Laurie Pace - Fine Artist

'Whistler's Orchid' 16 x 20 inches Oil on Canvas SOLD Contact me for Commission Work: Laurie © Laurie Justus Pace Graphics One Design 2005 The Painting : Back in 2005 a man by the name of James Whistler sent me a cd full of his prize orchids. They have provided much inspiration for paintings. This was one of my favorites. I think he has this one. Painted on canvas from Rupen at Canvasplace.com, I used Holbein Duo Oils for a smooth creamy blend with a small brush. The Thought : Locked in a dungeon... have you been there? I guess today we call it jail. No I have not been there, but I have visited there and that was quite enough. Carrying through though from yesterday's thought, sometimes we lock ourselves into our own jail of thought. Our world is so limited to earthly ideals and situations that we continue to miss the big picture. We are often looking for answers to things that we feel need resolution, when in fact they are things that do not matter...our ea

'The River' 16 x 20 inches Oil on Canvas SOLD Contact me for commission work: Laurie © Laurie Justus Pace Graphics One Design 2005 The Painting: This was a landscape from four years ago. It has such a peaceful feeling to it I wanted to share it. The river is placid and quiet, the Texas sun is hot. The trees are full of leaves but thirsty for water, and in the distance, the grass is yellow and light from burn and the drought. Holbein Duo Oils are the paint, and canvas is from Canvasplace.com. The Thought: What is the cost of anxiety? How does it crawl into your life every day and how does it affect you? I decided anxiety was an energy sucker, or a life sucker. It seems to pull from every part of your life and your soul. When you are trying hard to do something in a positive motion, it is anxiety that pulls you away splitting up your day. We seem to live partly in the now and partly in the 'what if' of tomorrow. Someone wise told me that worry is not a disea

'Arabian in Red' 24 x 24 inches Acrylic on Canvas Contact me to purchase: Laurie © Laurie Justus Pace Graphics One Design 2009 " If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving, large or small, it will be used to measure what is given back to you ." Luke 6:38 The Painting : I continue to experiment this summer using my acrylics more. With this high humidity it is almost impossible to get oils to dry. I have never 'loved' acrylics, but with the situation as it is, I am learning more about them and their flexibility compared to oils. I have about decided they are as different as night and day. This painting began with pinks, oranges and reds washed thickly over the background. From there the layering of acrylics creates a wash and drip effect and thickening of layers provides contrast in both color and texture. The Thought

'White Arabian Nights' 30 x 30 inches Acrylic on Canvas SOLD FROM BLOG! Thank you! Contact me to purchase : Laurie © Laurie Justus Pace Graphics One Design 2009 The Painting : Experimentation this week with this soft hued acrylic of a white Arabian. I may develop it more, I may not, but I am sharing it as it is at this moment. Thin layers of Liquetex Heavy Body Acrylics build on this composition. The Thought : The word Promise comes to mind this morning. Have you ever broken a promise? If you have not, I would like to meet you. The word trips off of our lips as kids, "I promise not to do it again." Or the words of a distraught young pregnant teen, "But he promised he loved me." Obviously a promise is of no more value than is the ability of the one who makes it, to actually carry it through. People change their minds and they do break promises. Often people just flat out lie and make promises. Through the Bible we are aware that God has made p

'Playtime' 24 x 36 x 2 inches Acrylic on Canvas Contact me to purchase: Laurie © Laurie Justus Pace Graphics One Design 2009 The Painting : Frustration began this painting, but uniqueness finished it. I could not tell you the numbers of layers of paint on this one, but the weave of colors is unbelievable. There is no way for me to photograph what you actually see with this one. Liquetex Heavy Body Acrylics at their best. I am refraining from too many oils right now as the summer heat and humidity are so strong in Texas. 108 heat yesterday. The Thought : Thaw Malin iii wrote on my Facebook yesterday. We are suppose to be on Vacation. Terry is spending it in front of his computer. I am a bit disappointed as it would have been nice to get away from this heat of 108. Thaw said there is a law that an artist paints better on vacation, so when there is a vacation...the artist must travel and paint. Not sure where it is written, so we have to call it the unwritten l

'The Mighty' 24 x 30 inches Acrylic on Canvas SOLD Just as I posted it! Thank you. Contact me to purchase: Laurie © Laurie Justus Pace Graphics One Design 2009 The Painting: There is this feeling of coming together occasionally when you are working on a painting. The first step was a light watery layer of yellow acrylic. Then as that dried, a sketch of the positioning of the horse and then the colors begin to fall into place. Each one is applied with a knife pulling and contending against each other to find a position. There seems to come a time with art that it begins to be feeling and not intention. That is where I try to take my students, to the point where the inner child-like creativity oozes out controlled in slight limits by the knowledge base and principles of design and color. Within each composition lies areas of indisputable strength and might... and of course areas of the opposite of weakness and vulnerability. The Thought : I received my first ema

'Seven in the Rain' 30 x 30 inches Acrylic on Canvas Contact me to Purchase: Laurie © Laurie Justus Pace Graphics One Design 2009 " My child, listen to your father's teaching and do not forget yor mother's advice. Their teaching will be like flowers in your hair or a necklace around your neck." Proverbs 1:8-9 The Painting: This piece continues in my Colors of Summer in another large format canvas of 30 x 30 inches. The paint is again Liquetex Heavy Body Acrylics. The Thought: Two birthdays in a row gives much room to weight gain. The hard loss of 8 lbs over the last 8 weeks... could be gained back easily. There sits in my refrigerator half of a wonderful chocolate cake. I keep reminding myself. NO. A thought that has floated around in my head the last few days was something my Dad told me years and years ago. I was probably in my twenties or early thirties. He was always the "go to" when something needed to be figured out. He taught me

'Seven Dancing Ponies' 24 x 36 inches Acrylic on Canvas SOLD THANK YOU! Contact me to purchase: Laurie © Laurie Justus Pace Graphics One Design 2009 " When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?" His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind." Genesis 37 10-11 The Painting: A playful scene of the highly collected Painted Ponies done on a large canvas 24 x 36 inches in size. Brilliant thick buttery Liquetex Heavy Body Acrylics piled brightly together in this unique painting. The Thought: First I want to honor the day of my husband's birth... with a loving memory of his wonderful mother, Bobbie Jean, who died 14 years ago. It was in 1951 that she and Ben welcomed their first son (of three) on a hot July afternoon. This son has been the love of my life from

'Lush Blooms' 24 x 24 inches Oil on Canvas SOLD Thank you! Contact me to purchase: Laurie © Laurie Justus Pace Graphics One Design 2009 " You should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do and will praise your Father in heaven. " Matthew 5:16 The Painting : This is part of my Backyard Blooms for 2009. It is a series where I am blocking the painting with acrylic before painting it in oils. It is a longer process but the painting seems richer for the extra time. The Thought : I read something from "A Gentle Thunder" written by Max Lucado. "You want to make a difference in your world? Live a holy life. Be faithful to your spouse. Be the one at the office who refuses to cheat. Be the neighbor who acts neighborly. Be the employee who does the work and doesn't complain. Pay your bills. Do your part and enjoy life. Don't speak one message and live another. People are watching the way we act more than they

'Sunflower Fusion' 15 x 30 inches Oil on Canvas SOLD Contact me for Commission Work: Laurie © Laurie Justus Pace Graphics One Design 2005 " The Lord God made clothes from animal skins for the man and his wife and dressed them ." Genesis 3:21 The Painting: Another archival piece from 2005. I did paint yesterday, but I did not take pictures yet. I am about a half a day behind. This is an abstract oil which to me was a sunflower bursting out in rays. The Thought: I am back to tough love and the things we face in life. Tough love for ourselves and our sins as well as for those we love. When you read the verse above it seems simple enough. This is after Adam and Eve had an afternoon break of sharing an apple in the garden. They know they are naked and they are ashamed so their Father takes care of them out of love and provides clothes.... ahah but wait, clothes? From where? Animals skins? That means the first animal gave it's life for man and man&#

'Casa Blanca Lily' 18 x 27 inches Oil on Canvas SOLD Contact me for Commission Work: Laurie ©Laurie Justus Pace Graphics One Design 2005 " I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. " John 13:34 The Painting : This painting was a commission piece by the wife of the Swiss Ambassador to Berlin. She had bought several pieces of artwork from me and from my son Morgan, including a gorgeous Texas Flag he painted. She is a Texan transplanted to Europe and she was missing her roots! The Thought : Care thoughts are roaming around in my head. On Tuesday, Terry and I drove 135 miles round trip to take our dogs back to their original vet in Ponder, Texas. Dr Phil Henderson owns the Ponder Vet Clinic and he is absolutely the best in Texas. We had used a Dallas vet the past year living here in the city, but I struggled with all the extra meds they wanted my dogs on. The women at the clini

'Iris' 24 x 36 Watercolor on Canvas SOLD Contact me for Commission Work: Laurie © Laurie Justus Pace Graphics One Design 2009 " For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valley s and hill s; " Deuteronomy 8:7 The Picture : This is a watercolor on big watercolor canvas. I did it during a class demonstration on watercolor several years ago. The Thought : I was reading Christian Fiction recently and part of one of the character's flaws was the 'gift' of manic depression. The Lord often has a serious sense of humor on these gifts. But truly it is one if you can embrace it. In every gift or challenge there is something there for us to receive and then give back to others. The character in the book referred to the 'handling' of the mood swings by comparing it to hills and valleys. Our life journey always has hills and valleys. That is a given we can agree o