Lauren Edmond paintings

“Here & Beyond” The Artistas de Loisaida show at the Tompkins Square Library Gallery

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Artistas de Loisaida presents: Tompkins Square: “Here & Beyond”
February 1 – 27, 2010 at the Tompkins Square Library Gallery

Here are my 4 paintings from Here and Beyond, February 2010

Welcome to Veronica’s house, “Spring water”.

Actually, Spring Water is the home of Veonica and Andrey, and their dog Gracie.

It’s a log cabin they recently built in North Carolina. In building their deck, Veronica refused to remove a tree that was “in the way” and instead opted to build the deck around the tree, thereby honoring the tree and making her home even more unique. It was inspiring! So when she asked me if she could commission a painting of her home, the answer was YES!

Veronica and I met online about 10 years ago. And although we live in different parts of the country, we continue to stay in touch. Using the internet, I was able to send her sketches of her painting in progress, and we both thought it would be fun to share this on the blog. So here is the painting-in-progress, and there will be more posts as it progresses. Meanwhile, here are the first 3 versions of “Spring Water: Veronica’s house” ….

This is the initial sketch,

The first version:

How it looks today, Sunday, October 25, 2009:

Latest installment: Monday, November 16, 2009:

More to come…. !

Visit Lauren’s online gallery and see more paintings….

There’s an interesting ‘salon’ style show hanging at the Tompkins Square Library called MENAGERIE: Creative ExPression of the Lower East Side 2009. It was curated by Shell Sheddy and will be hanging through October 30.

With 40 prolific artists participating, there is art everywhere! And– there are scheduled performance, poetry, and films every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Info will be on facebook.

Here are my 3 paintings in MENGERIE: Creative ExPressions of the Lower East Side 2009

Carolyn and the Artistas liked my 3 Howlin’ Trees and asked for one more. Now there are 4 hanging in the gallery at Theater for the New City. The show runs through September 30. The reception is September 9 from 5:30-8pm. It’s festive!

Here’s the 4th in the series of Howlin’ Trees.

Here’s an invitation to the 2009 HOWL show

After much thought… and encouragement from Carolyn Ratcliffe, I decided to participate in the 2009 HOWL show with the Artistas. I’ve lost count of how many shows we’ve done over the past 5 years, so check my website! for the list.

I was asked for 3 paintings. After the show was hung, I was asked for a 4th painting, now hanging in the gallery!

Next decision — what to show? So I read Howl by Allen Ginsberg and decided on 3 paintings of the East Village that evoke the poetry and wild side that is still sometimes present, but mostly fading into the mists. Reading Ginsberg’s words from 1956, they are still as risque and cutting as they were back in the 50s. Perhaps we have come full circle, down into the maze of urban bohemian “angelheaded hipsters” “smoking in the supernatural darkness of coldwater flats” “contemplating jazz” and back to a society entrenched in it’s values, pretending nothing’s wrong. Business as usual. No global warming here! No threat of swine flu. We don’t even need health care. Let’s go shopping!

Thinking about Ginsberg’s words, I thought these paintings of Howlin’ Trees were the best choices from my work to describe the colors and shapes that HOWL evokes. (i changed the order so you can see them all!)

This one of the few remaining elder trees of the Tompkins Square. In the 5 years I’ve been painting the park, these few ancient trees have dwindled. Some have fallen due to disease, others to storms. This old tree stands on the corner of 7th Street and Avenue B, across from St Brigid. Here’s Howlin’ Tree

St Brigid is an 1850s Irish famine church saved from destruction by the people of the East Village in 2007. Ochre yellow, it sits on the southeast corner of Tompkins Square. When it was scheduled to be torn down, the people took action. What finally saved the church was an anonymous donor. Renovation is supposed to begin, meanwhile it is still closed, and still standing!

The night had me enchanted! Walking through Tompkins Square can feel like walking through a forest, a journey that takes you through the maze of paths and howlin’ trees, and finally back out onto the city streets. But when you resurface, you have the distinct impression you’ve been someplace else.

This night scene is the view (southwest) from the dog run in Tompkins Square, with the Crescent Moon rising.

Fall night in Tompkins Square is magical. Changes happen you aren’t fully aware are happening! You walk into the park in one mood, and come out in another place. This is the middle of the park, those old tree limbs have seen a lot of history.

Hope you can come to the show! There’s a magical transformation that happens when they’re printed in high resolution on beautiful cotton rag– and framed! And hanging in a gallery;-)

The show will be on view starting Saturday night, August 28. It continues through September 30.
You can email me and get an invitation or just pick one up here!

We consume a considerable amount of squash. So it’s not really surprising that a squash is growing out of our compost in the backyard. Yet, it is a miracle! I had wanted to make a vegetable bed in the backyard, but just didn’t have the time or resources to make it happen. And, I was busy planting paintings in the East Village this spring. A friend even gave me a packet of squash seeds. Miraculously, the squash that is growing is the same variety as the packet of seeds she gave me, though I never planted them! Yet, they are growing. Here’s the first in a series of growing squash.

The Town of Woodstock is a very enlightened place for many reasons. And their town government reflects this in many ways. Mostly because the people are literally invested in keeping their community free of overdevelopment. So they learn about the issues and participate in the process of governing. The Woodstock Land Conservancy maintains easements that allow people access to the land, put there as a land trust. Keeping it that way takes vigilance.

Comeau is a land trust in Woodstock, NY. It’s about 78 acres. There are big fields for playing ball, and forested area with trails and a stream, and few more big fields. It’s dog friendly, and well-behaved dogs can roam off leash, except for the parking lot and soccer fields, which is in everyone’s best interest. We leash whenever it’s time to “hold hands”. Just reading the latest updates on the Comeau easement issue in Woodstock Times, i remembered my painting! Here’s the building where the government offices are located on the Comeau property, in the early spring of 2008. I finally “finished” it.

my work goes through many phases. sometimes less is enough. and just seeing the paintings in all their forms can be fun.

so in that spirit, here’s the 6th BC Botanical garden in the spring of 2009. perhaps a work in progress, perhaps it is done!

the 6BC Botanical Garden is, of course, located on 6th Street between Avenues B&C, in the East Village, or Loisaida, or in the atlas, Tompkins Square, NY. The garden itself is a work of art, and the result of the work of many gardeners. Unlike the other community gardens where each gardener has their own plot, 6BC is one garden that all gardeners share. Here’s another painting from 6BC, in September of 2006,

This painting is part of the show currently hanging at Planet One Cafe. More on that show soon!

This is a show of my recent paintings of Woodstock and Saugerties.

There are 6 paintings in this show.

First up. This is the Bridge Over Saugerties. Saugerties NY is a hidden treasure that I don’t really want to publicize, though Jimmy Fallon is a native, so he does it all the time, in his usual “pretend this is self-deprecating” style! Who ever heard of Saugerties?! The town is perched on the Hudson and there are magnificent views, including a lighthouse on the Hudson river, open to the public. Many people have lived here for generations. Yet, there are an increasing number people coming to Saugerties from all over the world. The town is just too beautiful to go unnoticed. Saugerties has several art groups, which I will hopefully be able to join for as long as I”m actively working in the area….

So here’s “Bridge Over Saugerties”, 2009. I’ve taken hundreds of photos of this bridge, in every weather condition and season. This painting is summertime, probably my favorite season to paint. Currently, the land in the foreground has been sold and will be turned into a hotel complex. Construction started over the last few weeks. I often do my laundry across the street and walk the dogs in the field and through the town. We all enjoy it ^^:-)