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Read the latest from Elle Pace, Studio Stories and Threads of Grace

Two sets of Eyes are Better than one, when it comes to critiquing a painting.

Some of God's greatest gifts come wrapped in friendship.  © Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Elizabeth Chapman Abstract Artist and Dear Friend One of the Graces in my Life ... Some of God's greatest gifts come wrapped in friendship. Over the years, He has placed remarkable people along my path—artists, teachers, encouragers, and sisters in Christ. Elizabeth Chapman is one of those gifts. Our friendship has been built on faith, years of teaching, family, and a shared desire to encourage others through art. Recently, I asked Elizabeth to look at a painting that had me questioning my own direction. Her honest thoughts reminded me that trusted friendships are one of God's quiet provisions in our lives. The greatest masterpieces are not always the ones hanging on a wall. Sometimes they are the friendships He patiently paints across a lifetime. "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor..." — Ecclesiastes 4...
Recent posts

A Quiet Reflection on Contentment

Contentment is not having everything we want. It is discovering the beauty of what God has already placed in our hands. © Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Oil on Canvas  SOLD   by Laurie Pace   There are moments when life quietly reminds us that we already hold something beautiful in our hands. When I painted Fleeting Moment, I wasn't thinking about contentment. Years later, I see it differently. She isn't searching for another flower. She isn't looking toward tomorrow. She is simply present. Resting. Content. At peace. In a world that encourages us to always want more, perhaps one of God's greatest gifts is teaching us to treasure what He has already given. "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." — Exodus 14:14 Read the full story on my website. Laurie Pace ( Elle) A quiet reflection on contentment, peace, and learning to treasure the gifts God has already placed in our hands through the paint...

Life Moving Forward through the Seasons

Red Moon Rising and the Seasons of Grace © Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Red Moon Rising Oil on Canvas  SOLD   by Laurie Pace   Several years ago, while living at the lake, I stood in my studio and watched the Red Moon rise across the water. I thought I was simply gathering inspiration for a painting. Looking back now, I believe God was quietly preparing my heart for seasons I had not yet imagined. Life moves through seasons. Childhood.  Marriage.  Family.   Career.   Loss. Healing.   Death.   Renewal. Some chapters are filled with celebration.  Others seem impossible to understand while we're living them.  Yet Scripture reminds us that God is faithful through every one of them. "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." — Proverbs 16:9 This past week something changed in my studio.   For the first time in a long while, I felt th...

The Inner struggle of painting you do not know about....

Painting in Process STAND TALL © Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Oil on Canvas  SOLD   by Laurie Pace   When Are We Refining... and When Are We Explaining? Sometimes a painting teaches the artist more than the artist teaches the painting. This horse painting reached several "almost finished" moments over five days. Looking back at one earlier photograph, I realized I loved the freshness it still carried. There were always three horses in the composition. A friend couldn't quite see the quiet yellow horse because it blended into the blue horse beside it. That one observation stayed with me, and I found myself changing the painting instead of simply finishing it. Artists face this question more often than people realize: When are we refining... and when are we explaining? With fresh eyes, I realized the painting wasn't lost. It was reminding me to trust my own artistic voice and to recognize the moment when a pai...

You've seen this painting before, now read My Heart's Story behind Playing for Papa.

The True Story of Playing for Papa © Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Playing for Papa Oil on Canvas  SOLD   by Laurie Pace   Sometimes we don't recognize the threads that have been woven through our lives until years later. For me, music came long before painting. I grew up at the piano, later taught piano and guitar, and discovered that melodies have a way of staying with us long after the final note has faded. When I painted 'Playing for Papa', I thought I was creating a single painting. Looking back now, I realize I was uncovering something much deeper. Music wasn't simply part of my childhood—it quietly became part of the foundation beneath my art. That was me on the piano at a young age.  There is much more to the story on my website blog.  As I begin sharing more stories through Threads of Grace, I'm rediscovering how music, family, faith, and painting have always been woven together. Some paint...

Bubbles in the Air, Horses Everywhere

Tiny Bubbles Everywhere..... © Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Tiny Bubbles Oil on Canvas  SOLD   by Laurie Pace   Sometimes the paintings we almost paint become the ones that change everything. One summer, while my grandchildren were blowing bubbles across the backyard, I found myself painting a giant canvas filled with nothing but floating bubbles. I loved it. My galleries... not so much. They wanted horses. So, while the paint was still wet, I picked up my palette knife and let the painting lead the way. Those bubbles became horses. The painting sold within a week, but it also taught me something I've carried ever since: sometimes what feels like a detour is simply preparing us for the next chapter. Life has a way of doing that too. Read the full story and see the final horse painting on my website in the post.     Elle https://ellepace.com/blog-laurie-pace/bubbles-horses-726   Laurie Pac...

Finding my Own Song Again... in my art.

Brush Strokes of Life Finding My Own Song Again © Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 San Jacinto River Gathering Oil on Canvas  Commission  by Laurie Pace   This week I discovered something I didn't even know I had. While searching through old files, I came across a magazine article written about my artwork several years ago. As I read it, one sentence stopped me in my tracks. "It took three or four years of raw painting before finding my own song and my own work key." Those were my words. Somewhere over the years, I had forgotten them. At the same time, I had been looking through photographs of some of my old paintings, watching horses emerge from layers of thick paint, color, and discovery. I was reminded that I never painted the horse first. I painted with open trust. The horse revealed itself. It made me realize that perhaps I wasn't searching for a new direction after all. Perhaps I was simply finding my own song ...

Inches Away, Seeing Close Up, REALITY. Who are you?

Brush Strokes of Life © Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Have you ever stood just inches away from a painting? Up close, all you see are individual brush strokes. Some are bright. Some are dark. Some seem completely out of place. Only when you step back does the picture begin to make sense. Life often feels that way. The image above is only a small section of one of my larger paintings. Looking closely, you'll find brilliant colors beside deep shadows. Every stroke matters. I believe our lives are painted much the same way. Each day adds another brush stroke. Some are filled with joy. Others are painted with grief, uncertainty, or waiting. While we're living those moments, we rarely understand why they are there. But God sees the entire canvas. Looking back over my own life, I can now see that the unexpected moments often became the ones that shaped me the most. As I begin sharing more stories in Brush Strokes of Life, I hope you'll dis...