Happy New 2026!

Dog Going 
oil on canvas

HELLO and Happy New Year!  Here is to a new year of  PEACE for everyone.  

I feel like this dog right now.  On a path to who knows where.  Last year was a year of very little art making compared to years past, but as I type this I am reassured that the time was not wasted.  I am seated at my dining room table and looking at the garden which is full of winter beauty.  The garden is where I spent a bulk of my time.  However, currently I am painting nearly every morning for at least two hours, and feeling a need to create at a level I have not experienced for some time.  I am happy about this because I was feeling so uninspired as far as making art goes.  I continued enjoying the art of others, but I felt that I personally had nothing new to say with my art.

 I made a switch to painting on paper and I think that somehow this unlocked my creativity from its dry spell.  What began as a way to practice techniques and color, eventually evolved into a growing collection of some fun little works.  I am putting these "small offerings" in my Etsy shop now for a very affordable price, and my actual painting paintings can now be found on my website https://www.lisagrahamart.com/

    I am going to try to post on here more this year, but I am more regularly on

Instagram and Facebook

If we are not already connected there, please come find me and say hello!

Mixed media on paper

(sold)

Quiet Comforters

 

Quiet Comforters
oil on canvas
9x12 inch
purchase

"The real subject of every painting is light."

                                   --Claude Monet

Three 5x7 Paintings

Blue Light Night
oil on linen panel

                    Painting on this small size is a challenge.  They take so long because of their small size and my older eyes probably make it harder.  I often paint over things and wipe out things, constantly changing the composition and sometimes the entire color palette.  I have found these little paintings to be frustrating latley, so I did not order any more of this size of linen panel.  I am now painting on 8x10 on up to 20x24 canves, much more freeing!  

Chair Duo
oil on linen panel

Small Duo
oil on linen panel

 

I recently came across THIS video posted by The Netherlands Bach Society and have been obsessively listening to this music while I paint, cook, and wash dishes.  Thomas Bauer's voice is so beautiful. 

I do not always listen to classical, but this slow and mournful cadence speaks something comforting and deep into my soul during these quiet and contemplative weeks in Winter.

I am Going to Listen to Maira Kalman

 

Wichita, Kansas received a gift late in 2024 and that was a Barnes and Noble bookstore on the west side of town.  I personally have waited for this to happen since 2014.  It only took ten years. 

One of my first purchases, besides a grande size cafe peppermint mocha, was this beautiful book by Maira Kalman.  I adore her illustrations in ALL of her books and this one is now my new favorite.  If you look through the book and then start going through all the bits and pieces you can find about her on the internet, you may just find yourself wishing you could go out to lunch with her like I do.

This video says it all, in my opinion, about her, and her art, and her writing.  I am going to go live now while you watch this video titled How to Find Humor in Life's Absurdity.  Take care.

Lisa

Gregory Alan Isakov

 

It is always a gift to discover new music and when I found the music of Gregory Alan Isakov while living in Colorado, I knew I would be a devoted listener for a lifetime.  It was his album This Empty Northern Hemishere that lulled me off to sleep every night for six months during an intensive season of insomnia.  The soothing opening with Dandelion Wine worked every time and off to sleep I would drift.  I listened to that album in the car and in the studio and while cooking dinner.  It quickly became an all time favorite. 

I didn't think he could make an album that I would love as much as This Empty Northern Hemisphere, but when Appaloosa Bones came out, it was that album that became a go-to for me.  He came to Wichita, Kansas to play with his amazing band last February and I will never forget the experience of hearing all the songs so familiar to me spilling off the stage in layers of gorgeous sound.  

This video featuring the song The Fall which is the opening song on Appaloosa Bones, is so artistic and inspiring.  I hope you will enjoy it.  

Two New Paintings and Blue Inspiration

Girl and Dog With Red Collar
oil on panel 5x7 inch
available here

 

It is already May 15 and here in Kansas, our usual March and April rains are coming this month.

Cloudy Day Countryside
oil on panel 5x7 inch
available here

        

It has been wonderful because now the blue cornflowers are blooming.  Last year I threw wildflower seed into a sunny patch of lawn to try to transform it into a mini meadow.  It didn't do much last year, however this year it has matured.

Little Painting of a Big Strawberry
oil on linen panel 4x6 inch
available here

I have strawberries growing as well and so far I think I've eaten four and painted one.

:)

Three Nocturnal Paintings

 

House at Night With Clouds
oil on linen panel 6x4 inch
$85

Whether it is in photography or in paint, a night scene has a special quietness.  I love the challenge of capturing that quietness in a painting.

Nocturnal Reading
oil on linen panel
7x5 inch
$125

I'm still painting every morning, beginning just after the coffee is made.  I have four lights in my workspace.  This habit has inspired many "darker" paintings and night scenes.  All of these compositions are imaginative. 

Green Bedroom at Night
oil on linen panel 
7x5 inch
$125

These paintings can be purchased from me directly by contacting me or you can visit my Etsy shop.  Shipping is free in USA.

These paintings are on a linen canvas panel and will fit into most standard frames.  

Here is my studio recently.  This photo was taken during the day, so it's much brighter than when I work.  In the foreground is my guitar that I never play.  I tried to pick it up again, but I guess I am just too scattered right now.

Last Fall I planted 175 bulbs.  They are starting to pop up all over the place and it's fun to go out each day and see new ones.

Painting will start to take a back seat now that garden season is here.  This has been becoming my rhythm.

I added this chandelier that I found at an antique store recently and it added some charm to the patio.  It doesn't work, but the bulbs catch the light and sparkle.  I am excited to grow a vine of some kind on the trellis.  That will be so beautiful.  

Until next time! 

♥