Captain Lulabelle’s Fine Art
Inner & Outer Landscapes
Howdy friends and neighbors,
Though it sure feels like winter here on the Washington coast, it is spring by the calendar and my daffodils think it is too. I hope they don’t freeze.
The warm desert islands and rich seas of Baja California seem far away, though I spent January and March there as a naturalist with Lindblad Expeditions.
I wasn’t planning another show this year, but somewhere back in mid-winter a vision of a group of paintings called “The Eyes of God” came along and being a woman who really really tries to follow those rare gifts of vision, I have embarked on creating a group of paintings of animal eyes.
The first painting and the inspiration for the group is ‘WATCHING’, an interpretation of a baby gray whale’s open and curious expression. I have made that magic and extraordinary connection in the calving lagoons of Baja California, and will never forget that awesome experience.
Bette Lu
I sincerely hope you and your loved ones are well and finding the occasional peaceful moment as our small planet’s seasonal movement seems to go faster and faster towards the end of the year. For those of us here on this bit of the north Pacific coast, there was a stunning stop in our human busyness during the five days of last week’s hurricane force storm. We’re still dusting ourselves off and will be cleaning up for a long time.
Recent activities in my little realm include a Thanksgiving weekend art show and a website. The art show began as a vision while I was driving through the Cascade Mountains last April, on my way to assist in a youth Rite of Passage. It is always extra nice to have spiritual clarity around a personal undertaking…! The show felt like a holiday party and featured 21 original paintings, my home smoked salmon spread and an amazing array of baked goods by my friend Nanci Main, of Ark Restaurant fame.
The website has been a dream of several years and was launched in November as well. I hope you can find a moment to check it out. It is my intention to add a weekly story and a photo (yes, it’s a blog!), especially when I am traveling, and of course the art will be updated as well. You can see it at www.captainlulabellesfineart.com, or www.bettelukrause.com.
Singing with the North Coast Chorale is a special seasonal pleasure for me. The concert was this weekend, and we presented Bach’s Magnificat as well as some beautiful John Rutter arrangements of Christmas carols. I am a strong though not noteworthy alto amongst this fine group of singers and find choral music to be among the most beautiful expressions of the human spirit. The quest for harmony in our shared voice mirrors that search for harmony in my own life.
I still work as a naturalist for Lindblad Expeditions and will be on the National Geographic Sea Bird in Baja California this January and again in March. You can track the voyage on Expeditions.com, if you want to.
Blessings of the season,
Bette Lu and Kee
Welcome to my website, it’s been a dream of several years to put this together and with the help of my talented friend and webmaster Keleigh, here it is. Please enjoy it and make any comments about improvements and parts that don’t work right or make sense to you.
My Art Show over the Thanksgiving weekend was beautiful, fun and a great chance to visit with friends. The show included 21 original paintings as well as fine art prints and greeting and Christmas cards. I’m just developing a line of tote bags as well, so if you’re interested in environmentally friendly art gifts, check it out.
Our Holiday concert of Bach’s Magnificat as well as many of the beautifully arranged Christmas carols by John Rutter with the North Coast Chorale is this weekend so do come if you’re in town and want to experience a bit of holiday inspiration.
All over the Pacific Northwest, the coastal communities are still cleaning up after last week’s amazing, powerful hurricane force winds. My yard is piled high with debris- moving it is a rather daunting task, though an opportunity to rethink the landscaping here.
Blessings of the season and a Joyous New Year,
Bette Lu
Local artists make discoveries
By Bonnie Lou Cozby
For the Observer
PENINSULA - Adding a shard of glass to a painting, finding new uses for nature’s found objects, creating art for the garden rather than the house or simply turning a blank canvas from horizontal to vertical gave four area artists the chance to explore new ways to share their artistic sight while discovering new joy and satisfaction in the process.
Their work and that of other artists will be featured at the 37th annual Peninsula Arts Association Fall Art Show and Sale, “Harvest of Art” is Oct. 5 through 8 at the World Kite Museum in Long Beach.
Bette Lu Krause lives in a beach bungalow not far from the sea on the Long Beach Peninsula. In a space uniquely her own, her home is a mixture of travel mementos, family remembrances and art. As a naturalist aboard eco-friendly sea cruises, Krause travels to many of her favorite places in the Pacific Northwest. Over many years, she has created a diverse library of photos taken while onboard these ships or while guiding tourists on hikes through rain forests and other magical places. This library serves as an inspiration for many of her expressionist landscapes.
“It is hard to hang on to your time,” Krause said while explaining her painting technique. Most of her works result from a time-consuming layering process. Working in acrylics and using a brush and palette knife, she may use up to 10 different photos as layer after layer goes on the canvas, until, in her words, “the painting underneath, the real painting, finally emerges.”
This has been her usual technique until a recent four-day, Northwest Guides’ Open Fast. Held in eastern Washington, during the recent lunar eclipse, the experience led her down a new and different path.
Meeting at a predetermined area, the six guides prepared to hike to their individual spots. Using a stone pile as a daily check-in point, one between every two guides, allowed each guide to be on their own during the fast but still remain safe. Krause was compelled to bring her paints and canvas along on the fast, something she had never done before. When she reached her spot, she found there were shards of a mirror at the base of a large pine tree. After painting the tree and the moon, she decided to add some of these shards to her piece as well.
“I had brought paper before, but not canvas. The fast helps you to push the edges and hold things in larger context and as an artist, follow what comes from inside. The broken mirror made me think … the mirror is broken … mankind sees through a broken mirror, seeing only himself and not the entire world or other creatures, or how he fits into the world as a part of it,” she said. “I had never added anything to my paintings before.”
This new grouping of work, “The Broken Mirror Series,” features a few shards of glass attached to each painting. Partially hidden in some spots by layers of paint, they reflect the viewer as he studies the vision of the world Krause has created.