paintings, portraits, and fine art
This mural is was done in the nursery of Living Springs Christian Fellowship in Springfield, MO. I used a paint gun to achieve the blended green look on the wall. Hidden around the room are little critters, such as spiders, frogs, mice, etc. In the middle of the back wall above the lambs is the 23rd Psalm, “The Lord is my Shepherd…” The lettering was applied by vinyl, which saved me much time and trouble!
This was my first mural, painted on the side of Farmer’s Feed store in Mountain View MO, when I was 18. It is painted on multiple 4×8 ft. panels. I did a lot of research looking at old pictures of the town to try to get it historically accurate aside from the humor. It was a huge challenge, taking me several months to complete, but ultimately teaching me the do’s and the don’ts of mural painting.
Domino necklaces are hand-painted for only $30.00. Custom painted dominos $40.00. Come installed on necklace chain and small, hand painted paper mache’ box with sulifane window in the lid.
These paintings where only about 6×4 inches on hand- wrapped canvas boards. 
This commission was done for a friend. It is done in pen and ink and is 2 x 3 ft. It took about three weeks to complete. The finished product had highlights of color in the bamboo and face of the panda, but I documented it in black and white since I liked it better.
This tromp l’oeil portrait is painted on a masonite panel that is inserted into the window frame of a real truck door. Designed after my original painting titled ’65 MPH’
Painted on masonite board to fit in place of a missing panel on an entertainments center
This was painted on sign board, but done in the style of a washed out photo or watercolor. It was definitely a challenge, but I was happy with the outcome.
This was my first large scale, ‘mini mural’. It is four feet tall and eight feet wide. Before this I had only done 16×20″ art at the largest. Struggling with this sign introduced me to techniques I would need on murals later. It is located on North 95, four miles out of Mountain Grove MO.
Can you figure out what this picture is of? That’s half the fun!
This is a painting of the underside of an Oliver tractor. The sediment jar (which is full of diesel fuel) is back- lit with the sun and round bales sit in the background. (Prints available)
This painting was indirectly inspired by Picasso, who used bits of magazines and news papers in his collage pieces. Since I prefer realism, I decided to use that technique in a multimedia piece featuring a subject I knew – puppies. What better to accompany news paper, than puppies? As for the arrangement, I wanted to capture the way that puppies sleep in a pile fitting into each other like puzzle pieces. It made an excellent bedroom decoration.
This piece was created at college. I was feeling lonely, even thought I was surrounded by people. Everyone else seemed to have their own click and having fun, but I watched from a distance. I guess that’s how I felt when I painted these friends playing hackie sack in front of the cafeteria. They were having so much fun, but I had to leave the space in the foreground to represent the distance. The title refers to the general tendency of humanity to be able to be sad even while they are having fun on the outside. It is also an irony found in the clock tower which shows two different times on the two visible faces
This is one of my first attempts at a fine art still life. I wanted to create a Missouri themed still life, with the colors and subjects that one would find in the woods. Although the gopher skull is native to Colorado, where I found it, I still thought it fit and wanted to use pieces of collectibles that I liked. I loved the structure of animal skulls and liked the way that it mimicked the curves of the clay cups and the holes in the nuts.
This is one of my first attempts at using a red undercoat to make the foreground pop. I really liked the results and it caused me to push myself to be loose and brushy (another style that I admire and want to get better at). The subject is, in fact, me jumping over windrows in a hayfield. I wanted to portray the freeing feeling I get when I had the whole field to myself. For some reason I feel like I can leap and run as fast as a deer when I am jumping windrows! Yipee! (Prints available)
This was an experimental piece which I ended up liking more than I thought. I used gold- leaf flakes for the eye spots and iridescent acrylic for the glowing skin. In life this is a truly stunning, sharp piece even though it is only 12×12.” Unfortunately it is already sold, but prints are available.
This painting is done in Latex house paint. I painted it in 2009 while at college. It is 4×5 feet in dimension. It will be purchased by the College of the Ozarks in Branson MO, and hung in the Ralph Foster Museum on Campus as of June 2012. This is my largest framed painting to date! I encourage you to visit it!
2010: White River Art Exhibit. FIRST PLACE. Juror and judge, Manuela Welloffman.
I had wanted to paint a picture of sparrows eating fries for a long time, mainly because it intrigued me that these little birds were so adaptable. They were at home in the city, eating human food, even though they are by nature wildlife. It wasn’t until I went to college and started experimenting with perspectives, that I had a breakthrough with the composition and ‘American Sparrows’ happened.
Fine art and portraits by Lena Quagliato 