Saint Paul Flint Hills Children's Festival

I was able to paint some large works for the Saint Paul Children's Festival this year thanks to the commission from Mark Granlund. Painting large is something that I have done for a long time now. Actually for the previous 12 years I painted large 55' stage size backdrops for a dance school. I have never had such thorough pre drawn plans as this time.  I generally just wing it and paint as I go. We needed them for the Ordway approval. There's always something new. It was kind of nice to have the plans and I was able to graph up the drawings draw them in and paint. The drawings works quite well to have someone paint with you. On more graphic works it's nice to have the drawing in place so you can sort of color by number with extra hands helping. It's just the embellishments and shading and extras that are done at the end.

It was a fun surprise to see this large 6' sandwich board down by the Landmark Center with the preliminary pictures and a little bio. I looked at them right away to see if I had any funny notes on the sides list grocery lists or something to remember. No, all was fine just the quotes that we decided not to use as the paintings were going to be on top of the tent and may be frustrating to read at an angle. They are some really great quotes on reading all the same.

"I was one that knew very early that I wanted to be an artist, maybe age 5, and after telling my mother this she bought me a little beret. It was that very early dreaming and acknowledgment that has continued to inspire me. Art is integrated into my life now as a working mother and has been the compass for fulfillment in my life. As a Twin City native I have been painting and drawing here for many years. Some of the diverse projects include teaching at the MN Landscape Arboretum, painting fabric commercially, illustrating, painting backdrops, murals and recently iPad drawings and illustrations. I am happy to have my 13 year old daughter help with this project. She is an artist already in her own right. She has helped with the backdrops, has illustrated an alphabet book with her teacher, designed two different t-shirts for her school and sent herself to Sweden last summer by painting and selling her won jewelry line. Thanks for sharing in our fun at the StoryTime Tent!" Lisa

"What I wanted most for my daughter was that she be able to soar confidently in her own sky, whatever that may be." Helen Claes