“Sunrise”
When I hold this tea cup, I imagine the woman who held it first. She was a world travel – all the places I’ve ever wanted to go – Europe, Asia …
She was a woman I never met – someone I only know through stories.
Maybe that is the best part,
What I love about this cup is that it is unconventional – no flowers, no pastels, no white – just beautiful chinese red and gold flourishes. An East meets Wests combination.
“Heirloom”
I have been told that it used to be tradition that when a girl got married all of her friends would either give her a tea cup or buy her one.
I don’t know how true that is, but I’ve thought a little bit about it. My first thought was why would anyone want so many tea cups??
But then I began to think of the relationships these dainty cups represent. They say something about the giver, is that person bold and exotic or sweet and flowery? Is she gentle like a violet or bold like roses?
And then I thought of the hands that some of these cups have passed through. Through Great Grandmother to Grandmother, to Mother, to me. Somehow these delicate pieces of china have escaped the ravages of homes full of children and husbands – no small feat.
These symbols of relationship were built with a purpose, with a function to perform besides being a beautiful item. This tea cup was designed for regular use, to make the one who holds it feel a little bit more special, more beautiful, more worth the time to bring out the “good” china. At least one small piece of it.
I’m going to wax philosophical for a second and draw a parallel between the beautiful qualities inherent in a china tea cup and the qualities of the friendship that the cup represents.
Beautiful, Delicate, Handle with Care but designed-for-real-life kinda love.
”Relaxed”
These small, palm sized tea cups are a part of my personal collection. They spread the warmth of the tea through the palms of your hands and it seeps into your whole body. The heat can loosen tight muscles and the tea can relax the knots in your mind.
Following that idea – this painting is in a very “relaxed” style.
Could you do me a favour? If I ever suggest a series of round-ish objects again where symetry is important SHAKE ME!
The sketches come out beautifully but somewhere in the middle of the painting process one side decides to be unique throwing everything off. I could only finish this painting after I decided to loosen up. Its not perfect, but the colours are beautiful.
“Love”
The shape of a tea cup can change your whole experience – from giant “bowls” of tea at William’s Coffee Pub which invite you to camp out with your homework and a friend to tiny, handle-less tea cups like this which invite you to sample some exotic brews with another connoisseur.
The beverage you recieve in a cup like this will have a flavour story you can hold in the palm of your hand.
“Comfort”
With it’s gentle curves, soft colours and handles made for tiny fingers, perhaps this is what your first coffee mug or tea cup looked like.
This painting is based off of my baby cup. Now I watch my daughter’s tiny fingers curl around the handles and I marvel a little to myself that this simple item is beginning its second of many lives.
I thought it was fitting to begin at the beginning for this series of cups.
Enjoy!
“Glam”
Have you noticed the loose boots the girls are wearing with leggings? I think they are the exclamation point for an outfit that is mostly sleek, legging coated legs. They provide the contrast.
I had fun with this painting – playing around with a more illustrative style than I would ordinarily attempt.
Do you know what the biggest surprise that this 30 day challenge has brought me?
The realization that I can really be who I am with my paintings. I can be girly, or philosophical or just generally interested in the details of life.
I guess for a long time I thought that to be successful as an artist I had to find away to fit myself into a mold that I thought would appeal to almost everybody.
That’s a little bit crazy when you think about it. And in some ways I was pulling myself apart – avoiding some topics completely while trying to force myself into others that I wasn’t sure really fit me well.
There is a fine balance between valuing outside feedback and challenging yourself to be even more true to yourself as an artist. And if there is a short cut to figuring that stuff out I haven’t found it yet.
Thanks for being part of my journey.
-Laura
“Snow Queen”
What is better than patent leather white boots with that dangerous stiletto heel?
Not much if you are a female superhero, disco diva, an ice princess, or Narnia’s White Witch. Wouldn’t she be fantastic in these? Or you could just be Jane who really likes to make an entrance now and then.
My imagination is running away with me again – but I do love the irridescent white, the simple shape and the great curves of boots.
“Starry Night”
I know, I am being pretty daring (to say the least) to use the same name as one of the great masters for my painting. If you are unfamiliar with VanGogh’s “Starry Night” you can take a peek here.
But I couldn’t help it – when this one came out I imeadiately thought of VG with his linear, choppy, sketch-y painting style, and my second thought was “If I ever walk the red carpet, I’d want to do it in shoes like these.”
Those two thoughts were enough to make it too hard to walk away from such a fun title.
Ps.
I haven’t mentioned it lately, but all of the paintings from the 30 Days of Art are available for $25 each through my Etsy shop. If you love one, don’t hesitate too long because they are beginning to disappear – and free shipping ends Nov 30.
“Stiletto”
Danger and beauty.
I LOVE the look of the Stiletto heel – pointy and beautiful with an air of danger. You could put out an eye with that heel or get it stuck in the sidewalk/grate/lawn…
Have you ever tried to walk across a wet-ish lawn in heels? Its like aerating the yard by hand. Soggy and highly unpleasant.
Anyway, back to more beautiful things – a woman has to have confidence to go prancing around in a shoe like this. Especially if you are a woman like me – who happens to be close to 6 ft tall without any help. But there is nothing like a strappy stiletto to make you feel a bit fierce.
Ps.
The Stiletto heel was named for the Stiletto dagger. That is your free piece of relatively useless trivia for the day.
“Connection”
This painting was a little slower than some in coming but it makes perfect sense to end the Coffee Shops series with this image.
We don’t really go to coffee shops for the coffee. We can make that at home. We go to find connection with other people, or even to be with other people. I hear that freelancers and writers and other work for yourself types frequent coffee shops just for that reason (or it could be the Wi-fi).
The ambience doesn’t hurt but it is the relationship that is the primary need.
