The holidays are just days away... if only I had a team of elves to help me prepare for them! My to-do list is a mile long, and that's before I shop for gifts! Participating in three concurrent shows between now and Christmas calls for strong organizational skills. I hope I can stay focused enough to keep something important from falling through the cracks.

My evening sketching sessions continue to provide a much needed way to decompress after working all day. So far I've completed 19 mandalas and 15 abstract studies. All are rendered in alcohol ink on 4x6 inch cards. When the holidays are over, I'll be developing a series of large abstracts from several of the studies, which are all strongly geometric. Here's mandala #19, and one of the studies which may -- or may not -- become a full sized painting.

Mandala #19       ©Lynn Edwards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Untitled Study       ©Lynn Edwards

Should this study become a painting? What do you think?


Text and images ©Lynn Edwards

Congressional Turkey

Wow, I can't believe how fast this summer flew by -- or how long it has been since I last posted. Each day has been jam packed...getting work ready for several shows, completing home improvement projects, checking on friends and relatives experiencing health crises, and re-arranging and purging my studio (an ongoing work in progress that may never have an ending). Not exactly a lazy laid back summer.

Making simple drawings late at night has become my form of relaxation.  Just for fun, I share one with you here. I suppose it was my subconscious reacting to legislative stupidity. I call it "Congressional Turkey" -- what results when Congress forms a committee to"fix" something.

©2019 Lynn Edwards

Words of Wisdom

"Life's not about getting free of pain, but rather finding happiness through service to some process with links to a higher ideal." -- Robert Genn, The Painter's Keys

When I read these words, I was struck by the simplicity of the message and it's profound wisdom. The late Mr. Genn, a Canadian painter, was a remarkably prolific writer as well as a wonderfully talented artist. He always seemed to hit the nail on the head in his writings, whether he was describing the challenges of turning out paintings under duress, or describing some obscure jewel of nature he had discovered on a hike. His creativity seemed boundless, and he often brought a smile to my face or a tear to my eye by sharing his thoughts on the creative life with his readers. The above quote beautifully sums up his life philosophy. It's just one of his many observations that has touched or moved me. If you need a bit of inspiration, or something to lift your spirits, or just want to look at the world through Robert Genn's eyes, visit painterskeys.com, which is now managed by his daughter, also an artist. You won't be disappointed.

Posies, Pendants and Procrastination

What a great turnout we had for the Studio and Garden Tour! Many thanks to all who participated, visitors and volunteers alike. The weather was perfect, the art superb and the flowers were glorious. I'd love to see another such tour take place next year, and expand it to include even more locations.

Have been busier than ever since the tour weekend expanding my mosaic pendant line. It's now up to 45 or more one of a kind pieces. Here's one of the latest, hot off my worktable. I've started including semi-precious stones in many of the designs; this one features peridot chips and dichroic glass. See more in my Etsy shop or on my web site, www.lynnedwardsart.com.

"Sweet Autumn" pendant

Besides the jewelry I'm working on small paintings and other items for an event I'm doing in December. I'm determined to get this done now so I'm not caught in a last minute rush.

After several years of occupancy, I'm finally decluttering my studio to better accommodate the work I'm doing now. Much of the challenge is dealing with stuff I've collected thinking I had a use for it. Maybe I did "back when," but now it just takes up valuable floor space. Do I really need a big storage tub full of used bubble wrap and brown kraft paper? What was I thinking??

So now it's back to work...! Have a great weekend, y'all!

Coming April 13: the Acworth Arts Alliance Studio and Garden Tour!!

If you've ever wanted to get a peek inside a working artist's studio, and are curious about the ways they use art in their home and garden, you won't want to miss the first ever Acworth Arts Alliance Studio and Garden Tour this coming Saturday, April 13! The event is distinctive in that it offers glimpses into not only the homes and garden spaces of three professional artists but also into their personal studio spaces which are not usually open to the public

The three participating artists are Carol Allegood, Cathy Green, and Palma Rhoades. Like the art they create, each of their homes and studios is a unique expression of their personalities and aesthetics.

Carol Allegood's studio is located in a historic home at 4572 Northside Drive in Acworth that she shares with her husband, Tommy Allegood, Acworth's mayor. Majestic trees surround the house, which dates to 1900, and a small guest house built in the 1880s. Over the years, the couple has painstakingly restored their home to its former glory. In her second floor studio Carol's vibrant paintings and mixed media pieces come to life. For the tour large pieces of outdoor art by Alliance member Laurel Bowers will also be displayed on the grounds, along with some of her pet ponies.

Palma Rhoades' home at 3725 Valley Hill Road in Kennesaw is tucked away in a tranquil woodland setting. An avid gardener, Palma has collected and planted a wide variety of blooming shrubs, trees and perennials on her terraced property, which seems a world away from the hustle and bustle of West Cobb traffic. Occupying the lower level of her home, her studio is where she creates noteworthy works in oil and clay.

At 905 Grandview Way NW in the Brookstone community of West Cobb, artist Cathy Green and her husband Jeff have created a backyard gardener's paradise. Here a pond, pergola and fire pit are hardscape features in their lush multi-level garden which boasts a life sized carved wood statue of St. Francis of Assisi. Upstairs in their home, Cathy's studio displays an impressive collection of watercolor and acrylic paintings on floating shelves rising to ceiling height.

All three artists will be on hand in their studios to greet visitors and answer questions, while fellow artists -- Alliance members as well -- will be available to help guide visitors through the homes and garden areas. I'm excited to say yours truly will be one of the artists helping out on site at Cathy Green's.

So come enjoy all the colors of spring in the art, the homes and the gardens! Tickets for the self guided tour are $20 ($35 for couple). They can be purchased at the Art House, 4425 Cherokee St. in Acworth, or online at http://www.acworthartsalliance.org/events. Tour hours are 11 a.m.-4p.m.; rain date is April 27.
 

Getting a Not So Early Start for the Holidays

It's the last day of March -- with nine months to go before the holidays arrive. But I can't be lulled into thinking I've got plenty of time to get ready for them. Oh no. I'll be doing a Pop Up show in December for which I'll need plenty of inventory.

Normally, nine months would be more than adequate to prepare, but when I take into account the large chunks of time between now and December that I won't be able to put in studio time due to out of town travel, family coming to visit, teaching workshops, etc., that deceptively large "window" shrinks dramatically.

So this morning I kicked off my Get to Work initiative by starting with collaged cards. They're always popular, and I love making them. With coffee cup in hand as I waited for Hubs to wake up I turned out Card #1:

The substrate is 140 lb. hot press watercolor paper. The design is made from scraps left over from larger works. I'm loving this color scheme, probably because it reminds me of Santa Fe.

After flattening it under some heavy books I'll affix it to a blank Strathmore note card, and slip it along with matching envelope into a clear sleeve. Then it will be stored away until December. It seems a bit odd to be thinking of Christmas with the dogwoods in bloom, but it beats waiting until the leaves start falling!


 

Jewelry With a Mystery History

With almost every waking moment devoted to painting walls this past week, I've had plenty of time to dream up new mosaic pendant designs while pushing a paint roller. Here's one of those ideas brought to life:

"Bejeweled" mosaic pendant     ©2019 Lynn Edwards

This pendant was created in part from a fragment taken from a vintage necklace I discovered in a Virginia Goodwill store. The rather elaborate necklace was broken and was being sold as part of a jewelry odd lot. The fragment I used forms the pendant's central motif. I've surrounded it with glass "pearls" to give it a Victorian look.



What I found quite interesting about it is the mysterious blue stones seen at the top and in the middle of the pendant. They're a beautiful, very unusual shade of blue - really impossible to describe. For a touch of whimsy I topped the large faceted glass "topaz" with a tiny decorative leaf, and gave the design a background of lustrous metallic copper. Set in a silver bezel, it fits right in with the current fashion trend of mixing different metals.

I think of this piece as being "bejeweled," something a queen might wear. Who knows? Perhaps that found necklace was once in the wardrobe of a lady of royal ancestry. It's fun to speculate, even if I'll never know its actual history.

To see more one of a kind pendants, visit my web site, http://www.lynnedwardsart.com.

Text and image ©2019 Lynn Edwards

Falling in Love

Help! I need an assistant..or maybe a long vacation. The past ten days have been madness.In a fit of stupidity I ordered a couple of three door wardrobes to replace a less-than- adequate dresser and a very small armoire. Only after placing the order did I remember that the bedroom they're to go in needed to be repainted before we could set up the wardrobes. Uh oh. So I made a mad dash to the paint store. Ever tried to repaint a bedroom with no way to remove the furniture from it because there's NO ROOM in the rest of the house? I can tell you, it's no fun. I've shoved, pulled and slid more furniture around  this past week than I have in my entire life. But oh, the heavenly new color of the walls has made all the grunting and pulled muscles almost worth it.

It's a Benjamin Moore color called Silver Cloud. The palest whisper of gray with a slightly bluish undertone, it's soft, serene and so calming it makes my blood pressure plummet just looking at it. It makes artwork placed on it look fantastic. It also has made such a difference in the appearance of that room as the light changes throughout the day; the pale green we used to have didn't look drab to me until I started brushing on the Silver Cloud. Suddenly those green walls looked lifeless and tired. They just sucked the life and light right out of the room.

What a treat now to see the bedroom flooded with light at all times of the day. It's so true that the colors around us affect our moods. I never thought I'd care for a room painted gray, but I'm in love with this gray. It's anything but gloomy. Maybe I'll just keep on painting until the whole house is ... whoops, there are too many tasks yet to be finished before I go nuts with the paint. Like setting those wardrobes into place, and filling them with all the clothes, shoes and other stuff we can't live without. Painting the trimwork. Hanging curtains and artwork. Getting rid of stuff. Etc. etc. etc. Silver Cloud.......oh, the possibilities!

Up with Downsizing!

The Great Mosaic Opus -- a 19x40 inch tabletop with "tiles" made from hand painted heavy watercolor paper -- was finally finished after months of hand painting, cutting, fitting and gluing down what seemed like ten million paper tiles. (See my two previous posts for the actual how-to information.)

Now what? Where should my next creative exploration take me? Contemplating this question, I realized I didn't want to move on to some other medium. I wanted to continue working in mosaics, but I was not up for taking on another project as extensive as the table top.

The answer came when my friend Karen invited me to her house to see some pendants she had made. Mosaic pendants! I took one look at them and was smitten. I've made lots of jewelry, but I had never made anything like these little treasures. Glass tiles in rich hues gleamed, "popping" against the black grout, while an array of carefully placed beads and baubles completed her designs, all set into attractive bezels. I was itching to learn how to make them. When Karen generously offered to teach me her process, I jumped at it.

So my mosaic addiction has now shifted in scale, from large projects to small ones. This has allowed me even more freedom to indulge ... Immersion might describe it more accurately. It has become my obsession. I can't get enough of it.
Here are two pendants I've made recently. You can see others on my web site, www.lynnedwardsart.com

Text, images and pendant designs ©2019 Lynn Edwards