After being FB friends for years I finally had the true pleasure of meeting and hosting Kristen Powers, aka Kae Pea. I have long been smitten with her artistic style and her engaging positive spirit.
and let me tell you, she is simply amazing.
She shines.
She is humble, warm & funny.
and she radiates with joy when sharing what she loves.
a creative beacon.
and generous by nature, she gave me this beautiful print below, which now graces my studio.
Over a glass or two of wine, we stayed up into the wee hours talking about art, family, life,
and the beauty
of meeting 'soul sisters.
and how lucky we are to make art.
so very lucky
that when we decide to follow our heart
there are people who
believe in us
and help us excel,
like Kristen's delightful
sister Bridgette, her sidekick, sounding board, and - methinks indispensable - source of encouragement, humor and strength.
Kristen is also the owner of a fabulous rubber stamp company, called Rubber Moon Art Stamp Co.
Along with her talent, she brought catalogs and stamps and all kinds of fun products for us to jumpstart our creative streak.
*********
I sincerely did not want them to leave. ever.
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How about January, Kristen? heeheeheehee
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find Kristen's art at kaepeaart.com
find Rubber Moon Art Stamps at rubbermoon.com
This is my story of how a literal dream opened the door to a figurative dream...
I am an artist. My (literal) dreams are always vivid. Most of the time they are 'good' dreams, meaning not nightmarish, and not naked.On the dream-o-meter scale of 1-10, I would say my dreams rate a solid 7, each night providing me with an abundance of colorful images and landscapes both odd and familiar.
Like the Johnny Depp version of Alice in Wonderland, my dream world consists of no logic, strange people, surreal beauty and perfect nonsense. In other words, an artist's paradise.
I don't usually record my dreams. First, because I harbor doubts that anyone could read my dream journal and still take me seriously, and second, because I find such delight and reverence in the creative conduit dreams provide. If I record the dream, it feels like a rerun when I then transfer it to my work.
The mystery of 'where did THAT come from?' while I am absorbed in the process of painting is truly my place of bliss. It is precious magic when my subconscious prevails in the studio.
But one night several years ago I received a simple message in a dream too powerful to ignore.
In this dream, a graceful winged figure appeared and said to me:
" FEEL THE RADIANCE "
" FEED THE RADIANCE "
" FREE THE RADIANCE "
As she said this, she first held her arms out to her sides ( FEEL)
then she touched her hands to her heart ( FEED - yes, her heart sparkled )
then she raised her arms heavenward ( FREE )
I think I heard majestic music during all this,but I honestly don't remember...if not, there should have been, probably something by
Then she was gone.
(Hey, it was a dream. That's what happens in dreams.)
Anyhow...
I awoke and was SO INFUSED with JOY and PEACE that I wanted to tattoo her message in my heart and mind forever, so I drew a rough sketch and wrote the message down.
I keep the sketch pinned to a bulletin board in my studio where I can reconnect with the message while I work.
THIS DREAM WAS LIFE-ALTERING FOR ME.
Her message 'FREE THE RADIANCE' encouraged me to pursue my passion for art full time. Inspired and unencumbered by concern over what others may think of my work, I painted a series of 14 separate 'Sparkly Heart Angels' that poured forth as soon as I sat down with a blank canvas. I was experiencing the euphoria of her message.
let me repeat those three words above... Unencumbered By Concern - HOLY COW! the power in that!!!
WOW - fears melted away, and I knew, I just KNEW
I had found my true path.
To this day, I still feel an immense freedom and profound gratitude for this gift, for this cloak of impermeable love and encouragement.
I named my workspace 'Sparkly Heart Studio', and spend as much time as possible painting and illustrating the happy sparkly visions that dance around inside me.
And like frosting on a cupcake, the clarity gained from simply doing what I love with a RADIANT HEART has brought the unexpected benefit of DIRECTION and PURPOSE. What a gift.
Somerset Studio - January 2013 issue! My 'Queen of the Studio painting, and my '50 Signs' list!
on
the
very
LAST
page...
I am ecstatic!
How perfectly delightful it is to be featured at the END of a publication
at the BEGINNING of a new year!
thank you Somerset Studio!
Do you hear the angels singing?
I am so honored. Not to mention tickled.(pink)
Somerset Studio Gallery
published TWO of my projects in the December issue!
I am in a tizzy. There is no other way to describe it.
but it's a happy sparkly swirly tizzy.
accompanied by an ear-to-ear grin.
Thank you STAMPINGTON !!!
Your publications make me try harder.
now I must run to the bookstore and buy the remaining copies.
xoxo lori
TWENTY THREE YEARS! that's how long it had been since my husband and I had taken a road trip together without young'uns in tow.
The Wild West was calling, luring us toward Big Sky country.
And we happily obliged. Just the two of us.
He drove. I navigated. No GPS for us. We still read good old fashioned paper maps, until I get woozy, then we just pretend we know where we're going. Anyway, it's vacation and sometimes not knowing exactly where you're going to end up is half the fun. That's why it's called 'the wanderin'' west'.
Magic happens when you wander.We pulled off a random exit in North Dakota simply to find a patch of grass to make a picnic lunch.The exit led us to downtown Mandan, and serendipitously to a little park, connected to a little antique and handmade goods shop, where I met SusieQ, the lovely and talented proprietor pictured above.... aaaaaaand found THIS !!!!!
It's a FULL SET of VINTAGE RUBBER LETTERPRESS STAMPS, complete with upper & lowercase and symbols!!!!!!! In a nifty wooden case!!!!
You could not erase the ear-to-ear smile on my face. In fact, it's still there.
It was a good day.
Wandered our way further to Miles City and Bozeman, collecting sage and soaking up the sun, relaxing with our nightly Moscow Mules at Ted's Montana Grill.
Scored a vintage sparkly cowgirl party skirt for $16.00 at 'Head West' in Bozeman, the kind of boutique that I would BEG to franchise if I ever contemplated retail again. Just the coolest mix of western, retro, vintage and resale clothes and accessories!!!
Bought an awesome cowgirl hat in Big Sky, which promptly blew out the window just out of Big Sky. Oh well....some tumbleweed is sporting a beauty of a hat.
It was still a good day.
Wandered south to laugh with friends in Driggs Idaho. Cruised Jackson Wyoming on the bike trails - definitely the way to travel there! Quite a bike-friendly city - mostly trails but when on the streets, we experienced patience and courtesy from motorists.( That's our friend's pup Lulu, riding shotgun.)
Our Jackson friend knew I would love this boutique! I mean, just look at the sign! Queenie & Co. is loaded with chic but reasonably priced consigned goods, merchandised with great style, and everyone inside, including the employees, seems so HAPPY to be there, how could anyone not love it? Queenie & Co. in Jackson. LOVE.
It was a good day.
Meandered down to Utah, spent 3 days in a cabin by river. Did I mention the cabin had a screen porch overlooking the river? With comfy chairs? And I had Sue Grafton's new 'V is for Vengeance' book with me? and tea?
Uh huh. It was a good day. Even though I locked myself out of the cabin while there alone. Didn't matter. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and not 3 feet away, a rainbow trout graced me with a lesson on how it spends it's day.
While in Ogden, we popped into a local coffeeshop/bookstore, "Grounds for Coffee' and 'Wisebird Bookery. There we met the delightful Jennifer, who made me a PERFECT cup of tea- and I mean PERFECT! ( her mother is British) while teasing us about our 'Minnesota accents',( C'mon, just say the word 'bag' eh? ) and Amber, a fellow mixed-media artist. If I could only transport them, and their establishment back to Minnesota with me...
It was a good day.
I
wrote
this
last
week
after
dipping
my
paintbrush
in
my
tea...
again.
Lori Franklin’s
50 SIGNS
YOU MAY BE AN ARTIST IF……
- 1. there’s no salt in your salt shakers, but lots of pretty glitter.
- 2. there’s at least one speck of paint on every piece of clothing you own, even your socks.
- 3. your toaster oven is used for fimo clay.
- 4. you have dipped your paintbrush in your coffee.
- 5.a new box of color crayons still makes you weak in the knees.
- 6. you run with pinking shears.
- 7. studio time is your ‘twilight zone’.
- 8. you think pears and eggplants are for painting still lifes.
- 9. everything has ‘potential’.
- 10. you make less dough than that breadmaker sitting on your countertop.
- 11. you look forward to the annual ‘pantone color forecast’.
- 12. you know who pantone is.
- 13. mac rules your world.
- 14. you have a short attention sp
- 15. you actually like the smell of paint.
- 16. a broken dish is a mosaic waiting to happen.
- 17. the only ‘waxing’ you do is on canvas.
- 18. your double boiler is used for the wax.
- 19. you love do-it-yourself projects.
- 20. except for wallpapering. or taking down wallpaper.
- 21. you have painted over wallpaper. successfully.
- 22. you are a glutton for punishment and make your own wallpaper.
- 23. you discover that the art of skip-troweling translates to canvas beautifully.
- 24. you hear the waffle iron begging you to try embossing clay in it.
- 25. you ignore the waffle iron. so far. but soon you may need a new waffle iron.
- 26. people don’t ‘get’ your Halloween costume of Picasso in his Blue Period.
- 27. people immediately ‘get’ your Halloween costume of Frida Kahlo.
- 28. you have bonded with other artists over the joys of ‘doodling’.
- 29. a productive day in the studio is your wonder drug.
- 30. getting messy is a good and necessary thing.
- 31. getting organized is also a necessary thing.
- 32. the pet hairs in your wet paint inspire a new texture idea.
- 33. a beret is obviously for your head, not for your hair.
- 34. your blow dryer has paint specks on it.
- 35. you have bought a friend’s art.
- 36. you suddenly slow or stop your car to savor any of the following: clouds, a rainbow, a peaceful valley, moonlight on water, glittering snow, or( insert your visual here) _________________.
- 37. you have explained to the officer no you were absolutely not texting, you were distracted by the supreme beauty of nature.
- 38. you promise to be more attentive. But you know it will happen again. Maybe you should just be a passenger.
- 39. you are eternally grateful to your family who kind of understands what you do, but enthusiastically loves and supports and admires everything you do anyway.
- 40. Your Facebook artist friends are your cheerleaders.
- 41. Your local artist friends are your therapists and soul sisters.
- 42. You believe in yourself as much as they do.
- 43. your right brain never allows you to remember which side is the creative one.
- 44. you know how to pronounce ‘quinacridone’ and ‘cerulean’.
- 45. you always marvel at the natural color of beet juice – fuschia! wow! maybe you should try to dye something…
- 46. you decide to dye Easter eggs using only ‘natural, dyes…tea, onion skins, beet juice, etc.
- 47. You wonder what beet juice would look like when mashed into hard-cooked egg yolks for deviled eggs. You try it.
- 48. It looks like spam-filled deviled eggs, only worse.
- 49. Your kids heckle you forever on ‘spam-eggs’.
- 50. You pride yourself on creating artistic ‘family memories’. After all, life is all about family…and art!
- If you can relate to any or all of these, YOU JUST MIGHT BE AN ARTIST!!!!!
Last Saturday my husband and I had a chance indulge our inner junkmeister at Sue Whitney and Lanette Lorsung's fabulous 'Junkmarket Under Glass' event. Held in a sunny greenhouse near Minneapolis, it's an exquisite jumble of skillfully repurposed vintage goods, ( my FAVORITE ), hip antiques, and dealers whose booths showcase their passion for beauty and design. We arrived in the last few hours of the last day, and the atmosphere was positively brimming with giddy exhilaration of a hugely successful 3 day show.
I did take a few pictures, but out of respect, only after receiving permission to post, and also only from those vendors that I bought something from.( It feels tacky to me to snap photos willy-nilly, with the vendor having no idea who I am, or why I want photos...) so here they are.
Watch for her Junkmarket events at junkmarketstyleevents.com
and friend her on Facebook under Sue Whitney.
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| I positively DROOLED at this booth - I love her style and colors! This is Colleen Rausch, owner of Stones Throw. Her salvaged home decor items are seriously amazing. Her daughter, Cassie Smith, is a talented jewelry designer and filled a portion of the booth with her Sassy Cass Jems. It was a challenge to decide upon which piece to buy, there were so many that called my name! I ended up with a looong necklace with pearls and crystals and vintage elements. You can find her at sassycassjems.blogspot.com . |
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| This is the Energizer Bunny, Lori Miller. She is an artist ( that is her work behind her ) a designer, a shop owner, and also works another job. Whew. Anyway, her booth was chock-full of cool vintage stuff I am drawn to like a moth to a flame. Funky artwork, wire crowns, santos figurines, architectural and garden elements...and just LOOK at her! She embodies the 'cool factor' spirit! I can't wait to visit her shop - it's in a historic round barn ! find her at roundbarnpottingcompany.com Oh, yeah, I bought a plaster santos hand from her. |
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| Awwww, here is the charming Lisa Greene, owner of The Wren's Nest, after I sweet-talked her into posing next to her enticing display. She is a collector and designer of what she calls 'home and personal adornments', and her pretty little booth was a mix of fun and fancy. The cross in the picture now belongs to moi! you can e-mail her at thewrensnestanoka@yahoo.com |
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* Why is my husband smiling? * Sue Whitney & Lanette Lorsung, the creative goddesses behind Junkmarket. |
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| Lest you think that I had to drag my husband to Junkmarket Under Glass, let me assure you that he enjoys this type of show as much as I do. He has collected vintage cross-country skis for 30 years, hence the skis in our living room ceiling... and he is good at repurposing - turning some into coatracks in the entry. |
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The Queen of All Things Vintage and Cool, Sue Whitney. who welcomed us with open arms, and is lively and spunky and fun, and exudes joy. You gotta love her. |
and friend her on Facebook under Sue Whitney.
