artsy forager

Tag: Lesley Frenz

  • Showing. New stuff in Greenville!

    Showing. New stuff in Greenville!

    Art & Light, my representing gallery in Greenville, SC, is celebrating 12 years this week!! In celebration, I created two new paintings from my LEMOLO series for their Anniversary Show, opening tonight, August 16th.

    dreams and intentions, acrylic on canvas, 20x20x1.5, $350

    whispering secrets, acrylic on canvas, 20x20x1.5, $350 

    When creating these new LEMOLO pieces, I was thinking about the lovely days I’ve spent in North and South Carolina, places that will always hold a special place in my heart, Southern girl that I am. I also tried to channel the warmth of the light and atmosphere that is present at Art & Light— housed in a beautiful old house in Greenville’s historic “Village”, the gallery is fresh and modern while also feeling rustic and worn and welcoming. An absolutely enchanting combination!

    In addition to the new LEMOLO paintings, there is also a brand new crop of watercolors on panel and canvas that I’m super excited to debut at A&L!

    You can check out the entire collection of watercolors on my website or if you’re in the Greenville area, I hope you’ll stop by Art & Light for the opening of the Anniversary show tonight from 6- 8pm!

    Art & Light is located at 16 Aiken St, Greenville, SC. You can contact the gallery by calling 864-625-0695 or emailing art@artandlightgallery.com!

    Bottom image courtesy of Art & Light Gallery.

     

  • Living. Camano Island.

    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.

     

     

  • Showing. New Work at JIA!

    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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  • Opening! A Winter Exhibit.

    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.

  • Locality.

    Locality.

    We enter 2018 settled for a bit in Spokane, WA. Doing this travel thing for the last (almost) 7 years has been a strange sort of life for a number of reasons. Since the contracts are usually at least 3 months long, often extending longer, we have the experience of not just visiting but truly living in each place for a time. Of becoming “a local”.

    Let It Wash Away by Lesley Frenz in Edmonds, WA

    But even on the longer stays, we always know it is just temporary. We aren’t truly local, just visiting.

    We often talk about how weird it is to stake a claim in one place– especially if it is a place you were born into, that you didn’t choose yourself. How strange that governments and principalities decide where lines are drawn on a map and we swear allegiance to the lands between those lines. We want to truly choose where we decide to call home.

    One thing traveling has taught us has been that you can make a home, make a life, wherever you decide to be. We’re looking forward to finding ourselves in one such locale, wherever it may be, in 2018.

     

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  • Review 2017.

    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!

    Lesley Frenz ECHOES Lesley Frenz ECHOES Lesley Frenz ECHOES Lesley Frenz CAESURA Lesley Frenz SCINTILLA

    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.

    Lesley Frenz watercolors

    Lesley Frenz watercolors

    Lesley Frenz watercolors

    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.

    Lesley Frenz commission

    28×36 acrylic commission

    Lesley Frenz commission

    36×44 watercolor commission

    Lesley Frenz 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!

    Lesley Frenz #watercolorsandcoffee

    See you in 2018!

  • Holiday.

    Holiday.

    Frenz_Sanctuary VIII_watercolor and cold wax on cradled wood panel_10x8x1

    Christmas greetings from snowy Spokane, Washington!

    Wishing you all the loveliest of holidays!  

  • Showing! Pop-Up at Seattle Art Source

    Showing! Pop-Up at Seattle Art Source

    September has been a super busy month, ya’ll!  My work has been poppin’ up from New Hampshire to Seattle, but this coming weekend, it’s an actual POP-UP!

    Popup1 Popup2

    Friday & Saturday, September 22nd & 23rd, there will be a one-time Pop-Up show of my latest work at the Seattle Art Source showroom in the International District in Seattle.  New acrylic paintings from both my ECHOES & LEMOLO series, as well as large & small watercolors on cradled panel will be on display inside the SAC showroom, showcased with Plank & Grain’s gorgeous reclaimed wood furnishings.

    I will be in the showroom gallery on Saturday, 9/23 from 11am-1pm and would love to meet you in person!  I’ll have my watercolors with me, so you may even catch me doing a little watercolor sketching!

    For directions to Seattle Art Source and showroom hours, click here.  Hope to see you on Saturday!

    Images by me.

  • Opening! Enormous Tiny Art #22.

    Opening! Enormous Tiny Art #22.

    Since beginning the #100littleartworks project way back in 2016, I’ve been diving deeper and deeper into my love of watercolors.  I’m excited to announce that six new watercolors on Aquaboard panel are part of my second showing with Nahcotta Gallery in Enormous Tiny Art #22 opening this Friday, September 1st!

    Photo Aug 15, 4 06 49 PMwaterbound I and VI, watercolor and cold wax on aquaboard panel, 7×5 art in 10×8 white float frame

    I’ve been exploring watercolors beyond paper and have completely fallen for Ampersand Aquaboard panels.  The surface reacts much the same way as watercolor paper, but unlike paper, they can be displayed without glass once sealed.  These watercolors on panel are sprayed with fixative and then, for extra protection, coated with a cold wax finish.

    To see all of the Waterbound series available at Nahcotta, check out my artist page on their website.  Work is available for pre-show purchase now and the show will be up in the Portsmouth, NH gallery until September 30th.

    Image by me.

  • Practice. #watercolorsandcoffee

    Practice. #watercolorsandcoffee

    They say practice makes perfect, right?  Last year’s #100littleartworks project brought me not only a love of watercolors but also to the appreciation for daily creativity, even on the busiest of days.  At the end of last year, I began to cultivate the habit of creating everyday, usually in the morning over my second cup of coffee.  And so #watercolorsandcoffee was begun!  

    12 | 20 | 16 #watercolorsandcoffee 12 | 21 | 16 #watercolorsandcoffee 12 | 26 | 16 #watercolorsandcoffee

    Ordering more moleskin sketchbooks today!  Follow along on Instagram under the hashtag #watercolorsandcoffee!

    Images by me.