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As I began again, my palette knife moved across a year of accumulated texture.

© Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Boundless Oil on Canvas  Available at the  posting of this blog,  by Laurie Pace   Boundless — The Stories Beneath the Paint GOOD AFTERNOON TO YOU!!! ☀️❤️🎨 Sometimes a painting carries more than we can see. BOUNDLESS began on a canvas that had already held four earlier horse paintings. Each belonged to another moment in my life, another season of painting, another part of my journey. As I began again, my palette knife moved across a year of accumulated texture. Turquoise, icy greens, golden yellow, and unexpected passages of color emerged from the uneven surface. And gradually, a strong new horse appeared. Even the eye was a surprise! A circular movement of my palette knife, a sweep of color, and a tiny touch of light created an expression I could never have planned. Although the final painting came together in a remarkable burst of creative energy, the story beneath it had b...

The colors tumble across the canvas like someone emptied the entire candy store onto my palette!

© Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Sun Blaze Oil on Canvas  SOLD   by Laurie Pace   SUN BLAZE — A Birthday and a Candy Store! GOOD MORNING TO YOU!!! ☀️❤️🎨 Today one of my grandsons turns ELEVEN! Red hair, beautiful blue eyes, and a love for the little candy store in our town. Oh, that candy store! Bright colors, sugary treats, ice cream, and POP! LOL! Looking at my newest painting, SUN BLAZE, I couldn't help thinking about him. This 24 × 24 palette knife oil painting is bursting with orange, yellow, turquoise, pink, purple, and blue. The colors tumble across the canvas like someone emptied the entire candy store onto my palette! And there's a horse in the middle of it all. The orange reminds me of his red hair, and those brilliant blues bring his eyes to mind. I didn't paint SUN BLAZE as his portrait, but today it feels like the perfect painting to celebrate him. There's something wonderful about the way children experience co...

Beneath the layers of paint, I wrote words that would eventually disappear:

© Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Follow the Love Oil on Canvas  SOLD   by Laurie Pace   What if a painting could tell your family's story without showing a single face? Years ago, a collector commissioned Follow the Way of Love, a colorful equine painting in which the horses represented members of her family. She already owned several of my paintings, but this one carried a particularly personal meaning. Beneath the layers of paint, I wrote words that would eventually disappear: Follow the way of love.  Today, the painting hangs above her fireplace—a daily reminder of the family it represents. Sometimes the most meaningful portraits aren't portraits at all. Read the complete story and see the painting's progression at Threads of Grace. Laurie Pace | Elle Pace Google photos: Finished painting and hidden words. Blogger labels: Laurie Pace, Elle Pace, Threads of Grace, Follow the Way of Love, horse painting,...

The painting felt heavy. Nothing flowed. The horses seemed awkward rather than natural. Somewhere along the way, I had painted the life right out of them.

© Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 GRAZING Oil on Canvas  SOLD   by Laurie Pace   Sometimes You Have to Destroy It to Find It I had five horses on my canvas. The bottom layer was just a clean space place the horse layer for me to begin to visualize my direction.  As I painted, the colors were brighter, the paint was thicker, and I had spent hours working on them. But something was wrong. The painting felt heavy. Nothing flowed. The horses seemed awkward rather than natural. Somewhere along the way, I had painted the life right out of them. Adding more paint wasn't going to fix it. I needed to take something away. So I began painting back into the horses, changing passages I had already worked so hard to create. There was no guarantee I would improve the painting. But I knew I couldn't leave it the way it was. Hesitantly movement returned. The heavy passages blended out. The colors began working together ins...

Anyone sitting across from her would have that eye, those ears and that wild mane looking directly back at them.

© Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Don't Mess with Me Oil on Canvas  SOLD   by Laurie Pace   Sometimes a painting knows exactly where it belongs. The woman who purchased Don't Mess with Me knew precisely where this horse was going. Behind her business desk. Anyone sitting across from her would have that eye, those ears and that wild mane looking directly back at them. And a nyone sitting across from her—or meeting with her on a screen during those early COVID days—had that "LOOK" staring at them...daring them you might say. No little sign saying Please understand who is in charge here was necessary. 😂 Looking at this painting again makes me think about confidence. Real strength doesn't always need to announce itself. As I've grown older, I've learned that courage isn't about being certain of ourselves. Our confidence comes from knowing we don't face what lies ahead alone. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.....

We don't always know why paths meet, why they separate, or what waits around the next turn...

© Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Walking Down the Avenue Oil on Canvas  SOLD   by Laurie Pace  copyright 2015 What if we aren't meant to know who will walk the entire road beside us for our lifetime? Some people stay for decades in our lives. Others walk with us only briefly. Some move ahead, while others take a different turn. Some fall behind. Looking again at Walking Down the Avenue, I am reminded that God sees considerably farther down the road than we ever can. We don't always know why paths meet, why they separate, or what waits around the next turn. Perhaps we aren't meant to know. We simply keep walking—not because we can see the destination, but because we know Who is leading us. Read the complete Threads of Grace story at EllePace.com. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” — Proverbs 3:5–6   Blogger search...

Perhaps sometime between late October and December, Texas will remember it is supposed to be fall.

© Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Falling into Winter Oil on Canvas  SOLD   by Laurie Pace              Falling into Winter — A Season for Everything It is the last week of September, and here in North Texas, summer seems unwilling to leave. We had a splash of rain, but nothing measurable at our house. Hubby has kept the trees watered, so they are still holding their leaves. Perhaps sometime between late October and December, Texas will remember it is supposed to be fall. I am ready. I came across an older painting today called Falling into Winter. I wasn't looking for a lesson. I was simply looking for a painting filled with fall color.    But then I began looking at the horses. They share the same landscape, surrounded by reds, golds, greens, blues and violets, yet each seems to experience it differently.   One bows its head. Another turns. Another lifts its ...

It changed once. Then again. Somewhere through three very different versions, I realized the painting was showing me its real name: Becoming....

© Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2026 Becoming Oil on Canvas  Available  by Laurie Pace and from Oct through Nov 6th it is available at The Centerpiece Gallery in Raleigh North Carolina.   BECOMING — When Worry Gives Way to Growth The Centerpiece Gallery in Raleigh, North Carolina will be the location of Women Artists of the West 56th National Show which opens Oct 9th -November 6th of this year.  Becoming is one of the juried in pieces at the show.  This little red horse began as Standing Tall. I loved where the painting was going—but it wasn't finished. So I kept painting. It changed once. Then again. Somewhere through three very different versions, I realized the painting was showing me its real name: Becoming. “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.” — Isaiah 60:1 Life can be much the same. We are always becoming, yet worry can make that process so much harder. Worry fills our tho...