Journal

Wow!

Laura Muraco — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:38:32 +0000

My goodness, I am so behind in the blogosphere, if you are still out there thank you!

I am literally one day away from our "due date" and wow, this time of preparing to become a mother has been a whirlwind, but a really magical wind to be swept up in! John and I are so so excited to meet our little one!! Even though this whole process of procreation has been going on for hundreds of thousands of years I still feel totally shocked every step of the way towards motherhood. From the first kick to the incredible transformation my body had gone through I am completely blown away by the magic of opening myself up to bringing a new life to earth. The nursery is prepared, the cloth diapers and clothes are all washed, folded and put away and now I just cannot wait to meet our baby!

I have so much that I want to share, some new paintings I really love that I am anxious to get photographed and ready for new prints and also some new originals for my shop too! Thank you so much to everyone who made it out the "The Future is Female" show! What a fun night and thank you for all of your kind words and support and for making it such a success! I really loved meeting so many new and interesting people and sharing my art!!

I will be back as soon as I can with more to share, it may take me a bit to find my stride with my new little baby and balencing it all but I can't stay away from my paint brushes for long so please check back soon for more. Also baby news!

♡♡♡

Thank you Dtown!

Laura Muraco — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:54:22 +0000

I am so very excited and honored by the recent most publication of Dtown Magazine in which I was the featutred artist! I could not possibly be happier with the article or beautiful presentation! Here is a link to the Dtown website so you can take a peek!

My upcoming show at "Our Garage Space" has been rescheduled to April 7th from 6- 10! Our Garage Space is located at 43 N. Sitgreaves street in Easton, PA. Our Garage Space is a super cool gallery with great art, people, music and there will even be a fashion show! If you are there say Hi! I hope you can make it!

xoxo!

The Four Directions

Laura Muraco — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:51:41 +0000

"When They Gather"

20". 15.5"

"When They Gather" is my latest piece, and I fills my heart to look at it. This piece revels a stone unturned in my art, a softness that calls to my inner child's eye. Mystery, magic, unseen worlds and nooks and crannies for the eyes to crawl through. I remember staring for hours at my favorite picture books like Heckety Peg and The Stinky Cheese Man being completely engulfed by the allusive and complete worlds brought to life with the pencils and brushes of masterful artists.

I also find it interesting how expanded the view is in this piece. The figure is not alone but is surrounded by attentive friends and a enchanted landscape. Perhaps this is a direct correlation with my own expansion of space in leaving NYC and moving out to the woods of PA.

I did not come to this canvas with a strong concept in mind, as I am finding is a much more authentic and sincere way of creating. The only concept I intertwined into " When They Gather" is the Natvie American tradion of calling in the four directions to create a circle of protection and guidance in times of ceremony, healing and mediation. In Zuni tradition:

the Bear represents the West

the Wolf is the East

The Badger is the South

Mt Lion is the North

Eagle is Higher Realms

Mole is Lower Realms

Each animal has it's own essence that is called upon when the direction is called. You may be familiar with the four directions from the Native American Medicine Wheel The directions are also intertwined with the elements as well. For more information on Zuni animal sprits a great book is Zuni Fetishes

detail

I am so very excited because I have a show coming up March 31st April 7th at "Our Garage Space" in Easton, PA. I hope that if you are in the area you can make it! Now back to painting for me, I have had baby on the brain and my unpainted sketches are pilling up!

♡♡♡!

A very very special suprize!

Laura Muraco — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:11:07 +0000

I know it has been a while since my last post and I hope you will excuse me. I like you to meet the little culprit who has been taking my focus as of late

↓

Da naaaa!!!!!

Eek! This is our first ultrasound and here our little one is only 13.5 weeks ( I am now 17 wks) and he or she is already the sweetest little peanut baby I have ever seen!

It feels very good to be back in my little corner of cyber space and I promise now that I have turned the corner out of the first trimester morning sickness (all day sickness) I will be back soon with new art!

♡♡♡

Scenes of Summer

Laura Muraco — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:32:00 +0000

As summer bursts into the flames of autumn, I am feeling just like a cake ready to come out of the oven. I go through so much transformation in the heat of summer, by the end of it I am filled to the brim and ready to digest ...

Here are a few images of a summer past.

painted toes and scratchy, saggy lounge chairs.

Barbecues, summer cottages, chilled white wine, sunburns.

Black Eyed Susans hoarding the sun.

Stillness ...

A boat ride around the island we stay.

The sun will still dance, in it's thickening sky...

.... Till next years bloom, my beloved season of light.

Time to Breathe

Laura Muraco — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 14:27:17 +0000

Wow! Summer is my favorite season of all but I am definitely ready to unwind, get back into my rythms and be HOME sweet HOME

Here is our cozy new abode! Nestled in the woods amongst the lumbering bears and speckled fawns, I could not possibly love our home more. John and I have been so busy from dawn to dusk painting, cleaning and unpacking - hence my lack of posts as of late.

One of the first things I did (besides unpacking the kitchen and our bedroom) was set up my new studio!

I took the before picture after we had added a coat of primer. I don't know if you can see in the first picture but this room had giant red and black squares teamed with black windows, it took 3 coats of paint (4 if you include priming) to paint this room! Removing the basketball hoop was quite a job as well, I still have to touch up the spot is was with some more paint.

I love how the Ecru paint came out, it has a soft glow without being over powering. 75% of this studio is from antique shops, maybe 10% is Ikea and the rest is "hand me downs" or gifts.

Now back to painting, which I have been itching to return to!

♥♡♥

Moving...

Laura Muraco — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:35:59 +0000

John and I are moving! Ugh.. I am burried in boxes and borax, scrubbing and packing. But it will all be worth it soon, I am very excited about our first house! Come Friday John and I will have the keys to our very first home to call our own!

I hope you are enjoying a lovely summer, and I look forward to returning with some updates soon!

Painting....truthfully

Laura Muraco — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 21:06:18 +0000

George and the kitty bat signal

For the past couple months I have devoted much of my time to creating my new website, posting in my Etsy shop, researching galleries, working on my resume... which has been great, but I am really feeling the pull to go back to my easel and to go deeper with my art. With the internet it seems everything has become about speed, production, selling and staying at the cutting edge, which can be super inspiring! But I also have found that swimming in that pressure can drown out my uniqueness and authenticity in an effort to "win".

My husband is an Art Therapist with an amazing eye, so I have very little wiggle room when it comes to "faking it"on my canvases before he will call me on it. What I mean by "faking it" is faking it to myself, faking it to others, faking the claim "I am am artist". To me being an artist entails brave self-excavation, digging into truths unseen that can be brought to light with a brush. Even in the seemingly most simple painting, of the most light hearted of subjects it all comes down to storytelling, so the question is what is the story? What I have found in the last couple years is that the truth can only be danced out of me, whenever I plan, contrive, imitate, or push I only end up with crap. Because I am trying to tell something than allow something. The stories worth giving our hearts to often come in through the back door, trip us up, catch us off guard and reveal something unexpected. Depth is so allusive, but I think that is all we really see when we look at art - the sub text, and if the sub text is brave and sincere the subject of the painting becomes just a vessal to deliver the underlying mood and emotions.

I love where my art is starting to go. I intend to strip down a little more, to let go of my fears of making mistakes, or creating something that is or too strange so I can loosen the reigns, and watch my art unfold into something more that I have ever seen from myself. And most importantly STOP getting consumed by what other people are doing! Take a break from Etsy and paint like no one will ever see. Paint from my heart.

About Yesterday...

Laura Muraco — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 23:54:28 +0000

One of my favorite things in the world is buying and selling through Etsy! People package their treasures with so much love and care, and upon their arrival I am often surprised by how beautifully and creatively people present their goods. Sometimes I even open a package to find it sprinkled with extra goodies, it is more like receiving a gift than a purchase! I often wonder what kind of a journey these little handmade treasures go on to get to me, and where the things I am sending end up. So with that in mind I thought I would share a few pictures of the darling Post Office I ship from, it is housed in an old bread mill and I have yet to see a Post Office to rival it's charm. You can imagine after living in Brooklyn for 8 years the quaintness of this is beyond measure for me and another major difference is I have only had to wait in line once! And that was behind a priest in his white tabbed colar and all. In the pictures below you will see images of the front and back of the building.

A package in transit and one of my favorite drinks, water with frozen local strawberries.

After putting a few packages in the mail John and I went to the lake and took out our new Kayaks! I cannot tell you how much I love being on the water, and what better way than on a Kayak!

John's Greasecar! He converted his diesel VW Golf to run on filtered vegetable oil.

Early summertime beauty.

I Do !

Laura Muraco — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 23:37:13 +0000

Brian and Emily, I do!

a silhouette of the couple's dog, Jasmine ♡

chicken or fish?

I had so much fun designing this invitation! This is just the invite I would have done for our own wedding had I the chance. I got the idea from a wedding invitation I saw when I was young. My grandmother held a bed and breakfast in her home, and one of her clients was from France, he stayed with her for some time and shortly after returning to his home he sent her a lovely wedding invitation looked quite similar to this. I took the very Victorian design I remembered and brightened it up and added a few more modern elements! I am so so glad I got to bring this idea to life for our dear friends Brian and Emily. If you would like a custom invitation for your wedding, please contact me! I would love to work with you ♡