinking what in the world am I doing, wondering why I'm stuck when in the past I could start something new and it would just take off... it can really make you doubt everything you are doing. Self-doubt is not a fun thing.

But I'm going to keep going. Why? Because I find joy in my art, in making new jewelry pieces, in handwork, in cutting and folding paper love tokens for others to share their love... and somehow it will be all right. I keep reading over and over from different authors that if you do what you love and love what you do, you will be a success. Well, Success, here I come! :)

If you could give one piece of advice about following your dreams during a dry time, whether it's dry creatively, financially, emotionally, etc., what would it be?

I'm so glad you came by!
Blessings,
Lana

P.S. Here's my little temporary website with photos of past work and links to where my art can be purchased. I'm hoping to have a fully functional website designed and up and running later this summer. I've already found a wonderfully talented person to do it!

What to Eat?

Here's a fun little piece I made from leftovers. Both the book cover and page are leftovers from my wreath-making. I'm not sure which book the cover came from but the page was from an early 1900s Physiology and Hygiene health book.

Working from the chapter title and page content, I decided to paint a cake on a stand. It actually says, "Candy is a perfectly proper food if it is eaten at mealtime."
Hmmm, my kids were right all along! ;)

What materials do you like to recycle in your art?

Home is where the heart is...

Over on my old blog I shared some of the HOME paintings I did with KOI watercolors. I ended up painting 29 skinny ones and had them all spread out here on the back porch. I never made it to 100 like I'd hoped, but maybe I'll start painting them again, soon. I really need to scan all of the ones I have and make prints to sell in my shop.

Recently, I decided to start painting again... but this time with acrylics... again. I seem to switch back and forth from acrylics to watercolor and back to acrylics every few years. I also wanted to do more mixed media pieces and dug up an old canvas painting that I had given up on in the past.

I began by gluing scraps of patterned and textured paper all over the canvas in a patchwork pattern. Nothing specific. I was just trying to cover everything.

I was worried about the air bubbles, but as it dried it flattened out again.

There was a small gap between papers, so I grabbed one of my business cards on the table and used it.

I then started adding washes of color, wiping away certain areas, trying to decide what to cover and what to let show through.

I ended up covering most of the paper, but you could still see the textures and I blocked in the house, sky and ground.

I used a stencil to add a faint pattern and outlined everything with charcoal.

I drew simple flowers and grass and added words with a white sharpie...

and ended up with this:

It was a lot of fun once I convinced myself that it didn't have to be perfect. :)

I've been sketching in the evenings while watching tv with my husband. I thought I'd share some every few days along with whatever else I'm working on at the time. I'm hoping the adage, "practice makes perfect", will prove itself true eventually.

charcoal pears

pen and ink portrait

What do you like to doodle or sketch in your spare time?


Take care & God Bless,
Lana

Easy As 1 - 2 - 3!

I've been playing around with watercolors and wanted to share a technique with you that's so quick and easy! I guess it's a well-known and often used trick but I hadn't done it until recently. Martha Lever has a tutorial called Color Drop Flowers that would be very helpful, I'm sure. I haven't taken any of her classes but I love reading her blog posts! If she ever does an acrylic painting class I'll definitely sign up!

OK, back to my simple flowers. I used one of my photographs for inspiration.
In step #1 all I did was make a few circles of lightly tinted water where I wanted my blooms to be, adding a bit more color in the some areas. Leave it to dry, letting the color spread on its own:

For step #2, I did basically the same thing but this time I did the stems and leaves. I used only water first, then added bits of green here and there and let it seep and run and blend into itself... and let it dry thoroughly:

Then for step #3, I used a sepia PITT pen to loosely add details:

It's not identical to the photograph, but I was mostly concerned with practicing and getting the feel of watercolors again.

The painting at the top of this post was made the same way, as well as the one in my Welcome post. The flowers in the Welcome post were created over some watercolor blobs I had done months ago, set aside, and recently found. Instead of throwing that page out, I added the details with the pen and made whimsical blooms!

If you try it, be sure to come back and let me know. I'd love to see your art! :)

Blessings,
Lana

Thank you, Mr. Peale!

It’s funny how things work out. How we worry about this and that, going over and over situations in our minds, having conversations with ourselves about different scenarios --- and answering ourselves. Wait, you do that, don’t you? And then just out of the blue when we have given up and forgotten about it or just decided to stop hoping… the answer comes in some form or another.

As mentioned on my other blog earlier this year (in this post) I decided that this year was THE year. THE year I finally treat my business as a real business. THE year I finally call myself an artist and really mean it. THE year we finally finish all our renovations. And on and on. I was all gung-ho and then the little whispers started speaking to me, calling to me from the shadows and telling me how silly I was to think I could succeed... at anything. I tried not to listen, I really did, but the whispers just got louder and louder until they were no longer whispers of doubt but shouts of accusation! They nearly drowned out the music in my heart, the melodies that sang: "You can do it --- you deserve it!" The shouts kept telling me that to have faith in myself and to call myself an artist would be like bragging and I should be more humble.

But I persevered. No matter how small and inadequate I felt, I kept on praying and reading my Bible for guidance. I took time to read daily pages from Simple Abundance. It was (and is) hard, but I was determined to make it happen because deep inside my heart there is this joy that comes when I dare to dream about living a productive, creative life. Not only do I want to live a creative life, but I want my art to inspire and encourage others… to bring them joy when they wear a piece of jewelry that I’ve made or hang one of my paintings on their wall. I want to be a blessing to someone. It's that simple.

And this week, even though I should have been working on other things, I finally got busy reorganizing my workroom. I mean completely changing it around… flipping the layout from one end to the other! I had this urge to that I couldn’t control! Even though my back was killing me I kept on working and moving bookcases, sewing machines, computer tables, printers, a couch, etc.

All the while I kept feeling that nagging doubt about being successful at what my heart wanted to do, but I worked anyway, getting my room ready for all the creativity I am determined to unleash very soon!

While moving things around, I was sorting through one of my many boxes of books. The very last one I got out was The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale. My mom read his books and had several of them but I never had read anything by him other than a quote here and there. I opened up the book and chapter one was Believe in Yourself. The first paragraph read:

“BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy. But with sound self-confidence you can succeed. A sense of inferiority and inadequacy interferes with the attainment of your hopes, but self-confidence leads to self-realization and successful achievement. Because of the importance of this mental attitude, this book will help you believe in yourself and release your inner powers.”

Wow! I laughed when I read that and I think I cried a little, too! God knew exactly what I needed to hear (or read). This book, and more of Mr. Peale’s books, will be on my reading list.

So, thank you Mr. Peale --- and God!

And don't forget... BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!

Blessings,

Lana

Welcome!

There you are! You found me! :)

Since this is THE year for me (I'll cover more on that in later blog posts), I thought I'd start a new blog. Eventually, Honeysuckle Lane and Simple Joys Paperie will be merged into one website and I wanted a fresh, new blog to begin sharing future art and designs with you. The aesthetics of this blog will change over the next few months as I work on a more cohesive look. Soon, I'll have a few more things in the sidebar and some tabs at the top where I'll share my favorite books, supplies, websites, and more!

I'll do my best to post regularly... at least a couple times a week... and I'll share more photos of my workroom and works in progress. I'll also share my thoughts and joys and fears of being a work at home artist.

I'd love for you to leave a comment whenever you visit and have time.

Thanks so much for stopping by,
Lana