Children ran from house to house. Bikes appeared in driveways. Friends gathered without appointments or schedules.
©Laurie Pace Graphics One Design 2026
BLOCK PARTY
Oil on Canvas SOLD by Laurie Pace
There was a time when the neighborhood really was part of childhood.
Our street in Dallas was only one long block, built on a tall hill. We were the third house up from the bottom, just a block from the elementary school. Families filled the neighborhood, and so did children.
Our home was unusual—a contemporary home built in a style similar to Frank Lloyd Wright, filled with glass, garden spaces and color. But outside was where another kind of life happened.
Children ran from house to house. Bikes appeared in driveways. Friends gathered without appointments or schedules.
And when Dallas actually gave us enough snow?
That hill became ours.
Can you imagine the sleds coming down it?
Years later, at one of our neighborhood block parties, I ran around with my camera photographing the children. One of those moments eventually became this painting—three little girls, completely absorbed in one another and whatever important business occupied them at that moment. My original 2020 blog even recorded that afternoon and the photographs that inspired the painting.
I called it Block Party.
Looking at it today, I see more than three little girls.
I see a time when childhood spilled out the front door and into the neighborhood.
Maybe that is why I painted it with so much color.
Some memories simply refuse to fade. Read my home blog here.
Laurie Pace | Elle Pace
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Laurie Pace, Elle Pace, Block Party painting, figurative painting, children in art, childhood memories, Dallas Texas artist, Lake Highlands Dallas, Cliffmere Dallas, colorful figurative art, oil painting, contemporary figurative painting, Texas artist, Threads of Grace, memories in art, neighborhood memories, childhood in Dallas, color in art
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Block Party by Texas artist Laurie Pace recalls childhood, neighborhood friendships, Dallas block parties and the colorful memories that find their way into art.
• self-interest vs selflessness • New Year Christian reflection • faith and relationships • humility in relationships • God’s calling to serve
Laurie is an international artist, her paintings are collected in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany, DuBai, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, St Thomas, Romania, Greece, Croatia, and Ecuador.
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