"Lady Elaine" - mixed media on aquabord, 16" x 20". Ready to frame, or can be leaned against the wall on a shelf. Available on Artfinder. "Lavish Grace" - mixed media on cradled hardwood, 16" x 20". Ready to hang. Available on Artfinder. A two-fer Monday in the studio after a weekend spent holed up with paints and pooch. There is incredible joy and freedom in unscheduled hours stretching ahead and behind, freeing my mind for wandering instead of worrying about the time. "Lady Elaine" is the next finished piece from last week's whimsical demo. This one pulls at my heartstrings...her wistful look, her space-bun hair, that slight frown. She is misunderstood, this one. Much like the song which inspired the title of this piece. "Lay Lady Lay" by Bob Dylan is often misheard as "Lady Elaine", including in my own head for several decades. It doesn't matter how many times I correct the lyric in my mind. I still hear it the wrong way. The second piece, "Lavish Grace", was inspired by a quote from another book. This one from Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle (recommended to me by a fabulous local artist) in the chapter Cosmos from Chaos. The artist, if he is not to forget how to listen, must retain the vision which includes angels and dragons and unicorns and all the lovely creatures which our world would put in a box marked Children Only. Indeed. This quote, an email conversation about the magical power of fairies and unlimited painting time brought an angelic girl named Grace to the studio. Her dress is rice paper over printed paper. Her wings are acrylic paint over water-based inks. The background is white gesso mixed with acrylic over a gold gesso underpainting. Richness and simplicity all in one sweet face. The studio has been much calmer since she arrived. I suppose the menagerie feels her quiet sweetness and decided to tone it down a notch. And now, start your Monday with a little Dylan, complete with the satisfying crackle of vinyl.
9 Comments
10/23/2017 07:26:03 am
Jen—the faces! the hair! Elaine's dress fabric! Grace's dress neckline! Wow. Such a feast, and I am gobbling it up, calories be damned.
jen
10/23/2017 11:56:34 am
oh Dotty, you always lift my spirits! Thank you, sweetling, for your constant encouragement, and for making me feel fabulous about what I create in paint and words.
jen
10/23/2017 07:17:50 pm
Hooray!!!!!!!! Thanks, Risa! 10/24/2017 04:52:33 am
Love lavish Grace! Her sympathetic eyes almost hypnotize me. Lady Elaine along with being a bit sad seems a bit angry as well. Hope Grace will shine her love to her. Great to be able to work without the tick tock clock!
jen
10/24/2017 07:53:15 am
Carol!!!! Thank you!!!! Somehow these two work together, I am not sure why. Grace is soothing Elaine, Elaine is challenging Grace to an arm wrestling match...or something like that. :) I suppose the message is that Grace soothes us all, sad, angry and otherwise? 2/25/2019 01:05:56 am
Hello, Jen! Both paintings are adorable and definitely look perfect. The colors were both lively, and I would love to own these two paintings. By the way, "Lady Elaine" portrays a sad emotion. I could relate so much on what I saw because I consider myself as a sad person. Perhaps, it reflects the emotion of people on an everyday basis. While Lavish Grace looks really perfect on her hair. The smile was not really evident, but it's not like Lady Elaine.
jen
2/25/2019 11:21:05 am
Hello! Thank you for looking at these pieces and for making a connection! Not all art is happy, and not all feelings are happy. Lady Elaine so deeply resonates with me....she's one of my favorites. xo 4/29/2021 02:38:30 am
Good post, I am going to spend more time researching this topic. Yeah, bookmarking this wasn't a bad decision great post! Leave a Reply. |
AuthorLola Jovan 
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