Author: Lesley Frenz

Living. Camano Island.

We’ve been here 5 months. We’ll be here at least 3 more. We visited Camano Island for the first time on a drizzly Saturday in 2016 and honestly, we weren’t terribly impressed. I mean, it was pretty, as almost all of the Pacific Northwest is, but it didn’t blow us away. But when hubby took a contract doing home health out of Everett, WA and we were faced with the choice of a little apartment on the water on Camano vs. a little, more expensive apartment in Everett, we decided to give it another shot.

And boy are we glad we did.

These past months have been filled with beach walks, whale sightings from our living room (!!!), watching for bald eagles and sea lions, glorious sunrises and sunsets, and more fresh crab than we’ve ever had in our lives. (thank you, kind & generous landlords!)

There has been so much to inspire me artistically that I can’t paint fast enough to get it all out.

I’ve filled an entire Moleskine watercolor sketchbook with seaside inspired abstract sketches and used that as inspiration to create a special series of large watercolors on canvas inspired by Camano.

We’ve been here long enough to watch Spring emerge and fade, and Summer is now in all its glory.

I can’t wait to see what Fall brings as the seasonal houses close up and everything goes quiet again.

You can see more from our life on Camano by following my Instagram stories where I post tidbits of what I’m seeing around me daily.

All images by me.

August 8, 2018
Showing. BIG Watercolors in Seattle!

You guys, I’m sorry. I’ve been so neglectful of this space lately! I won’t pepper you with excuses.. we are all busy, right? Keeping up with blogging just keeps getting pushed down the ol’ To-Do list as things come up.

The things coming up have all been good, though! And I miss sharing more in depth here. So I’m going to try more, truly I am.

You may remember that ever since experimenting with watercolor for The 100 Day Project back in 2016, I’ve been trying out bigger sizes and different substrates. I hadn’t quite hit on that perfect combo.. until now!

rhodies, watercolor on canvas, 30×30, $750

When I heard the lovely folks at Lindsey Runyon Design wanted me to be a Featured Artist in their showroom, specifically requesting watercolors, I saw it as my opportunity to go big in watercolor. But due to the hanging limitations of their space, and that I would be installing on my own, I needed to go big AND light. I’ve done some experimenting with watercolor on canvas in the past, but hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it.. Until now!

clemantis, watercolor on canvas, 30×48, $1200

A few coats of watercolor ground added to gessoed canvas creates the perfect surface for watercolors– the paint blends and bleeds beautifully (and easily, requiring a delicate touch!). Once dry, the paintings are sealed first with multiple coats of fixative and then with two coats of UV spray varnish to make sure the surface becomes permanent and impermeable. No glass needed!

watercolors on canvas showing at Lindsey Runyon Design

You can check out all of these new watercolors on canvas online on my website . If you are in the Seattle area anytime now through November 16th, you can stop by LRD in downtown Seattle (near the Space Needle!) to see these beauties in person.

Lindsey Runyon Design is located at 222 Queen Anne Ave N, Ground Floor, Seattle, WA 98109.
Their phone # is 206-914-5241 or you can email chloe@lindseyrunyondesign.com for info and directions.

If you make it to see the paintings, snap a photo and tag @lesleyfrenz on Instagram! And if you’d like more information about these or any of my available work, please email via my website Contact form.

All images by me.

July 25, 2018
Showing. New Work at JIA!

Excited to be showing in my hometown! A group of new paintings from my VENTERS, ECHOES, and IMMERSIONS series are now on view in The Haskell Gallery at the Jacksonville International Airport.

The paintings are part of the Spring in Northeast Florida show alongside works by artists Lyn Asselta, Eve Albrecht, and photographer John E. Adams.

Silent Reverie, acrylic on canvas, 60×48

Sweet Madness, acrylic on canvas, 48×48

From the Highest Swing, From the Highest Tree, From the Highest Wing, acrylic on canvas, 24×20 each

While the initial inspiration for these paintings were the theme of Spring in Northeast Florida, it was the springtimes of my childhood there and memories of my mom that informed each piece. During the painting process, I would often look back on old home movies from my childhood, allowing the muted colors and blown out style to inform the palette and overall feel of these pieces.

my brother, my mom, and me, easter 1976 and Weightless and Maybe, acrylic on canvas, 12×12

I plan to share more of the stories and inspiration behind these works with you over the coming weeks, so please stay tuned!

Meanwhile, if you’re in the Jacksonville area, I hope you’ll visit JIA to see these new paintings. The Haskell Gallery is located pre-security, so you don’t need to be traveling to see the show!

You can also see all of the work in the show on my website.

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April 5, 2018
Opening! A Winter Exhibit.

Hello friends! Popping in to tell you about a new show featuring my work, opening today! A Winter Exhibit, a three person show featuring work by Seattle area artists Mya Kerner, Najia Omer, and moi, opens today at the Mercer Island Community & Event Center gallery.

The show features work from my ECHOES series, including 4 new paintings created just for this show. If you’re not local to the Seattle area, you can see the work from this series, including the new paintings on the ECHOES page of my website.

There will be an artist’s reception this Thursday, January 11th from 6:30pm to 8pm. Unfortunately, since we’re currently in Spokane for hubby’s work contract, I won’t be able to attend (I’m so bummed!!). But if you’d like to see the show, please do go and meet the other 2 wonderful artists!

The gallery is located at 8236 SE 24th St, Mercer Island, WA. Gallery hours are M-F 7am-9pm, Sat 8am-9pm, and Sun 11am-5pm. The show will be up through February 23rd.

January 8, 2018
Review 2017.

Another year is nearly in the books, ya’ll! This year was one of the most “settled” we’ve had in our nearly seven years of traveling– we were in Tacoma until the end of November and I had my own little dedicated studio space for all that time. It was very good for my creative energy and artistic well being!

As much as the travel and new places fuels my inspiration, the stability of being in one place helped give me the time and space to work out lots of ideas in the studio!

acrylic paintings completed 38

While the number of completed acrylics this year was lower than last, I explored abstraction more than before and felt more emboldened to try out some different ideas. I found my groove in the reflection inspired ECHOES series, completed a second round of the tiny SCINTILLA series, began a new wilderness inspired series LEMOLO, a conglomerate of my CAESURA explorations and my earlier LATITUDE series.

watercolors completed 40

2017 found me diving more into watercolors after my #the100dayproject last year. I explored a range of techniques and forays into abstraction with watercolors this year. In addition to the larger watercolors, I continued my almost daily #watercolorsandcoffee practice.

A goal of mine for 2017 was to increase my experience with commissioned work and I’m proud to have completed 3 commissioned pieces for clients in Florida, Boston, and Vancouver, BC.

28×36 acrylic commission

36×44 watercolor commission

60×36 acrylic commission

Be on the lookout for a new Commissions page on lesleyfrenz.com with more info on past commissions and my process for working with you on a commissioned piece!

This year was busy with shows and events, too– Enormous Tiny Art #21 & #22 at Nahcotta in NH, ICON at Lynn Hanson Gallery in Seattle, and a Pop Up with Seattle Art Source. As well as new representation with Seattle Art Source and Stellers Gallery Ponte Vedra.

I’m in the throes of beginning a new series and am excited to see where this new direction and new year will take me!

See you in 2018!

December 28, 2017