The Madonna

I can't think of a more fitting subject to paint this time of year -- but to be honest, the Madonna is my favorite subject of all regardless of the time of year. I never know what style I'm going to paint her - impressionistic, old-world, modern, Day of the Dead -- but regardless of the style, I so love painting her. My favorite way is in an old-world style, on wood, it is so remnant of the masters and results in such a deeply religious look.

Here are some samples of recent and past works. The two old-world examples recently sold out of the Casitas Del Pueblo gallery in Whittier CA. The 3rd, I painted for my daughter -- Madonna as a young girl, virginal, precious.

Enjoy, and once again -- Happy Holidays!!

A Royal Christmas Holiday

It's Christmas-time -- I can't believe it's here already! So, time to get into my holiday crafting mode! Since one of my specialties is crowns, all this time I'd never created crowns with a Christmas theme. I've always loved the Christmas colors, and how beautiful red and green and gold, and all the others, how they all look together. So, I thought I'd make some holiday crowns and make it a Royal Christmas!!

Can't you just see them as tree toppers? ! :-) Take a look at the photos -- I really loved doing them. These all sold (darn! I so wanted one or two for myself) at the Grove Flea Market in Irvine (one of my previous blogs talks about it -- maybe I'll see you there?? :-). But if you're interested, send me an email at lorigutie@aol.com -- I'd love to do a "made to order" just for you!!


From my family to yours, sincere wishes for a safe and most Happy Holiday Season!!

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.