Lauren Strom Art to Make You Happy: May 2012

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Meet the Artist (ME!) at Artist's Mercantile

Thursday June 7th from 11am-1pm

I will be meeting people and selling new art on West 7th outside the

Artist MercantileThe art of the perfect gift.24 West 7th Place
St. Paul, MN 55102

This event takes place during the West 7th Farmers Market.

If there is bad weather I will be inside.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Etsy Updates

I just spent the last week taking new photographs of all the artwork in my etsy shop. I'm so sick of sitting over the computer and apparently when I work on the computer my shoulder hunch up around my ears. i know this because they are now incredibly sore and I've repeatedly lowered them. Only to let my guard down and up they go again. Exhausting.

But it was all worth it. I love the brighter pictures. I hope you do too!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

First Thursday Open Studio NEXT WEEK!

Next Thursday is the first Thursday in June (June 7th) and that means the Casket Arts Studios will be open for you to visit! If you missed Art-A-Whirl or just stayed away because of the heat, this is your opportunity to get back in the game! We are all excited to see you! I know I rearranged my studio to make it friendly on your budget. I put away the big pieces and got out the affordable ones.

If you were in the market for something bigger for you living or dining room just let me know; I'm casual and accommodating so we can look through the big stuff together.

Come visit me guys!

For directions click here.

First Thursday Open Studios

***In my studio - #314***

Casket Arts Building

681 17th Ave NE

Minneapolis, MN 55413

5-9pm the 1st Thursday of every month.

Upcoming Exhibitions!!

I have GREAT NEWS! In my quest for recognition in the art community as well as establishing myself as an artist I have two exhibitions to announce in juried art shows in actual art galleries. First is this month May 26th in Jefferson Iowa. Three of my bicycle paintings made it into the Celebrate the Bicycle Art Show. I'm very excited because as far as I know Iowa is the biking mecca of the United States. I heard about their bike adventures when I was going to Eckerd College in St. Petersburg Florida. Word travels. Eight years later my bike paintings are participating - WONDERFUL.

Secondly this fall I'll hang an exciting group of fat birds in the Larson Art Gallery at the University of Minnesota. Since it's a few months away I haven't yet decided what I'll be showing but you can stay tuned for more information! There's sure to be great things ahead!

Celebrate the Bicycle

Juried Art Show, Jefferson, IA

May 26th - June 30th

Opening Reception During the Iowa Bicycle Festival Saturday May 26th

Gallery Hours:

Thursday-Sunday 12-7pm

Tuesday and Wednesday By Appointment

Monday Closed

Directions and Information

Larson Art Gallery

November 29 - January 18th
Opening Reception November 30th from 7-9pm

Gallery Hours:

Monday - Wednesday 10am-5pm

Thursday 10am-8pm

Friday 10am-7pm

Saturday and Sunday Closed

Directions and Parking

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

When it rains rainbows I wear my yellow boots for puddle jumping.

24x36 inches

acrylic on canvas

signed on the side

I recently started painting chalkboard colored backgrounds. The more I paint the more I find that I enjoy white, gray and little bits of rainbow on top of the black.

Rain has a calming effect on me. For me, sitting in my cozy studio on a dark rainy day is just as good as being in bed. It's comfortable, familiar, and full of possibilities. I do love the rain.

In this painting the umbrella is painted with translucent white which makes it shiny. The cloud and rain coat are light gray and of course the rain and the puddle are a rainbow!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

I love the colors on this one.

They are enough to make me happy just looking at them.

6x9 inches

watercolor painting with a spot of ink on paper

backed with a sturdy paper board and sealed in a cello bag for safe keeping

Is there a better reason to paint something than enjoying the process of mixing colors? Maybe. But that's why I painted this one. I was painting birds with knees and lines and this came out. I added the hearts because it needed some red and I love to paint love.

Harmonious Dreams

4x5 inches

watercolor painting with ink on paper

backed with a sturdy paper board and sealed in a plastic cello bag for safe keeping.

Two fat birds so in tune that even their dreams make music. Though I haven't experienced it in my life, I've known couples like this. They are so perfectly coupled that they seem hum with the shared love.

Raining Hugs and Kisses

4x5 inches

watercolor painting with ink on paper

backed with a sturdy paper board and sealed in a plastic cello bag for safe keeping.

Don't you wish sometimes there was more than water in the rain? Maybe just sometimes, on very, very special days when you really, really, really need it.

be you.

4x5 inches

watercolor with a little bit of ink on paper

backed with a sturdy paper board and sealed in a plastic cello bag for safe keeping.

Be you. Whoever you are, whatever you do. Be you. You are unique and complex. Maybe you are simple and small. Whatever you use to identify, own it, and be it, just be.

Love like mine

4x5 inches

watercolor with a little bit of ink on paper

backed with a sturdy paper board and sealed in a plastic cello bag for safe keeping.

I wish there was a sound for the music love makes. But there's not, so I send mine out on bits of paper using watercolor and ink. Perhaps you'd like to send your love out like mine?

A chorus of birdie birds in song.

4x5 inches

watercolor and ink on paper

backed with a sturdy paper board and sealed in a plastic cello bag for safe keeping.

They are three tenors; and you know how nice they sound.

Love on the breeze.

You are my sunshine; my only sunshine.

You make me happy when skies are gray.

You'll never know, dear, how much I love you.

Please don't take my sunshine away.

4x5 inches

a watercolor painting with accents in graphite

backed with a sturdy paper board and sealed in a cello bag for safe keeping

I wish I could send hearts across the sky to the ones I love. I wish big red hearts would float through my window and land like goose down all around me. In the magic world I paint it's possible and I like that my thoughts get a chance to live there.

NOTICE: I like these colors together.

4x5 inches

a watercolor painting with accents in graphite

backed with a sturdy paper board and sealed in a cello bag for safe keeping

I like to make odd shaped birds. At least I assume they are odd since I don't research before I create. Is there a bird that is long and thin like a minnow? Does it fly in the rain? Or are all these things only connected in my brain and put on to paper because I like the way the colors go together?

If you do the research I'd be interested in the results.

Neckties are Swell

4x5 inches

a watercolor painting with accents in ink

backed with a sturdy paper board and sealed in a cello bag for safe keeping

My husband likes to wear neckties. When he graduated from college and the only job he could get was selling women's shoes at Macy's he was thrilled to have an opportunity to wear ties. He's always been excited to be well dress, often better dressed than his coworkers. It's his joy and excitement that inspired me to start using ties in my work and the unexpected joy I get when I see them that keeps me at it.

Everything Will Be OK

4x5 inches

an abstract watercolor painting with a message stamped in ink

backed with a sturdy paper board and sealed in a cello bag for safe keeping

I need this reminder; I need it all the time everywhere. That's why I paint it, stamp it, draw it. It's my mantra and when I forget the words because I'm so caught up in my own anxiety it helps to read it.

Does it help you too?

Rainbow Cloud

8x10 inches

watercolor painting with colored pencil and ink embellishments on paper

backed with a sturdy paper board and sealed in a cello bag for safe keeping

Wouldn't it be lovely if the clouds were occasionally rainbows? Therefore the rain would be so full of color that it would, of course, be black. The light spectrum is really a wonderful thing.

Singing in the Rain

8x10 inches

watercolor and ink on paper

backed with a sturdy paper board and sealed in a cello bag for safe keeping

Fat yellow bird with knees doesn't get cold in the rain, she LOVES it. Admit it, you like to sing in the shower too. My daughter sure does! We know when she's had a good day because we can hear her singing in the shower before bed.

Look how happy they are to be singing:

8x10 inches

watercolor and ink on paper

backed with a sturdy paper board and sealed in a cello bag for safe keeping

I wonder if those notes I wrote actually play a tune. If it's cacophony, I'm sure these nice yellow birds (with knees) pull it off with aplomb.

Ballooney Bird

8x10 inches

watercolor and ink on paper

backed with a sturdy paper board and sealed in a cello bag for safe keeping

I'd love it if a fancy blue bird delivered balloons to my studio door as long as the bird was either a cartoon or made of paper robotics. There, that's cool. I want a paper robot bird to deliver balloons to me for my 31st birthday. Science has 11 months to come up with it; I'm sure it's possible.

She and Him

5x5 inches

watercolor and ink on paper

backed with a sturdy paper board and sealed in a cello bag for safe keeping

I love the band she and him and if they were birds they'd certainly entertain they idea of being fat and blue and most likely they'd enjoy wearing crowns.

Singing bird with knees. Really.

5x5 inches

Watercolor and Ink on Paper

backed with a sturdy paper board and sealed in a cello bag for safe keeping.

I love happy singing birds. I like drawing notes, even though I have absolutely no professional training in note writing or producing sheet music. And birds with knees? Really? They are so absurd they make me smile.

Well hello there, Mister Tophat.

4x5 inches

watercolor and Ink on Paper

Backed with fiber board and sealed in a plastic bag for safe keeping.

Mister Tophat is a lovely gentleman. He tips his hat to whomever he meets on the street.

Sending all our love to you...

4x5 inches

Watercolor painting with ink embellishments.

Wherever you are your childhood caregivers are loving you. I didn't know it until I had a baby, but as a preschool teacher I loved each child as if he of she were my own. Once I had a baby it became clear. Little people mark our hearts with each thing they learn, so no matter who you are there's someone out there thinking about you and sending blessings for good things.

Fluffers Takes A Nap

5x7 inches

Watercolor Painting with Ink Stamp

Fluffy fat bird wearing a crown as he takes a nap. Sounds like the life.

Everything Will Be OK Hot-air Balloon

5x7 inches

Watercolor Painting with Ink

Wouldn't a quiet ride in a hot air balloon help you to leave your troubles on the ground for an hour? In the air all you need to think about breathing and that lovely breeze on your face. Unless you're flying it, in which case - remember Everything will be OK.

Camping in the Mountains

5x7 inches

Colored Pencil Drawing over Watercolor Painting

I've never been to the Rocky Mountains but I like to imagine it would be a pleasant experience to camp in them, especially by a stream with a clear sky above.

For the Love of Books - A New Series

5x7 inches

Colored Pencil over Watercolor Painting

backed with fiber board and sealed in a plastic bag for safe keeping

This series was inspired by my daughter, who loves to read. When I say she loves to read I mean she is one to spend an ENTIRE day laying in bed with a book or five. She reads multiple books at a time and her favorites over and over. I know that there are more happy book lovers for me to draw.