praying for elves

As I write this season's greetingst to you and yours directly from the studio, I'm hoping that all of you are finding this holiday season to be filled with magic and wonder and let's face it - sanity.   In a world where so much seems so crazy these days, I continue to work tirelessly at continuing to spread my messages of love and hope through my paintings and artwork. This winter I have also been filling my days with applying for shows, exhibitions and art fairs on the east and west coasts. I have even thrown my name in the hat for a residency in Perugia, Italy, through theHydra Project based in New York City. This residency program is extrememly competitive, so if I am not selected, I will continue to apply for other international residencies that will allow the themes of my work to grow and expand. In the meantime I also have been praying for elves as I continue to prepare  for various art fairs and shows in the spring of 2016. My dear husband was able to secure a number of beautiful old wood frames for my works on tyvek and felted paper, so this past week my studio turned into a bustling framing shop. Some of these framed pieces turned out spectacular! I'm so anxious to share them with you. It always amazes me how a frame has the ability to shift and finish a piece of artwork in such a formal way. The following are all available for purchase: "ascension" mixed media on tyvek. Framed to 23"x26" "intention" mixed media on tyvek. Framed to 23"x26   "odalisque" mixed media on tyvek. Framed to 23"x26" A couple of quick shop announcements for those near Prosser, Washington, as well as Phoenix, Arizona! You can now purchase some of my works these great shops:  Sixth Street Art & Gift Gallery  and C-MOD, Curated Modern Design! Thank you to Carol and to Cynthia for supporting my art and sharing it with your communities! If you're still in the market for holiday gift ideas, consider some original artwork or hand painted journals that are available for purchase and can be shipped right to your front door. 5"x7" Journals with 60 lined pages can be seen on my Instagram feed while some of my Marilyn Monroe and Frida Kahlo Art blocks can be purchased via my Etsy shop called Laurie Maves ARTsy Journals run for $20/$25 with shipping and the art blocks can be purchased for $40-$100 and up. That's all for now!   Remember that the studio is always open to your visit. We're located at 730 Umatilla Street in Denver, 80204. Just call ahead to make sure I'm around. 720.300.2819. Take care, have a blessed holiday season, a very Merry Christmas and see you in 2016!

The Perfect (Paint Over) Makeover

Oct 15, 2015

When we want to reinvent ourselves, we basically are wanting a makeover. Faces have them, houses have them, and even our spirits yearn for them from time. I often perform that same process with my paintings, hence the name in the title, "paint over." Some of you will gasp at that notion. Why would I destroy something that I put my heart and soul into? What happens if someone wants to purchase a painting right after I cover it up with gesso?

ges·soˈjesō/noun a hard compound of plaster of Paris or whiting in glue, used in sculpture or as a base for gilding or painting on wood.

Both have happened to me, and both are transforming processes. 

When I paint over an older painting, that I no longer want to look at, that I no longer want to be associated with, that I no longer feel connected to, the process can be more than liberating. For me, the "paint over" has become a therapeutic part of my ongoing process as a developing contemporary painter. Images that I have made only a few years ago are often times no longer in sync with where I am spiritually, emotionally, developmentally. And painting over does not nullify or destroy where I have been in my life. The "paint over" acknowledges past status and promotes positive future progression.

When we are stuck in a way of being that is unhealthy, un-motivating, blaming or otherwise non progressing, we stand still. And for me, standing still can mean one of two things: meditation or death.  Both are brilliant and both are life-changing (tongue in cheek).  When I refuse to move, to progress, to evolve, and I am not in a state of mindful meditation or rest, then it's lights out folks. I am one of those humans that has an undying need to transform, to evolve, to progress.  

And sometimes that requires a can of gesso to get the process started. 

The following are all paintings up for paint-overs are from my 2012 exhibition entitled, "Dolce Vita" at the University of Denver's Women's College. If any of these paintings call to you and you are wanting to own one of them, please send me a message and we will make it happen.  Or else they will change and transform, and that's ok too :).

These three totems are available. each about 28"x80" mixed media on reclaimed closet doors, from left to right, "We Stand Alone," "Your Light Blue Towers" and "We Have the Holy Responsibility"

To see them individually click on the links below:

We Stand Alone 

Your Light Blue Towers Rise Up

We Have the Holy Responsibility

As well as the following two landscapes:

My Heart Mends

The Only Way Out is Through

"The Only Way Our is Through" (above) and "My Heart Mends" are also both 80"x28" large but happy paintings wanting a home.

If you're in need of a paint over today, it's ok. You can come to my studio. I have gallons of gesso.

Sometimes journalling is the best thing you can do

Please read my latest newsletter here:

all about journalling

Laurie Maves ART newsletter

Laurie Maves ART journals can be purchased on my ETSY page:

LaurieMavesARTsy on ETSY

Vincent Van Gogh Visits the Gallery - Doctor Who Series 5 - BBC

to be understood and appreciated on this level would be the ultimate of human

experiences #VincentvanGogh

Change of Season and NEW studio

Dear Friends and Collectors of Laurie Maves ART. in the new studio with new paintings photos by Kathleen Peachey              Fall is definitely here, once again, and this time I look onto the world from a new studio situtated near the 8th Avenue Exit off of I25 - right smack dab in the center of the city of Denver. This most amazing space has been created for me by my endearing husband. Yes, I was married this past summer and one of the amazing perks of my newlywed status is that my husband is part owner of a constrcution company in Denver called, Platinum Renovations. The new work space is brightly lit with floor to ceiling north-facing windows. The light is so amazing I rarely ever have to turn on a light. Many who know me from my days of having the basement studio on Santa Fe Drive in the Santa Fe Arts District in Denver will know that the space is a true change for me - even symbolizing rising from a dark time in my personal life to a new bright and brilliant existence. To Ralph Guglielmi, my husband, I am most grateful. Come see the space when you can, all you have to do is call me, email me or text to make an appointment.  We are located at 730 Umatilla Street, Denver, CO 80235, USA

More news in the art world for Laurie Maves ART (my name was officially changed to Laurie Maves Guglielmi, but for all art-related business, I will maintain the Laurie Maves ART trademark). There are two shows I would love to bring to your attention. This weekend I will have one painting of a portrait of Annie Oakley made specifically for the "Buffalo Bill DAZE" 9/11 - 9/13  event in Georgetown, Colorado. "Annie Oakley Ain't Afraid" is 24"x30"  acrylic on canvas and is currently available for purchase

The next exhibition I would like to let you know about is one of a collaboration with Erica Jane Huntzinger that will take place in the Frank Juarez Gallery in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, starting October 24-November 28. The show will be titled, "20 and Counting," as Erica and I have been friends for the past twenty years following our enrollment in the Masters of Art in Art Therapy program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) in 1995. Erica visited Denver in August and we created 20 paintings for the show, 4 being true collaborative paintings.  "intuition" 24"x30" acrylic and china makers on Tyvek all rights reserved by Laurie Maves ART Thank you to all of you who continue to support my painting. I look forward to the new works that will be created in the new space.  Come Visit!

(what happens when) waiting for the perfect painting studio

"My Warrior for the Feminine Divine" mixed media on canvas 72"x72" 2015  all rights reserved by Laurie Maves

Since my last Linked-In blog post, I have been patiently (who am i kidding - sometimes not so patiently) waiting for my new studio to come to fruition. In April I wrote the entry "Fliegen" Away on 4/15, as I was in the midst of packing up my desk, my paints, my easels, boxes of magazines, various collage materials, brushes, etc etc.  You name it, in the 2D art world of media, I was probably boxing, taping, and bubble wrapping those various materials away. I had to leave my 2000 square foot studio as my landlords were changing spaces, and I was along with them for the ride, so where they went, so did I.  At the time, I thought I might be down and out for only a month.  That was all well and good, because I was in the middle of my wedding and glorious honeymoon to one of my favorite countries on the planet, Italy. Honestly, I had many other thoughts on my mind in the month of May, than making that fourth grand 72"x72" painting of 2015, or completing the next commission on my log.

But now two months to the date have passed, and I'm still without a completed studio and boy is it really showing my over-achieving, anxiety-ridden, always need to be accomplishing something, dark side.  My newly-wed husband, who is gracious enough to cut a space out of his business's warehouse to create me a beautifully north-facing sunlit 1000 square foot studio, has been more than accommodating and supportive. "Take the summer off, Laurie. This is my busy season, and I only have spare guys to build your space when the company slows down, and we're super busy right now.  Take some time to be with your boys, relax, enjoy the summer, read some books, practice your Italian. I love you.  You know it's ok to slow down every once in awhile.  Take this time as a gift."

What??? Take the summer off??? Relax??? Enjoy the summer??? What does that mean? Is he crazy?

And the more time I went without a studio, the more I realized I was a certified downright art-making-junkie. I had been pushing my work, my paintings, my concepts, my social media so hard for so long - for over a decade - that I really didn't know what it meant to cool it.  Not to mention, I was an avid yogi as well. I have been practicing yoga for about the same amount of time I have been steadfastly pursuing my art career. So why is it that I cannot seem to practice my practice?

Why does it seem like even after all the Kris Carr, Mastin Kipp, and Deepak Chopra articles, podcasts and videos that I have absorbed like a sponge over the years that I cannot be at peace when I am not at work?

Is it because my art-making is more than a self-made job? More than a pay check and aspiring fancy career? Is it because I have a type A personality? Is it because I am a perfect example of a mom, who doesn't want to be categorized as a "soccer-mom" or "stay at home mom" because that somehow defines me as weak and less than? Is it because my over-achieving personality since childhood has its claws so deep into my guts that when the most important person in my life says, "hey honey take a break, you deserve it," that I feel guilty...almost as if that is impossible to do?

Why as 30-50 year old something women do we push ourselves to such crazy extremes only to find we are truly making our lives - even the most brilliant ones - more chaotic? Why do we beat ourselves up when we are not creating, achieving or being the best "mommy" on the block? Why is it so hard to just 'be"?

I'm still wondering about all of this about myself and about high-achieving mommies in general. And even more so, I wonder about this for creatives, artists, writers, and the like, when we seem to have the ability to have a dream job, dream husband, dream kids and it's still not enough to take the guilt away of not performing? Perhaps I need to sign up for another round of talk therapy to calm my nerves while I await my new warehouse studio's walls to go up. Maybe I should take a page out of my own Art Therapist's background and draw about my anxiety of not having a working studio I can run to. Maybe the creative process is SO innate in individuals like myself, that when people like me do NOT create, we do in fact go a little bit batty? I can't even begin to tell you I have the answer at the moment, and maybe that's life's process, to create this puzzle along the way that I am driven to put together and continually solve? Maybe I won't be asking these questions of myself 10 years from now, and maybe just maybe I can learn to chill the hell out this summer, when I don't have a shop up and running.

Is that possible?

Check back with me in thirty days, and I'll let you know. Studio or no studio, I'd better figure it out, read a book, draw in my journal, get a sun burn, and make some home-made focaccia.

a Venus for the 2015 Denver Chalk Arts Festival

the end of Saturday, day one, we got a lot of chalk on the ground...twice!

Ah, the annual Denver Chalk Art Festival! What an amazing event, 13 years in the running.  I was able to participate again this year, which marks my fourth or fifth year chalking it up. Many of my local artist friends have been showing up every year, but this was the first in about 5 years that I had volunteered my chalking efforts on the streets of Larimer Square.

I was told by one Larimer Arts Association member that approximately 100,000 people would walk the streets and get a viewing of over a hundred amazing examples of temporary chalk art over the weekend.

The annual chalk arts event in Denver runs for three days. We would have started outlining our works on Friday June 5th, had the weather in Denver not been so very wet.

So we waited (we being the Laurie Maves Art team of myself and my eldest son, Forest) until Saturday June 6th to get started on out 8'x8' reproduction of one of my 2015 paintings called, 

"Venus and the Ponte Vecchio"

detail of Laurie Maves' 72"x72' mixed media painting on canvas, 2015. all rights reserved by the artist

Below are some photos of the weekend's process, including the untimely downpour at 3pm in the afternoon, which inevitably washed away over 80% of what Forest and I had gotten on the pavement in the prior 6 hours of work.

9 am on Saturday morning

just about noon on Saturday. Forest at work 

and then the rains came at 2pm

and this is what remained...

by the end of day one

venus detail day 2, Sunday June 7, 2015

after a day's worth of hustle I was able to complete the image Forest and I started

many thanks to our square sponsor, the band, Something Underground

When all was said and done, even with the rains and all the back-breaking, knee-crunching work, the image came out beautifully.  I am so grateful for the assistance of my son on day one. What a great way to spend 8 ours with a fabulous child. I am also most grateful to have had the opportunity to work next to a longtime artist colleague and dear friend, Eric Matelski. Eric was the guy who said to me over a decade ago, "If you can chalk live, you can paint live!" and my life changed from then on!
For more information on the annual event, visit the Larimer Arts.org website

"fliegen" away 4/15

The annual date of April 15th can drudge up a variety of thoughts, feelings and emotions for many. It is the national, "pay your taxes day." And for some that just makes us crazy, especially if you're a creative right brained sort of person. - Luckily I am a middle of the road left-brained artist. I am a creative, yet I desire to be extremely organized and efficient. I was able to be so very efficient this year, that I already submitted my taxes and even had a week to go!

For this artist, however, April 15, 2015 brings up a new date. It is a date that I will be closing my studio at 2590 W. 2nd Avenue in Denver, CO. It was a lovely space, it was open and it was grand. Almost 2000 square feet of creative space for all my grandiose ideas. I rented this space for the past 2 years, and what a beauty of a space it was. Anyone that walked into it was in awe, of the high ceilings, the opening garage doors and the wonderful vibe I had going there. I even hosted a few fundraisers and small concerts in the space. But alas, as what happens to most of the artists I know that are at the mercy of their landlord, mine is re-locating and therefore so must I.

Change.

The only consistent in life is that change happens. Over the last 15 years of making art in Denver, I have moved my studio at least 8 times that I can recall. I had 2 different spaces in an old school building that was eventually plowed to the ground to make a parking lot (just like the Joni Mitchell song), 2 spaces in the old Zook building in downtown Denver that was sold to make upscale urban apartments, 2 difference spaces on Inca Street, one space in the basement of a yoga studio in the famous Santa Fe Arts District, and then the masterpiece warehouse at 2590 W. 2nd Avenue in Denver. That's a lot of moving for sure.

So instead of packing everything up and moving again, for the meantime, I'm just going to pack up and store my large pieces and work small scale in my home until I can decide what my next greatest space will be. And even though I stressed about this decision at first, I am totally at peace with it now, because I know a new space will arise when the time is right that will be a perfect fit for what I need.

I actually am looking forward to challenging myself by working on smaller scale pieces and journals that I can sell online on eBayhttp://www.ebay.com/usr/lauriemavesart or via my ETSY pagehttps://www.etsy.com/shop/LaurieMavesARTsy . I will still be taking commissions, as well as working on my pieces for the grand exhibition I am having with Erica Jane Huntzinger at the Frank Juarez gallery in Wisconsin later this year, but I will not have to manage a ginormous studio space and that comes with a bit of relief.

So in a week it will be time to Fliegen - the German word for "FLY." And who knows where I will land next, but I know I must embrace the view along the way.

"Fliegen" Circle Painting from 2014. 24"x24" mixed media on masonite. all rights reserved by the artist. The original available for purchase.

20 and Counting

"20 and Counting" is the proposed title of the collaborative show between Erica Jane Huntzinger and myself that will be exhibited at the Frank Juarez Gallery in Sheboygan Wisconsin 10/24/15 - 11/28/15 with an opening reception on Saturday November 7th from 5-8pm. 

Erica Jane and I met in September of 1995 as we started our quest to navigate our way through the Graduate Art Therapy Program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  Erica and I were first and foremost artists. And really we just wanted to be fine artists, but really had no mentors to speak of that could help us wrap our brains around what it meant to be part of the professional art world. So we both turned to the field of Art Therapy as a career, knowing in our heart of hearts that using the creative process to help other people (but most noteworthy, ourselves) would be a natural fit for a profession for the creative and caring beings that we were.

here we are on the streets of Chicago circa 1997

Erica and I had become fast friends throughout our time in the SAIC program, and found that our most favorite class projects were those where we could paint, draw and collage rather than study advanced psychology, or learn how to do take downs in mental health facilities.

Art was our being, our knowing, our language. Ever since we could remember.

Following graduation, I decided to leave Chicago and head to the wild west of Denver, Colorado. Erica stayed in Chicago and later moved to Wisconsin.  But even though we struggled with the great physical distance between our homes, we always found a way to continue our friendship and connection. Over time, Erica and I both found our way working as art therapists in mental health facilities, teaching in preschools, working with the elderly, as well as holding positions in galleries and museums. And when the work day was over, we would both head to the studios we created for ourselves to make our own art, be they in our basements, spare bedrooms, closets, etc. Wherever we could find space to make art, we did. We would make our paintings, and show them around the respective towns and cities that we lived in. Sometimes we would show our works at coffeehouses, restaurants, salons, really anywhere that would hang our work, we would pursue.

Art was our being, our knowing, our language. And over the years of going to a daily job, it became more and more apparent that making art was really our true calling. We just really wanted to be professional artists, after all, but taking that leap of faith and pursuing a fine art profession on more than a part-time basis was simply terrifying. We had jobs with security, health insurance and steady pay checks. How could we leave all that behind?

Well, eventually we both did, in some shape or form, and just like our lives, our art has evolved as well, taking leaps of faith here and there, in our work, in our relationships and in our painting.

20 years later we will be celebrating our 2 decade long relationship with our very own exhibition of 20 paintings and mixed media works. With Erica's influences of Cy Twombly, Jim Nutt and Joseph Cornell and mine of Frida Kahlo, Frances Bacon and Basquiat this collaborative show will focus on twenty years of life lessons, of working as artists, being art therapists, and knowing the importance of the healing quality of being a creative has affected the evolution of our lives.

More information will follow as we receive it from the gallery, but we hope you will be able to join us on 11/7/15 in Sheboygan.

Honoring Your True Potential

(also published on LinkedIn)

Well folks, this blog entry seems to come at a time when I would most rather be celebrating. But unfortunately, I just discovered that I did not win this huge album art contest I had put a great deal of personal time and effort into. Some of you know that I had created a large mural painting on canvas for the German Band, Stanfour, hoping they would recognize a "true artist's" work and select an image created by my hands, bushes, paint and canvas, rather than a graphic design image made via the insides of a computer. I had spent an entire month creating this painting and image for the band. I had spent weeks making a time lapse video to share my process with the world. I promoted the band, I tweeted, I Facebooked, I blogged, I sent emails to my client base to support my work and vote for me!

Alas, all for the end result of coming in what seems to be third place (insert losing horn sound "waa waaa waaaaaa") You can see the results here on the Talenthouse website: https://www.talenthouse.com/i/design-the-official-cover-for-the-new-stanfour-album/submissions

For a sold minute, or two, or three, I was just plain pissed off. How could I have lost? I prayed about winning. I was mindful about my work. I had the support of a village behind me. I got "53 hearts" for crying out loud! The winner and second place only got 16 hearts a piece. I had done positive affirmations the past 24 hours that I had "already won" the #STANFOURCOVER contest. And then I logged into my computer and saw I had been defeated.

In my few moments of wallowing in self-pity, I realized that this isn't how I wanted my afternoon to go. I didn't really enjoy the self-wallowing. I really didn't enjoy looking at that webpage and seeing another artist had been selected. So what did I do next? I turned my head from my computer, I looked around my studio and I said a small prayer of gratitude, to the powers that be, to allow me to continue to create. I looked at my larger than life-sized paintings of Saraswati and Parvati (similar to the ones hanging in the image above) that I have a God-given gift to be a creative. And one win or one loss is not going to change who I am or what I do or my purpose on this planet.

I am the one that determines my worthiness.

I am the one that honors my true potential.

I am the one creating my own life's path.

If we continue to define our personal worthiness, by someone else's awards, we will ever only be just that - defined by others. 

So back to the easel, back to the drawing board, back to the studio I go. I know my purpose on this planet is to make artwork, to make paintings, to honor a person's soul with imagery that I create by my own hands. And when others acknowledge my work, then great! But when I can take a moment to acknowledge my own worthiness, my own accomplishments, by own dear true and brilliant existence as Laurie Maves, my soul shines its brightest.

3 days left to vote!!! 4 Circles for STANFOUR, Time Lapse of painting process for the #STANFOUR...

3 days remain in the Talenthouse Album Art Contest for the band, Stanfour. I would be most appreciative of your vote!

the link is here:

https://www.talenthouse.com/i/567/submission/148579/052ca6fb

thank you!!!!

VOTING STARTS TODAY 3/3 :) please help raise me UP

here is the time lapse video of my process for creating the Album ARTWORK for Stanfour



and here is the link to go VOTE for my FOUR CIRCLES for STANFOUR



LAURIE MAVES on Talenthouse

4 Circles for STANFOUR, Time Lapse of painting process for the #STANFOUR...

LUMIA #tileArt Competition with my painting

Hi friends, collectors, and reader of artsy blogs!

Yesterday the voting opened for a #TileART competition on the Talenthouse Website. This has been a great website for artists and creatives to get their work out into the world hoping to be "discovered" on a global scale. I have entered one of my paintings called, "My Most Favorite Circle Painting 2014" into the competition. I continue to be an advocate for real time, real life painters in a digital age, where painting and drawing with paints and pencils may soon be a thing of the past with computers creating most of the art we see online.

I hope you can take a moment to vote for my work. I think it would be fabulous to see a painting on your cell phone, and even better if it is one of mine. The more Laurie Maves ART gains momentum, the more current collectors of my paintings will be pleased with my increasing value in the art marketplace.

Here is the link: Laurie Maves #TileART on Talenthouse

Next week look for the #STANFOURCOVER another most important contest I am participating in - trying to win the album ART cover of the German Band STANFOUR's newest album "4" which is scheduled to be released later this spring.

Thank you and Happy Humpday!

Laurie MAves ARTsy Vlog 2.18.15

Check out my new works on ETSY right here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LaurieMavesARTsy

fun little drawings and mixed media, original art works for sale - up to large mural-sized paintings!

and two competitions I am entering my art work in via the Talenthouse website:

1) #TileArt competition for the Microsoft Lumina phone - wouldn't you like to see my beautiful Circle Painting here: https://www.talenthouse.com/item/1385320/44608ab8 starting 2/14/15

2) #STANFOURCOVER album art for the band Stanfour : my entry will be here: https://www.talenthouse.com/item/1388799/fdff22a9 starting 3/315

I will let you know when voting opens because i will need all the votes i can get - and your help spreading the love will be most appreciated!

Here's the ARTSY VLOG explaining all the details:

USTREAM LIVE STREAM artsy vlog

Happy Wednesday!

NEW LaurieMavesART WEBSITE!

It's coming - be on the lookout on Thursday February 5th for my new website designed by Jordan Gorjiyan!

I CANNOT WAIT FOR YOU ALL TO SEE IT!!!!

#SUPEREXCITED

2015 grand painting no. 2 in progress- Artwork for #STANFOURCOVER PART3

2015 grand painting No. 2 in progress- Artwork for #STANFOUR

Laurie Maves ARTsy Vlog 1.3.15 Step IT up!

In this ARTsy VLOG I talk honestly about my work, the new direction I want head in and how that may or may not cause me and my small business anxiety for 2015

Here's to New Year Intentions, and living up to Stepping IT UP!