People: Returning to an Old Favorite!

In college, my favorite subject matter to paint was "the joys of childhood." I was pretty good at it until one professor insisted I took the photos away because joy can't be captured in a photo, it can only be felt (ooooh, the days of art school: when everyone, especially the teachers, thought they were great philosophers of life). Shouldn't have listened, confidence faltered... But now I'm back in the groove! Here's a recent painting I did for my amazing sister who just graduated nursing school, hence the caption on the paper.

 

 

I had to have some dental work done this summer... by some, I mean a lot. That's what I get for not visiting the dentist since high school. ANYway, my endodontist was amazing and generous. So for him, I had his assistant nab a photo of his baby boy and voila!

A great friend asked me to paint an engagement photo of her brother and his fiance for a wedding present.

This one touched me to the core. This is Ann Michelle King who recently lost her eight year battle with cancer. She's one of those people you meet once and never forget, I can attest to that. She had amazing spirit and was an inspiration. Her best friend had me paint this photo of her, I just hope I did her justice. 

 

My Sophie Girl...

My Sophie, rescued by OK Save a Dog... this photo was taken before I had finished the background

PORTION OF PROFITS GO DIRECTLY TO OKSAD! 

Custom Pet Portraits

by Lauren LaBeau Steadley - artistlabeau@gmail.com

Send a photograph or a few, request a different background if desired, and VOILA!

...Ink and Watercolor...

I have always loved watercolors, especially with the added effect of a bold ink pen to enhance the sketch. They're also a lot quicker to produce than a large acrylic painting on canvas! It's fun to have a finished piece of art within a day's time. In college, I was introduced to one of my favorite artists who has inspired me with his bold lines and colors... Perhaps he will inspire you, too! http://www.art-prints-gallery.com/gallery/raoul_dufy/ (scroll down for his best works, especially the one with the Eiffel Tower- my favorite, of course)

Enjoy!

 

Miami... for Lydia. She fell in love with the city.

 Whimsical fall thank you card

 I had this piece put on note cards... For my mom-in-law, Lissa, and her poodle, Button.

 A Mary Engelbreit inspired painting for my amazing mom who is graduating school to become a pastry chef. SO PROUD.

 My little sis is getting marrrrried! Here are her RSVP and invite cards. I surprised her by placing her precious pups sitting under the tree in the RSVP and an iris (my dad's favorite flower) in the invitation.

 I helped a friend design a t-shirt for the MS Walk. I decided to make another sketch, paint and frame it as a memento for the gal who was walking... recently diagnosed with the disease. Prayers to her, please.

Apparently you can follow my blog by pressing a button around here somewhere! Please do and check out the other posts, especially the doggie one... I promise not to spam you with a bunch of random updates. Thanks for your support, friends!

Doggie Paintings! Portion of profits go to OK Save a Dog!

For pricing information or any other questions, please email me at artistlabeau@gmail.com

Here are some of the dog paintings I've created! They are acrylic on 8x10 or 11x14 canvas. All are painted from the photographs sent to me by the dog's owners. As long as I have a good photo of the dog, I can change the background to any desired design. Don't forget, half of the profits go to OK Save a Dog, the shelter at which I adopted my Sophie girl. You can visit oksaveadog.org for more info on this great organization. Two ladies are running the entire shelter out in Prague, OK and they save hundreds of dogs' lives every year- and countless human lives who adopt these great animals.

Button - the beloved black poodle belonging to my in-laws

 Boston Terrier for my wonderful friend's mother

 

 My kickboxing instructor's mastiff, Chloe

 This is why I don't like people watching me paint..... Sometimes the process can be pretty frightening!

 Reggie, the Chinese Crested pup my sis and bro-in-law rescued

Bella, a friend's treasured doggy

Photo of upcoming painting......... look at these sweet guys!

Mountain Landscape Commission - Most Time Consuming Painting I ' ve EVER DONE

Voila! And here's how it happened......

A wonderful friend from high school asked me to create a painting inspired primarily by Mount Evans in Colorado and the photo below with yellow landscaping.

Here's the rough draft, getting the composition together. Mind you, this is a quite large 3 x 4 foot canvas.

 My living room setup... I know Ryan is happy I'm done so I'm not hogging the only TV anymore!

Coming right along... My friend and I both decided the tan mountains just didn't cut it. Trying to figure out a shade of gray that works with the colors. Since purple and yellow are complimentary colors, I went with a more violet gray.

Many (many, many, many) hours pass, and here's the final piece in natural sunlight. I wish I had taken more photos of the details in the painting, because a lot went into it. However, I'm glad it's off of my hands and into the hands of my friend!

I've been working on a ton of different art pieces this spring, so more posts to come! Especially now since testing is over at school- hallelujah!!!

Painting Inspired by Jack Vettriano

Lauren LaBeau Steadley

Jack Vettriano is one of my fav artists so I decided to take his painting, The Singing Butler, and put my own spin on it! Here's the process......

I'll be painting another one (but bigger for over the fireplace) inspired by Jack because I really like how this one turned out! 

New Years Resolution

With 2012 underway, I have decided to finally get some art out there to see. I even have a business card now!

For my first post, I'll start with some gifts I've painted for family and friends.......

 Paintings of wedding photos for my mom and Ryan's parents.

 Close up of my mom and dad's wedding photo painting.

 A secret Santa present I did for a colleague- he had two blonde kiddos... and well, everyone knows I love the beach!

 Anniversary watercolor! Inspired by two separate photos I took on this vacation. Pay no attention to the raccoon, not part of the painting!

 Painting from a photo of the NY cabin at which my mom spent many summers.

Close up.

 

A set of paintings inspired by the wonderful Mary Engelbreit. Each painting describes each one of her children.

Describes moi.

Chris, my brother and I know he'll always be this age in my mom's eyes. 

Dani, my sister, who I know makes my mom laugh each and everyday.

I gave this to my mom on Father's Day. The iris was my dad's favorite flower.

Watercolor

The day Jace proposed to my sister, there was a double rainbow. God was smiling down on them!

 
A set of paintings I created for Dani one Christmas.

 A painting a made for my Papa shortly after my grandma died. From a photo.

 A mountain scene for Ryan's parents for Christmas! Inspired by several photographs.

 A Christmas present for my wonderful Aunt Corinne. Joy is her favorite word!

The following three are paintings I made for my wonderful teammates!

I can think of several other presents I've given right off the top of my head. I'm fairly awful about getting pictures of my art, so if I have given you one, could you pretty please take a picture and email it to me at artistlabeau@gmail.com? MUCH appreciated!