Archives for posts with tag: lois lawrence

Holiday Shows are Here!!

November 12, 2014 //

The holiday art and craft show season is upon us and I am getting ready for four of them. On December 7 and 8 I’ll be at Briggs Nursery in North Attleboro Massachusetts. If you haven’t been to this fabulous venue you should make a day of it. It’s that good!

After that, on Sunday, December 14, I’ll be at the indoor Providence Flea whose founders have just been recognized among he best entrepeneurs of the year!
Meanwhile, I’m working on pieces for two season-long shows in Rhode Island. One is at Chapel View, Rhode Islands’s newest high-end gallery. The Chapel View complex is adjacent to Garden City in Cranston.
The second, Peckham’s Greenhouse Local Handmade Holiday Show, begins November 18 and runs through Christmas at Peckhams’s Greenhouse in Little Cranston, Rhode Island. features the work of some 20 Rhode Island and New England artists and artisans.

Once the season is over, I’ll be free turn my attention to new work for May. Meanwhile, hope to keep in touch through this blog and through my Etsy shop. Happy Holidays everyone!!

Tags botanical art, botanical collage, collage, connecticut artist, framed art, garden gifts, garden. gardening, lois lawrence, mixed-media, my stonington garden, plant collage, stonington artist

Categories acrylic painting, art, botanical, botanical art, botanical collage, botanical painting, collage, Garden art

A Little Patchwork with Bald Cedar, Papyrus, Japanese Maple and One Sweet Little Weed

August 14, 2014 //

This 12″ x 6″ resin-coated piece features several plants I’ve used before and one I haven’t — bald cedar. The long cedar leaf spans all three of the rectangles in the painting and ties the whole thing together, I think. Compositionally, it serves almost the same purpose as the garden asparagus I’ve used in some of my works on paper, but is sturdier and easier to deal with at the stage of adhering the plant to the support. Once the resin is poured, any leaf or part of a leaf that is not firmly attached to the wood panel tends to float to and through the surface–a problem that no amount of poking with a toothpick is likely to fix — so proper attachment is critically important.

When using white backgrounds, I don’t always leave the cradle sides white as well, but it works well in this case.

Tags botanical art, botanical collage, connecticut artist, garden art, lois lawrence, mixed-media, plant collage, stonington garden

Categories acrylic painting, art, botanical, botanical art, botanical collage, botanical painting, collage, Garden art, mixed media, multi media, pressed botanicals, pressed flowers

Remembering Caribbean Nights

August 12, 2014 //

This week I’m feeling confident in my resining techniques and comfortable with my full-sized propane torch, so I’m trying my hand at some larger pieces. This one measures 6″ x 12″. If that doesn’t sound large, try a few steps of the resin dance yourself and you’ll see it my way. The working window is only about 20 minutes from the first pour to removal of the last bubble and I work with up to six pieces at a time. Still, I’m on the march and have larger panels waiting in the wings.

For the real plants in the foreground, I chose a mix of weeds and garden plants — wild grass seed heads, a piece of Japanese maple, and a little leaf of curly coleus.

Tags abstract art, botanical art, botanical collage, lois lawrence, mixed-media, my stonington garden, pressed flowers, providence artist, stonington artist, stonington connecticut, stonington ct

Categories acrylic painting, art, botanical, botanical art, botanical collage, botanical painting, collage, Garden art, Gardening, graphic art, mixed media, multi media, nautical art

Foam Flower Plant Has Better Leaves than Flowers

July 25, 2014 //

Foam flowers or Heuchera, are fuzzy little white stems that don’t make themselves particularly useful for purposes of floral composition. The leaves of this hardy plant, on the other hand, still look three-dimensional even when pressed flat. I love the depth of color around the veining and I especially love the asymmetrical and somewhat tattered look of the outer edges. I added some abstract ‘framing’ to this one with touches of sap green, cobalt blue and gold and I popped on a couple of dew drops for fun. The edges are painted in the same colors and style and the whole 5×5 piece is coated in three layers of glossy resin.

Tags botanical art, botanical collage, connecticut artist, foam flower, garden art, heuchera, huechera, lois, lois lawrence, stonington garden

Categories acrylic painting, art, botanical, botanical art, botanical collage, botanical painting, collage, Garden art, Gardening, mixed media, pressed botanicals, Uncategorized

A New Series of Landscapes

May 29, 2014 //

At the VIRTU Art Festival in Westerly, Rhode Island, last week, my little 4 x 4 landscape was the first to go so I felt emboldened to try my hand at an 8 x 8. The real botanicals in this piece are all in the immediate foreground. I used feathergrass against the white of the reflection in the water, added just the tip of a ginkgo leaf on the lower right, and a few individual sections of a Japanese maple leaf just for some added drama and color. As it turns out, feathergrass tends to lift a little on the first application of resin making it hard to reach a glass-like finish in less than three coats, so I had to wait a full 4 days to see the finished product. I think it was worth it though. Next in line for the resin bath is a farm scene in which I use only my ferns at the edges of a field.

Tags affordable art, botanical art, landscape painting, lois lawrence, pressed botanicals, providence artist, stonington artist, stonington garden

Categories acrylic painting, art, botanical, botanical art, botanical collage, botanical painting, collage, Garden art, mixed media, pressed botanicals, real botanicals

The New Crop of Raw Materials

May 19, 2014 //

Yesterday was a perfect spring day in southern New England, so my husband and I paid a visit to our favorite garden center – The Farmer’s Daughter in South Kingston, Rhode Island. This collection of spiky papyrus, ruffled coleus, scented geranium and abutilon will spend the summer in a great planter on my deck and supply me with terrific foliage for my pressed botanicals. Meanwhile, in the garden, my ferns, miniature ivy, yellow archangel, and fringed bleeding heart have all come to life and are ready for a judicious harvest.

Meanwhile, work continues on my new project – pressed botanicals on acrylic backgrounds. For these I use wood panels as supports, and encase the finished work in two or three coats of two-part resin. This one features a single feathery Japanese maple leaf and awaits its second coat of resin. Out with the gas mask…

Tags abstract botanicals, botanical art, lois lawrence, modern botanical art, pressed botanical, real pressed, stonington artist, stonington ct

Categories acrylic painting, art, botanical, botanical art, botanical collage, botanical painting, collage, pressed botanicals, pressed flowers, real botanicals

Making the Most of Miniature Supports

May 9, 2014 //

Having a great time with my new project but there’s a lot to protect. Note the latex gloves, and the waxed paper to protect my counter. Then there is the issue of my lungs. Need to upgrade to a full-on gas mask even though there are hardly any noticable fumes from the Envirotex two-part resin system I use. Better safe than sorry and I’m so happy with the process and results that I plan to gear up for a full series. This little guys are just 4″ x 4″. The abstract features azalea leaves and carnation petals, while the little landscape sticks to tried-and-true ferns. My next piece will be a boat at sea. Haven’t settled on what plant to use to represent land flora and sails. Last season, raspberry leaves made great sails, but, alas, my raspberry bush is not yet prepared to supply me with more.

I’ll be showing these at Lippett Park in Providence on May 17th, weather permitting, and at the big VIRTU art festival in Wilcox Park in Westerly, Rhode Island on Memorial Day weekend. Meanwhile they’ll be in my Etsy shop.

Tags connecticut artist, lois lawrence, pressed botanical, providence botanical artist, real pressed flowers, stonington artist, stonington garden

Categories acrylic painting, art, botanical, botanical art, botanical collage, botanical painting, collage, Garden art, graphic art, mixed media, pressed botanicals, pressed flowers, real botanicals

Tucking Real Plants Between Original Art and Resin

May 5, 2014 //

Resin is a wonderful way to preserve and enhance real botanicals, so I decided to try a few pieces on wood panel in order to provide the best possible surface for the ice-smooth resin coating. First, I painted my background on a 5″x 5″ panel. Then, I chose a plain mustard yellow for the 7/8″ sides of the cradle, and mounted my two sweet ivy leaves. Before coating the work with resin, I couldn’t resist adding a tiny ‘droplet’ of water on one of the leaves using more acrylic and a tiny signature brush.

Tags abstract botanicals, lois lawrence, my stonington garden, plant art, pressed flowers, pressed plants, providence artist, real botanical art, stonington artist

Categories acrylic painting, art, botanical, botanical art, botanical collage, botanical painting, collage, Garden art, mixed media, multi media, pressed botanicals, real botanicals

A Different Take on the Carnation

March 30, 2014 //

This is the second time I have added a touch of acrylic paint to my printed graphic in order to add depth and contour. Just the sky is left untouched. To bring it to life I added just the top of a pressed ginkgo leaf and a carnation petal as foreground and to lend perspective, I also added some fern ‘trees’ in graduated sizes.

With the start of the show season just weeks away (my first show will be Craftopia at Hope Artistes Village in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on Sunday, April 27) Meanwhile, this one is the latest addition to my Etsy shop.

Tags botanical art, carnation, collage, connecticut artist, ginkgo, lois lawrence, mixed-media, my stonington garden, providence artist

Categories acrylic painting, art, botanical, botanical art, botanical collage, botanical painting, collage, Garden art, mixed media, pressed botanicals, pressed flowers

Carnations Aren’t Just for Boutonnieres — They Make Great Butterflies Too!

March 14, 2014 //

My daughter, Emma and her boyfriend, Nick recently brought me some lovely flowers including some brightly colored carnations. I thought they were perfect for a trial run with my new microwave flower press — a gift from my other daughter, Shelley. The press yielded great results right out of the gate and will allow me to use more flowers in my work. ! I’m sure I will find inspiration for many designs with these pretty petals but this one was irresistible.

This piece is also a departure in that it combines computer graphics with acrylic painting for the background. I used a deep brownish yellow printed foreground to support painted grasses. The plants other than carnations are fern and ginkgo. As always, I varied the size of the fronds to create depth of field.

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Tags botanical art, botanical art. plant collage, butterflies, butterfly art, children's art, connecticut artist, decoratiing nursery, lois lawrence, nature art, nature paintings, stonington artist

Categories acrylic painting, art, botanical, botanical art, botanical collage, botanical painting, collage, Uncategorized