{contemplation}

That pleasure which is at once the most pure, the most elevating and the most intense, is derived, I maintain, from the contemplation of the beautiful.
{Edgar Allen Poe}

{growing up}

On Sunday, we celebrated my oldest turning 13. {sniff...sniff} The kids are growing up so quickly. {me too! lol}

Although I am melancholy about her growing up, I am so please with the beautiful young woman that she is becoming. She is my right-hand-woman around here and has such a loving and caring heart.

My Gram is still in town and took us all to one of our favorite seafood restaurants in the town of Anacortes, Wa. She had a great big bowl of clam chowder and a complimentary piece of raspberry covered cheesecake. I had the most amazing seafood caesar salad. Salmon, scallops, and shrimp oh my...

What do you think...does "mother-of-teenagers" look good on me???

{New art}

These are my encaustic paintings from the class that I took a week-and-a-half ago. I've finally gotten around to taking {albeit not the greatest} pics of them. 

The class was actually called "Encaustic collage" so I had some fun using some of my vintage photos and vintage fabrics. The queen anne's lace was a new technique that I learned. We learned how to do image transfers with photocopies. I am so glad that I learned how to do this technique properly and I can't wait to do some more!

I used the image transfer here as well and I got to use some of my beach pottery as well as some of my birch bark in this piece.

This was the last piece that I did in class. It was COMPLETELY outside of my comfort zone but I love how it looks so far. {I'm not quite sure that I'm done with it though.} I did the image transfer AGAIN {didn't realize I had done it on all 3 pieces until the end...} and the circles were done using a stencil. The circles came out irregular which was driving me crazy because I felt they looked sloppy. I was just about to scrape them off but Sue {the teacher} talked me off the proverbial ledge. She suggested that I use a tool and scrape off just the excess and make them more circular and defined. During that process, I found that I really wasn't wanting the circles to be perfectly circle but that I just needed the edges to be defined. I ended up embracing the irregular-ness of them. I feel that it needs something still, so I'm not sure that I'm quite done with it, but I am happy with the piece so far.

All of these pieces are about 8 X 8" and are hung on the back with wire. If you are interested in any of them, feel free to contact me at: jennifer.lennox{at}hotmail.com.  

"{ }" removed and @ inserted of course;)

{little bliss list 2/24}

I am participating in the weekly Little Bliss List over on Liv Lane's blog.


Liv's mission is to provide us a chance to celebrate the little things that bring us hope and happiness during our week. By sharing those little things, it helps others to see those small gifts in their lives as well!

{№1} My little Hailey was sick this week, when she is sick she is super snuggly. I got some extra snuggles with my little munchkin this week which was pure bliss!

{№2}She also discovered her paints this week. It was so sweet watching her mixing colors creating her masterpieces.

{№3}This is my sweet Gram. I whisked her away for a girl's day and surprised her by taking her to an art class.

{№4}That art class was a collage encaustic class by the sweet Sue Simpson. It was my very first encaustic class and the first time that I've use encaustic paints {encaustic medium and pigments}. I created one piece completely out of my comfort zone and am tickled with the results!

{№5}I took my Mom shopping for a new outfit to wear in job interviews. We found her a super cute outfit to wear, one outside of HER comfort zone but it looks awesome on her. {This is me in the fitting room practicing self photography and being the one in front of the camera for once...}

I hope your week was just as bliss-full!

{walking, maybe jogging}

He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.

{Friedrich Nietzsche}

I feel that I am firmly on my creative path, given that I just picked up the brush again in December. I'm not quite running, climbing, or dancing yet but I am making my way and slowly gaining momentum! 

Where are YOU on your path?

{weekend art class}

This weekend I had the privilege of taking an encaustics class in Seattle taught by the lovely Sue Simpson. She truly is lovely and has such a sweet heart!

This was my second time using encaustics and the first time that I tried the colors.

Class in session:)

I kidnapped my sweet Gram for a girl's day out and to introduce her to encaustics. Gram is a landscape artist that works mostly in acrylics and oils. It's not really Gram's "thing" art-wise, but she was a good sport and came back with some beautiful new art to take back home with her to Texas.

I brought quite a bit of goodies from my stash to use in our work.

We learned some new techniques and I am excited to get painting!

These are my 3 {mostly} finished works.

I hope you had a fun {and creative!} weekend as well!

{little bliss list 2/17}

I am participating in the weekly Little Bliss List over on Liv Lane's blog.


Liv's mission is to provide us a chance to celebrate the little things that bring us hope and happiness during our week. By sharing those little things, it helps others to see those small gifts in their lives as well!

{№1}My Mom moved here from Phoenix!

{№2}Me and The Mister stole away to Starbucks for a lunch date this week.

{№3} We also celebrated our 14 year anniversary.
{I celebrated with a glorious lavender essence creme brulee for dessert!}

{№4}I am continuing to listen {my word for the year!} to my true self and learning to stand in my own light.

{№5}Part of the "standing in my own light", is trusting my artistic voice for once, and creating pieces that are truly my own creations. Not taking another's design and changing it - creating from MY heart.
{new jewelry line coming soon!}

I hope your week was just as bliss-full!
xo

{New Image}

Last week on my photo walk with my girls, I asked my 13 year old if she would take a portrait of me so that I can use it on the web. I think she did an amazing job and I'm so proud of her! Of course I did some artistic edits but I am happy with the great shot that I had to work with.

{dream...a little list}

Take some online photography classes | Visit Paris and photograph the Eiffel Tower |

Pay off all credit cards | Open an Etsy shop or website with my original art |

Take the kids to Disneyland | Fit into a size 8 | Own a cottage house with room for a garden |

| Sit on a beach in Maui with Michael and renew our vows to each other privately | 

See my art in a book or magazine | Attend an art or photography retreat | Write a magazine article | Write a book | Teach an art class or seminar at a retreat | Buy a property with room for a studio and animals | Own a funky retro car | Raise caring, loving, respectful, and responsible children |

This is my on-going dream list. Many are focused around my art + photography. Now that I have found my {artistic voice} - I feel that I can start overcoming my fears and pursuing some of these dreams. 

Do you have a dream list? If so, I'd love for you to share it!

{take your needle}

"Take your needle, my child, and work at your pattern; it will come out a rose by and by. Life is like that - one stitch at a time taken patiently and the pattern will come out all right..."

{Oliver Wendell Holmes}

{to love beauty}

{my new art}

Here are the photos of my new work that I promised. I am *loving* encaustics! I am so drawn to the texture encaustic medium adds to a piece. So rich and so beautiful...

{"Golden Moments" 8X8 mixed media encaustic}

{"No Winter Lasts Forever" 5X5 mixed media encaustic}

{"Beauty Exists For Those Who See It" 5X5 mixed media encaustic}

{"The Weather's Fine" mixed media encaustic}

{"Autumn Morning" 5X5 mixed media encaustic}

{"Purity" 8X8 mixed media encaustic}

All of them are now available in my new shoppe. 

I am a little {ok, A LOT!} intimidated to send my art out into the world. I kind of just have to "not think about it" and just do it. Sort of a pretend to be brave until you're not pretending anymore kind of mentality.

I am trusting in that quote that I blogged a few days ago:

"Sometimes, if you aren't sure about something, you have to just jump off the bridge and grow wings on your way down."
{Danielle Steel}

Here's to new wings!

xo

jen

{little bliss list 2/10}

I've decided to join Liv Lane's weekly Little Bliss List on Fridays.

Here is my list for this week:)

{№1} I took 2 photo walks this week and got to spend some quality time with some of my kiddos. It was such a joy to see them enjoying taking pictures as much as I do.

{№2} I completed my first encaustic paintings and was able to get them photographed and loaded into my new Etsy Shoppe!

{№3} The orchid that I've been taking care of at work for over a year bloomed this week! So beautiful!

{№4} I was able to witness the most amazing sunset at Deception Pass. Just gorgeous!

{№5} My new camera arrived! I can't wait to take her for a "walk"!

{i'm melting}

I'm melting, literally! I received my first order of encaustics today and I'm hooked! In a span of about 5 hours tonight, I finished 4 pieces that I had previously started and had waiting and then created 3 brand new pieces. Here are a couple of Instagram photos from tonight. I will post better pics in the near future.

This is a closeup of one of the pieces. The dark piece is a rusted piece of iron that I picked up during a photo walk that I took today.

Here is a quick snappy of one of my favorite pieces. I took one of my photos and printed it onto muslin printable fabric. I've also included some vintage lace, vintage buttons, and the scalloped border is from a vintage envelope postmarked 1910. There is also an under layer of paper lace to give it a rich texture.

This is a dark-ish and not-so-great shot of the whole grouping. Like I said, I will post better pics. Hopefully by the end of the week!

xo

Jen

{along the sea}

Come walk with me
Along the sea
Where dusk sits on the land
And search with me
For shells are free,
And treasures hide in sand.

{author unknown}

Today I ventured to the beach. My reason was an intentional photo walk to do a little bit of self photography as well as some nature photography. {I also needed a bit of a recentering and we all know that is why God created beaches...}

I brought along my vintage Polaroid 340 to gather photos to use in future artwork.

I also brought along my newest vintage film camera, an Agfa Optima II s 35mm. This was the first time that I've used it, and I have to get the film developed, so it will be interesting to see how they turn out.

I have recently been inspired by the great Vivienne McMaster to try self portrait photography. This is a product of my first attempt at it. Shot with my dslr set with a self timer and sitting on a driftwood log in front of me. {I'm pretty sure the people walking by thought I was nuts...}

Various bits of beauty that I encountered...

And, a most perfect sunset at Deception Pass that I caught on the way back home.

xo

Jen