WISHING...

i wanted to share with you something that i signed up for, and want to let others know about...it's very cool ~ comes in your e-mail every day for 40 days ~ and FREE!  it's called the WISH SUMMIT (women's international summit for health) and this is what's said about it and it's founder, tera warner, on the website:

Tera is a fiery online entrepreneur with a passion for projects that empower and inspire women.She reminds you to move beyond the size of your hips, or the shape of your hair and asks you to recall the sense of limitlessness you felt when you made your first wish on a birthday candle, a dandelion seedling, a wishing well...With a community of over 60,000 women (and a few great men) in all corners of the globe, she's dedicated her life to busting the barriers that keep people from achieving the level of health, abundance and vitality they’re looking for.
Her trademark, besides the fiery hair and personality, is an unparalleled ability to support others in achieving transformation through dietary change and a positive outlook on life.
Tera is a writer, a leader, a sister, a lover and a mother.
Her dream is to create a project that touches the lives of millions of women in an empowering way, so that her daughter's daughter can live without limits, too. 

the topics that they cover are:

Attitude 

Wisdom

Sensuality

Health

Beauty

Fitness

Abundance

Balance

Relationships
Food

so each day an e-mail comes to you with a recorded interview with one of the guest speakers.  There are some famous names and some you may not have heard of...but they are all powerful speakers taking time out of their day for the cause of empowering you to be the best you can be. 
Here is one of the first ones by kristin morelli...
http://www.wishsummit.com/downloads/2011?kristin-morelli.mp3

if you enjoyed that, just go to their website and sign up to start receiving them in your e-mail.  you can just download them and listen later at a time that is convenient to you.  and they'll give you a link to access the ones that you've missed.  there really is some good stuff there.

also want to let you know that i received one of my special gifts from OWOH that i won!  it was a wall hanging from sheree at raven moon magic all the way from new zealand! thank you so much sheree!  all of your intricate work to make this so special shines through! it's just beautiful!

AND THE WINNER IS.....

today is february 17th...the official day to pick and reveal the winner of the OWOH event. 

i had originally said i would draw a name from a hat, but i had so many more comments than i thought i would, that i decided to use a random generator to make it easier.  i was actually writing numbers on a piece of paper this morning while reading emails~muti-tasking as usual~and my sister suggested in an email that i might want to use a random generator online.  i thought that seemed so much easier (and the timing couldn't have been better) and less time consuming. 

soooo....the random generated winner is.....

kristin dudish!!!

i asked everyone to choose between two pieces, and kristin chose my wood block print. 

so, kristin, please email me your address and i will place that in the mail for you.  i hope you will enjoy having it in your home and thank you all for your lovely comments and the time you took to visit me.

i tried to visit everyone on OWOH, but time made it hard to really spend time going through each blog.  i am really looking forward to visiting everyone at a much less rushed time constraint.

it's been a great experience, and i'm glad i got to experience OWOH, this being it's last year.

I HEARD A VOICE FROM HEAVEN

i didn't think i was going to post until the OWOH (one world one heart) was over, but since i finished a new piece, i thought i would.  although i post on fb, i also like to post more detailed pics here.  if you want to see what i'm offering for the OWOH and enter, just scoll down to the next post. 

i title this painting "a voice from heaven"

and the completed piece...i used a little pen, oil pastels, and music sheets over acrylics.

here it is in earlier stages on my easel...yes, that's a landscape in back of it.  actually two of them...both unfinished.

almost done...still working on the music sheets.  they were actual vintage sheets from a choir book.

here is the finished painting on my wall...

oh, and here is the picture i found online that inspired me.  i think it was a photo.  if anyone knows anything about the photo, i'd love to know!

it's time for ONE WORLD ONE HEART 2011!

well, it's january 30th/31st...and you know what that means? 

 it's time for.....

i'm so excited to be a part of this 2011 blog-fest!

if you don't know what i'm talking about, you can find all about it here.

i talked a bit about it in my previous post, so you could also scroll down and read about it there.

i'm lori diane from lake oswego, oregon and come from a family of artists...my mom, my sister, many of her daughters, my daughter, and i'm sure there must have been ancesters further back that i'm not aware of, because it's so strong with us.  i have only recently in this last year hooked back up with my passion of art and decided to acknowledge that maybe i am an artist...maybe that is what my "gift" is...maybe it's okay to create in my free time, after many years of feeling i couldn't make a living at it, and so didn't even let myself do what i loved.  i have had a few artistic jobs...i was a photo retoucher pre-computers then became a stay at home mom for many years, during which time in the last few years illustrated for a children's toy catalog.  but for whatever reason, i still wouldn't call myself an artist...i had artistic jobs, but never created in my free time.  well now i do create in my free time and love every minute of it...typically i paint.  i have been painting with acrylics and have fun experimenting with mixed media added in there for texture or interest.  i painted with oils years ago, and think i might go that direction at times as well....i'd also like to experiment with pastels.  i have a good sized set of oil pastels i bought about 30 years ago and never touched...maybe because i didn't create in my free time.  so this blog reflects my art, the creation and inspiration of it as well as a glimpse of my life.  i also love decorating, thrift sales, flea markets, vintage stores and so you'll see a bit of that as well.

 i'm really excited to be a part of One World One Heart, and look forward to discovering new bloggers and future friends who share this same love of creating.

i guess that's it! 

 i hope you'll become a "friend" and stop by and visit often, as I am blown away by the support and true feeling of friendships that i have experienced thus far...really i am.  it's through this support that makes me feel that even if something doesn't sell, i could and should keep going.

i am offering a CHOICE of two pieces!  i really couldn't decide...option one is an archival matted print of one of my mixed media paintings i titled Purity. the print itself is approximately 5 x 7, and the outside of the mat is 8 x 10...ready for framing.  i signed the original painting which you can see in the corner, but also signed the border of the print hidden by the mat.

the original was painted with acrylics on canvas...i used embossed papers for the background, and used small beads and glitter in her crown.  i blogged about the process showing more pics in a past post here.

here is the picture from a magazine that was my inspiration for the painting, and the print before matting...

and option two is an 8 x 10 wood block mounted print of a mixed media painting i did using collaged papers in the background.  it's mounted on birch wood and has a sawtooth hanger on the back so it's ready for hanging. 

all you have to do to win EITHER my matted print OR my wood block print is leave a comment telling me which you'd prefer, and i will put everyone's name/visitor number in a bowl, and pull a name/number for the winner! make sure you leave leave a way to contact you via your blog link or some other method.  the winner will be announced february 17th and i'll post an annoucement at that tme.

        thanks for stopping by...have fun on your OWOH journey. 

i know i will!  and until next time...

much love and peace!

ONE WORLD ONE HEART!!!!

I'm so excited!  I am planning on participating in this year's On World One Heart!  I haven't ever done this but know those who have...including my sister at Rusted Wings and my niece at The Waking Artist, and they said it was such a great experience...so I'm really excited about it!

As explained on the Lisa's blog:
One World One Heart is a worldwide event for bloggers only. It gives all those who blog a chance to meet and mingle and form connections with those they may not have otherwise met from all over the world. In the past 4 years this event has grown to over 1,000 participants with lasting friendships (and even one love connection) formed along the way. Think of it as a GIGANTIC open house allowing you to travel without ever leaving your home........going from blog to blog(in various countries) seeing the wonder each one has created and meeting all the fabulous people behind those blogs. As a bonus each blogger participant will offer up a "door prize or prizes"....just for dropping by, saying hello and seeing their world. It's really that easy.

The link to the blog, A Whimsical Bohemian, which tells all of the rules and what to do to be a part of this great event is HERE.  I hope you all join the fun and spread the word!  Let me know if you've done it before and your experiences...I'd love to hear!!!

Girl with the red shawl

I finished another piece.  I used a photograph of an actress from the 1920's as inspiration.

Being a black and white photograph let me imagine what color her sheer shawl was.  I chose a deep red.

I had a hard time photographing it.  Using a flash surprisingly looked good ~ I just had to photograph it at a slight angle to not get the glare of the flash on the canvas.  Believe me there were a lot of frames with the glare.  And then when I used natural light there was a slight glare of the natural light.  You have to do it at just the right time to make all the stars align.

So, this full shot was at a slight angle too ~ with the flash.  I'll have to try again a little later without the flash to get a true straight shot.

MOTHER AND CHILD...

Just finished my latest piece.  It's a close up of old master artist Bernardino Luini titled The Sleeping Christ. The full painting was quite large and included angels surrounding them.  These paintings, although depicting Mary and Jesus, touch us as as a portrait of any mother and child, I think.  The love and tenderness that touches your heart.  I really love the way it looks...the depth, the soulful expressions...the blackest of black highlighting the soft, sweet faces.  That's what makes it an Italian old master. I am so drawn to the old master paintings...