October in my loft studio

Hello and welcome to my October blog.  Hope you are staying well.

It takes determination and a bit of hopefulness to keep working on a series of paintings, with no real idea of when those paintings can be shown in an exhibit. Exhibits have been postponed but I continue to feel very inspired by my current series of paintings, "Of the Garden".  For me, drawing and painting is my work, my passion and luckily I'm able to do that work in my loft studio.

In these photos you can see the brand new artwork that I'm beginning.  This started when I saw a scrub jay nest out in our hedge.  It's amazing that birds are able to weave these nests that look like baskets, with soft materials on the inside where the babies will hatch and grow.

I can see that they used branches from the oak trees and borrowed some horse hair for the inside part.

Of course it's not nesting season at the moment, but every time I walk by that hedge I can hear the jays rustling around in the hedge and talking to each other.

Inspired by the nest, I started to build my idea for this artwork.  I used ferns from my pink gravel garden as well as the milkweed plant. I will continue to add elements until I am satisfied with my design.

In the picture with my drawing, you can see my brainstorming sketches on the pad of paper propped up in the back, on my somewhat cluttery work surface. Only somewhat, because I have my table organized in order to easily be able to grab whatever brush, pencil or pen I need.

Thanks for stopping in to read my blog!

See you here next month.

In the meantime, check out my website: SkyheartArt.com

Or my Instagram: @skyheartart

And have a look inside my etsy shop: lisaskyheartmarshall.etsy.com

bye!

Lisa Skyheart Marshall

Welcome to my blog for September

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 New: I've started framing my watercolor+ink paintings with a natural maple frame, which serves to protect the surface and edges and makes a nice presentation. All the frames I use will look the same, so when a collector purchases multiple paintings they will look great together!

Prior to now I had liked the unframed look for my work but realized that the corners of the surface I have chosen to work on are somewhat delicate when unprotected.

Finding a frame that enhances my work and that I can apply myself made all the difference. So I am gradually changing over to framed work, on most paintings.

Each of my paintings has been finished on the sides with a complementary color, and for an extra archival finishing touch. Each finished artwork is wired and ready to hang.

My work process is this:

An inspiration arrives, and I usually do  tiny, general drawings to think about how I want to compose the piece.  Inspiration comes from observation and spending time outside. 

I consider the colors and how they will relate to each other. After this, I choose a size board that is appropriate for what I have planned.  

Then I begin a light pencil drawing directly onto my board surface.  This usually takes one to two studio days. I am patient in this phase, because once I have this ready, I can flow in the painting stage.

 I begin to add watercolor, when I am satisfied with my drawing and composition. Adding layers until I like what I see. Then ink details are drawn on to my watercolor painting in a careful but organic manner. 

The background is painted in with either watercolor or acrylic paint and then I finish the sides.

How do I know when the piece is complete? When there is nothing more to add or take away, and I say to myself "I love that"!

Painting shown here is "Blue Garden Chair" and is 8x8 inches square. 

Available soon!

Enjoy your September and take care.

Lisa Skyheart Marshall

August in my Loft Studio

Sunny and Hot, it's August.

I've been busy in the studio:

I recently took down the remainder of a show I had in Santa Barbara at Gallery 113.

It was a successful show for me, with several collectors going home with my paintings.

So I've been able to build a good body of work in the "Of the Garden" series, and the piece shown here, "Red Pear", is part of that series. My work takes time to make, and I enjoy this unhurried way of working and celebrating the natural world. This painting includes pincushion flower, acorn and seashell, as well as leaves from my rubber tree plants.  In my work, I often put in elements of imperfection such as the brown spot on the red pear, cracks in wood, etc.  I like adding that as a counterpoint to the controlled design of the painting, and I like that concept of wabi sabi; beauty in imperfection.

In Ojai the heat has arrived so there are less blooming flowers but I'm still finding plenty of inspiration.

At the moment I am doing a small painting of strawberries and strawberry leaves and flowers, as I have them in my little raised bed garden. That new work in progress is 8x8 inches square.

I love all the different shapes the fruit takes on, and some of them in their pale green state with red seeds are gorgeous. The red ones are beautiful, and so sweet and delicious. This painting will also have a tiny green grasshopper that I happened upon out in the garden one day.

I've been putting lots of items in my etsy shop. I have original paintings and cards sets available.

Check out my shop at: lisaskyheartmarshall.etsy.com. 

I have also updated my website, and paintings are available for purchase directly via paypal.

SkyheartArt.com.

As travel plans have disappeared, my work continues to be an uplifting escape for me. I feel that creating positive images in my paintings make little cheery worlds for the viewer to look into for a few moments.  I know that the art that I have collected from different artists are a source of joy for me every day.

Other summer activities for me are studying Italian, evening walks around the block with my terrier Enzo and reading books from my favorite bookstore; Chaucer's Books in Santa Barbara.

Take care, and stop in next month to see what I've been doing!

Lisa

July has Arrived in the Studio

Suddenly, it's July.  From March 16 until now, I have made about 15 paintings.  That's an enormous output for me. At first I was working every day for several hours, but now I'm on a more normal schedule in these abnormal times. All these paintings have mostly been inspired by what I'm seeing in my neighbor's gardens.  All are in my new style, and very detailed. It's been really satisfying to have enough time to make this amount of work, in which I feel my work and I have grown.

My most recent painting was inspired by a visit to Lotusland in Montecito, CA.  I've just finished that one, not 10 minutes ago.  There's more to Lotusland than just the gorgeous lotuses, and my latest painting has flowers and plants from the shade garden, the insectary and other areas of the large garden. 

Yesterday I had a field trip with a friend to one of our favorite galleries in Santa Barbara, Sullivan-Goss.  The whole gallery was filled with the work of women artists.  I specifically wanted to see the exhibit of Susan McDonnell, who makes beautiful paintings and drawings of animals and birds. Very inspiring work. 

The image I've included here is of an 8x10 painting of sweet peas and other plants, titled "Sweet Pea Big Bee" .  I saw these sweet peas along the fence of a farm up the street.  I added one of the ubiquitous caterpillars that arrive in our back garden every year. I remember my Mom growing these from seed when I was a kid.

I am part of collaborative exhibit at Vita Arts Center in Ventura, CA called "Truly Exquisite".  Several local artists are participating.  It is a project based on the Exquisite Corpse game.  Each artist creates a body using 4 panels oriented horizontally.  Then the curator mixes all the panels up to create figures using the work of the different artists. 

In my 4 panels I stayed true to my botanical style, and made a body using flowers and plants, birds and insects. Should be a lot of fun to see the results. Check it out: vitaartcenter.com. The show should be up on their website on July 11,2020, and you can find info about how to see it in person if you live close to Ventura, CA.

Tomorrow is the 4th of July.  We will always remember this one, won't we? 

Take care, I'll be back on my blog next month.

Lisa

SkyheartArt.com

June Gloom and lots of New Work!

A lot of sun and some June gloom have arrived here in Ojai.  My apricots are turning orange.

I am still staying to myself as much as possible and wearing my "fashionable" masks when I have to be around other people. There is much unrest and demonstrating in the US and around the world, and I hope some real change comes out of all of this. 

I am working a lot in my loft studio on my nature paintings.  I am tenaciously expressing beauty, while being aware of the issues in the world and most especially here in the US.  I am continuing with my artistic expression in my paintings which are very detailed, colorful, positive images of nature. I work in watercolor, and start with a pencil drawing. Then I paint, and finally add the ink details.  

Here is my painting with a warbler, and orchid rock roses as well as garden roses. It also has elements of a pepper tree, and succulent blossoms. I like to include these circular shapes in my work that I call "orbs"; in this case the orbs are the pepper corns.  A neighbor has this pepper tree, but I've always likes these trees which are so unique with their long leaves and pink and green pepper corns and the way the branches drape towards the ground.

We had a warbler visit our birdbath a month or so ago.  With our tall oak trees, birdfeeder and birdbath, our back garden is always busy with flitting birds and their voices.

I am now heading to my studio to finish up a new painting.

Take good care of yourself and your family, and let's remember how connected we are to others; people and nature, in the whole wide world.

Lisa

SkyheartArt.com

Art in the Time of Covid

"Yellow Roses Iris"

"White Crowned Sparrow Magnolia"

Hello, and thanks for reading my blog. It's been ages since I added a post on here, but now I am!
Hope you and your family are well; it is a very scary time in the world right now, but never has the world felt like one big family going through the same challenges.
I've been at home, and working a lot along with all the housekeeping duties.
Recently I had an exhibit I called "Flowery" at the Santa Barbara Art Association's Gallery 113. I am a newish member of SBAA, and that was my first featured artist show.  It was extra fun because several of my artist friends were showing at the same time.  Our opening happened on the cusp of the coronavirus arriving in the US, before we were all sheltering at home.
Our opening was well attended, I especially enjoyed talking to people about my work, and there were some students that attended as well, and they asked such great questions.  I sold 3 paintings to one of my favorite collectors and a friend who came to the opening with her.
In the pictures above, the one with the sparrow is part of that show, which is still in place at Gallery 113, waiting for the reopening. I love the complexity of magnolia trees, all the phases they go through and the large creamy white blooms.  We had the white crowned sparrows stop by our back garden so I made this artwork combining these two subjects.
The other painting, with the Iris, was made after I started sheltering in place.  So, my work, while maintaining my usual subject matter, has evolved into this style.  I've even started signing my work in a new way. I'm pretty intrigued that this has happened.  I'm very inspired by this new style, and have made 8 paintings so far.  I'm going with the inspiration, and the inspiration comes from walking around the neighborhood near our home, and all the beautiful gardens of my neighbors.
This new work is not available yet. Some of it will show up next year in scheduled shows and some will be available in the next month or two.

At the moment, the Ojai gallery my work is in, Poppies Art and Gifts, has moved into an online shop. Check it out at:
poppiesartandgifts.indiemade.com. Poppies will reopen, as the virus eases.
Also please look at my website, SkyheartArt.com, where you can browse my work, and make a purchase if you fall in love with a painting.
Thanks for stopping by my blog, and take care!
Lisa Skyheart Marshall

It's Summertime once Again

It's finally a hot summer here in Ojai.  During the summer, I try to work hard making new work in the studio, because it's sort of an in between time; in between travel, and various art shows.  My loft studio really heats up towards the afternoon, and it's tricky using my ceiling fan when I'm using acrylic paint as it dries fast anyway.  I use Holbein acrylic paints, and love the smooth consistency and pure pigment colors.
I am already getting a few pieces finished, as well as ordering new prints and cards.
I'll dedicate a studio day or two packaging my prints with an acid free backing and clear sleeve ready to display.

I am showing my work at Poppies Art and Gifts in Ojai, and next month I'll be moving to a larger space there, so my work can really stretch out and I can show more pieces.
I never like to crowd a display space because that can be overwhelming to the viewer.  I do like to mix sizes. My watercolor+ink work tends to be smaller sized, and my acrylics are generally larger.
Poppies Art and Gifts, 323 E. Matilija St., Ojai, CA.

I am always working at building my body of work.  I have a show in two years at Fox Fine Jewelry in Ventura, CA, and while that sounds far away, I'll need all of that time to make some new pieces to show.  As I am a slow and steady painter, and plan my paintings out carefully, my work takes time and consideration to make. I like working slowly; it's sort of meditative, it gives me time to add or subtract elements, and then move on to the next piece once complete.

Since my trip to France and Holland last year, I have been going back and forth between acrylics and watercolor+ink work.  I have loved returning to watercolor, as it was my focus in college.
Watercolor is the perfect paint to use while on location, traveling or on smaller pieces. It can dry and be revived with water. I use a travel watercolor palette from Winsor and Newton as well as a large palette in the studio.

I enjoyed making some small watercolor+ink paintings on my recent trip to Mexico.  Such fun to come home with some paintings!

New inspirations and recommendations:
Clear gesso from Daniel Smith artist supplies.
Seeing paintings from the later years of Claude Monet in San Francisco makes me want to visit Giverny, but in the meantime, these books; Everyday Monet and This is Monet, are satisfying my need to learn more.
In the back garden: For the first time, I've planted a little raised-bed vegetable garden with 4 kinds of tomatoes and yellow crook-necked squash. Bluebirds nested in a birdhouse on one of our oak trees---twice! Now we have sparrows nesting for the third time in a birdhouse my brother gave me many years ago, that he built.
Looking forward to the new season of Queer Eye. If you haven't watched this show, do give it a watch.  In these times of seperateness and dismay, here is a show where 5 guys display kindness and help to all sorts of people who need it.  Not just a makeover show, it's a kindness show

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Paintings shown:  "Matilija Poppies", watercolor+ink, SOLD.
and "A Lotus in the Garden", watercolor+ink, available at Lotusland, Santa Barbara, CA
Limited edition prints and cards may be available of these copyrighted images.