Sketchbook: week 6

This week has been full of fun projects, including 2 commissions- one of which is complete- hooray! I'll be able to share more soon. I've still managed to keep up with sketching - this week entailed a lot of quick and rough sketches as I had more ideas to capture before I forgot them. Here is this week's sketch I want to share with you:

I've been continuing on with my ghost series, as you can see. This little sketch has a lot of meaning in it to me and will very likely get painted because of it. I've been thinking a lot about my grandmother- she passed away years ago but was a very important female figure in my life. She loved a good story and I think I get that trait from her. She was artistically inclined- as is my mother and one of her favorite places was her bed- she loved to read, sleep in and just hang out in her bed. I have a vivid memory of my grandfather showing me a picture of her lounging in bed with a book and him saying how much she just loved to be right there with her thoughts. I also love my bed- I love sketching, daydreaming, reading, and napping in my bed- it's just the most comfortable, coziest, and safest place to be vulnerable and be yourself. Some of my best sketches come from late at night, just before I settle in to go to sleep and I have just a burst of ideas I need to capture. If I don't get them down right then....they sometimes are lost forever. This is one of those sketches.

Sketchbook: week 5 and news!

I have some great news to share this week! Because of all of your votes, I made it to the top 5 for RAW Artist of the Year in Reno! Thank you everyone for supporting me and nominating me. Thanks also to those who keep ordering prints in the store. I do have some new prints in my shop. If you haven't yet seen, I've added 3 new prints from the ghosts series I've been working on. Stay tuned for more on that- I have a lot more work to come.

There is a group show at Noble Pie Pizza coming up November 7th, so if you're in the Reno area, please come by for pizza, beer, and art- should be a fun time!

I have a number of other great projects in the works, including a commission, a couple gallery proposals, continuing my ghost series, starting two new series/bodies of work, and a few secret projects up my sleeves. I wish I could get myself to paint and draw even faster as I have so much I want to share with all of you.

Here is my latest sketch for this week. I haven't drawn a narwhal in a little while and this one has a little twist!

Imagine swimming peacefully only to come up to this creature in the deep! Don't worry though...he's friendly and just a little curious.

Sketchbook: week 4

Here we are with sketch number 4! I've been thinking a lot about female characters and role models and stuff like that lately- more than I'll delve into here. It seems strange to me that more characters in movies, tv, and video games aren't female...or if they are- why aren't they better written to better inspire everyone? It's complicated for sure...but I'm guessing not as complicated as these industries would like us to think it is. It seems like a lot of people out there underestimate women as a default which is unfortunate for us all. So I give you this brave lady:

If you think honeybadgers don't care....and they don't....well look at how much she cares about the honeybadger. And maybe that honeybadger is even her spirit animal. So there.

I would not underestimate her.

Etsy Treasury Features

Having an Etsy store means that there is a whole big community that I get to be part of. There are so many artists, crafters, illustrators, jewelry makers, and more making and selling work in this great marketplace. There are also a lot of curators who gather together items from various shops to create Treasuries. I've been lucky enough to be featured in two! Take a look at What Does the Fox Say which includes my Surprised Fox print.

And then take a look at Things That begin with Y to see my Yeti featured in that Treasury!

It's fun to see how people react to my work in various ways and I'm excited to have been featured in two very distinct and fun Treasuries!

Sketchbook: week 3

Happy Friday everyone! I seem to have robots on the brain still, so here is this week's sketch:  

I really like the way this little robot came out and I couldn't resist giving him a little animal friend holding a balloon. I have an idea brewing in my studio for a new ongoing project and I'm thinking of incorporating some of these sketches into it. Stay tuned! beep. bop. boop.

ghost series: heartstrings II

A little while back I wrote about my latest work being focused on ghosts and exploring what a ghost might represent. I've just completed my latest painting called Heart Strings II:

This one was a bit more personal and pushed me as an artist in some new ways- conceptually and technically. As I thought about the past and childhood, I thought about when I was young and how I imagined who I was at that moment and how this perception of who I saw myself as has changed over time- probably dozens and dozens of times. Here is a close up of part of the painting:

I don't think we entirely let go of these perceived selves and I thought about how much a part of me these versions of me have been and still are- good and bad. I'm really enjoying this direction and kind of just going with it. Trilobites have slowly made their way into my work as well - I'm fascinated by these creatures and their shapes. In it's own way it too is a ghost from the past...

Vote Lisa Kurt for artist of the year at the RAW Art Awards!

Please vote for me to be RAW artist of the year! If I get enough votes, I'll move to local city semi-finals. You can vote for me once a day from October 1st (TODAY) until October 8th. Thank you so much!

Sketchbook: week 2

Here is this week's sketch! I went to Portland for a week during the summer and was inspired by Sasquatches! I like to think the sasquatch is friends or maybe penpals with the yeti. How would they mail stuff in secret? Maybe by birds or raccoons...

doodling as meditation

Doodling is my favorite form of meditation. Doing diligent sketch work is a way for me to reach a calm place and lose myself in the present and let a lot of my fears, worry, and internal chatter fall away. Sometimes I don't know what will come out until it's on the paper.

Sometimes what comes out makes no sense. This kind of work takes me to a happy place.

ghost series

So I've been working on another series- for the last few years I've been exploring the idea of ghosts and the possibilities they may represent. It seems that I keep getting lured back into drawing ghosts in different ways and drawing them is so appealing that I never get tired of it- in fact, I just get more pulled into drawing them.

And a disclosure...I didn't mean to do this series near Halloween and in fact I began painting this series during the summer without Halloween on the brain at all. Maybe it's fitting I release the first paintings in the fall but certainly these ghosts are a bit different than the Halloween kind!

Ghosts are symbolic of the past, memory, perhaps unfulfilled lives, hauntings, melancholy, a representation of what once was, nature/unnatural, sadness, growth, the unexplained, among many other things. There is something I love about mystery and all things unexplained; you'll see that crop up in my work in a variety of ways. These are the things swirling in my head these days and so you have my latest series of paintings, ghosts. These two paintings are the start of this series; there are prints of these two available on my shop with more to come soon. I have another ghost painting in process and we'll see where this takes me. This is just one part of my ghost exploration- sometimes the ghosts take different shapes and forms but this is where I am at the moment.

Sketchbook: week 1

So one of the things I am excited to share are peeks into my sketchbook each week. It keeps me on my toes to sketch regularly and share my drawings and ideas but also gives all of you a chance to get a sense of my process and my line of thought and how that might progress and morph over time. This week's sketch is this robot. I'm working on a series of robot pieces plus my son's birthday is right around the corner and he wants a robot party....can't argue with that!

You'll see a variety of sketches- sometimes I have more finished drawings, sometimes they are rough and rushed, and sometimes it's a whole lot of doodling. Enjoy!

Welcome to my big art adventure!

So here it is my new art and illustration website full of arty goodness! As you can see, I'll be blogging here, updating my portfolio, my store, sharing the latest news and events, sales, sketches, and all kinds of art related things. There is going to be a lot going on over the next several months and I'm really excited to share all of it with you!

Some might be curious how I got here, so here's the short version...

I ditched the day job, along with the stability of an academic tenured position on August 16, 2013, to pursue my art dream. I've worn many hats over the years including horse trainer, graphic designer, and librarian- I still love and in some ways participate in those areas but my true love is creating art. I did go to art school and I have always drawn, painted, and made art in some form or another over the years....but I also had a period of time where things were pretty bleak art-making-wise.

When my son was born in 2010, I began to re-ask all those big life questions and several events and scenarios led me back to my art roots because I really needed an outlet. In many ways I felt like an angst-y teenager all over again and at times I felt like the art was just coming out whether I liked it or not. But I knew that the discomfort and at times outright heartache I was feeling was leading me to something real and beautiful. My little family not only supported me, but pushed me to be better and things became clear that no matter what, I realized- I needed to be an artist!

So with my amazing son and husband, and a whole lot of wonderful friends and family behind me- I had so many people wanting me to make art, encouraging me in a million ways, and helping me make art in some form or another. There are a lot of you out there that may not even know the impact you've had on me but thank you- truly. I'm grateful for all the experiences I've had and for those to come.

There is a lot planned for this little website...I'm so glad to have you here! Stay tuned for more good stuff...new work on deck!