Inspiration Friday-Amazing artists

Let us begin with a quote on inspiration:
"It is the dark song in the gypsy soul, the black light that enflames the canvas, the spark that enlarges the heart."
-a line from the book: Stoking the Creative Fires by Phil Cousinaeu. I was given this book yesterday by my guardian art angel of Oregon, Tiffany Ruth. I started reading this book today on my morning bus ride to work and was captivated by that line because it is a good piece of TRUTH.

I would like to start out with an artist i first found out about through flickr:
Brett Manning

One of her most recent pieces that i have fallen in love with:

titled "Time does not Exist"-ink and colored pencil, 11x14.
I love the way she works with ink and pencil-its practically a spiritual experience! I do feel her work is very shamanic in that it speaks to me about the ongoing battle between the world of man and man made vs the world of nature and the spirit path. It is not often that a piece of work can send chills down my spine but her illustrations are very iconic i feel for the present times, this age and its conflicts. To see more of her stuff visit her website or read her awesome blog! Oh, and she does a great job merchandising- check out her online shop!
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another breathtaking artist that i found on flickr.com:
Lady Orlando

"I'm not an artist, a painter, a singer, a photographer, a poet, a human, a child, a man, a woman, a cat, animal, mineral, vegetal, a ghost or a dream.

I'm not nothing of this and I am all."
-Lady Orlando


this piece is titled "Alchemy "- a mixed media illustration by Lady Orlando that i feel captures the essence of the divine/cosmic energy of creation- the spark that flames and fumes - forever changing the one who channels it into new form.
Lady Orlando does a lot of her work within drawing journals.
Her character and creatures fascinate me. i love the way she seems to create them with a good measure of culture- it feels very folk and so very very whimsy. delicious.
To view more of her work please visit here
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Another cherished artist:Michelle Mia Araujo


"Across the Nile"
16x20" (23"x27" framed)
Acrylic on wood
....as you can see her acrylic paintings are like poems- full with strings of enchanting images that create endless interest and revelation/metaphor. I love how her work is so smooth almost like cream with an intensely bewitching glow. Each new piece she puts out i gobble up with my eyes- i could spend hours viewing her pieces, gazing upon them and seeing something new each moment. and there is a rule with this artist- you MUST view her work in its largest size so that you can better appreciate the ornate loveliness. to see more of her work please visit her flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/miaillustration
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...and you know I have come to feel that i talk entirely way too much about myself within this blog. There are so many amazing artists that lite my fire- i have so much to say in regard to them, so perhaps every Friday or so i will begin doing these inspirational artist blog posts in hopes of helping get this enchanting artwork out unto new audiences where they can continue to ignite peoples souls and quicken thirsty hearts!

So those are just a few of the Artists that hold the power to quicken my heart and send me running for my paint brush!

Id like to thank all of them for creating and sharing their visions, their unique cosmic truths via such bewitching artworks!

Much love, always...
-Chelsea Rose
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Lucid Update

So, its August now and our July Summer Sale has commenced. Thanks so much for the support everyone- your purchases went a long way in helping fund for more art supplies which is always a real need 'round here! Along with August comes my birthday. I will be 22 years old on the 15th. I don't have any special plans- just to quietly rejoice and appreciate life( i know, im so boring). I am hoping to be super busy this month- pumping out new paintings to display along with my others come September for my first solo gallery show. I'm starting to get a lil nervous! Which is good- its lit a fire under my bum.

Here is a snapshot of a new painting i finished a couple days ago:

At the moment its titled "River Spirit."
18" x 24" acrylic on stretched canvas.
I believe I am ready to varnish it and then i will have to ask Danny to help me take better quality pictures of it.
I would have been finished with this painting weeks ago had it not been for the 10 day heat wave that had me trapped in my tiny bedroom with all the shades drawn and our lil ac going. My studio is set up in the living room of our apartment and it was so hot in that room that my paint would dry to my pallet as i mixed. Not to mention i am a complete wimp when it comes to heat and that i suffer from dehydration and heatstroke at the drop of the hat. i think my blood would much prefer an existence on some cold misty rock in Ireland- as my ancestry speaks-as well as my pale skin testifys- refusing to tan but breaks into lobster red after 10 mins in the sun.
ah well.

The other day i posted a new item in our online shop:
Presenting "The Green Man" print in green on a white T-shirt.

Original Illustration by Chelsea Rose

Sizes available: Medium and XL

available for $20 + shipping here

This illustration was originaly drawn for a dear friend of mine for a trade. He asked me to paint him a painting of "the Green Man" in exchange for him doing my first tattoo. I really love the way "the Green Man" turned out and it has only be just recently that i started printing the illustration on 5"x7" cards and doing t-shirts.

Onto other news:
Over this past weekend Danny and i managed to whip up a monstrous load of tie-dye, which will be done washing by today- so we will be taking pictures soon and posting them up in our online store. We also intend on doing some of the local farmers markets for the next couple of weeks to see how much of the tie-dye we can get rid of. I love farmers markets and its always a pleasure to get out there and meet the community in such a way- especially meeting the local farmers whom i have much respect for. Someday id love to be a producer of my own foods- its amazing what a lil soil, seed and water can do.

I do hope everyone is enjoying this summer- i fear winter may be harsh again since we have had so much heat in this season. But i can already say( and I never thought id say this last year when we had 4 feet of it but...) im dreaming of snow!

Much love to all!
-Chelsea Rose
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Lucid Musings

I have been writing a great many blog entries about our July Summer SALE, so i have decided to write upon other things that have been upon my mind recently.

First off, check out this awesome "thrifty" find that i made yesterday:

I tried to get a good picture of my new dress....i found it at the Goodwill bins( not the regular Goodwill stores but the Goodwill outlet where clothes are held in big bins and you have to hunt around to find things since nothing is really separated) for super cheap. I am wearing it under my corset here. you cant see it at all in these photos but the dress is actually all dark green lace with a built in black slip....
i have my dreads up with a claw clip in the back. I'm thinking that maybe i would like to wear this outfit to the opening night of my solo show in September. (i know its a bit away, but i cant help but be excited over it all.)
...i Love the GoodWill bins. They charge you for the clothes you pick out by the pounds. Danny and i got 5 jumbo bags of clothes( mainly shirts and dresses for tie-dying or screen printing) for $20 + i got this dress and a couple sun dresses as well...at GoodWill we also found some nice wood panels that i am planning on sanding down and prepping for painting onto. GoodWill is also a great place to find all sorts of interesting frames for super cheap. They also have a bizarre collection of paper back books and Danny found this old vintage one that has the strangest pen and ink illustrations in it. we figure we can use the book for decoupage projects or something along those lines. I love the idea that what we are doing when we go to the Goodwill bins- is recycling. If it were not for these goodwill stores a large portion of these perfectly good clothings/items would end up in landfills. Its such a waste.

Anyhow.... I am having what one would call a "special" Friday. I totally missed my bus stop this morning on my way to work and ended up at the end of the bus line at Portland Community College. Nice campus though.( It really is a shame that community college is so expensive up here! I would be taking a few art classes and perhaps a Fiction writing class as well.) I had been reading my current book as i do every morning on the bus. it was an intense part of the story and i was totally in another world/reality. ah well. I was only late to work by 15min.

I love taking the bus too and from work. It allows me some much needed reading time.

I have been reading a lot of interesting books as of late such as:
Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins and also The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein. Both books are fascinating but disillusioning....writing truth about the Elite/elect and the IMF's role in the corporatist greed epidemic that is ruining this world and bringing much poverty, death and destruction to land and human rights in every continent.
I also read a very interesting book called Women Sailors and Sailors' Women: An Untold Maritime History by David Cordingly. But really, what i have been reading the most happens to be Fiction, a lot of young adult fantasy and scifi novels, in fact. I cant get enough of them. I tend to plow through these books in a matter of days.

And I have found that i am very very inspired to begin writing my own! I have a vague story and plot worked out in my head already: The story begins in Venice beach California/Santa Monica area(since I grew up there and I am familiar.) with a newly orphaned young lady, now living in on the streets- taken in by the "gutter punks" groups of homeless young people who live on the edge of society- often panhandling for money. This young lady has some very strange abilities that she discovered at a much younger age. - Needless to say she is not what she seems and is a mystery to her own self. Through a series of bizarre and unfortunate events she ends up tangled in an epic battle involving a holy war between two species of ancient creatures - the angels/faeries vs the alien/lizards who are dueling to win control over the world during the paradigm shift that has been prophesied to happen in her lifetime.

I recently checked out a how to book( something i have never done before since i usually like to work things out my own way)- the book is called How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy: How to spin a dream, a wish, or a speculation into a vivid, convincing tale of human possibilities. by Orson Scott Card. Its proving to say a lot of things i had already figured and considered, but it is comforting to have an experienced, well published writer explain their own way of going about creating a novel from a simple idea. At this point, what i need to begin doing is brain storming and working out all the details of my main character, what her special abilities are, what rules define the world she lives in, work out all the details of the ancient race of Angel/faeries and alien/lizard creatures- their origins, their abilities, their intent...and much more. once I have all these facets of the story worked out I feel I will then be able to begin working on my first draft. I know that inevitably my first draft will end up in the trash- but its just the first step in a long process. I feel like this story could be used for not just one book but perhaps for an entire series. we shall see. I’m thinking I should try my hand at writing some short stories again- just to get back into the flow of things.

….In the meantime I am still working on getting a few more paintings finished before my September gallery show. This weekend I hope to make some good progress on my current painting in the works. Plus, Danny and I have a bunch of new clothes that we will be tie-dying and screen printing this weekend which means there should be all sorts of new stuff to be put for sale in our online shop.

We will also be at the Last Thursday Art walk on Alberta st – July 30^th. So if you happen to be in Portland Oregon, come find us. We will be at Alberta st and 20^th with a full booth of hand created goodies.

Much love and best wishes, always!

-Chelsea Rose

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Lucid News

Blog Give away WINNERS:


I am pleased to announce that the following people whom participated in my Blog Give away have had their names drawn and have won a 5"x7" print of one of my pen and ink illustrations:

1. Sherry Byrum

2. Paintnputter

3. Sares

Thanks so much for your support, i do so hope you enjoy your print!
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Our Summer July SALE is still going on!

Visit our online shop to check out the SALE!

Today's SALE highlights:

Seeing that it is indeed summer and the Reggae shows are a plenty, check out our Lion of Judah Justice Flag shirts on SALE:



Original price:$20.00
SALE price: $15.00 on all screen-print and tie-dye shirts!!
Buy Here

red/yellow/green Justice silkscreen print
on a woman's Large(L) black t-shirt
100% cotton
Bust: 37"

How bout some Tie-dye with your screen print?

Original price: $20
SALE price: $10!!!!
Buy Here

medium v cut long sleeve girls top 100% cotton
tie-dye: RASTA: red yellow green
silkscreen: Justice-black

And somethin' for the Rasta fellahs:

Original price:$20.00
SALE price: $10.00!!
Buy Here

justice silkscreen print
on 100% cotton crewneck t-shirt
there are 2 in stock, pick yours
1 beige small(S), 1 feathered gray medium(M)

----That's it for todays SALE highlights. Visit our Online shop for more specially priced handmade creations.


Now onto some explaining as to why i have been missing in action for over a week!
I went to visit my Family in California for the first time since i moved up to Oregon with Danny.
It was my Mom Mom's 75th birthday, so i flew out there for a few days to surprise her.
We took the whole troop for a boat ride to Catalina Island where we had lunch in Avalon next to the water at one of my Mom Mom's favorite restaurants.
here is a picture of Mom mom and Pop pop seated at the head of the table during our family din din:
and here i am with my two Cousins Matt and Allie and my Aunt Kim whom i had not seen in many years: It was a good reunion, with 16 friends and family seated for the special dinner.
I had not flown in a plane for so long, but i managed it fine. It was very nice to see the family again,it being about a year now since i left California. Its insane how much my two cousins have grown in such a short time. and i was reminded once again how much i hate the deathly LA desert sun. I came home so badly sunburned i was swelling. ouch.
I gave my Mom Mom one of the "Goddess in All of us" screen printed shirts, since she had ordered one from me only a few weeks before my trip to California. My arrival was a big surprise and she was thrilled to see me.
...While i was in Cali i stayed with my Aunt Char, Uncle Bob and cousin's Matt and Allie- just like old times when i was living in their home during my high school years. Being back in that house brought back many memories.
Here is a picture i recently came across of a 16 year old me in my lil room in La Palma, CA:
My old room has now been turned into an office/guest room- my crazy maroon walls are now painted in tones of calm gray. I am amazed at how they managed to scrub away all the teenage angst out of that room.
My family are all avid readers of my blog, which is so sweet. they are very supportive and enthusiastic of everything i do, even if they don't quite understand some of my strangeness. what more can one hope for? Thanks for all the encouragement dear family. I hope it wont be too long till we see each other again.

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Blog Give away ends Friday! Summer SALE highlights"Behold"

My 1st. Blog Give away ends this Friday!
You still have a chance to enter in to win one of these three 5"x7" art prints made from my original pen and ink illustrations:

Megan at Studio M.M.E. Stutterings is kindly hosting the give away on her blog. Please feel free to stop on by and enter in to win!



It is day 14 of our July Summer SALE!

...and so we have plenty of new items listed for special prices including original art, prints, silk screened apparel and more tie-dye!

Danny and I will be listing more and more SALE items to our online shop each day, so keep your eyes on our little e-store for some super yummy deals!

Today's Summer SALE highlight:
I wanted to highlight one of my first ever screen print designs: "Behold"

I have quite a selection at the moment of pre-screen printed "Behold" woman's shirts of various sizes and color. The following are just a few of the "Behold" shirts listed in my online shop under the Silkscreen apparel section. I am still screen printing "Behold", so feel free to submit a custom order for a specific size, print color and t-shirt cut via email at chelsea@lucidopticlab.com


Behold- screen printed Tube top!!

Summer SALE!!
Original price:$20.00
SALE price: $15.00!!
Buy Here
"Behold" screen-print: in raspberry and purple metallic speedball fabric paint on green striped tube top stretch fit
Bust, waist and hips: 32"
Original silkscreen art by Chelsea Rose
This was hand silk-screened/printed by Chelsea Rose: made perfectly imperfect and one of a kind. Dont miss buyin this on special price!

More "Behold" screen printed shirts on SALE:

Summer SALE!
original price: $22
SALE price: $15!!
Buy Here
"Behold"
screen print
Original artwork by Chelsea Rose
on a brick-red woman's Medium(M) shirt
Bust: 34"
Waist: 32"
Hips: 36"

Behold in silver on brown:

Summer SALE!!
"Behold"
Original price: $30.00
SALE price:$15.00
Buy Here
screen print
Original artwork by Chelsea Rose
on a brown woman's Medium(M) shirt
Bust: 38"
Waist: 34"
Hips: 36"

"Behold" silver print on pale green shirt:

Summer SALE!!
Original price:$22.00
SALE price: $15.00!!
Buy Here
"Behold"
screen print
Original artwork by Chelsea Rose
on a pale green woman's Extra Large(XL)shirt
Bust: 46"
Waist: 42"
Hips: 44"

So, that's it for now! But have no fear if you did not see your size/or favorite color shirt in any of our listing because we are still printing "behold", so that means you can submit your own custom screen print shirt order to me via chelsea@lucidopticlab.com

So.....onto other news:


Danny and i are doing well. We are striving to make the best of this summer. Its now been one year since we moved up to Portland Oregon. I will be 22 on August the 15th....and im still so excited to see how my first solo gallery show turns out come September 1st. In the meanwhile i am trying to pump out a few new pieces for the show!
Soon there should be pictures of the current painting that i am working on so stay tuned for more news and more Summer SALE highlights.

Peace and Love!
-Chelsea Rose
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Blog give away! and Summer SALE news!

I'm super excited to tell you about my first blog give away-ever!
Megan at Studio M.M.E. Stutterings is kindly hosting the give away on her blog. Please show your support and enter in for a chance to win one of my 5"x7" pen and ink fine art prints!

Starting today, Friday, July 10th, until next Friday, July 17th, everyone will have a chance to win!! So please stop on by and visit Studio M.M.E. Stutterings . Not only will you be able to enter the give away but you will also be able to parooze through an amazing artist's blog- featuring many amazing pieces of illustration and photography. she also does artists highlights and features some amazing people with exclusive interviews and all sorts of interesting artwork!



It is day 10 of our Summer SALE!

...and so we have plenty of new items listed for special prices including original art, prints, silk screened apparel and more tie-dye!

Danny and I will be listing more and more SALE items to our online shop each day, so keep your eyes on our little e-store for some super yummy deals!

Today's SALE Highlights:

Paper weights on SALE!!

Original price: $8.00
SALE price:$5.00
Buy Here
glass paper weight (4 oz. 2.5")
metallic blue lotus silkscreen print and ink splatter on water color paper.

This paperweight was featured on another kick ass blog : That Crafty Bitch
and this is what they had to say about this nifty lil item:
"If you don't want any rice paper blowing around, or you just want help holding a scroll open, how about this sweet glass paperweight from Lucid Optic Lab.The roundness is harmonious, the glass brings clarity, and the look evokes images of old-style hand stamped batiks."

And here is another fun variation of our Summer SALE paper weights:

Original price: $8.00
SALE price:$5.00
Buy Here
glass paper weight (4 oz. 2.5")
india ink splat on Bristol paper.
.....buy now before the sale price turns back into a pumpkin!

More SALE Highlights:

the Majestic Wizard screen print on t-shirt
Original price:$20.00
SALE price: $10.00
Buy Here
majestic silkscreen print
on a white 100% cotton crewneck t-shirt
4 available now! pick yours
1 Medium(M), 3 extra large(XL)
Also available in blue:

Buy Here
we presently have
2 large(L)
1 youth extra large (youth XL)

The last SALE highlight of the day:


Optical (Eye)llusion screen print t-shirt
buy Here

Original price:$20.00
SALE price: $15.00 on all screen-print and tie-dye shirts!!!
Optical (eye)llusion screen print
on a light blue small(S) T- shirt(38" chest)
....This is one of our newest screen print designs great for the ladies and the gents!

and there is good news: we are still printing "optical (eye)llusion" so custom orders are welcome at this time!

As i said...we will be listing more and more items on SALE each day of July- so keep an eye out for that special something, paired with a special price!

This SALE is also a bit in the spirit of fund raising. Times have been a bit tough and so we are in need of help in raising some funds for more art supply- so that we can continue to create and work on our artful projects!

...and remember: It is important as a consumer to realize and fully appreciate the authenticity and pride that shines from hand made artisan art and craft. It is also important as a consumer to realize that by buying handmade goods from individual artists instead of mass produced goods from corporations one is effecting major positivity in the world around them.
Thank you for supporting the artists of today.

Dont forget to enter into my first ever BLOG GIVE-AWAY!

hosted at Studio M. M. E. Stutterings for a chance to win an art print!

Thanks so much for the support!
-Chelsea Rose
Lucid Optic Lab.com
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New painting and more SALE highlights

Hey Folks!

....the buzz for today is, i have finished a new painting!
+ Danny and I have been busy with our SUMMER SALE and there are now tuns of new sale items in our shop !!!!!


I have been a busy gal, painting away. I started working on this new one over the past weekend.
It was a bit difficult to paint on Saturday since the heat was intense and my paint kept drying as I mixed it, but i managed to lay the basic foundations, in between taking cold showers and eating a lot of ice cream! -ahhhh, summer livin!

By the end of Monday i pretty much had the piece finished- just needed to do my final touch ups on her and i vowed that i would finish her all up on Tuesday. Yet, when i got home from work on Tuesday, i must admit i had very little willpower.... seeing that i had a few new library books to start getting into. So, i ended up sprawled on the couch reading for the rest of the day. Then Danny baked a huge pasta dish which i ate and then promptly fell asleep!! So, there was no finished painting that night. I was much better last night and after coming home and eating some lunch i went right to it and finished my painting:


"The Hedge Witch"
18"x24"
original acrylic painting on stretched canvas
by Chelsea Rose
.....one of my new paintings I am going to be showing at my first solo gallery show on the First of September at the T.Ruth art space 2403 NW Thurman, Portland OR.
I based this painting off of a recent pen and Ink illustration i did:

This creature is certainly inspired by the green of summer and all the lovely wild flowers i keep seeing popping up everywhere! She is certainly the green lady(kin to the green man) bearing the fruits of the season of abundance. I called her the Hedge witch because she seems to be to me, a nurturing soul- a goddess of herbal healing knowledge and enchantment.
....so thats one painting down - i have a few more in mind that i would like to get done and finished so that i can display them during my show in September.

So far, i have just begun to map out my second painting. It is also based off of one of my more recent pen and ink illustrations:

I felt this piece would go very well with the one i just finished above. They both have an earthy, herbal loveliness to them that i feel is so appropriate to create now- now that summer is here, everything is green and the flowers are bursting, life pulsing a little faster and enjoying the warmth of the air.
....So far, i have used my opaque projector and projected and then traced this drawing onto a 16" x 20" canvas using my India ink pens. Today when i return home from work i will begin to plan out the color pallet of this one.
I have a few more pen and ink illustrations in mind for converting into paintings for the upcoming show...but i have not made my mind up yet as to which ones im actually going to go through and do.
The following are a few of the possibilities:

- thought she would be a good addition, since she would fit well within the other faery paintings.

- i really think this one is just begging for some color...so maybe she is an option too.

.....this one is an option as well. i think it would be very much fun to flesh out that crazy mane of hers in lots of bright jeweled colors and such.

But who knows how many i will be able to push through before September is here. Perhaps i will do some more drawing and see if i can come up with any other possible painting bases for this show....but at this point i am a bit undecided. Feedback, suggestions are so very much appreciated and welcome!

Luckily the weather has tamed a bit and isn't so hot. Mixing paint wont be an issue tonight so stay tuned for some progress updates on my next painting to come.

Much love and best wishes, always!
-Chelsea Rose
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