The Lovely Art of Christie Repasy

One of the things I always look forward to is going to an event where artist Christie Repasy
will be showing her beautiful paintings and art work.

I'm sure you are all familiar with Christie from her lovely blog Chateau De Fleurs and seeing her
work in leading magazines, her HGTV appearance and on Rachel Ashwell's television show.

I first met Christie at the Olivenhain sale over a year and a half ago.  I was very familiar with her
beautiful paintings and it was such a wonderful pleasure to find her absolutely sweet and delightful.
I was just beginning to blog and wasn't quite sure if it was something I would really want to do but
she was warm and encouraging and...well, here we all are!

Some people are just born to be artists and Christie is one of those people. Her paintings are
all beautiful and peaceful.  She is best known for her French inspired romantic roses and florals
but it doesn't stop there. You should see what happens when she adds her art to chairs, doors,
shutters, etc.  It is an amazing artistic transformation.
She is a true California girl having grown up in Huntington Beach, California and studied art in
high school and college and from there developed her own exquisite style.  She has plans to take
her existing designs from already completed pieces and use them in textiles and wallpaper...and
that is just the beginning!
Here are a few more examples of Christie Repasy's beautiful paintings...

Chairs where she has added her beautiful florals...

I am looking forward to seeing Christie again in the beginning of June at her next show at
The Vintage Marketplace at The Oaks in Rainbow, California. 
I know you will want to visit Christie's lovely blog Chateau De Fleurs where you can also find links
to her HGTV appearance, Pinterest site and her events.  When you visit please say hello for me
and tell her I send her a big hug.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

I am linking to The Charm of Home/
My Romantic Home
How Sweet The Sound

(All art work and photos courtesy of Christie Repasy)

Please Meet Metal Sculptor Dick Lanne

I recently introduced you to artist Jennifer Lanne in a post here. In that post I mentioned
her talented husband artist Dick Lanne and promised I would soon be showing you some
of his wonderful and unique work. Dick Lanne is a metal sculptor...

Dick is a blacksmith and each metal sculpture is molded, melded and contorted out of old
stock, iron, strapping, pitchforks and farm found tools. Here are a few more of his unique
and handsome pieces...

Dick Lanne forges each iron piece using vintage tools...

High heat and anvils in a proper primitive manner without the use of electricity...
(here you can almost feel the heat)...

His blacksmith shop is located in an old barn attached to the pig-pen and house which is
inhabited by a pair of 700 pound English Saddleback hogs!

Dick Lanne is mainly a self-taught blacksmith with some knowledge passed down from
an old family friend, as well as numerous books and personal study.

In the near future I am also hoping to show you more of their wonderful farm.  You can
visit Jennifer's delightful blog here to see more of both Dick's and Jennifer's work.

It is always such a pleasure to meet new and creative people. This time it's been fun
showing art work that is very masculine and primitive and yet very current.

I want to thank my friend Stephanie Lloyd for introducing me to the wonderful work of
Jennifer and Dick Lanne. Stephanie is back to blogging again (thank goodness because
she is so talented) and you can find her lovely blog here.  Just click on her "My Blog" tab.

Have a wonderful week.

(All photos courtesy of Jennifer Lanne)

Please Meet Artist Jennifer Lanne

This past year I was introduced to the wonderful  work of artist Jennifer Lanne.  I have
been awestruck by her beautiful and amazing paintings.

The person who brought Jennifer to my attention was my friend Stephanie Lloyd.  You
see, she and Jennifer are also friends in upstate New York.

Jennifer and her husband Dick Lanne, also an amazing artist, live on an old farm where
the house dates back to the late 1700's.  Her studio is in their centuries old barn with
views of orchards, farmland and her beloved animals...chickens, roosters, pigs and
goats to name a few.  I'm quite certain these artist's creativity is fueled by the beautiful
and inspiring surroundings and environment.

Jennifer has been featured in the magazine Where Women Create and also Country
Living magazine.  She is going to be featured in a coming issue of Where Women Cook
where you will be invited into her home and kitchen and see some of her fabulous
cookie art!  I will also be giving you a peek at that in a future post.

But today I want to show you a few of her amazing and beautiful paintings...

 

 

Dick Lanne is an artist in metal works.  His art of blacksmithing forged sculptural
displays for many of Jennifer's paintings which creates the perfect marriage of metal and
canvas.  I am also hoping to be able to show you more of his work in a future post.

They truly are a creative couple...

Stephanie Lloyd's beautiful home holds a wonderful collection of Jennifer's work
including entire walls that Jennifer has painted as murals.  Stunning!

And paintings...

As you can see from the picture above, Jennifer is absolutely adorable!!!  But, don't
think for one minute that this beautiful artistic woman is a shrinking violet...

I will be showing you more of Jennifer's studio and home and animals in future posts.
In the meantime please take a look at her wonderful site HERE.  You can see more
of her paintings and read her charming blog.

I hope you are all having a wonderful week.

(Photo of Jennifer and Dick Lanne from Country Living magazine)

(All other photos courtesy of Jennifer Lanne and Stephanie Lloyd)

The Olivenhain Grove Sale Event

Good morning! I don’t know about you but I am having a lazy Sunday morning.

Yesterday I drove down the coast to the Olivenhain Grove Sale. It turned out to be an
absolutely lovely day. The sale event was set up by Gail of Casual Loves Elegance (I’m
sure you have all been following her lovely blog) on her beautiful property. It was such a
treat to walk among the lemon groves on such a pretty spring morning.

There were so many wonderful artists displaying their many talents and antiques..
I arrived early and met up with a friend and we just took our time and wandered
around to every booth and enjoyed talking with everyone.

There were so many talented vendors but I will only have time to name a few in this
blog...as I said, I am having a very lazy Sunday morning. Before I go any further I want
to mention that I was having problems with my camera. I had just replaced the battery
and somehow, without me knowing, it had automatically changed all my settings.
Unfortunately, the pictures are all fuzzy but I wanted to show them anyway because the
women are all so beautiful and so much fun. I have since found the problem and reset the
settings. My apologies for the fuzzy photos.

The lovely Christie Repasy was there to display her beautiful and romantic floral art from
her Chateau De Fleurs(another popular site/blog). Christie was wonderful to talk with,
and lots of fun. Her roses are so well known.  I forgot to mention to her that I have an
original of hers that was given to me several years ago. I love it and it is hanging in the
hall near my bedroom. There is something about her art that is both beautiful and peaceful.

I also had a lovely conversation with Shirley Castellanos from The Cottage In The Garden.
She has beautiful Vintage Linens. Her bloomers are so much fun and her shirts and
designs are delicate and fabulous. She has amazing creations of linens and laces.

Lynn Russell had a beautiful display with lots of wonderful silver pieces. She is so
knowledgeable and so interesting to learn from. She is a wonderful designer.

Pam from White Ironstone Cottage had her lovely "whites" on display. Charming! 
Her collection is wonderful. She and Gail are so much fun and very lovely and kind.
They had so many interesting things to choose from. Gail has so much energy.
She even had a vintage Mercedes for sale! Just to let you know how kind she is, she
even asked me if I needed some sunscreen for my cheeks. I’m very fair and tend to
turn pink quite quickly. I was fine, and so impressed with her thoughtfulness.

Cathryn Rinkel and Judy Kirk were showing their Vintage Rustica. So pretty and fun
to see quotes on unsuspecting places. And birdhouses that are absolutely charming.

These are just a few of the people who made it such an enjoyable day. They are all so
talented and so lovely and it was such a pleasure to meet each and every one of these
gifted artists.

I hope they do this again in the not so distant future...once they get their energy back...
because it was a lovely way to spend a day.

Again, I apologize for the fuzzy photos and will make it up to these beautiful girls next time.

Thank you to all of them...we had a great time!