Off to Earth Angels

(click on image for larger view)

Just a quick post today! Some current work going off to Earth Angels in NY. A small grouping to start off the new year. My favorite of the group is the tall piece called Serendipity. It is a mixed media piece on wood created with oil pastel, graphite pencil, vintage papers, and
wax. Lots of lovely detail for sure.

Be still my beating heart...

Here are some finished pieces from a previous post- The gameboard is in the background... Out of all of my current work, I think the Heart series are some of my favorites. Heavy and dimensional, they are a wonderful combination of depth, texture, and color and are substantial pieces as well, created on 8x10x3" wood substrates. (The camera certainly does not do them justice.) I used beeswax as a finishing treatment on this series because it creates yet another textural surface that adds a wonderful translucency to them.

I have used old antique papers, found element and oil pastel as the primary mediums on this collection.

(click on images for a larger view)

These four pieces are to a whimsical shop/gallery called Present Tense Gallery.

Jan Marshak has a fun shop and features some great work by some very talented artisans. Please give her a jingle for purchasing information.

On another note: I'm a bit in shock that the year is already coming to a close. It seems like yesterday that I was celebrating last New Years Eve. It is so true, as you get older time just goes by faster and faster...

Happy New Year and Many Blessings to you in 2007!

Pray for Peace...

My Painting...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!! I hope that yours was wonderful and surrounded by joy! Christmas is always bittersweet to me... It is so fun to be in the moment and celebrate the spirit of the holidays, but family stresses and loved ones that have passed on or are far away make it hard to swallow sometimes. One of my most favorite things about the holidays is watching small children open their Christmas treasures. They can hardly contain themselves as they rip into presents and see what jumps out of the box... I was pleasantly surprised to see my 4 year old niece (Hannah) gleeful about her new painting.

She had requested this piece some time ago and told me exactly how she wanted it.. I did add some of my own special touches, but she was just thrilled and carried it around most of the evening... I was just tickled. The piece itself is done on canvas with oil pastel, crayon, graphite pencil, and collage... A layer of beeswax was added as the finishing touch.

Here is a closeup- Click on the image for a larger view.

I do not do animal subjects much except for birds but every time I do, it makes me want to do many more.. Something else to add to the mental to do list.....

Merry Holidays!!

Game on!

Now I'm making some progress...In between filling orders and managing a small leak in my studio(basement), I'm getting some solid painting time in.. My family loves to play all kinds of games and I have been very inspired as of late by old folk art/primitive game boards. (my newest collecting binge). So it seemed that creating my own version of one would be appropriate.. I am very happy with the way this one has turned out.. It is not quite finished yet. Some small detail work is left to do, but I can definitely see another series in the works...

If you click on the images, you can see them larger... There are lots of fun details in this piece.. Bits of collage, pencil work, game inspired quotes. On this piece I used oil pastel in combination with artist Caran d' Ache crayons... For those of you who have not yet tried these, they are so much fun and so versatile.. An old standby for me.
The board is functional as well as a great wall piece.

24x24" on 3/4" wood substrate- inquire

New work almost complete!

So much for a relaxing get caught up on everything December... Posted here are some pics of current pieces that I have been working on... Lots of hearts, with some cakes and birds thrown in... All if this is slated for various shops and such, but when the artworks are complete, I will post more pics. Actually my December is going well. For me creating is never a relaxing time... I throw so much emotional energy into my work, that by the end of a session, my brain is jello. Lots of times I will wind down by cleaning up, kind of like clearing out the mind, starting fresh...

One thing to note, if you enlarge this picture I have alongside my work oil pastels to the left... I have been using them for about the past 2 years and can't get enough! Their vibrancy is incredible... I start with a watercolor wash to get my general colors on top, then work into the surface the oil pastels. My favorite brand is Sennelier-Very French and expensive, but no other company even comes close to the quality of them.

I have posted some more progress shots of my studio in transformation.. My goal is to have a series of workshops in October of 2007. If you are interested in more information regarding the workshops-send me an e-mail and I will put you on my list. lisa@lisakaus.com

Under Constuction

Once again, the studio is going through some major changes. As I have said in earlier posts, I have only lived in this house for less than 3 months, so there is tons of work left to be done renovating this basement into a wonderful inspiring workspace. This last Thanksgiving weekend was spent with family members that I haven't seen since I was about 10, and dear ol' dad helping me once again construct a wonderful worktable... He built both of the tables seen in the pictures. The latest just arrived over the holidays. I told him he should go into business building these great tables. Both are about 4x8' with plenty of space for lots of projects and potential class/workshop itinerary. I will post pictures as the process continues... Think lots of white with splashes of silver, glitter, aqua and some yummy shade of green(my favorite color)

I have to pinch myself sometimes because I can't believe I am in the process of creating my dream studio.. It's hard to believe that I was working in this tiny little space at my old house with my stuff spread out from one end to the other... Literally every room had some part of my business in it... Sound familiar? Anyway, I'm trying to be patient-stuff like this does not happen overnight. Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving- I know- that was last week, but as usual things are always a bit chaotic...