Cedar Lee July 22nd, 2009

11 of my Lotus paintings have gone to good homes, and  I now have 6 new ones available!

One of them is an older one re-worked, and 5 are brand new!

All are 20″ x 20″, Oil on Canvas.  Here they are so you can see each one in detail:

Lotus V

Lotus XIII

Lotus XIV

Lotus XV

Lotus XVI

Lotus XVII

I’ve tried to make these paintings very consistent stylistically, so that any of them can be displayed with any others.  You can mix and match them, hang them individually, in rows, columns or grids.

My favorite way to display them is in a row of 3.

They will look best as part of a decor that includes warm earthy tones like greens, golds, or reds.

These paintings are modern and elegant, decorative but also symbolic.

More paintings in this series are in the works and will hopefully be released over the next few weeks.  I have plans to do more on square canvases, and one or 2 new triptychs are likely as well.

Yesterday I harvested garlic from my garden, which I planted last fall.  It was very easy to grow!  I got 14 new bulbs from the one I planted.

I also have lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries (still!), and a few peppers.

Delicious!

• Garden , New Works: Petals
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Cedar Lee July 18th, 2009

I love summer!

Flowers cut from my garden:

Heading to Artscape in a little while–plan to see CAKE perform live this evening.

• Garden
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Cedar Lee June 26th, 2009

Here’s what I’m working on today in the studio.

I did a lot of quick thumbnail sketches for my next Lotus paintings, just to work out the basics of composition.  I may not use all of them, and I may do a lot more.  For now I’ve started working on the ones I feel are strongest.

I have the plans for my next 5 paintings sketched in pencil onto canvases, and have started painting them!

I’m working on a drop cloth on the floor today, so I can spread several paintings out around me and work on them all at once.  I’m listening to music and am in my “painting zone.”

I was just thinking how much I genuinely love painting the Lotus series–I’ve heard that artwork created in a spirit of love and joy will be infused with that energy, and make other people love it.  Like I’m somehow filling the actual canvas and paint with a living energy that makes people feel good when they’re around it–a kind of artistic chi.  I don’t know if this is true, and it doesn’t make much sense from a logical/physical standpoint.  But it’s a nice thought, and people do seem to always love the finished Lotus paintings.

It also makes me think about the idea that whatever you put out into the world will come back to you in other forms.  I know this is true in social situations–in general, if I’m kind to people they reciprocate.  The same is true if I am nasty or spiteful.  This is why I make an effort to be as positive as I can in as many ways as I can–a challenge to be sure, but worth it.

Making art and sending it out into the world is like sending out a gift of beauty and happiness.  Does that result in beauty and happiness coming back to me in the form of gifts from others?  I think it does.  (At the very least, musing about such things while painting makes the work enjoyable for me and keeps me excited about doing it.)

I went out into my garden yesterday and came back with these treasures!  Baby lettuce, basil, purple & green string beans, sugary snow peas, and even a couple of red grape tomatoes!  The abundance of fresh produce in the summer makes it one of my favorite times of year.

Lots of things are blooming!

The bees are going crazy for the borage flowers.

And, as usual I’ve planted my vegetable garden in amongst the decorative plants, so everything is starting to take on a slightly jungle-like quality, everything growing there on purpose, but still a little bit chaotic.  Hey, that’s how I like it. 

• Garden , Works in Progress
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Cedar Lee May 15th, 2009

I’m painting outside today.

My setup is not fancy, but it works.

I’m using Winsor & Newton Artisan water-miscible oils.  I love them.

Here’s a quick sneak peek at my work in progress–one of my “Looking Up” tree paintings.  The bare bones of the design has been laid out and I’m starting to work some color in.  I’m taking a very loose approach to this painting–now that I’ve got a rudimentary plan, I’m going to just follow it where it takes me.

It’s a good painting to work on out in the yard, surrounded by living green things and the contrast of sun and shade.

My sweet canine companions are keeping me company.

(Not too much longer now till Blake gets to take off the lampshade!  He is happy and doing well.)

Lots of things are popping up in the garden.

My strawberries have bloomed.

Happy May!

• Garden , Pets , Works in Progress
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Cedar Lee April 27th, 2009

Just a quick update to show a few pictures of the beginnings of this year’s garden.  I got a late start this year but have been making up for that by putting in many hours of work this past weekend.

The pathways are covered in straw, which will help keep weeds from growing and is lovely and soft to walk on.  The garden beds are a combination of rich soil from previous years, manure & compost.  I love the contrast of the rich dark soil next to the golden pathways.

There’s not much to see yet in my bean-shaped plot, in the way of plants.  On the left is a cluster of borage that decided to come back from last year.  In the middle row you can see my little green rose bush and beyond that a few kale starts.

The rest of it has been planted with seeds, although you can’t tell yet.  Eventually there will be sunflowers, spinach, and a few other things.

My little square plot is just as pretty, and actually has quite a few plants already up.  The wide row in the foreground holds a variety of lettuce seeds–we’ll see which ones grow.

A new raspberry bush, which may or may not give fruit this year, but will be a permanent fixture in the corner.  In the foreground, baby broccoli.

Various peppers and baby onions.  The rabbit-wire fence to the right is for snow peas and pole beans to climb.  Peas & beans have been planted in a little row all along that edge and are just starting to sprout.

Garlic that I planted in the fall is now more than a foot tall.  Strawberry plants from last year are back in numbers and trying to take over everything.

Below, the left row has 5 tomato starts, all set up in their little cages, and a few basil plants.  The bushy green madness all along the right side of that row is mostly mint from last year, which seems determined to take over my whole yard.

It’s annoying because I keep having to pull up mint so I can plant other things, but I kind of like it because when I’m working in the garden, the mint leaves are crushed under my feet and it smells nice.

My cherry tree is in full bloom and is starting to drop tiny pink petals on everything.

I’m going to put as much time into the garden as I can this summer–It’s always so much fun when it starts producing prolific amounts of delicious organic food.

I’ve got to finish those paintings I’ve been working on, hopefully this week.  I’m already thinking of what I’m going to paint next.

• Garden
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Cedar Lee April 21st, 2009

Here is a sneak peek at the sunflower paintings I’ve been working on. I’ll take clear photos of each one when all 9 of the new series are finished.

I think these are going to be the best sunflowers so far in my series–I love how they are turning out!  This time I am purposely making the background colors similar in all the paintings so that they will display very nicely together.

Some are all done except for small finishing touches.

This one is a work in progress–only the background has been painted so far.

The cherry tree in our back yard is blooming! I love watching it every spring.

When all the flowers are fully bloomed, like big puffy pom-poms, the petals will start snowing down on the ground and make a thick pink carpet all over the yard.

For those of you who are interested, I’ve finally finished sorting through our photos from our recent vacation.   Click here to see them.  (Warning: lots of scrolling!)

• Adventures , Garden , Works in Progress
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Cedar Lee August 15th, 2008

What an honor!  I have been selected by a fellow artist, Dean H., for this award!  This is very much like Tag. It helps us to become familiar with previously undiscovered blogs.

The rules are that if the person receiving the award decides to participate, he or she must:
1 – Put the logo on their blog
2 – Add a link to the person who gave them the award
3 – Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4 – Add links to those blogs on yours
5 – Leave a message on each of the blogs nominated.

My nominees are:

1. Morgan aka The Paint Eater

2. Karen Yee

3. Heather Brown Truman of Bad! Kitty Art Studio

4. Corrine aka Jafabrit

5. Melissa Fallon

6. Varvara Harmon

7. Lauren Mitchell (a food blog, not an art blog, but I had to include this one!)

Thank you, Deano, for the honor!  It is always so nice to connect in this way with other artists–to be recognized by others and also show my support for others.

No new work to show you just yet.  But I’m working on a painting I’m really excited about, and have lots of plans for new artwork.  My constant traveling this summer is really making a dent in my productivity.  I promise I’ll make up for it in September.

Speaking of which, I have a show coming up next month at Irvine Nature Center in Owings Mills, MD.  Details are forthcoming.

My garden, as always, continues to amaze me.

The only other big thing that’s going on with me right now is that my sweet 3-year-old black lab, Clara, is very very sick, and I’m having a hard time with it.  Click here to read more.

• Garden , Other Artists & Admired People , Pets
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Cedar Lee July 29th, 2008

This year, most of my collectors have purchased my work online, so I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting most of them in person, or seeing their homes and offices where the art will hang.  I have a constant, unsatisfied curiosity about where all my sold paintings end up.

So it’s always nice when local collectors buy my work.  This couple recently became collectors of my work, and I was lucky enough to get some photos of them with my art in their home.  Natalie & Scott–I hope you enjoy these paintings for many years.

My garden is going full-force, and we are now producing quite a bit of our own food.  It’s a good thing we like to eat vegetables around here.  In addition to edibles, we also have a variety of flowers in full bloom–my yard seems to be the most colorful one in the neighborhood.  Click here to see some pictures.

My family’s reunion in Tennessee was a smashing success.  The vacation involved a lot of hanging out, games, adventures, discussions, good food and laughter.

Now I’m back in the studio for about a week before I leave town again, this time to house-sit for my parents and get in some hiking time to gather reference material for future paintings.

Speaking of which, it is about the time of year when I try to switch into “fall mode” with my landscapes and tree paintings.  So you can expect more fall colors and themes in my artwork over the next couple of months.  Right now I’m working on some ideas and sketches.  Stay tuned…

• Collectors , Garden
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Cedar Lee June 2nd, 2008

I just got an order for 7 paintings from a woman in Utah who will be opening an art gallery in the fall. In the past year, and in particular the past several months, I have been blessed with sales of my artwork. The most extraordinary thing about all my recent sales is that almost all of them were made by people coming to me–finding me, through word of mouth, through referrals from my collectors, and through the Internet. I don’t have an explanation for this snowball effect–I feel like I really haven’t done much to deserve it.

I keep an Excel file with information about every painting I do, whether or not they are sold and who bought them. Some of the buyers are anonymous mystery collectors–customers of my galleries that never had any personal contact with me. But I have the names of a lot of my collectors too. I’ve only been keeping good records like this for the past 2 and a half years, and regretfully, I never kept any information about paintings I sold before then, or who they went to.

In the past 2 and a half years, though, 41 people (or households, I should say–some are couples or families) have become collectors of my art. 12 of these collectors own more than one of my paintings. I know that some of my paintings have been purchased as gifts for other people. I have also given my art as gifts to many of my family and closest friends. So, I have no idea of the actual number of people in possession of my art, but it’s a lot more than 41.

In the past 12 months, I have sold more than double my sales from the previous 12 months.

If this trend continues in my career, I see my dreams coming true. I will be a success story in a typically brutal and thankless industry. For this, I feel more grateful than words can express.

The moral of the story: if you’ve been on the fence about whether or not to buy a painting from me, do it now while I am still relatively unknown to the public and while my prices are still low. I tell my collectors that art is always a good investment, because they’re getting something they can enjoy every day of their life forever, even if its value never goes up. My art is a good investment for this reason, and also because its value will go up. I am too tenacious for it not to.

I grow my garden with the same tenacity that keeps my art career going, and like my art career, it is now more bountiful than ever before. One of my first harvests of the year: sweet strawberries and crisp white icicle radishes:

More bounty–mulberries from a tree my husband and I found in a local park while walking our dog. The tree was bursting with ripe ones, so we took some!

I’ll have new paintings to show you soon!

• Art Career Happenings , Garden
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Cedar Lee May 19th, 2008

The Art By Cedar Magnet Sampler Packs are in!

Each sampler pack includes six large refrigerator magnets, each one featuring one of my favorite paintings from the “Looking Up” series. Each magnet is about 5.5″ x 4″.

They come in an attractive box and would be suitable as a gift. Individual magnets make great gifts too–it’s just a small thing, but the recipient will enjoy it every day.

Or, you can keep them all for yourself and cover your fridge with beautiful trees!

I’ve sent some of them to my gallery in Havre de Grace, so I have a limited supply in stock. Of course I’ll order more once these sell out, but get yours now for the quickest possible shipment.

Art By Cedar Magnet Sampler Pack: $19.99 apiece

Shipping & Handling Within U.S.:
$4 for 1
$5 for 2
$6 for 3
$7 for 4 or more

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If you’re subscribed to my blog via Feedblitz, you’re eligible for free shipping. Just email me and once I verify you are in fact a subscriber, I’ll reply with the secret link (*wink wink*) to purchase them free of shipping charges.

Click here for a few pictures of my garden:

Now, I’ve got some painting to do…

• Art By Cedar Merchandise , Garden
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