Here’s another painting for you!

Pivotal Moment, 30 x 30″, Oil/Canvas

As you can see, I’m riding a wave of tree and eclipse-inspired creativity.

This painting shows another Tree of Life, but I think of this one as a younger tree, relatively speaking. I see this tree as having a personality, in a tree-like way of course. It is a living witness to the fleeting but very special moment of the total eclipse, and in this moment, the tree being “plugged in” to the rest of the universe is particularly evident.

The whole scene vibrates with the excitement of the moment, which I tried to show through the color palette, which is both vibrant and earthy.

I’m digging these colors and I’m already planning more paintings with the same palette.

At the time of this blog post, 20 of them have already been claimed. So go check it out!

Click here!

Here’s my new bio:

What I do

I paint dramatic trees in a realistic style, colorful flowers in a decorative, semi-abstract style, and cosmic landscapes from my imagination.  I paint in water mixable oils on canvas or hardboard, painting quickly in no more than 2 or 3 layers, and often alla prima, or all in one sitting.  A painting can take anywhere from a couple hours to a few weeks to finish.  My larger paintings often take weeks because I’ll paint one layer and then come back to it later to add subsequent layers of paint.  I tend to block in the whole canvas with color as fast as I can, and then go back over that with progressively more detail.

Why I do it

I make paintings because I want to add beautiful things to the world.  I think of this as good karma.  I want to express my love for life and my sense of awe at the immensity, and the simplicity, of the natural world when seen through our eyes.  I think of humanity not as separate from nature, but as an integrated piece of the whole, and I want to cultivate a respect for nature.  When I’m working I think about peaceful things—the lovely elegance in the petals of a flower, the interplay of vast celestial bodies seen from afar, or the feeling of hiking in the woods surrounded by greenery, sunshine, and forest sounds.  I am inspired by the wisdom and all-encompassing influence of Mother Nature in relation to us humans.

How I got here

I began teaching myself to paint at a very young age.  As a small child I was interested in art, as most children are, but I became really focused on painting around the age of 12.  This is when I sold my first painting.  I was a serious student and graduated high school first in my class.  By that time, I’d started thinking of myself as an artist.  During my college years I worked as an art instructor at a local community college.  I delved into jewelry design, pottery, and photography, but always came back to my greatest passion, painting.  In 2005, I graduated with a 4.0 GPA from Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland with a degree in studio art and honors in the major.  This is when I began my career in earnest, my whole life having led me to the genesis of my business, Art By Cedar.  I had my first solo show in a gallery in 2006.  Since then my work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in galleries, arts centers, and alternative venues in the Baltimore area and beyond.  I am represented by several art galleries in the United States, and I’ve sold many paintings to art collectors around the world, who often find my work through my presence on the Internet.

More about me

I make my home, for now, in Baltimore, MD.  My art studio is beautiful and well-appointed, and takes up the entire basement of my house.  I always say I am extremely lucky because the walls of my home are like an art gallery!  I am married to a computer geek, my love and best friend, who was my high school sweetheart.  We have a young son, a dog, and a cat.  I create paintings, pack and ship them, market my work and run my business in short spurts of activity, in between being a mom, working out, voraciously reading novels, gardening, traveling the world, cooking and enjoying local organic food.

Artist’s Statement

Nature themes are prominent in my artwork.  Whether I am painting a towering evergreen, a fall tree in vibrant reds and oranges, a stylized scene from a lotus pond, a happy sunflower, or an imaginary swirling cosmic landscape, my paintings are always about nature’s exhilarating beauty and the awe it inspires in me. I work from life, from photographs, and from my imagination, sometimes combining all these things into one image, using elements of both realism and abstraction. My goal is to combine vivid color, light, composition, and content to create sincere, spiritual, lasting images that invoke the excitement we humans can feel at being a small part of something incredibly big and interconnected. My art is an exercise in wonder and gratitude.

My medium of choice is oil colors on canvas. I tend to work rather quickly, which helps me get everything out on the canvas the way I imagine it. My processes range from careful and precise photorealism to extremely loose abstraction, but my work always remains representative of things in the physical world.

They are all 16 x 16″.

They are intended to be displayed in a grid of 9:

But, like all my sunflower paintings, they are meant to be versatile in their arrangement–pick and choose, mix and match, hang them alone, in rows, clusters or grids.  (Can you imagine a field of 100 of these paintings?)

Here you can see them in indoor light, laid out on the floor of my studio:

And displayed in a light, airy bedroom:

And in a sunny living room:

As I painted these, it brought back memories of seeing rolling hills filled with fields upon glorious fields of sunflowers in Kansas (or was it Nebraska?) during a road trip my family took across the U.S. when I was 10.

There was a lovely blurb about me in a local newspaper this week.  A reporter came to my studio to interview me–it was fun!  Click here to read the article: “Local Art to Improve Your Health.”

I was unfortunately out of town when the opening reception happened, but I stopped by to see the show on my own last week and thought I’d shares some photos of the large range of strong pieces there.  I found myself in good company!

This is an amazing gallery space–a few years back I worked there on contract as a gallery installer, hanging all the shows!

That big painting in the middle is mine.

Very long wall!

The opposite long wall.

Wonderful variety of artwork–something for everybody.

For anyone who wants to go see the exhibit in person, it will be up until August 13th.  The address of the gallery is: 8510 High Ridge Road Ellicott City, Maryland 21043, and gallery hours are M-F 10am-8pm, Sat 10am-4pm, Sun 12-4pm.

In other news, since my last post I’ve gone on a trip to Miami, FL to visit family and had a wonderful time–here are a couple of sunsets I witnessed:

And me and my son on the beach:

I also just celebrated my birthday with a party this past weekend, and had a great time playing board games and eating delicious things with friends!  Summer is hurtling along.  I have a green tree painting in progress on my easel–will update with the finished piece soon.

I was honored to be present at the press conference where they announced all the details.  That’s me on the far right.

As a Baltimore artist, I’m eligible to win the significant Mary Sawyers Baker Prize or maybe bragging rights as Baltimore’s Choice.  There are nearly 600 artists competing, and I’m impressed with the range and quality of talent present.  Voting is open to the general public, and I sure would appreciate you taking a moment to vote for me!

It’s a fun and interactive site.  The more you dig around the website, checking out the dazzling array of artwork there, the more votes you get to spend.  You can support me by going there and giving me your votes!  (Registration is fast and easy, and the site is extraordinarily easy to navigate.)

There are only 5 days of voting left!

To vote for me, go here: http://www.bakerartistawards.org/ and click “sign up now” at the top to register.  Once you are registered, go here: http://www.bakerartistawards.org/nomination/view/cedar_lee/ to view my profile.  To vote, click “Vote for Cedar Lee” on the right side of the page.

Thank you in advance if you’re just joining in, and if you’ve already given me your votes, thanks for supporting me!

In other news, I’ve been dog-sitting a boxer named Honey for the past couple of weeks, and it’s been kind of insane around our house, what with 3 big dogs (Clara, Blake, and Honey) wildly romping underfoot, playing enthusiastic games of tug-of-war and tracking mud in from outside.

But it’s also been fun–all the dogs are having a great time, getting plenty of exercise running around indoors, which is nice because I hate having to go outside in this freezing weather.  Honey is a super-good dog and we like having her around.  And since we installed a new baby gate, we can now corral the beasts into the kitchen when we need to, which makes thing a lot easier.  Isn’t she sweet?

It now looks like it’s turning into a foster situation rather than just dog-sitting.  I’m not sure how long we’ll be caring for Honey, but it’s clear that staying with us for awhile is the best thing for her at the moment.  She had been cooped up alone in a tiny apartment where her person was never home.  I’m free to send her back there anytime, but I really want to see her placed into a good home environment when she leaves us.  I have never been a foster parent, for a human, canine, or any other kind of child, but now I think I understand why people do it.

On the Art By Cedar front, I’m getting ready to start several new paintings.  The blank canvases await!

And I’m going to be re-designing parts of my website to more clearly represent the overall direction I’m taking with the different series of paintings I’ve been developing these past few years.  I’m so excited about it!  I just need to work out the logistics of code & design–I’ll let you know when I’ve made the updates.

To watch the press conference live, you must go to this URL: www.bakerartistawards.org at 12 noon today.

I’m not sure if I will be shown, or interviewed, but there is a possibility.  Please go watch today at noon if you are able!

I apologize for the extremely short notice–I just found out that I was selected to be there as one of 10 artists who are representing the contestants for the awards.

My next posting will be after Thanksgiving, so I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!  Have fun & safe celebrations with your loved ones and try not to overeat! 

I am so thankful for all of you.

Update: 12/6/08: Footage from the 15-minute press conference is now online at bakerartistawards.org , if you missed it last week.

You can see me there on the right of the screen, directly on the left-hand side of the 3 ladies seated at center.  I don’t speak at all during this segment, although they did a brief interview with me afterwards.  I’m not sure if they’ll post any of that footage or not.

Regardless, if you want to learn more about Baltimore’s Baker Artist Awards, it’s a very informative press conference–the website they’ve designed really is a cool thing.  Go check it out!

Also, 3 Things:

• First: I am competing for a major local arts award and I could use your vote!

The Baker Artists Awards celebrate Baltimore’s artists on the Web with an ongoing exhibition of its diverse artistic practice, and the Mary Sawyer Baker Prize will establish Baltimore’s reputation as a creatively rich and vital place to live with a civic commitment to value its individual artists.

Please take a minute to visit my work on the Baker Artist Awards web site. As a Baltimore artist, I am eligible to win the significant Mary Sawyers Baker Prize or maybe bragging rights as Baltimore’s Choice.  Please go to the site and sign up for an account so you can vote for me!  (Click “Vote for Cedar Lee” on the right of my profile page.)

Click:

http://www.bakerartistawards.org/nomination/view/cedar_lee

• Second: Don’t forget to get your 2009 Art By Cedar calendars! The Christmas decorations are up in the stores, which means the holiday shopping season is officially upon us. Calendars are both beautiful and practical, so they make nice gifts for family and friends…and my calendars are made in USA and support small business (mine!) So you can’t go wrong.

This year I have 2 options, “Cats & Dogs” and “Trees.” I ordered copies for myself and I assure you they are high quality and look great. The pages are thick and glossy and the colors are vivid. Last year’s calendars were cool, but these are definitely a step up!

Cats & Dogs

$19.99

Trees

$22.99

I can’t believe it’s November already. Before we know it, we’ll be in December with 2009 fast approaching!

• Third: I would just like to say that I’m looking forward to seeing what President-Elect Obama’s future administration will do for this country.  I hope and believe the future holds good things for us!

]]> http://www.artbycedar.com/blog/2008/11/07/calendars-baker-artist-awards-meaning-of-art/feed/ 0 http://www.artbycedar.com/blog/2008/08/28/oranges-sardines-interview-2009-calendar/ http://www.artbycedar.com/blog/2008/08/28/oranges-sardines-interview-2009-calendar/#comments Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:54:46 +0000 Cedar Lee http://www.artbycedar.com/blog/?p=113 I have lots and lots of great news, but not much time to write at the moment.

My sick dog, Clara, has finally gotten a diagnosis from the doctors, we have started a new treatment, and she is rapidly improving.  (More on that later.)

I just got home from a wonderful week in Ohio & Indiana, and I’m getting ready to leave town again, this time for a white water rafting weekend with my hubby & friends. I have been blessed with many art sales this past couple of weeks, and I am giddy about all the possibilities for new art in the coming months.

I’ll write a longer post to fill you in on recent happenings next week, but for now I just have 2 announcements.

Announcement #1:

I’ve been interviewed by Didi Menendez, author of Oranges & Sardines, a publication featuring contemporary artists and poets.

My interview is now published online, and you can Click here to read it!

Announcement #2:

Art By Cedar 2009 Calendars are now available for purchase!

Last year’s calendar was a spur-of-the-moment decision made in early December, when many people had already filled all their calendar needs.  But the calendar generated a lot of interest, and I got many requests for another in 2009.  This year I am making sure to release my calendar early in the year, before everyone starts their Christmas shopping.

This calendar features my cat & dog portraits.  Each month has one of my animal portrait paintings alongside a quote about pets and their importance in our lives.

Click on the picture to get yours now!  (If you click on “View Calendar Pages” on the bottom left, you can see what the inside looks like.)

I may eventually offer a second calendar design as well, with different paintings–but that depends on whether I can find the time.  For now, I’m extremely pleased with the Cats & Dogs design.

To all my U.S. friends, have a happy Labor Day weekend, and I will catch you in September!

Boomer
12″ x 16″ Acrylic on Canvas

I think in this painting he looks like he is in “dog heaven,” complete with sunshine, grass, dandelion fluff, butterflies and ladybugs.

This week I got my copies in the mail of Zahir, the literary arts journal that features one of my paintings, Mountain Storm, on the cover of its Winter 2007 issue. It looks great! It makes me want to look into doing book cover illustrations.

I’m working on some more fall-themed paintings. My “Autumn Palette” is really growing on me–orange, red, yellow, brown….rust, pewter, olive green. I’m using a lot of earth tones straight out of their tubes…raw umber, burnt umber, raw sienna, burnt sienna…you name it.

I hope you all had a lovely Halloween. This is the first year in a long time I didn’t bother to dress up or go anywhere…probably because it fell on a Wednesday this year. Instead, I lit candles and hunkered down in my house and ate pizza and watched TV with my husband.

I got all the partying out of my system this past weekend, when I went to New York City to visit my brother. He took me out with ten of his friends to sing karaoke, and we didn’t get back to his apartment till after 5 am. I never considered myself a karaoke fan, but it was so much fun!