Bench Mural #2 in Portland Oregon

As you may know from my previous post, I was given a contract via community run origination, Alberta Art Works to paint two benches in the Alberta Arts district of Portland Oregon. I am now all done with the 2nd bench mural. See my previous post for photos and info on the 1st bench.

This was my concept painting that was approved for the mural commission.

 I began roughing out the concept on the bench with spray paint and then went back through with a black paint pen to begin to plot out the lines and details of the fish creatures.

and then I began to layer color on top of color, on top of color until I was satisfied with the color depth.

and then came the final details and black outlines.

And just as soon as the paint was dry, Brook from Alberta Art works came by and varnished both of my benches for me!

Here it is all finished!

And here I am with my school of fish ladies :)

I also made a lil video about the creative process involved in painting this bench. Check out the video here on my youtube channel.

Big thanks to Alberta Art Works for facilitating this mural project. Collage art store, thank you for donating the mural paint! Thank you, Just Bob Cafe for making sure I didn't get dehydrated while painting in the sun by offering me all sorts of yummy chilled teas all day long.

That same day, since I finished painting my 2nd bench mural with plenty of daylight and spray paint left, I walked over to one of the Alberta Free Walls where I practiced my spray painting with a quickie Third Eye piece:

Anyhoo, I am very excited to show you my two other recent mural projects. One was done in a Cafe in Southern Oregon, and another done in a patron's bedroom in Portland Oregon. 

More on those very soon!

With love and light,

-Chelsea Rose   

Read More

Alberta Free Walls

My dream has come true! I no longer have to drive hours away to practice my spray painting on a "free wall" because Portland, Oregon  FINALLY has one, although it is temporary.

Here are some photos from the few times I have been able to have a go at this community organized public art space:

My first time out I painted these wormy ladies.

My second visit I painted a fish and a cyclops lady. Unfortunately a couple days later my fish was painted over….but that just gave me an excuse to go back out there and paint an entire school of fishes:

The free wall is located on the side of the Black United Front building on Alberta Street in Portland Oregon.

I made a youtube video all about it. Watch it here! 

With Love and Light,

-Chelsea Rose 

Read More

Sasquatch and Zodiac art shows

See my newest acrylic painting:

"Signal Fire"

12"x16"

original acrylic painting

This  piece was created to contribute to the local Sasquatch themed group show at Good: A Gallery. This unique collection of work will be up for the month of March so if you can manage it, go check it out! I had so much fun creating this painting. Check out my youtube video  about the process creation and my inspiration sources.

The opening was last night, and I had a blast.  The gallery was packed full of some really wonderfully created Big Foot tribute pieces by many of my favorite local Portland Oregon artists.

In the same show I was also super excited about showing off a collaborative piece I did with a local artist/mad scientist/friend:

Meet "Lady Big Foot" a collaborative art doll by myself and Doktor Creature. The general design is inspired by my "Signal Fire" big foot ladies in the painting above. The good Doktor did most of the work, including sculpting the face and felting the entire body. I painted the face sculpture and the drawer that he placed her within for display. I adore the way she came out and I can hardly wait to create more collaborative art dolls!

…and here we are together with our art doll, bringing the weird, with pride and joy!

In the same night was the Zodiac art show, which I had created four new pieces especially for:

"Taurus"

original acrylic painting on masonite board

"Libra"

original acrylic painting on masonite board

"Scorpio" original acrylic painting on masonite board

"Capricorn"

original acrylic painting on masonite board

And here I am with my friend Darci Silly.Weird.Things at last night's opening for the Zodiac show at Splendorporium Gallery. My "Leo" also titled "Bast, Keeper of the Meadow" is on the left, while Darci's "Capricorn" is to the right and in the middle a super lovely "Pieces" painting by an artist we both admire, Lisa Wilde. 

As much as I have been inspired and driven by all the group theme art shows I have been participating in, I am looking forward to focusing more energy in the next month or two on painting series concepts I have been planning out in my sketch book for some time. So keep an eye on my IG and FB for updates on my new works in progress. 

With love and light,

-Chelsea Rose 

Read More

Mother Of Faces acrylic painting on canvas

Today I finished a tribute acrylic painting for my favorite animation of all time: Avatar: Last Airbender.

"Mother of Faces"
16"x20"
original acrylic painting on canvas
by Chelsea Rose

This painting is inspired by “The Mother Of Faces” a spirit who only appears in the Avatar Last Air Bender graphic novel “The Search.” As with many of the characters in the Avatar world, Mother of faces is a fascinating and strong female archetype (IE: Compassionate Mother Protector and Gentle Giant) that shows great heart and generosity while still commanding respect and awe. The mother’s ability to emerge and become mightier than the very mountains around her sacred pool was especially inspiring to me. I enjoyed exploring and expressing her tremendous scale within my painting, while also aiming to capture her surreal beauty and grace. As an artist, I usually gravitate to subject matter related to the sacred feminine, warrior women, and the paranormal or metaphysical. I saw all of these things in The Mother of Faces and felt she would lend herself well to my painting approach as well as my existing body of work.

And...It all started with a pen and ink sketch:

Once I had the pen and ink sketch I projected it onto canvas and then began to load the canvas with color.

And then today I added the final touches:

I was in a bit of a rush to create this because only a few weeks ago did I realize that there was an open call to artists for the Legend of Korra / Avatar: Last Air Bender Tribute Exhibition showing at Gallery Nucleus in early March. The deadline for art submissions is Feb. 20th. Yikes! I submitted my painting today and I am crossing my fingers that they pick mine to exhibit( they are only choosing 15 pieces of art from all of the open call submissions. Eeep!)

In other news, I am currently working on creating a astrology sign series which has been lots of fun so far. I began working on the series because I am going to be a featured artist for Splendorporium's March show, which is Zodiac themed. I am also working on a painting for an upcoming "Sasquatch" themed group show at Good Gallery, opening in March. Oh! And, I will be doing a month long art install at The Bike Bar during March. Soooo, March is shaping up to be a pretty busy month! No complaints here. More updates and photos soon.

Much love and light,
-Chelsea Rose 

Read More

Sailor Moon inspired painting and Art Giveaway contest

When I was a little girl I was obsessed with the cartoon Sailor Moon. In the mornings before school I would watch it on TV while eating breakfast. It began a life long appreciation for anime, comics and alien warrior princesses which ultimately contributed to the development of my artistic style.  To my extreme delight, for the 20th anniversary of Sailor Moon, a new version was released in 2014 called "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal." This new release rekindled my obsession with the anime series and so I couldn't help but do a little fan art tribute.

It started with this pen and ink drawing in my sketchbook:

I was pretty excited with how the sketch came out so I decided to do a painting based on it:

"Sailor Lucid" 

10"x12"

original acrylic painting by Chelsea Rose

 

I made sure to add my signature third eye, as well as the single daggered pupil I draw all too often.
 I think it worked well, lending Sailor Moon a very eerie, whimsical, mysterious edge.

The full original painting is available in my etsy shop for $200. Interested in giving her a good home?
 Have a look here.

In other news I am having an art give away contest!

In order to enter to win this 3"x3" mini original acrylic painting of mine, plus a 10 pack of my hand made stickers you must do the following: 

-Follow me on Instagram @LucidRose

-Repost the photo above and include @lucidrose and #lucidrose in the description. 

The winner will be randomly selected and announced on my Instagram account January 31st. 

And last but not least, Check out my new favorite tea mug: 

Life is like a cup of tea, it's all in how you make it. 

(yay for creepy tea cups and random Irish proverbs!)

Sending love and light,

-Chelsea Rose 

Read More

Recent Spray Painting Experimentations

What with the Holiday's and all I have recently found some time to get back into experimenting with spray painting. Earlier this month I drove down to the Eugene Oregon free wall with friends and had a blast painting:

I started with this piece, inspired by my previous acrylic painting on canvas called The Seed which you can view or purchase a print of here. 

Here it is finished. It took about an hour and a half. I was pretty happy with it, but still abel to see things that I could improve upon…especially line weight control.

I started on one last piece and did it in a about 30 mins because it was getting pretty cold outside and my fingers were starting to go a bit numb.

This spEYEn character has been one of my most popular drawings and most commissioned designs in recent times, so I thought to give it a try in my new favorite medium, spray painting. I had a lot of fun doing the shading on the body and butt with the various colors. 

I took a bunch of footage of the experience and made it into a short video. Watch it on my youtube channel: YouTube.com/ChelseaRoseArts

….And it turns out it was really good that I got some spray painting practice in because the following week I got the opportunity to do some spray painting in California with Jennifer Korsen, a female spray paint muralist that I admire.

Jennifer took me to one of her favorite places to paint called "The Fame Yard" which has some truly awesome artwork on the walls. I was honored and a little intimidated to paint at first but Jennifer was very encouraging and the space was so inspiring that I couldn't help but grab my paint cans and give it a go. So here we are, in the photo above, a couple hours into our paint session, happily painting the day away.

I was excited to see a bit of progress with my line weight and can control. My technique still needs a lot of work but practice makes perfect! 

Here is my mermaid mural all finished! 

And here we are together posing in front of our respective finished murals, grinning ear to ear. 

It was such a fun day! 

I am back from California now and looking over the photos, thus I was moved to make this post and share them with you. I hope you enjoyed! 

I have a bunch of video footage from the day that I have edited into a video which you can check out right here. 

I hope your Holidays and New Year are filled with love and art!

-Chelsea Rose 

Read More

Earth Goddess Healing, body painting photo shoot

Back in September I managed to squeeze one more Earth Goddess body painting in before the season got cold and altogether not conducive for body art modeling and photography. And it was my first and probably only couple's photoshoot that I will be including in my series.


(Work in progress shot, painting Kelly.) Also, please read the blog entry she wrote, reflecting upon what it was like participating in my body art series as well as her thoughts and feelings about body image and learning to love the skin your in.


(work in progress shot, painting Sam)

My friends Kelly and Sam have been through something remarkable together. If you spend anytime with them, the way they are around each other, the way they speak, laugh and feel would make it plain as day that they are strong and more importantly, made stronger by their love of one another and the life they chose together.

When Kelly was diagnosed with cancer her life and the life of her wife, Sam, began to change.



They are still on a journey of healing and I was honored to momentarily step in and take part when they asked if they could be painted and photographed together for my Earth Goddess series to commemorate the end of Kelly's chemo treatment.



I think that these photos do catch a glimmer of their experience, and their exuberance for eachother  but I feel they also speak about the condition of Mother Earth.  I often feel that the prevalence of cancer and the many other diseases plaguing mankind can also be seen reflected by the condition of the Earth as it battles to remain balanced in the face of pollution, deforestation, genetic modification and more. Many people believe that the Earth is too big to fail, that our actions are insignificant to the planet's health but there is plenty of evidence that begs to differ.
As above so below.



And all I know is, the path of healing is most effective when loving, helping hands are there to lend support. In these photos I can glimpse Mother Earth's own journey towards healing, which of course is guided by her lovers, her protectors.

And so must it be.

With Love and Light,
-Chelsea Rose 

Read More