Oil
& Crystal
Serendipity at Art Expo
Royal Artist Marks Her Paintings
in Blood
Return of the Royal Rogue
Royal Rebel Visits Valley
Lady Lori: Roguish Royal Rebel Honors
Princess
Wisdom with a Smile
A New Painting Medium
History may well remember Lady Lori Spencer-Churchill as the person who gave the world of art a revolutionary new medium. Like many innovations, we must first see and become familiar with Oil & Crystal® to understand the similarities and the magnitude of difference between it and its predecessors. Indeed, once you experience a painting created with Oil & Crystal®, works done in traditional oils may seem flat and opaque.
The Process
Oil & Crystal® is a proprietary blend of pure refined oils and very finely ground clear crystal. Pristine pigments are added to create clear, bright colors. Lady Lori usually applies this newly trademarked medium onto canvas, wet-on-wet, in thickly textured layers. A finished piece requires over a month in a special curing chamber to dry. The fully dried work has a most inviting resilience that beckons the touch. Lady Lori believes that the molecular structure of the ingredients reorganizes into unique crystalline polymer chains that will insure the art's survival for many centuries in near original condition of color and resilience.
Light and Color
Countless millions of near microscopic grains of clear crystal capture and reflect the light creating an ultimate "refractability". The depth of refraction may suggest you are gazing deep into the tinted waters of a "crystal clear" pool. The colors are quite bold and brilliant. The pure and rich pigments are suspended within the reflecting crystal, creating vivid shades. Strands of color are often blended, yet distinct, creating an intermingling of reflecting hues and kaleidoscopic visions.
The fascinating appearance of Oil & Crystal® is dimension both in its prismatic color and uniquely layered texture. The medium easily lends itself to bold strokes and strong statements as well as the subtleties of flow and movement. Finished works reflect light with a brilliance never before accomplished with traditional oils, while new shapes and forms emerge at each viewing, seemingly to tease the imagination.
Words at best are severely limited when describing the brilliance and power of pieces painted in Oil & Crystal®. We invite you to experience its amazing difference for yourself. We welcome you to a great legacy of fine art.
Serendipity at Art Expo
Two artists discover a common bond: the legendary Churchill
By Leo Hunnakko
Art Expo New York also had its moments of strange coincidence, some might call "karma". For example, my wife Joyce and I happened upon a woman confined to a wheelchair at the peripheral regions of the show. She asked if we would like a signed copy of a beautiful glossy magazine (SunStorm Fine Art) containing an article on her work as an artist. As it turned out, she was Lady Lori Spencer-Churchill.
The fact that she was a cousin of the late Princess Diana was fascinating but what was more intriguing was that her great-uncle was Sir Winston Churchill. It just so happened that we were also presenting a series of five limited edition giclee prints by Curtis Hooper featuring Sir Winston, the greatest statesman of our time. Furthermore, Curtis grew up in the Churchills' neighborhood and had met Sir Winston and later developed a close, enduring friendship with Sir Winston's daughter, Lady Sarah Churchill.
Needless to say, we were most pleased to bring Lady Lori and Curtis together. They spent much time in animated conversation. Lady Lori and we at Sutton resolved to keep in touch and to explore various projects together. We'll keep you posted. (caption under photo) Lady Lori Spencer-Churchill and Curtis Hooper with a print of Sir Winston Churchill. The print "Never, Never Give In" is one in a series of five limited edition giclees honoring Lady Lori's great-uncle.
Royal Artist Marks Her Paintings in Blood
From an interview with Lady Lori Spencer-Churchill
By Edward A. Tucker April 1, 1999
An accidental slip of a kitchen knife or poke of an embroidery needle would send most of us common folk to the medicine cabinet for a bandage and antiseptic ointment. Not so for Lady Lori Spencer-Churchill. Any accidental wound resulting in fresh blood will likely prompt this artist cousin of the late Princess Di into a frenzy to place her DNA signature on the backside of paintings in progress.
Shocking? Or is it?
Creating a stir is almost second nature to Lady Lori, who smokes a pipe and often zips around in an electric wheelchair due to an as yet undiagnosed condition similar to epilepsy. Also known as the Royal Rogue, she earned her nickname through her bountiful eccentricities and humorous refusal to limit her behavior to the narrow constraints normally allowed one of royal birth.
On a personal level, Lady Lori is so warm and easy to be with one almost forgets she is not only a Royal but also a world-class artist. Most of her work is painted in a medium she invented and calls "Oil & Crystal" because there is powdered crystal dissolved into the oils.
The Royal Rogue didn't always mark her works in blood. She actually just began the tradition in January of 1999. Being bred from an Old World family not only endowed Lady Lori with one of the rarest blood types in the world, it also made her very aware of herself inside a much larger historical context. The idea for marking the paintings came about when a conversation about the rarity of her blood type coincided with Lady Spencer's search for a foolproof method to insure her work could be authenticated by future generations.
Her contagious laugh fills the room as she leans forward and shares, "I said to myself, 'You've gone too far this time old girl.' But as soon as the word got out that I was marking my paintings in my own blood, several of my collectors showed up at my doorstep, paintings in tow."
The marking process is simple. The rogue artist drops a bit of blood onto the perimeter of the canvas in a location that will be concealed by the frame. Shortly after the blood dries, a thin layer of Oil & Crystal is applied over the spot of blood. The unpigmented medium is not only transparent but moisture repellent. Lady Lori believes this process to be the perfect means to protect the fragile body fluid for centuries or until a need arises to authenticate the painting. The coating also protects anyone who handles the canvas from the possibility of transmission of any blood borne conditions.
In case there is any question of a painting's authenticity, whether it's in 50 or 500 years, all Lady Lori's collectors need do is peel back the membrane of Oil & Crystal and have genetic experts analyze a small sample of the blood. Tests could verify her rare blood type and genetics.
In a conspiratorial tone, the Royal Rogue concluded our interview, "Even in 1999, science can use a bit of dried blood to verify identity with nearly 100% accuracy. Just think in another few hundred years, my collectors might be able to create a clone of me from one of my little bloody marks. How's that for leaving a legacy?"
By Allan Brenhamm
Characterizing the resplendence of her heritage with a touch of defiance, Lady Lori, returned to Art and the Vineyard as the Royal Rogue. Lady Lori Spencer-Churchill, grand niece to Sir Winston Churchill, and cousin to Princess Diana, takes pride in being a Royal eccentric. Sitting by her displayed art, Lady Lori enjoyed smoking her Churchill Cigars and a tobacco pipe while entertaining revelers with her quick wit.
"I've recently taken up smoking for my health," she remarked, "In keeping up with family tradition." "Lady Lori just doesn't seem to be inhibited and at the same time, she brings charisma to the family name," said Donald Webb, who had a booth across from her.
Dodging an ABC News camera and a two foot brass gong with her electric wheelchair, which she calls her "four wheeler," Lady Lori captivated the crowds with her delightful antics. A member of Lady Spencer's staff said "Even when she is sick and in pain, she always manages to laugh, smile, and make those around her feel good."
What the public perceives as fantasy, she experiences as reality - two things reflected in her art. "My artwork is very tranquil, yet full of mystery and magic," said Lady Lori. "I am a portal to the gateways of the mind." Spencer encourages people to get in touch with their own artistic nature. "Experience art, don't just produce it. For example, when you sink your hands into clay, feel it, shape it, caress it."
"I've done this show for seven years, and she (Lady Lori) has added such enchantment. I'm looking forward to having her here next year," said Cindy Carington, art vender.
By JUDY SIERRA
For The News 1996
While patrons of Art and the Vineyard in Eugene sang the "Star Spangled Banner" on the Fourth of July, a royal rebel sang "God Save the Queen," planted her flag and claimed her traveling gallery space "in the name of divorced princesses everywhere."
With dual citizenship in England and the United States, Lady Lori Spencer-Churchill then appealed to her American compatriots: "As you celebrate your independence from the mother country, let all ye who are disgruntled step forward and say your piece. For if anyone is still alive after 221 years, you deserve to speak your mind."
Lady Spencer, great niece of Sir Winston Churchill and cousin of Princess Diana, brought nobility without haughtiness to the Willamette Valley in her first art tour.
Enduring the 90-degree weather while attired in a carmine angora beret, silver hedgehog earrings, burgundy velvet dress and white lacy hosiery, Lady Spencer - known to her friends as Lady Lori - characterized the resplendence of her heritage with a touch of defiance. Sitting by her displayed art, she enjoyed smoking Churchill Cigars and a tobacco pipe and entertaining revelers with her quick wit.
"In England, because of limited grazing pastures, we raise mostly sheep and pigs," she said. "Cattle don't fare too well, as you can see by the mad cow disease. I'd say you are what you eat, as evidenced by many in Parliament."
Although raised with privilege and the pressures of blue blood society, she refused to conform and "sit like a plum on a cake." "I started playing with paint and brushes when I was 2 years old and made a bloody mess of the whole house. But I won my first award for art when I was 8," she said, "and thus began my devotion to creating."
Lady Spencer appears paradoxical. On one hand she said she worked all her life to "be normal" and fit in. She even tried to lose her British accent, although it is still distinct. On the other hand, she is proud of being eccentric, outlandish and a rebel.
"I was a brilliant child," she said. "My scores went off the charts on every test I took. I went to private schools for the gifted. Because of my brains I was expected to perform certain duties to honor my family, but there were so many things I wanted to pursue."
Her Ladyship possesses a variety of talents. Her award-winning pursuits include the study of medicine and human anatomy (she is a doctor of Naturopathy) and financial stock market interplay. "I have a passion for learning and will keep studying until the day I die," she said.
Behind the animated glint in her eyes is a hint of concealed pain. She bears many physical disabilities but does not consider herself "confined " to a wheelchair. "My motorized 'fourwheeler' gives me mobility and freedom that allows me to get out and about," she said.
A member of Lady Spencer's staff said that even when she is sick and in pain, Lady Spencer always manages to laugh, smile and make those around her feel good. "In my family we love our laughter. We are characters and we don't take ourselves too seriously," she said.
At the same time her family has a passion for art and pageantry, as well as a love for their legacy. "It was rather difficult growing up under the expectations of centuries," she said.
What the public perceives as fantasy she experiences as reality - two things reflected in her art. "My artwork is very tranquil, yet full of mystery and magic," she said. "I am a portal to the gateways of the mind."
Jon Raymond, who was so captivated by the passion and power reflected in her art, purchased two oil paintings. "I thought Lady Lori was delightful and inspiring," Raymond said. Cathy Carraway, owner of Tribal Rhythms by Carraway, had a booth near Lady Lori. "It's an honor to meet and observe Lady Lori," she said. "Not to sound disrespectful, but she's a hoot!"
|
"A Royal must always
defend her honor", claims Lady Lori as she clowns around
|
Lady Lori: Roguish Royal Rebel Honors Princess
Reproduced from "The Torch" Arts & Entertainment
By Cindia Carrere
What does a royal expatriate do when the one year anniversary of the death of her beloved cousin, Princess Diana is approaching? If she is Lady Lori Spencer-Churchill, she throws a party, a loving tribute to the Queen of Hearts who Lady Lori knew as a dear friend and her greatest supporter. It was also an opportunity for invited guests to view Lady Lori's latest artistic creations.
On August 22, 1998, a celebration of life and beauty was held on the Spencer Estate in Sausalito, California. Upon arrival, guests were greeted at the door by a "beefeater," a handsome young man dressed in traditional Tudor costume, and invited to select a British coin, procured from his velvet bag, to toss into the marble water fountain while making a wish. Both new and old friends were treated to a lavish and traditional English high tea and a private gallery walk for a preview of Lady Lori's newest paintings.
"The themes of my art have changed dramatically in the year since my cousin Princess Diana left us, and so have I," said Lady Lori, providing a public glimpse into her private grief. "It's been chaotic, with strange pockets of isolation and anger. I am not yet at a place where I can fully accept the loss." However, the abrupt end to Diana's life cast a new light onto Lady Lori's own. She previously spent several years in semi-seclusion because of a seizure disorder and other physical disabilities but has recently garnered a new attitude. "The reality of the situation is that life is short. I'm tired of holding back, fearful of British conservatives, of having a seizure in public, and of displeasing others." Nicknamed the "Royal Rogue," for her eccentric style and joie de vivre, Lady Lori appreciates the freedom of living as an artist in the United States.
Suffering from a disorder similar to epilepsy, Lady Lori has a gift of turning situational dross into gold. Seizures stimulate different parts of the brain and she uses these cerebral shifts to her advantage. "The kaleidoscopic visions which immediately proceed and follow my seizurely moments are more powerful than any psychotropic drug could inspire," she explained, and some of her best work has occurred immediately following a seizure. Also a gifted psychic, Lady Lori listens to and follows her intuitive energy, the canvass dictating where the paints want to go. It was during one of these sessions in which she was inspired to create an entirely new painting technique, her own trademarked process which she calls "oil and crystal." In her studio, with its panoramic view of Sausalito Bay, Mt. Tamalpais and Angel Island, Lady Lori mixes ground Waterford crystal into oil until it becomes a beautiful translucent paint. "The crystal, while suspended in oil facilitates pure refraction of light which creates incredible dimension and depth," she described. "As it now has millions of faceted surfaces, the crystal increases the molecular bonding of oil to pigment." Guests were happily surprised by both the stained glass effect of Lady Lori's paintings and that they were encouraged to actually touch the artwork.
Warmed with laughter and the fragrance of freshly baking scones, the exquisitely appointed house resonated with the music of harpist Victoria Hughes. With over 70 paintings artfully displayed, the Spencer home was a unique setting indeed for a sneak preview of Lady Lori's newest paintings to be officially unveiled at Artexpo L.A., the most prestigious art show on the West Coast (to be held October 23 - 26, 1998). Mary Jericho, an artist from Eugene, Oregon observed, "this event was a palette for all the senses." Traveling from out of state and country to attend this event was the rule rather than the exception; guests arrived from as far away as Australia, Sweden, Britain and Germany. An art collector in Tibet, unable to attend, called during the party to offer congratulations for the unveiling.
As art dealers, collectors and gallery owners roamed the one acre estate sipping aged scotch and nibbling crumpets and Devonshire cream, bangers and cucumber sandwiches, a sword fight suddenly ensued. Drissana, a costumed jester, quietly removed a sword from the wall and brandished it at Lady Lori, taunting her with boasts of her superior skills. Never shrinking from a challenge, Her Ladyship responded by grabbing her own trusty broadsword by its winged dragon hilt and proceeded to engage in mock combat, much to the delight of her subjects. After a brief exchange of sword banter, the jester graciously acquiesced and proclaimed Lady Lori the victor.
Her Ladyship's painting received high praise as well. Jo Schechter, an art collector commented, "these are not ordinary paintings, they are energy and motion. Such vivid color, dimension, and texture. They move and stir my energy." Yvonne McCluskey, an artist who met Lady Lori while exhibiting her work last year at Artexpo L.A. remarked, "life is a journey; the sin is to not become more than what you are. Everyone present was led to be here, to make these special connections. It's been fascinating to experience Lady Lori - she honors the moment of meeting you."
Following in the footsteps of her grand Uncle Winston, Lady Lori Spencer-Churchill, a strong advocate and patron of the arts, revels in her passion for painting. "Although I cannot walk in Uncle Winnie's shoes," she quipped, Meerschaum pipe in hand, "his boots do make excellent brush cleaners."
"My life is about legacy," she mused in a more serious moment as she indicated her own paintings, family heirlooms and other artists' work. But her real legacy, as is obvious from off-the-record praise from friends and staff alike is the joy, humor and uninhibited laughter with which she approaches life and her generosity of heart which so strongly impacts others. Although able to display the regal bearing demanded of British Royalty, it is Lady Lori's spiritual radiance which glows from her paintings and made Saturday evening so memorable. Uncle Winston and Cousin Diana, unseen but quite present, must have very proud.
An Interview with Lady Lori Spencer-Churchill
The following is an excerpt from an article appearing in SunStorm's Fine Art Magazine, January 1998.
Ed. Note: Fine Art publisher Jamie Ellin Forbes, spent a weekend at Lady Lori Spencer-Churchill's West Coast headquarters, a scenic spot in the Bay Area where she lives and maintains her studio. Following is a transcript of what I am certain you will find a most interesting discussion, punctuated by the luscious noise of the waves pounding the shore. - VBF
J: Your paintings are beautiful. When
did you start?
L: I started painting… it's been said that as soon as I was old enough to pick
up a pencil, I picked up a brush. In fact, it was far easier for me to paint
with a brush than it was to use crayons, because something was different about
my hands - the way they worked - and so I was able to flow with movement and
technique as opposed to pushing down and smearing. I was never quite good at
smearing.
J: Who in your family encouraged you to paint?
L: I come from a long line and heavy tradition of painters. Of course, the most
noted Sunday painter in the world was Sir Winston. Diana even painted a bit.
My grandfather and grandmother on both sides were painters. In fact, my grandmother
was a commercial artist. So she would always paint cute little things on my
dolls or faces on little plaques. We were always encouraged to paint so I always
had paints around, all mediums. We first started, of course, with washable acrylics,
out of necessity (laughter). Then we started with oils and I fell in love with
the texture and the richness of the oils. But I've done many others - sponge
painting, but oils seem to be my love, because they're the legacy, that's what
going to last.
J: I've had the opportunity to enjoy your paintings. I notice they're inspired
not by fantasy and they are not surrealistic paintings, but they carry a different
message. When a viewer approaches your paintings, what are you intending them
to see?
L: Energy. Gateways into the mind and into the heart. Movement into places that
we only dream about. Dreams becoming reality. Dreams that will move us forward
into new experiences, new life; literally, new realities.
J: I've noticed your paintings have their psychic impressions and they have
a healing intent behind them, do they not?
L: Oh, yes. Everything in this universe revolves around energy: energies of
love, energies of passion, energies of movement. When you connect with the resonance
of energy, when you flow through it, it's like a bird flying on the wings of
energy, glistening here, flying there, and flowing into natural fields.
J: Do your paintings come as visions? Are they spontaneous?
L: Everything is constantly spontaneous. I feel what the painting wants to tell
me by energy, and then I flow in that direction of energy. I have been told
I channel extensively on paintings.
J: What I've noticed about your paintings is that they have a quality of being
lit from within.
L: The human body perceives many things
as sight. Some wavelengths that we believe are perceived through the eyes are
really perceived by the soul. It's this quality of energy that I try to capture.
Indeed, every painting is a portal to the gateways of the soul. I have found
that people are drawn to certain paintings to handle certain needs that they
have in their life. The paintings are like crystals, as it were, to promote
a feeling of well being.
J: You use very simple motifs that are very user-friendly, to invite the viewer
in. They're very ordinary in a way, yet very extraordinary images. They're universal
- glyph oriented, mainstream oriented.
L: The ancient wisdom of universal truth is to make it simple. The simpler it
is, the more it could work through different levels of consciousness. The more
it could appeal to the moment and yet create pathways to growth into the future.
I try to capture complex relationships of energy, light, movement and dimension
so that it looks simple. Simple elegance, yet with an ancient wisdom.
J: You have very sophisticated paintings in your home, and you've been surrounded
by them your entire life. It appears you've taken the element of these paintings
and applied them with this simple wisdom in a way that the viewer can access
this information and use it in their everyday life.
L: True art inspires us all. My family has some of Britain's greatest collections
from Blenheim Palace to Althorp. I'm a very contemplative person, and I've studied
the movements and energies of these paintings. What makes one painting more
important than another? It's the energy it instills in the viewer. It's the
energy, the passion that inspires the heart to cry out.
J: While your paintings have simplicity, what I notice is that they encompass
the elements of the other great Renaissance or medieval or modern masters in
the technique and use of color.
L: What makes paintings great? Van Gogh's Irises astound many people. To see
it in a photograph does not do it justice. What makes a painting great is when
the viewer is able to experience it, to feel it, to sense the artist's mood,
to feel the energy of his mind. It's a great painting when you can become a
visitor into the artist's life, when you can experience what he experienced
as he moved every paint stroke, as he created the composition. A great painting
is when an artist can gather all that, add it to her wealth of experience of
life and recreate those same energies in a painting. To capture the energy and
flow of movement as a universal force. Capture that essence and you are gaining
mastery.
J: I was particularly uplifted by the use of the great technique and use of
color as one sees in the Renaissance masters that really is not employed by
painters today. They don't understand the color spectrum. And then to see the
use of icon in your paintings, as the bird, or a wave, or a dragon, it's almost
velvet-like form of putting the jewel on the canvas.
L: Behind every great truth, there is much thought, contemplation and soul searching.
There is technique, which in the highest sense, becomes greatness. To capture
again the essence of what others have done before. To truly study it, not in
the common painting schools, but with the feelings, with the heart, with the
soul, with the flow of being… that's what creates mastery. You must learn technique
first. But then take that technique, put passion behind it, gather centuries
of wisdom from other educators, from the great masters. Flow with it. Transpose
it into a modern dance of pigment and light, of energy and then you create something
that later centuries can view as your legacy. A person could study the higher
learning, the sciences, and so on. The more that they learn of how things interact
and interplay off each other, then they start to appreciate that the essence
of the human soul is not just knowledge, but applied knowledge which is wisdom…
with wisdom comes a appreciation of beauty. With beauty comes awe. That's what
painting brings forth. Encapsulating age-old tradition with the beauty and inspiration
of our future.
J: I know you paint at night, and yet your colors can't really be seen until
the day. I've noticed this when the light hits, and as the light changes, your
colors change throughout the day as the light refracts through the pigment in
the oils. You told me you envision this as a process.
L: It's been said that I could paint blind, and that is true. Since I paint
based on waves and signatures of flowing energies and harmonics of colors not
yet seen, you will not physically be able to see the finished painting until
three days after I paint it. But I know when the frequencies are right, the
tingling, the sensation that runs through my veins, through my body -the energy
field that surrounds me as I paint - when it feels right, it feels as through
I am home. It feels peaceful. It feels empowering. It's a grand sensation that
is somewhat difficult to explain, but when you capture it, it's as if an 80
piece orchestra hits the most beautiful, harmonious groupings of signatures
of notes. The painting plays to you, and it starts to gain a life of its own,
and then the energies flow through you. They inspire you, they tingle your cells,
and they make you dance onto the canvas. That's a grand feeling: that's a gift
to the artist, but even more so, when it dries, it's the gift to the patron
of the arts, the viewer, the participant in this symphony of rhythms of pigment.
J: Your paintings seem to have an alphabet or a dialogue of their own. They
are impressions dancing on a cloud of activity or the ethereal. Is this part
of the process or the intent?
L: The intent of the painting is to inspire others to achieve their own greatness.
It's to act as an aid, a catalyst, between the figments of the imagination and
the reality of science. It's the flow and capture of energy and the expending
of joy and tranquillity. The imagery that is first seen on any canvas is to
divert the mind; it's to allow it to reach into the depths of creativity that
every person has and yet is so often put aside by over contemplation. A painting
needs to be felt and experienced.
J: Do you consider your art visionary art?
L: Yes, very much so. The paintings are portals to the mind that interplay on
ancient wisdom.
J: So you feel in some way your paintings are a touchstone--a mental, visual
touchstone?
L: They are a receptacle of all knowledge, and they are a gift of energy to
all viewers in the future. To provide a never-ending experience to the viewer
is one of the greatest gifts, because it will forever inspire their imagination
for generations to come.
J: Your paintings have a lot of texture, but it requires different times of
day in order to see these textures.
L: The interplay of light upon pigment - the dance of movement and space - propels
us into new world of thought, premonition and energy. These I do hope to capture
with oil and pigment.
J: How does premonition, other than through another intuitive process, enter
into this viewing process. What is it you're trying to communicate?
L: Premonition is a brush to the ages. It is a consortium of lifetimes of wisdom
simplified through the filters of time and impregnated into the vision of art.
J: Do you have a vision that you're trying to steer one toward through your
art?
L: Yes. Each succeeding generation is gaining intuitive wisdom that will become
the essence of the human mind and soul. My job as a forerunner is to act as
a beacon to gather those together who are beginning to awaken these energies.
To motivate them in ways not taught before and to inspire them and propel them
to utilize their craft to the betterment of humankind.
J: So you feel that paintings properly used are to light the road ahead that's
relatively unseen in order to accommodate the dialog for evolution.
L: To light the roadway, yet to lead us up the castle path. To give us a castle
on the hill, a pinnacle of development, a hope where there was none previously.
Art can inspire us to human greatness never before seen. A psychic premonition
and energy that is portrayed in the paintings will be recognized as a beacon
of light throughout the centuries and will lead us into a new development.
J: Thank you, Lady Lori, for sharing your soul with us today.
