Sneak Peak...

I am attaching a picture sample of one of the paintings I will be showing this weekend at our three day Holiday Sale. I am really looking forward to the weekend. I love it when the hallways are buzzing with guest artists hanging their work - there is always something so special about it. Like a great gathering! Then comes the audience: I love that the building fills with those who share such a great love for the arts! I love the variety of people who appear in our studio, and engage with us about our work. And I love it when they find pieces of art that were made just for them, and happily carry them home. I love that each studio in our building is like walking into an entirely different world. Well, I am clearly filled with a whole lotta love for these shows, and I hope you are too. I am keeping this post short and sweet, as I have a lot to prepare for this weekend and it is already 3:06 am. (of course) Below is a detail of one of my newest paintings, and yes, I love this painting.

I have a great deal of new work to share and I am really looking forward to sharing it with you. Please come, bring a guest, invite others and share in art, entertainment, wine, warmth and a whole lotta love.

Here are the details for this weekend:

Flat Iron Arts Building, Studio 352

1579 N. Milwaukee Ave, Chicago

Friday, December 11th from 6:00pm until 11:00pm
Saturday, December 12th from Noon until 10:00pm
and Sunday, December 13th from Noon until 6:00pm

See you this weekend! Love, Liz

Time Warps

Currently listening to Os Mutatnes and the music is providing a lovely back drop to my evening. What a night. I mean that fully. I went to bed at sunrise and I literally awoke at sunset. I guess I got the day a bit backwards. But it was wonderful, I left the house shortly after waking up to find the most beautiful blue sky in the world. It still had traces of the sunset and what was even better is that it was hosting the most amazing full moon. It was just rising and sat in the eastern sky illuminating everything so sweetly! Ah.

When back home, I went into the hallway and found a couple wandering around the building looking for art. They were from Portugal and had heard about "wicker park". Chance had it that we were to meet and they were to fall in love with a set of three paintings I had created called "The Three Sisters", which they took with them. The night went on with a series of surprising visitors appearing in our studio. Well it is now 12:55 am, and I have just finished eating a delicious dinner, prepared by yours truly, and am getting ready to paint. Sometimes I really do have to move by my own beat. And that beat can lead to some really great chance experiences.

That has me wanting to write about what I have been thinking about lately. That something feels different in the air these days. I am not sure if it is my own feeling, or if others share it, but something is changing - and for the better! It feels as I enter into the last month of 2009 (can you believe it?) there is a need to remove all the excess baggage that really doesn't work anymore. Its like the final spin cycle of the year - a time when I really really have to think about what it is that I want to be, have or become and aim only for that. Over my couple of decades, I surely have picked up some extra stuff I surely don't need anymore, and these days have me asking myself "why wear this on myself if it no longer fits?" I feel a certain joy when I ask that question because it really means that I can and will begin to re-create myself consciously. It almost feels as if time is starting over for me and I really like it.

I am also thinking a lot about my direction within my own artwork. I have been moving in the direction of working on a larger scale. I want to grow within my artwork and I feel that it is not something that should be forced, but something that will emerge itself in tandem with the new direction I am pointing myself towards. I love change. Secretly it can be a bit terrifying to move into the unknown with only your dreams and desires as your compass, but would our dreams ever lead us down the wrong path. I guess it has to do with a certain confidence within. Funny little word I have also been thinking about lately. I took it apart and thought mmm con and fide...with faith..when I looked it up online, I found this "The origin of the word confidence is the Latin word confidere (to trust, to have faith in. Hence the original meaning of confidence is literally "to have trust or have faith". So, simply put to have self confidence is to have faith in yourself, to trust oneself. With that idea in mind, I move steadfastly in a new direction, and I look forward to seeing the art that will emerge when I get there.

**Congratulations to November and December's Winners! I hope you enjoy your beautiful little paintings! Subscribe to my blog and be entered to win a sweet painting of your own. xx