Golden Bouquet

Golden Bouquet ~ Acrylic on collage paper ~ 2.5 x 5.5 inches ~ $25

This is one of the paintings I dropped off today at Orion Art Center's Holiday Market....
I delivered quite a few of these tiny sized original paintings... packaged with a card and envelope, so you could mail it for an easy peasy gift....it's not even extra postage! :) Perfect size and price ($25) for anyone to begin their "original art" collection.....

The Holiday Market opens Monday, December 1st and runs through December 22... I got a sneak peek when I dropped off my things...and there are some wonderful offerings for sale! Paintings, pottery and jewelry along with hand sewn and knit creations.... and even home-made peanut and cashew brittle, are just some of the goodies you'll find there. All the things for sale are made by local artisans. Just a lovely group to support. :) And of course with each purchase you are helping support the Art Center itself.....Hope you'll include the Orion Art Center in your Holiday shopping plans.

I'm wishing you a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday ....Enjoy!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Woke up to a beautiful soft snowfall.... This spot is along the path that I take my morning walk on.... Just beautiful.

I'm just finishing up some more smaller paintings for the Holiday Market....
Enjoy your day!

All Together Now...

"All Together Now" 12 x 12 ~ Acrylic on panel

I dropped this one off, along with Rock the Boat Baby... at the Lawrence Street Gallery 12 x 12 show...Crossing my fingers that they are accepted! The Show will run through December.
Enjoy your weekend!

Losing Focus

"Losing Focus" 11 x 7 ~ Acrylic on paper

We all have experienced this at one point or another....Some of us more often than others! :)
I think I'll paint one called "Losing Focus...and then Getting it Back" Sometimes unfocused wanderings lead us to the most creative places.

Winter Warm Up....

"Winter Warm-Up" 5 x 7 ~Acrylic on collage paper

Still warming up with some smaller paintings to put in the Orion Art Center's Holiday Market...

I've barely emerged from the studio over the last month or so....Lots of ideas...so little time... :)

I really do love this discipline of the small warm up paintings before jumping into the larger paintings....A great time to experiment.

In One Ear.....

"In One Ear" 7 x 5 ~ Acrylic and ink on collage paper~

I am the lone woman in a family of four. ..(even the dog is male) Enough said. :)

This paper (the support) is the result of using citrasolve (found in health food stores) and National Geographic magazines....You never know what you're gonna get. The solvent melts the ink in the magazine...and when you pull apart the pages....yippee skippee! Just another example of what I learned in the Bob Burridge workshop. :)

Break Through

"Break Through"....11 x 7... Acrylic and pencil on watercolor paper....

A lot of layers here.... I'll do this one again larger. The colors were a lot of fun for me!

Fight Through It

"Fight Through It" 48x42 (a big-un).... acrylic on canvas

Detail images below...

This series has possessed me....The Monday through Thursday, the week of my Open Studio, I started and completed this one. I was joking with my sister that the varnish was tacky and the painting was probably stuck to the wall! (Happy to say...it wasn't)

Quote of the Day:
"If no one ever took risks, Michelangelo would have painted on the Sistine floor."
– Neil Simon

Rock the Boat Baby!

"Rock the Boat Baby" ...acrylic and fabric collage... 12 x 12 panel

I can see now that this isn't the most clear of photos... I'll have to get a better one later.
It's actually snowing here in Oxford, Mi.... That's what I'll blame the poor photography on.... bad weather. :)

edit....The painting is actually closer in color to the blurry one....So I decided to include both images.

Quite a Sunrise...and back to work.

The sunrise this morning was amazing....red/orange....just fantastic! What's that saying....Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning? And it was a relatively calm day.

I thought I'd better snap a photo of the "Tidy Studio" before I wreck it. (I had tidied it for my Open Studio) Some of you know just how amazing this photo is! LOL

Started another large canvas from my "Taking the High Road" series. The intent of the painting will be "distractions and diversions."....unless I'm distracted or diverted. :)

Thanks so much!!!

Watercolor...self portrait :) week 52 in my "Year of Painting" series....

My Open Studio event (last Friday and Saturday) surpassed my expectations by a mile....I am really appreciative of so many of you coming out and seeing what I've been up to. Thanks so much!!! I am most excited by the favorable reception of my new series "Taking the High Road."


Some of the new Paintings in the series are pictured above.

Taking the High Road
Artist’s statement

We have no control over so many things that affect us. I am always telling myself that I can’t do much about this or that….but I can certainly live my days doing things that I know are right. I can strive for better. I can be helpful and kind and I can choose to be happy. That’s what this series is about… it’s about climbing out of the murk and living your life in a way that’s positive. It’s about seeing that you really do have a choice and the power to control what you think and what you do, how you react to things and how you choose to communicate. It’s about striving to be a light in your circle of influence. We are not helpless. We are powerful. And when given a choice, let’s take the high road.


Lauren Everett Finn