How Our House Became Haunted on Halloween!

We decided to host a Halloween party this year, and what a spooky scary ghostly ghastly time it was! Halloween truly is one of my favorite times of the year, and the most fun part for me of course was getting the house decorated. My goal was to create an abandoned old haunted house with ghosts, goblins, creepy crawly things and their webs, dark black crows, ghouls at every turn, a morgue complete with mutilated body parts, murder crime scene and haunted graveyard outside. One of my favorite scenes I created was of the ghost of the queen of the house in her bed surrounded by all her belongings, desperately grasping her beloved jewels and treasures!

When all was complete, the house truly seemed haunted -- and it was, once all the costumed guests arrived!

Check out some of the pics below, and Happy Halloween -- I can't wait until next year!!

Glitterfest Gone Ghoulish!

Fall Glitterfest was absolutely to die for!! :0) Ghostly ghastly ghouls, zombies, witches and creatures of the night -- and those weren't just the people walking around! So much talent, so many truly great artists under one roof -- it was a smashing success! Diane and Sheryl totally outdid themselves! Thanks so much to those two for all their hard work in putting together a frightfully fabulous show!

Here's a few photos of some of the pieces I did for this show -- it definitely was a departure from my normal work and brought out a little darker side to my art. But so much fun and I can't wait til next year!!

Sneaky Freaky Preview of What's Coming Soon!!

Fall Glitterfest is coming soon, and with its Hallowe'en theme, it brings out my...shall we say....dark side! It's a time of year that I really get to have alot of fun with my art, creating things with a creepy, edgy, twisted feel to them. Here are some samples -- hope to see you at Fall Glitterfest!

My Favorite Antique Store!!

I live in Orange, California. Old Town Orange is the antique center of the entire county, and one of the largest antique communities in the entire state. "Country Roads", one of the many antique mall stores in Orange is my absolute favorite! It specializes in shabby home decor, so many items with that vintage chippy painted look and with fabulous patina. If you're ever in the area you should really check it out, I'm sure you'll find that perfect something for your home --I know I do, every time I go in!

Here are some pics of my space in the "Country Roads" antique mall !!

Patriotic Bling !!

OK, so I've been a very bad girl and have not blogged in a really long time. My friend Stacey had to give me a swift kick and get me back blogging again, so here I am!

"Patriotic Bling" -- this jacket makes me feel so nostalgic whenever I look at it. It has a permanent place in my studio. Back in the day I used to paint on clothing, and have always loved rhinestones, so it was a natural to put the two together. As you know by now, I love painting women, so doing something with Lady Liberty got me started down the path of creating something with a patriotic theme. This old 80's denim jacket was just hanging around, so it became my canvas.


I started by hand-sewing all the red bugle beads, then began adding the jewels and rhinestones, and while doing that and looking at the result, and wanting to paint the Statue of Liberty, it just started to evolve. I thought, how cool it would be for her to be revealed from behind the American flag. So, I painted her on leather and applied her to the jacket, then created the flag effect with the zipper. It became, like, unzipping the flag revealed Lady Liberty.


After that I thought about the sleeves. Since the jacket was becoming a patriotic statement, I painted "America", also on leather, and applied to one sleeve. I absolutely love living in California, so that was an easy choice for the other sleeve. And then, I added the shoulder appliques, put a few fitting rhinestone and jeweled pins, and there it was!


I thought it turned out kinda nice, and Orange County was having its County Fair at the time, so I thought "Why not?", and entered it in the fair, and guess what! It won first prize and Best in Show! I actually did wear it once to a concert (Fine Young Cannibals -- where are they now? !!). The jacket really became a labor of love for me and like I said I keep it in view always!

My Favorite Paintings!

These are my favorite paintings I've done, ever. Of course, it is the subject matter that makes them my favorites -- they are my children! I painted them at different times in their lives.



This is my oldest, my son Vincent. I made this for him for his 8th birthday. What I love about this painting (acrylic on board) is it was a time when he was a real boy, back when boys were innocent and into toys and comic books. Just the sheer delight of playing in the street with his friends after school is what I wanted to portray, in a comic book setting, fighting his favorite arch-enemy characters. He became the super-hero, Vincinerator! Now, he's 21, a full time college student at UCLA.


Zachary, our middle child by six minutes (he and Olivia are twins) -- he's the comedian of the family! He loves to work out, so it was so fitting to make him into an action hero starring in his own movie. He often strikes this "signature" pose -- raised eyebrows, crossed arms, pretending he is super macho and studly -- but in reality he's just my lovable, crazy goof-ball Zach. Here he is (acrylic on canvas), starring in "Arms of Steel"!! Zach will turn 19 in September, he goes to junior college.


Olivia is the baby of the family (again, by 6 minutes!!). She has no problem posing for photos, never did, never will!. In this painting she's 6 years old. She was always into hair and fashion, even at a young age! I think this painting, an oil on canvas, truly captures her -- sweet, cute, beautiful, innocent, completely a girl, all sugar and spice. Now she's the inspiration for many of my mermaid paintings. Olivia also turns 19 in September and in junior college.


My pride, my joy, my children.

Day of the Dead

I love painting "Day of the Dead". Maybe because it's in my blood as a hispanic, or maybe because of the bright colors and -- even though the subject is of skulls and skeletons -- maybe because the tone is so upbeat and happy. I know people sometimes get creeped out by them, but I just find it fascinating and love painting this genre.

Of course, I also love jewelry, so it made perfect sense for me to marry the two. Here are some pics of some Day of the Dead bangle bracelets, and other paintings I've done. I'll be out at the Grove on Sunday, June 7th with them. They'll also be on sale soon on my Etsy page.

Victorian Mermaid Shadow Box

Here's something new I was experimenting with. I was looking through some old Victorian photos that I have, and I thought "How would she look as a mermaid?" :-). I am inspired greatly by old pictures and photos, timeless beauties, and with my love of mermaids, it seemed like a natural fit that she could become one. I don't normally do collages, but sometimes the right photo is perfect for creating one. So, I took an old sewing drawer, painted the inside to look like the undersea ocean, cut the picture, painted long red hair and her fish tail. Her fin is made of leaves. I added a few shells inside, some other crafty stuff for seaweed, glittered her up, framed the box in shells, and this is how she turned out! I liked it so much, I was inspired to do more, so I did a series of them. You can see this one on my Etsy site at LoriGutierrezArt.Etsy.com.

Crowns

One of my most favorite things to create are crowns. As I was looking at one of my chandeliers, I knew I could do something with crystals. First I tried just wiring them together, and then realized that wouldn't work, so I asked my dad how to solder, and pretty much just took it from there. That allowed me to connect all the crystals, beads, rhinestones all together. Now people ask me all the time if I give classes on soldering! But I just don't have the time :-), maybe someday when things aren't so hectic -- yeah, right! :o). Here's an example of one of the many crowns that I've made, available on my Etsy site!

A Glittery Weekend!!

WOW! What a weekend!! Back-to-back shows Saturday and Sunday!

Glitterfest on Saturday was such a wonderful event and a huge success!! Thanks to the ladies at Whimzy - Sheryl and Dianne - for a fabulous show!! They are in the stages of planning the fall show already, and no doubt it will be even better! Here's a few photos -- so many great artists were there & I feel so lucky to have been a part of it!




Here's Stacey, one of my favorite vendors. I always seem to find something to buy at her space! Thanks Stacey for pushing me to create a blog!

Sunday was a beautiful day at the Long Beach Flea Market. It was a great day too! Bought some fun projects -- I'll show you later! All in all, a fabulous weekend! Now it's time to get back into the studio -- except I can't until I clean up all the shells, glitter, beads, rhinestones, paint etc. that's out of control all over the place!

Other Places I'll Be!

And besides The Grove -- On the 3rd Sunday of each month, I'm at the Long Beach Antique Flea Market. And, coming up on May 16th, Saturday, is Glitterfest -- click here to check it out!!

My Very First Blog!!

Everybody has told me -- from my friends, my family, people I meet at the shows I sell at -- everyone -- that I need to have a blog. And you know something? They were right! Here it is, my very own Lori Gutierrez Decorating With Art Blog!! Where do I sell? Here are pics of my little space at The Grove -- the antique flea market held every first Sunday at Irvine Valley College in Irvine, CA.