doodling my way from dark to light...

I am on the verge of creating some new work, probably continuing on the theme of motherhood or home life or something familiar and real right now. They say "paint what you know." Well, what I know right now is a big pregnant belly and three busy kids.

But first. I have to get over my real aggravation with Kathleen Wynne's sabatoge of the family. The sneaky, subtle and subversive attacks on the very thing that takes up all my time and energy--I'm so done with it. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, maybe you don't live in Ontario. Sigh...anyway...

No one wants artwork that oozes bitterness hanging in their home--much less do I need a reminder of that on my easel. Plus, whining under the pressure doesn't seem overly honourable. There must be a helpful way to think through the reasons why family life is beautiful, important, valuable. The honest truth is, right now I often have trouble seeing it myself. Maybe that's why people call this stage being "in the trenches" of motherhood.

SO.

Until that gets processed into something positive...

I thought I'd catch up on the blog.

This spring I had a wonderful opportunity to create a commissioned piece for a friend. Doesn't this just lighten the mood :) It was a joy to paint!

Portrait of a young boy, Waterton National Park, Alberta.
18 x 24" Acrylic Painting on wood panel.

I began by selecting the photo below out of a handful of excellent options. Then I felt I needed some inspiration as far as the colour palette and brushwork went, so I kept this image of a Monet painting beside me almost the whole time.

One of the reference photos I worked with, alongside a painting by Monet.

Maybe you can see how my painting was influenced by this.

Detail of Acrylic Painting.

Following this painting, I was busy with three weeks of Art Camp--too. much. fun! A separate blog post about that is in the works.

One final quick thing to show you. Recently, Flagship Gallery launched a new website which shows off a lot more artwork than the old site. You can also buy prints and originals, and support this fantastic group of artists I am blessed to call friends! Here's a look at the page showcasing some of my work. 

www.flagshipgallery.com

Thanks for reading!

LS

Art Camp registration is Open!

As I sit and type, I have three little kids playing (and getting along!!) around me, and about 15 multicoloured hair bows placed meticulously all around my head. Fifteen. What a life, haha!

I'm sure there are a lot of weird "working-from-home" stories, maybe you have one to share too :) Since I'm on this tangent, I may as well commit and show you this video from 2012:

Needless to say, this girl has been waiting to be old enough for Art Camp for a loooong time. She has been messing around with paint almost as long as she's been alive. This is her "I can't wait for Art Camp!!" smile :)

For all the rest of you eager artists, young and old, join me for a week this summer in Aldershot. I love teaching all the six year olds ;) but I also love the older classes and every age in between! You can find details and registration here: www.artandmusicstudio.com/artcamp

I have some solid updating and art-showing-off to do on this blog....that will have to come another time.

Until then!

LS

The time has come...

...to say hello, world. For precisely one month, October 9 to November 7th, I am waving a giant hello to the world down at Flagship Gallery with a solo exhibition called "Look, child". This likely won't happen for quite a few more years, so come see it while it's up.

I missed making the announcement about the opening reception here... sorry about that. I was busy painting until about 12 hours before the opening night, and even then my infamous yellow toolbox of paints was reluctantly tucked in the back room right before I did my hair. But don't worry, you didn't miss the wine because I discovered we're not licensed for that. Aw, shucks. (This world has become too strict for me.)

Right now there are twenty-some-odd paintings and drawings on display at 237 James Street North. Begged and borrowed from friends, family and former clients. There are a few for sale though, so please ask if you see something that catches your eye.

There is work from the past 10 years or so, including a drawing series called "Grace" which I did while still a student at Redeemer. It's surprising to me how readily people open up about their perspectives on deeply personal things. The drawings encouraged many responses that I thought were very revealing, and I was grateful to have these interactions!

"Grace"
Charcoal on Stonehenge, giglee prints each 18"x20" $950
Copyright Lisa Smouter

The show is up until the first Saturday in November. Consider stopping in or get in touch with me to meet up at Flagship if you prefer.

Left: "Sleeping Spirit Awakened" Acrylic and Liquitex pouring medium, 36x60"  $1800
Top Right: "Sandwiches are Beautiful" Acrylic, 24x24"  $425
Bottom Right: "Moving ahead, feeling behind" Acrylic, 24x24"  $425

These were the most recent paintings I did--painting basically every day for 2 or 3 months.... I hope it is an encouragement to others. Thematically these came out of the most recent paintings I did called "Your Kingdom Come" and "Child of the King", both exploring ideas and realities about the Kingdom of God. By the time I was done working on those two more metaphorical works (see below), I was ready for some tangible representations of what Christians often call "kingdom work".

Left: "Your Kingdom Come: tear another strip off me" Chalk pastel, 16x20" Prints available
Right: "Child of the King" Acrylic and Liquitex pouring medium, 14x18"  $425

Thanks for stopping by!

LS

A year in 30cm of screen

Wowzers! It has been well over a year since I last wrote a blog post! Here's a very quick visual tour of what's been happening in the creative side of life.

Art Camp last summer... was only two weeks but it was jam packed with students. I returned to the smaller class size, which is much better for all of us :)

We had one adventure in plein air painting/drawing at La Salle Park, which resulted in a very soggy ride back to the studio---should've known by the clouds we were studying that a downpour was looming!

Check out the details and register for lessons with me this summer here.

(Psst....I really would like a high school class this time around as much as I love teaching the younger ones!...)

Plein Air study of Myrtle Beach, SC
Acrylic on Canvas, 8x10"  $195
(prints available $35 each)
© Lisa Smouter 2014 

After Art Camp last summer we headed down to South Carolina for a holiday. I was feeling creative and worked on this little plein air study of the view from our condo's balcony.

I also had ideas ruminating, left over from last winter's drawing on the theme of old/new creation. I snapped some pictures of my kids playing in the sand as reference for the painting below.

It took a few months (and a commission in between!), but this painting called "Child of the King" finally emerged.

"Child of the King"
Acrylic and Liquitex on Canvas, 14x18"
Please contact for pricing details. Prints not available.
© Lisa Smouter 2015

I hope to get some more painting done this spring/summer/fall....Would be nice to beat my "a painting a year" record, but slow is how I go for now :)

Thanks for reading!

LS