Happy Mother's Day

Have a blessed day!
Lana

Something Different

Sometimes I have this urge to do something creative and even if I don't have the time or the space cleared out for it... I just have to do it! I'd been studying other people's art techniques last week, watching youtube demos and tutorials, looking at brush strokes, admiring the use of color, reading art books, etc. and I got so inspired I just couldn't wait to try something different! I'm out of canvases (or so I thought) and pulled out my watercolor block to use. After brushing on a coat of gesso, I sketched a scene and started laying in the colors. I really don't know what I thought I'd do, but I kept adding thin layers until I had something I was pleased with.

I ended up with the painting at the top, but earlier it looked like this:

Maybe I should have kept it like that, but I just didn't like the way the tree was turning out.

Now that I'm seeing it again... I like it more than I did before.

I also changed a row of flowers. I use that term loosely because they resemble flowers about as much as the painting looks like a Monet or Renoir, but I had mounds / rows of lavender in mind. I guess if you stand wayyyyyy back and squint a lot, it could be a landscape with lavender in the foreground.

{compare this closeup to the painting at the top and you can see where I changed to look of the lavender.}

I had fun painting it anyway! :)

When I finished that one, I saw a canvas in the corner that I'd forgotten about and grabbed it up and started loosely painting a few stems of lavender. The canvas is 8" x 24" and is perfect for long stemmed flower paintings.

I'll do several layers, filling in more of the background and slowly defining the flowers... but not too much. I think I may try using a palette knife on it. We'll see how it turns out in a few days!

What have you been working on lately?
Any new artwork, needlework, decorating, gardening?

Have a blessed week,
Lana

Art Takes a Back Seat

Today, my art takes a back seat to nature,
for how can it compete with the art of our Creator?

Have a blessed weekend,
Lana

It's Not Too Late!

Oops! I have had a 25% OFF SALE sale going in my Etsy shops for several days and I meant to let everyone know after I emailed my newsletter list... but I forgot! But it's not too late...

The sale ends tonight at midnight. Several of you have already taken advantage of it and I thank you so much! For those of you that want to get in on it, here's what you do:

Go to any of my shops
Lana Manis Designs - original art and prints

Simple Joys Paperie - vintage book wreaths, assemblage jewelry, and love tokens

Honeysuckle Lane - folk art and recycled wool or ribbon flower pins

and when you add the items to your cart and are ready to check out, add this code just under the payment option: APRILSHOWERS2014.

It will automatically take 25% off your product total.

If by chance you do not shop on Etsy but still want something, just email me (honeysucklelane {at} hotmail.com) your choices along with your shipping address. I'll remove the items and send you a PayPal invoice. If you are outside the U.S., email me for a shipping quote.

As for everyday things here at home, we've had rain, rain, and more rain and everything is beginning to "green out"! Hopefully I'll have some pretty outdoor photos to share by the weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!

Take care and God bless,
Lana

Happy Earth Day!

Have a blessed day!
Lana

Color My World

So much for the previous putty gray painting I did! These last few days I have ditched the gray and mixed all kinds of colors for my latest paintings! I'll have more to share soon.

Have a wonderful week!
Lana

Third Time's the Charm

I've been painting again!

 
I had a few hard boards that I had painted, didn't like, painted again, didn't like, and then covered with paint left over from my palette. Today I sketched and painted the hydrangeas. More than once. :)

I love painting these abstract, painterly hydrangeas! Here are a few before (or during) and after photos. You can always click on the photo for a larger view.

~*~

~*~

What's your favorite flower? I seem to be stuck on hydrangeas and simple rose shapes... maybe I need a new flower to paint! :)

Blessings,
Lana

A Bit Sketchy

So... I've been painting again, thanks to a recent custom order request! I hadn't painted much at all during the winter and I know that's not good. I hope I don't go that long again without painting. Anyway, the order was just what I needed to get me going again!.

No, the painting shown in this post isn't the custom order, but it's one of the paintings I worked on this past week. If I have paint leftover on my palette or in my brush, rather than waste it, I usually slather or scrape it all over a canvas or hardboard or book cover that I have nearby. In this case it was a canvas painting that just didn't feel right last fall when I painted a still life on it.

So I covered it up.

And then sketched on it.

And then started adding color over the background with my palette knife.

Not a lot of color, just 3 or 4.

And then I stopped.

For some reason, I like the sketchy, unfinished look.
Maybe because it's like me... no, not the sketchy part!

Unfinished.
A work in progress..

It makes me smile when I look at it. :)

Blessings,
Lana

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" Philippians 1:6



{this was also posted at Honeysuckle Lane's Simple Joys}

Lavender Again!

While working on a custom painting and waiting on layers to dry, I painted more vintage book covers... lavender... again.

These are just simple, fun pieces that allow me to play around with color and texture. Nothing fancy, nothing masterful, but fun and folksy.

Tomorrow I'll share the custom painting with you.

Lana

I'm Thinking Lavender...

I've been thinking about the Lavender Festival that's coming up in June and think  I may do some lavender paintings. I had a painting from last year that really needed help... a lot of help, so I covered it with shades of aqua and put it aside. Then when I was thinking about lavender, I thought I'd try one of those scenes you see from France.... hills in the distance and rows and rows of lavender. This one's just a practice piece. I already see plenty of things I want to change.

It's not that great, but it gave me ideas of how I how I want to do the series of lavender paintings for the festival. Next one I try, I'll go with a dark background and add color, leaving darker outlines like I did in these paintings:

{nope, that's not me... it's my lovely daughter, Jessica!}

Now that I'm talking more about it... I may do some lavender linocuts and have several prints and note cards available! I'd better go make a list... I'm thinking of even more! :)

Have a blessed day!
Lana