A Happy Hauntful Halloween to you!

His alias is Batman for the evening...
and company below

Cyclops...


Smiling Igor...

Happy Jack...

and a villainous looking character...

An odd lot don't you think?

Tick Tock Goes the Clock...

Tick toc goes the clock...

That little phrase implies so much! To some it's time is going too fast, to others, time is going to slow. Summer went by for me with a blink of an eye, and with only one blog post to chalk up this summer - boo hoo... It was an unusually busy summer for business and family activities but Fall is settling in and so are the traditional routines of children going back to school, homework, and hopefully some good solid creative time for me..

Here is a piece I have been working on in the studio for almost a year! (on and off I should add) I was prompted to work on it again when I pulled it out in a studio workshop and used it as a working example and just kept moving forword with it.

(BTW Studio Workshops this summer were just a kick and I will be offering a few next year in 2010. Not as many as this last summer - but if you are interested you can sign up to be notified about workshops in the box to your right on this page.)

This piece aptly titled Tic Toc Goes the Clock is a very dimensional piece.

About 14x18 on a 3" deep wood substrate


Lots of elements went into this piece- an old bingo hall card, fabric and steel measuring tapes, copper, nails, tacks, ephemera, some game pieces and lots of painterly elements as well.
A final layer of beeswax was used to finish the piece as well.


Heart shaped motif on the side- love the long skinny hearts

The circles are old paper poker chips painted white and embellished and distressed

Well I waited almost a year to complete this piece and I think that's okay-- sometimes good things take time.

~
I hope you can join me this weekend !

My workshops are full at Art and Soul but Vendor Night is open to the public

and is always great fun!

The artwork above and more will be available at my booth plus 60 artists and vendors from around the country will be selling their goods at this event.

Vendor Night

Embassy Suites Ballroom
Saturday October 3, 2009

7pm - 10pm

7900 NE 82nd Ave.

Portland, OR 97220

1-503-460-3000

Garden Treasures

Posting to the blog has been rather sparse lately. Besides activities in the studio, work and otherwise, I am routinely distracted with the need to go and wander outside

instead of post to the blog.

Camera in hand, last week I went outside and took some photographs of the garden and patio to share with you. We have lived now in this big ol' house for nearly 3 years and the gardens are 3years old as well. I have talked about my love of gardening in earlier posts many times. It's hard to believe that at one time that the back of the property was half covered in gravel and pretty much looked like someones personal garbage can. I scrolled back to some earlier posts to

see just how much progress has been made to the backyard. Although I have so many more ideas and projects in mind for this house and property, I thought I would share some of my world with you and what is a big source of artistic inspiration to me...

A recent find, this candelabra hangs over the chaise. Yes I did light it once. Candle wax dripped all over the place. Not very practical, but beautiful.


I try to get here as much as possible to sketch, converse and nap- not all at once though.


I love topiary shapes. They add a great visual element to patio gardening. I am now thinking of how to incorporate this element so common to English gardens to my own garden.

The back patioMr. Rooster... If I had a dime for all the interest he generates when visitors come over. He stands about 4 feet tall and mixes quite well with the other decor.



Combination of hosta, Hebe and a charming little ground cover- The name escapes me. I'm so bad at remembering horticultural names. Master gardeners would scold me. I plant my pots with perennials almost exclusively preferring them to the usual annuals assortment. I'm not so much about flowers as I am about texture interest.

This pot contains another variety of hosta, pink astilbe, a small maple tree and an ornamental grass. Since living here, we started out with 4 large trees on the property. Counting the trees that are in pots, we now have about 15 or so- I lost count. Eventually it is going to look like a forest.

I love shades of lavender and have begun to use some of them in my newer works.

The purply, silver greys are my favorite.

Another hosta- this one shown in full bloom.

The potting bench that sits out in the back. It came with the house. It's pretty rickety and someday I expect to walk outside and see it fallen over from the weight of all the pots inside but for now it sits under a big tree.



The little garden- basil, tomato's, carrots, corn, beans. One of my favorite summertime chores is to go outside and pick dinner- fresh lettuce, with carrots, basil, tomatoes in a simple basalmic vinaigrette.

Divine!

Pictured is a batch or sedums sitting in a moss wreath in full bloom.

It's early morning here now and I think I am going outside for awhile before I start my day.

Let Freedom Ring!

I once heard a saying or a phrase that went something like this,

"Freedom does not give you the right to do what you want,

but the ability to do what is right..."

I really took that to heart when I heard those words for the first time.

Happy 4th!!
God Bless

Studio workshops...

I wish I was able to remember to keep a camera attached to my side, but with so many other activities going on around me during workshops, the camera just kinda gets put on the back burner... I haven't posted for awhile. It's been a whirlwind of teaching and in between that, filling orders and preparing for the next set of workshops... Time goes by too fast these days.

I had the most wonderful time this weekend in my studio with a truly remarkable group of women from such diverse backgrounds... Let's see, there was the schoolteacher, the chemist, the scrapper, the bear artist, shopkeeper, an artist of course in the group(aren't we all?), a jeweler, a hairdresser, and the list goes on...So many of them came from so far to visit and it just warmed my heart... Several even road tripped it from Idaho and Utah! Talk about adventurous spirits!

In preparation for their arrival, I dolled up the studio as best as I could; made some new changes, and additions (I can't leave anything alone). I even have a new logo (as seen above pics) One of these days, I will overhaul my website and stick it on there...

I dusted and rearranged all of my treasures...Events are good motivators for getting long overdue projects done...

Lindsay and I with her Gridlocked piece...

Out on the patio for lunch. The weather could not have been more perfect so we all had came out for a breath of fresh air and sunshine in between class...

Many thanks and blessings to all of you who came out to sunny Portland to create and play!

Leaving on a jet plane, but first....

I must share some pictures of some goodies I have been working on in the studio as I gather up the tools, paints, papers, glue, scissors, and the like into the many boxes that make their way off to Hampton, Virginia for an Art and Soul Retreat this coming week as I prepare to teach a set of workshops... Art retreats are really just that. A time to just get away and meld with kindred spirits who appreciate the arts as much as you do... I love meeting women from all over the country(world) for that matter and hearing their stories, sharing ideas and just plain hanging out. Doing that teaching thing is fun too... I'm so excited to get the ball rolling... For those of you reading this that are not familiar with Art and Soul and other art retreats, most of them offer art vendor shows that go along with the event. The pieces shown here are just a portion of the goodies that I am bringing to the event; don't want to spoil the surprise, but I wanted to share some of the newest work I've created in what I call "miniatures".

(Here is an overhead shot of all the adornments I could not resist

adding to most of the art pieces)

Not really true miniatures, but miniature to me because I do not usually work

this small on wood or canvas- this one measures 3x5ish...

.
I really struggled with the size concept of this group.. On one hand, I wanted to ship a group of art that was small, easy to pack, and did not take up any space in the box.. By the time I got done adding all the crystal knobs, feet, and whatever else bling that seemed appropriate, I still had to bubble wrap like crazy, and in the end, the pieces wound up being much larger. All in all I was very happy with the results and do plan on creating more.


hope, love, faith





Enjoy the pics and hope to see you in Virginia!

Summer Workshops!

Spring is finally here and Summer is around the corner...

Time to get "All Dolled Up"

and "Color your World"

The "Theater" awaits your presence

for your to creativity to soar.

Studio Workshops with Lisa Kaus

May-Aug, 09

Office mini-makeover

Sometimes I can be the biggest procrastinator...
I have been dinkering around with paint colors for my office space for that last two years . One day, I decided on the color, went down to the local paint store and got the gallon and spent all but less than 4 hours prepping and painting my office... If I had known that it was going to go that quick, I would have done it much sooner... I am one of those that when it comes to painting WALLS, I just want to get in, get done, and get out.

Here is a before picture right before I painted it- the walls are sort of a
taupe color- nice but boring.

I found a lampshade awhile back shopping that sparked the inspiration for the color of this room!It goes perfect. In case some of you folks are wondering what that funny little mouse pad there is next to the pencils, it's a wacom intuos 2 graphic tablet- very fun for doing all kinds of digital work with a pen/pointer and or a mouse.

The floors are painted a grey blue which look really lovely with the green walls. Someone before us decided to paint the fir floors upstairs all of this color and then cover up quite a bit of it with carpet--- (one project at a time) --- but for right now I am very happy with the floor and wall color combo.

My favorite rocking chair next to one of my favorite paintings

An old desk I picked up several years ago for $5 at a garage sale. It was painted brown. I stripped the paint off and this is what was under it; natural wood with distressed cream paint left, so cool...
My dad used to store his tools in this rundown treasure at one time in his workshop before I rescued it... It was really damaged, but the hubby restored it, painted it and brought it back to life. I shall cherish this piece for many years...





Thought you might enjoy the tour of the new Springy look of my office space... In a few more weeks Where Women Create is coming out with the 3rd issue and I am excited that my studio is going to be featured in the upcoming issue... Stay tuned...
My Best...

edit to the post

(Had a post and some e-mails regarding color- the color used on the walls is

Miller 0400M New Foliage.

The Miller Brand is just a Pacific Northwest company which is a bummer. They have beautiful colors choices which also includes the Divine line that I love!)

The 3/50 Project...

Hey there,

I was going to do a bloggy post on my newly made-over office but I will catch it in the next post... I received an e-mail from one of my sales reps on a concept that I thought was really great. I have copied an excerpt of part of the concept. I have never been much of a news watcher or newspaper reader and lately I have lost interest even more... I refuse to participate in the media's continued documentary of how terrible things are... I am a very upbeat person and choose to believe there is a tremendous amount of good and hope in the world that for the most part goes unnoticed by society in general.

As a small business owner who works with brick and mortar small businesses daily which includes everything from galleries, grocery stores, bookstores and everything in between, I hear daily that people have just stopped spending or severely limited their spending. I'm sure there are a variety of reasons which include unemployment, credit, bills etc etc. I also think that another reason is fear. Fear is a very powerful and motivating emotion and the press seems to be thriving on it lately which only compounds the problem.

Anyway, I checked out the post on the Always Upward:the blog.

~Here is an excerpt from the Always Upward blog,
written by Cinda Baxter, founder of the 3/50 Project.

~~

A friend turned me onto a great piece about strengthening the local economy by patronizing local brick and mortars. Written by Rieva Lesonsky (Consulting Editor at BizWomen.com), the post Support your small local businesses titled” touched my retail-lovin’ heart in a big way.

(Her article sprang from a customer service-related experiment last summer. In that case, a guy decided to purchase goods and services only from businesses whose owners he’d met. Before long, he was frequenting the same three restaurants repeatedly, which inspired Lesonsky to twist the concept slightly, then consider the implications of her own shopping habits:
With more and more small businesses on the edge of survival, I’ve been thinking about which three stores I would most hate to see go out of business, and how
I can support them with my dollars.
Puts things in pretty clear terms, pretty quickly.
And this got my wheels spinning.
Why not build a campaign tieing this three-door concept to the $50 Retail Challenge?

Call it the 3/50 Project, supporting local business in small, easily consumable bites.
The goal is simple: Ask consumers to frequent three local brick and mortar businesses they don’t want to see disappear, and to spend a very affordable $50 per month doing it.
Could be those three. Another three. Doesn’t matter. It’s about funneling revenue back into local business. You know-—the folks that pour money back into the community via commercial property taxes, payroll taxes, sales tax, and salaries (not to mention all that good will by way of volunteer time, silent auctions, sponsored softball teams, workshops, book signings, etc. )

~~
Here is a link to the actual project outline

http://www.the350project.org/home.html

Please spread the message by word of mouth, website or blog. Small businesses and your local economy is the glue that keeps this country moving.
God Bless

Lisa

Arriving this May!

In light of some of my favorite magazines hitting the dust lately, I am so excited that Jo Packham is creating her fab quarterly mag Where Women Create through Stampington. A great dose of artful inspiration if you have not picked up the first two copies. In fact it is going over so well that the first inaugural issue sold out and the second issue is on it's way as well...

I was so delighted to have Jo in my studio this last summer along with Brad Ruzicka doing the photography. Jo is truly a gem and her expertise in the publishing world makes this mag such an artist's must have.

My studio is really a working studio..

I have drills, Dremels, hammers, and a sander or two out all the time for the production of my print collection and original work. So when Jo and Brad came over, it was time for the big clean-up and make pretty. It was alot of work, if I must say, but so glad to do it because it gave me the opportunity to really do some cleaning and refreshing. Isn't always that way? Events are always such great motivators for getting those long procrastinated projects done.

The pics in this post with the exception of the first one are my own personal photos, but I wanted to share with you a few glimpses into my creative world. As time progresses before the magazine is released in May, I will be sharing more studio highlights on the blog. Maybe some nitty gritty pics of all the tools and stuff too.

This is a photo of part of the studio right before a workshop.

I am forced to clean-up for all the lovely guests that will be arriving and sharing in an artful day.

Some of my favorite vintage game treasures.

Time to play...

Valentine's Wish

Winter Whites and Brights

A couple of posts ago I talked about the wintry weather we were having here in Oregon...

I was so taken with the brilliance of the whiteness of everything that I hauled all my art supplies up to the dining room table from the studio and set out to create a wintry collection of my own. Snow or no snow, this time of year I always have an urge to paint in pales. Palest of lavender, pinks, blues washed with layers of raw umber and smudged charcoal. So I am sharing with you my latest work for the new year.

A cloudy snow day fills the space on this piece.
This particular painting is part of a series of a print collection that I did for the
Shoppe at Somerset. A group of three exclusive
designs just for the Shoppe.

Wee little Pinky balances on one vintage crystal knob.

Reminds me of wallpaper...

Along with the pale shades of color, I paired up vintage crystals and antique door knobs. It is such a shimmery combination. Combined with the layer of beeswax and a few rustic elements hammered into the wood substrates, the pieces make for a very luminous collection.

Another fun piece similar to the clock in the post below this one.

Chock full of details from top to bottom.
More bling...

The Bingo game card aged so beautifully when a sheer layer of extra warm beeswax was applied over the top. You can achieve some amazing effects when applying wax at different temperatures to vintage papers because of its porous quality.

Winter also brings out the bright palette in me as well. There were some red berries that I photographed in the post below that really inspired some of the reds that I used in this new series of clocks that I have completed. I look forward to adding more to this collection!

One of my favorites out of the whole grouping is this house mixed media clock.

I found some really worn and chippy glass cabinet knobs to use as legs for this piece. They are so fitting and work really well with the well worn, rusty door knob that sits on top of the clock.

'Love Blooms Here'
Another clock filled with lots of color, detail and whimsy
For more detailed information on each piece follow the link below

My Best

Lisa

See the Artwork!

(edit to the post)

I've had several e-mails regarding workshops and the artwork above. To the top right there is a sign-up box labeled Artful News and Goodies Newsletter. Plug in your e-mail address and you will be prompted from there. I have a workshops sign-up section you can check off that will keep you posted of my current workshops throughout the year...

thanks bunches

Somerset Artist Portfolio!

I'm beyond tickled!

When I got an e-mail from Jenny D. this last summer in regards to doing a grouping of work for the Artist's Portfolio segment of Somerset, I e-mailed her back and asked her if this was for real? She promptly replied, "Yes, for real". I thought, "Wow, so cool!"

I'd like to share some pics from the current issue of Somerset Jan/Feb Artist's Portfolio segment featuring some of the work that is photographed in the magazine. I regretfully did not take pictures of all of the pieces nor do I have them in my possession anymore, but I tried to capture a slightly different angle than what is seen in SS. I had much fun this last summer creating the body of work for the article. In fact, it led me to some new creative directions that I have been playing with quite a bit as of late...More to come on that in some upcoming posts but for now...

My favorite piece out of the whole group is this mixed media clock. A very substantial piece piece with crystal door knobs as legs supporting the body of the piece. Texture, vintage papers, graphite, found object and beeswax are used to complete this particular piece. More of a neutral almost earthy palette, that I do not do as often, but I love it!

Dripping beeswax over nails. With the exception of the working clock mechanism, I usually add the beeswax last after everything else is complete and nailed on to the surface. This gives the piece a more authentic look when the beeswax is applied carefully around things such as the chandy crystal to the left...

I do love color and this piece is no exception. For the article I tried to incorporate some monochromatic pieces (pieces with little to just one color) and then creating some pieces that just are wonderfully saturated with my favorite palette of colors.

Little tiny game piece surrounded by patinaed copper.

Another piece filled with lots of color, detail and found object...

Titled Love, Joy,Peace



Joyously Thankful (above) is a study similar to the Playground Found series.. I am still taken with the concept of building tiny vignettes within a larger composition and love building up all the details or little stories within each square and playing with the negative and positive spaces surrounding each element. It can be quite challenging, but I love the results when complete.

She's a cutie!
(click on any image for a larger view)
Enjoy
xo
Lisa

(edit to the post)

I have had many comments and e-mails on the clock regarding workshops- While I am not offering a workshop specifically like the clock, the Be Still My Beating Heart Workshop I am offering in Virginia at Art and Soul is generally the same format minus the clock mechanism. In that workshop you can add found object to the base of the substrate to elevate your work. We are working with an extra deep substrate like the clock too. I will also be teaching the same workshop in October of 09 in Portland at Art and Soul. Drop me a line if you have additional questions...

Winter white...

First snow of the season this week.

Just out taking pics while the kids had most of the week off.

The weather has been quite chilly here but I'm afraid us Oregonians are slightly wimpy when it comes to the wintry weather... My good friend Aleta Breeze did a delightfully humorous post about the weather here in Oregon. Please wander on over...Her blog is beautiful.

One of my favorite hues of red.

Untouched snow...until...



Working together to build a snowman.


Side garden

Wintry whites and brilliant reds inspire me always for another round of winter artwork. I always love to paint in shades of silvers, whites, and a pale palette with splashes of red in the winter. Keeps my spirits up as the cold days of winter lie ahead...

Back to the studio...

Oh Christmas Tree

Please excuse my absence away from blogging. This time of year is filled with holiday madness.... Good of course. I can't complain by any means, but between the studio and the family leaves me time for not much else.. Except for the annual Christmas tree which came late this year partly because of Thanksgiving and because I had a hard time just fitting it in.. But it is a tradition in our family to get out the camera, gloves, cookies and head off to the local Starbucks first for something warm and sweet, before we get out Christmas tree.

Mine is the tallest one in the group. Not filled with coffee either. I drink steamers this time of year. I'm not a coffee drinker, never have been so I really don't support Starbucks all together but I love to get a hot steamer on a chilly day. All it is, is a hot frothed milk with a dash of vanilla...Simple- yum...


We have been going to this tree farm for the past few years out in West Linn, Oregon. So beautiful out there.. Quiet, pastoral, u-cut tree farms all over the place. This farm is getting pretty picked over but the people who run the farm are so nice we thought we would go back one more time, visit Bill the neighboring cow and get a Noble Fir tree.



He was pretty shy until we found some left-over apples on the ground. Then he was as friendly as could be...


The final choice. I didn't take as long as usually do, not that I'm picky or anything(LOL) but when you are in search of the perfect tree, it's hard to make choices sometimes and it's a girls right to change her mind isn't it?


I did however make the small mistake of underestimating the size of the tree- I blame this partially on the husband who is supposed to be good at this kind of stuff and the voice of reason.. It looked so small out in the field ....
(Him and I hauling it off)


Here we are smiling with our new Christmas treasure!

Photos do not do this justice except that the amoire next to the tree is about 7' tall and the base of the tree is in front of the front door. I laughed and laughed for the next 10 minutes, as I looked at the sheer size of this tree in my living room... 13 feet high by at least 7'across..
Time to get the pruners out and do a little trimming...
I'm afraid of heights so the husband is getting on a ladder to do lights and the top of the tree decorating. All these things you don't think about on a nice sunny day out in the middle of a tree farm...
Well, one week later and most of the tree is decorated. The top is still sparse and not finished with some of the details still needed. This tree was way more work than I anticipated but it is grand and stately. We ended up taking 3' off the top and literally pruning the back off of the tree flat so that it would not come out to the center of the room and also pruned about 2' or so around the whole base of the tree...

Getting a little holiday decorating in finally!
Blustery snowy day today- I will be back soon with another post!
~

(edit to the post)

The centerpiece on the table is a vintage bottle brush tree made from extra large bottle brushes purchased from the now defunct Quimbys Antiques here in Portland.

Shannon Quimby had/has fabulous finds and now does spots on HGTV to showcase her creativity!

Another pic to see this gem, one of my favorite Christmas treasures!