Archives for posts with tag: mixed-media

What to do While You Wait for the Grass to Grow

April 19, 2015 //

Back at the turn of this new century, I made a big series of large works on canvas that incorporated metal washers. For me, they have passed the test of time so I decided to miniaturize the concept and incorporate my current resin-coated works on wood panel – some with pressed plants and – gasp – some without.

I’ll be showing these this season in a number of venues including the Artist’s Cooperative Gallery of Westerly, the Memorial Day weekend VIRTU Art Festival in Westerly, the Providence Artisan’s Market at Lippett Park, and later in the season at the Wickford Art Festival, the Warren Art Festival, the Strawberry Festival in Newport and more. I also have month-long exhibits scheduled at the Green Marble Coffee Shop in Mystic in June and at the Yellow House Coffee Shop in Stonington in July. Hoping to see lots of old friends.

Tags abstract art, botanical art, collage, lois lawrence, miniiature art, mixed-media, pressed botanicals, providence artist, resin coating, stonington artist, stonington garden, westerly artist

Categories Uncategorized

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

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

Something New for the New Year- Watercolor Backgrounds

December 29, 2013 //

Until now I’ve created backgrounds for my real pressed botanicals on computer. To compliment that body of work, I recently began adding a series of acrylic paintings with similar subjects.

My last two pieces combine both disciplines. Instead of computer graphics, I have created bacgrounds on original watercolors. So far, I’m having fun with the process. I popped these two into my Etsy shop tonight and will show them next week in Stonington at the Velvet Mill.

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

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

A Burst of Fire and Ice Behind Pennisetum Frosted Explosion

September 10, 2013 //

A friend of mine pinned a photo of a fabulous and unusual quilt which reminded me of a Gustav Klimt painting and inspired me to work on a graphic that suggests fire in the night. The ornamental grass Pennisetum Frosted Explosion seemed like a natural for the foreground. Graphics rule here but I added a bit of bright green paint to the grass to increase the contrast just a bit.

I’ll be showing at the Providence Water Fire in three weeks. If this piece has sold before that I’ll work on a variation for Water Fire because it’s perfect for the occasion. Meanwhile I’ve tucked it into my Etsy shop where I’ve now added some giclee prints of smaller pieces after getting a lot of requests.

Tags artisan's market, botanical art. providence water fire, gustav klimt, lois lawrence, mixed-media, plant collage, pressed botanicals, quilt patterns

Categories art, botanical, botanical art, botanical collage, collage, Garden art, Uncategorized

Asparagus Tops as Art? Absolutely!

September 4, 2013 //

This year my husband’s asparagus crop was — er–modest. By that I mean we got about one stalk a week for about six weeks and goodbye. Now though, we have a virtual three-foot-wide asparagus-top jungle that is too pretty to ignore. The clippings I harvested only took about a week to process with a pressing between sheets of lightly weighted newsprint. For bold highlights in this composition I used a snippet of sensitive fern and the tip of a whole frond at the center. Nasturtiums make the best moons so why look for anything else?

Tags asparagus, botanical art, botanical collage, connecticut artist, flower press, lois lawrence, mixed-media, plant collage, plant press, pressed botanicals

Categories botanical, botanical art, botanical collage, collage, Garden art, Gardening, Uncategorized

Ralph Waldo Emerson – Thoughts that Inspire My Work

August 25, 2013 //

The dozens of new friends who meet with me and buy my botanical art for their homes and workplaces and for their friends share with me a love of nature and the fun that we can have contemplating the outdoors one leaf at a time. I’m surprised by the number of people who share that they regularly collect and press plants just for the joy of it. I hope I inspire them to take it a step further.

Tags botanical art. botanical collage, botanical collage, connecticut artist, framed art, garden gifts, gifts for gardeners, lois lawrence, mixed-media, stonington ct

Categories botanical, botanical art, botanical collage, collage, Garden art, Gardening, Uncategorized

The Quote that Defines My Botanical Art

August 20, 2013 //

“I believe that a leaf of grass is no less than the journeywork of the stars.” I have used this quote before and you will see it again if you follow my posts. It is what this work is about. When I walk through my garden to collect plants for these pieces, I look as closely at the weeds as I do to the other plants I selected so carefully for their unusual foliage. All of it, including the twisted leaves or beetle-nibbled would-be star of the garden has a place.

Tags botanical art, botanical collage, connecticut artist, lois lawrence, mixed-media, plants, Walt Whitman

Categories art, botanical art, botanical collage, collage, Garden art, Gardening, mixed media