Skip to main content

Posts

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

Memories make the days, it's the perfect one!

Don't Miss Today's Blessings © Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Racing the Sunset Oil on Canvas  SOLD   by Laurie Pace   The Perfect One My oldest granddaughter had a favorite saying whenever she found something she loved. "It's the perfect one!" A jelly bean... a cupcake... a pair of shoes... it didn't matter. To her, each moment held joy. As adults, we spend so much time worrying about tomorrow that we often miss today's blessings. After waking at 1:30 this morning and spending hours unable to sleep, I finally stopped trying to solve tomorrow's problems and began praying instead. God gently reminded me that He already knows the path ahead. That same lesson follows me into my studio. Every painting begins with uncertainty, but I've learned to trust the process, trust the gifts God has given me, and refuse to give up. My painting, Racing the Shoreline at Sunset, reminds me that horses don't worry about tomorrow....
Recent posts

Some mornings the studio asks me to slow down.

A Quiet Morning in the Studio © Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Oil on Canvas  SOLD   by Laurie Pace   Some mornings the studio asks me to slow down. This commission is one of those rare paintings where I set aside my usual expressive style to honor the quiet relationship between a woman and the horse she loves. Every brushstroke is less about creating a likeness and more about preserving a memory. Not every painting is meant for a gallery. Some are simply meant to go home. Read more at my blog Elle Pace  and see two different small gifts of love and horses.   Elle  Laurie Pace, Elle Pace, Threads of Grace, Quiet Morning in the Studio, horse painting, equine artist, horse commission, oil painting, commissioned artwork, women and horses, artist blog, storytelling through art, studio life, realism in art, original oil painting Shop Available Artwork.  Follow the Spirit of the Paint... wit...

Yet it is all still there, beneath the surface, supporting every brushstroke or piece of our life ....

The book pages disappeared... © Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Haunted Mesa Oil on Canvas  SOLD   by Laurie Pace   One thing struck me that I don't think I have put into words before. Book pages disappear. The viewer cannot read them anymore. But they still determine everything that comes afterward. Isn't that exactly how our lives work? The books we've read. The people we've loved. The grief we've carried. The faith we've learned. The roads we've traveled. Much of it can no longer be seen. Yet it is all still there, beneath the surface, supporting every brushstroke or piece of our life that follows. That realization makes this painting above feel even richer to me than it did before. It isn't just about a haunted mesa. It's about the hidden foundations we all carry—and how they quietly shape the beauty that eventually appears. Read more on my website with the entire series of photos from using pages from The ...

Summer Daze with sun and fun ....

This morning I found an old photograph of Lady L standing at my easel... © Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Lady L Wonder Keeps Us Young This morning I found an old photograph of Lady L standing at my easel, completely absorbed in painting at just three and a half years old. She had already begun seeing the world through an artist's eyes. Looking at her reminded me that children don't paint to impress anyone. They paint because they love to discover. Perhaps that's one of summer's greatest gifts. Wonder keeps us young. Gratitude keeps us at peace. Faith keeps us moving forward. Sometimes the greatest lessons come from slowing down long enough to see the world through the eyes of a child once again. "Unless you change and become like little children..." — Matthew 18:3 Read the full story on my website.   Elle Laurie Pace, Elle Pace, Threads of Grace, Wonder Keeps Us Young, Lady L, child artist, children painting, artist grandmothe...

Embracing the Ordinary

I almost wonder if that's how God works throughout our lives. © Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Life is being lived!   Someone recently told me I seemed to be settling in again. As I looked back over today, I realized perhaps they were right. Pilates before sunrise, a morning walk, helping a friend, time with my son, a surprise shopping trip with my daughter-in-law, and the joyful news that one of my paintings was accepted into the Women Artists of the West National Exhibition.  None of those moments were extraordinary by themselves, but together they reminded me how grateful I am for this season of life. Sometimes rest isn't about slowing down. It's about recognizing God's blessings hidden in ordinary days. Elle "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." — Matthew 11:28 Read the full story on my website. . Laurie Pace, Elle Pace, Threads of Grace, embracing the ordinary, gratitude, Christian ...

The path we take in life presents challenges and as well as gifts.

The Roads I Still Take © Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Brothers Commissioned Painting   by Laurie Pace   As a little girl, I loved riding in the back seat of my dad's car on those old two-lane roads between Dallas and St Louis. I was fascinated by the little side roads disappearing into the trees and always wondered where they led. Looking back, I realize I never outgrew that curiosity. Life has taken me down roads I never imagined—through music, teaching, painting, friendships, joy, and heartbreak. I've learned that I don't have to know where every road ends because I no longer carry the journey alone. God has always been walking ahead of me. "So do not fear, for I am with you... I will strengthen you and help you." — Isaiah 41:10 Read the full story on my website and see the incredible 1952 Plymouth very much like ours.    Elle     The Car in the photo is for sale but not by us... I foun...

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...

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...