Archives for September 2007

If you know me, then you know I love giving gifts.  When holidays, birthdays, baby and wedding showers are scheduled on our Kelley family calendar, I get excited and start diving into our gift budget.  It is just so much fun to me.  I especially like giving a gift that I made.  Maybe a scrapbook of some sort, just a homemade card or a painting, letting someone know they mean a lot to me by taking the time, energy and supplies to make them something,  is just so rewarding in itself.  I love the following quote by Maya Angelou, “I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.”   Below are a few paintings I have given as gifts.

This painting was a gift to my brother-in-law Jon and his wife Katy when they got married.  He asked Katy to marry him on top of the Eiffel Tower.

These paintings were given to two amazing teachers I worked with,  Mrs. Linda Click and Mrs. Betty Baker for the welcoming of their 1st grandaughters.

I painted this painting for my brother Chris and sister-in-law Kim when they moved into their new house.

This painting was was given to Tyler (a childhood friend of Josh and I) and his wife Jessica when they got married.

I just want to thank everyone who submitted a comment about the two choices for the Kirkland’s art contest, especially Bill Brasky.  So the votes are in and I will be submitting painting A.  Wish me luck.

Recently I received an email from my cousin Jenny (thanks Jenny) informing me of an art contest Kirklands is hosting. You submit a digital photograph of any medium of art you have created. Winning the contest not only gets you a grand prize of $5000, but also offers you the opportunity to have your art reproduced for sale in their stores. So why not give it a shot? What’s it going to hurt? All entries are due by October 1st, so now I am asking you to vote on a favorite art piece. Below are two paintings that I feel might be different enough to catch an eye, so place your vote in the comments area. Which do you choose A or B?

A.

B.

I have painted a lot of flowers and I know exactly why they are my muse. Let me elaborate: The first real painting I ever painted was in 3rd grade, Mrs.Bratcher’s class. It was a watercolor of Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed. I loved that painting and can remember being so proud of it. Soon after, my favorite teacher ever, Mrs. Bratcher, brought me a Georgia O’Keeffe book, One Hundred Flowers. She gave it to me and wrote on the inside flap, “To my sweet Laura. With much love, Mrs. Bratcher.” Little did she know she sparked a light in me that has yet to burn out. Not only do I love art, but I love teaching and the impact you can make in a child’s life. I think it’s the best job in the world, second to being a MOM. I still have the book and to this day it is one of my most prized possessions. “When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it,” she said, cupping her hand and holding it close to her face, “it’s your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else.” Georgia O’Keeffe

Lately I have been really inspired by verses I read in the Bible. I either read a verse and a painting will come to mind or I paint something and a verse comes to mind. I really like the writing on the paintings and can’t wait to do more of these. Now even when I hear a quote or a song lyric, I immediately have an idea for a new painting. I’ve even started a book that just has a quotes, verses and song lines and sketches to go along with them. Hopefully soon I will start executing some of my new laid out plans. Several of the paintings shown below are available now. You can check them out on the “Items Available Now” page, located at the top right.

I had an amazing cousin, Mike, who was a great artist and lawyer. He had an imagination and sense of humor like no one I have ever met. He died a couple of years ago from cancer. He is still truly missed. At his funeral all of his aunts went in together and bought sunflowers to adorn the top of his casket. Sunflowers were his favorite. When I saw the huge flowers I thought, “How different. How unusual. How Mike!” Sunflowers made sense for the kind of person Mike was. After returning home from Mississippi (that’s where Mike lived with his wife Nell) I wanted to send Nell something, just something to make her feel at least a little better. I knew she was hurting deeply. So I painted a sunflower. Nell’s house is filled with paintings of Mike’s and they are great, so I just painted her a small 8×10 sunflower. Soon more sunflowers were to be painted. They always bring Mike to my mind.

I really enjoyed doing the following three paintings. I am always intrigued by art that seems so simple, but very hard to imagine. There are always famous pieces of art that have such simple shapes and I think to myself, “I could have painted that.” But the dilemma is actually thinking up that kind of painting. The really simple, abstract pieces I have done were so much fun. I painted each painting with different sized paint scrapers. The first one I ever did was for my mom and I liked it so much I painted myself a similar one. Then when one of my childhood friends, Alissa, got her first house I painted one for her. I am drawn to pieces like this for the simple shapes and the thought used in making them.

So I’ve talked a little about my nephew Coop and my other nieces, Campbell and McKinley, now its Lyla’s turn. Lyla is the sweetest, happiest, movingest little thing. Her and Harper are only about 5 months apart. This is very exciting to me because I know they are going to be best girl cousins. Just think of the sleepovers, tea parties, trips to Build-A-Bear and anything else with two girl cousins the same age. How fun! When we found out Lyla was on the way I wanted to do something different than just a painting. I had this idea for a giant scrapbooked letter (that’s how I refer to it). So I okayed with her mom and got started. This was the first letter of this kind I had ever done. As I have completed more and more, I have new ideas for them. With Harper’s letter, Josh and I picked out scripture that reminded us of her. I scanned the Bible so the verses would look like they were directly from the text. I like to put words that might describe the child, their initials, their name, ribbon, quotes and other decorative items. This is a very custom piece and a great baby gift. Each letter is 24 inches in height and cost $60.00. Let me know if you are interested. We can work out details and get your letter completed in about a week.

Lyla’s Letter