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Umbriferous Acrylic on Text on Canvas, 6″ x 6″

As a fair-skinned, burn-prone person, I’m always grateful for a beautiful and umbriferous tree to shadow me from the sunne’s scorching beames. I imagine this Unau (not to be confused with the much more industrious Anu!!) feels the same. And although, like all sloths, she could easily have created that U-curve all by her stretchy self, a comfy hammock leaves her toes free to hold a book. (Under Milk Wood, of course!)

It would have been fitting if I’d had some burnt umber on hand to paint the bark details, but I didn’t think about that in time, so I had to mix up a rough equivalent (using its chemical relative, red iron oxide) to delineate the Shakespeare quotation. I just hope the bard’s shade doesn’t take umbrage at my presumptuous repunctuation of his verse!

Alas, the sun is setting on this wonderful week of A.Word.A.Day words, & I’m contemplating a long, appropriately slothful winter’s nap, but not before I thank Anu with all my heart, for his inspiration, his patience, & his lovely community of word lovers. I look forward to hanging out with you all every year. See you in 2024! ♥ ♥ ♥ L

(This painting & prints are now available in my Etsy Shop, Curious Art Lab.)

Lotic Acrylic on Text on Canvas, 6″ x 6″

One of my sons loves fly-fishing in mountain streams, & when I mentioned that Lotic was one of this year’s words for A.Word.A.Day, he suggested I illustrate a rainbow trout. I’m a sucker for iridescence (see Chatoyant) so of course I jumped at the chance!

Rainbow trout love to jump too, so a leaping trout & its underwater companion easily formed an L. Now, thanks to Anu, I’ve illustrated three words about watery habitats: the others are Lentic & Pelagic.

(Painting sold but prints are now available in my Etsy Shop, Curious Art Lab.)

Heliophilous Acrylic on Text on Canvas, 6″ x 6″

Today’s word, Heliophilous, immediately made me think of cats. They always seek out the sunniest spots in the house. (One of our family cats was actually named Sunspot.)

Of course I also thought of sunflowers, whose Latin name, Helianthus, shares the same root as today’s word. Even better is the French word for sunflower, tournesol. It refers to the plant’s habit of turning toward the sun, but I’m especially fond of it because it reminds me of Tintin.

Getting these two sun-lovers to play together in a way that also formed an H was the real challenge! That’s where the garden wall came in, to elevate the kitty to blossom level & give a baseline (or should I say dance floor?) to the H.

(This painting & prints are available in my Etsy Shop, Curious Art Lab.)

Diablerie Acrylic on Text on Canvas, 6″ x 6″

As soon as I saw today’s word, Diablerie, I knew the hard part would be choosing from all the possibilities that were whirling around in my head. My sketchbook started filling up with a ghosts, devils, witches, demons, & darkness. But as much as I’m drawn to spookiness (see Eldritch), in the end I conjured up a sillier sort of mischievous weirdness, inspired by my lifelong love of medieval marginalia like these.

A sort of palimpsest of earlier ideas remains in the background text, though, with faint traces of demonic sigils & other symbols of black magic mingling with the dictionary elements.

(Painting sold but prints are available in my Etsy Shop, Curious Art Lab.)

Aristology Acrylic on Text on Canvas, 6″ x 6″

Aristology, an acrylic painting by Leah Palmer Preiss of two antelopes toasting one another at a dining table by candlelight.

I’d like to propose a toast to Anu Garg & to all who have an abiding appetite for A.Word.A.Day! It’s time for this year’s illustrated words, & for our first course we have “Aristology.”

I’d never encountered the word until Anu suggested it, & on seeing the definition alone, my first idea was an opulent tablescape array similar to Gastronome. But I was curious about the word’s origin, & a bit of research led to Thomas Walker, the writer who originally coined the word in 1835, in his book Aristology, or the Art of Dining.

It turns out the fellow was adamantly opposed to grandiose excess at the table, & as concerned with his diners’ health & digestive comfort as with their sensory delight. So I decided to scale down the menu to something much lighter. For a while I focused microscopically on the scientific side of dining, with Molecular Gastronomy as the theme, but the sketches left me cold & hungry for another idea.

Then a pair of amorous antelopes wandered into the sketchbook & warmed things up. Antelopes are very dainty eaters, preferring a light repast of leaves, twigs, grass & mushrooms. But as far as I know, science has not yet proven that they don’t appreciate a nice glass of wine by candlelight now & then. And occasionally they may even enjoy nibbling appropriate quotations from the bark of nearby trees.

(This painting & prints are available in my Etsy Shop, Curious Art Lab.)

Tatterdemalion Acrylic on Text on Canvas, 6″ x 6″

Our final act for this year’s concert of words is Tatterdemalion. I’ve often used this word to describe myself, as I detest shopping, & will wear favorite garments to tatters.

When I was sketching ideas, I first thought of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Match Girl,” but the idea of painting her just made me too sad, so I decided to portray a busker of the Victorian era. His sheet music is Gilbert & Sullivan’s “A Wand’ring Minstrel, I” (“…a thing of shreds & patches, of ballads, songs & snatches…”). Oh, & why is he an otter? Just because I love painting anthropomorphic animals & the name Otterdemalion popped into my head!

I painted him in warm colors, but given the subject matter I thought it would be interesting to offer a print in the sepia-toned series I call “Tinctures.”

Both are available in my Etsy Shop, Curious Art Lab.

Thank you again to Anu for inviting me back for this week, always my favorite gig of the year. And thank you to all who have joined me here! May your days be merry & bright & full of music!

A Curious Mess Cherubic: Acrylic on Text on Canvas, 6″ x 6″

Life has been a bit chaotic around here this year, but now that it’s time for my week with Anu Garg’s A.Word.A.Day, things are looking up!

Our first word, Cherubic, had me thinking literally for a while & getting nowhere, but when it occurred to me that a rather devilish kitty could also be a little angel, all the chaos came together.

And isn’t that the way life is? Things fall apart, then reassemble in new ways. Years can be brutal yet beautiful– full of new challenges, but also happy accidents & comforting constants. Oh 2022, I guess I’ll forgive you for all the mayhem & mischief you caused! I know you didn’t do it on purpose!

(This painting & prints are available in my Etsy Shop, Curious Art Lab.)

Lentic Acrylic on Text on Canvas, 6″ x 6″

Acrylic painting by Leah Palmer Preiss, Lentic: A goldfish and a turtle in a lily pond with a frog, snails, & water lilies. Ecology art, nature lover gift

There’s just something about cutaway diagrams & models that has fascinated me since I was very young. Maybe it started with dollhouses, or science museums, or classroom posters, but the sensation of being granted a curated view into a secret space behind or beneath the surface still feels magical to me.

When I realized that Lentic would lend itself to this treatment I felt such giddy, childlike delight! Not only did creating the cutaway make me happy, but the softly rippling water & gently waving lilies were soothing to paint when I felt stressed– almost like watching an aquarium. So when Anu chose this painting to end our week of illustrated words, it felt just right to be floating out on this peaceful note!

I’m eternally grateful to Anu for making it possible for me to create these pieces & to connect with such lovely logophiles every year. And I deeply appreciate all your support through my Etsy shop, Curious Art Lab, & through your kind comments & messages.

I wish you all a peaceful, healthy & happy holiday season, & I look forward to seeing you again in 2022!

Xylophilous Acrylic on Text on Canvas, 6″ x 6″

Nature art painting by Leah Palmer Preiss, Xylophilous: Tree wildlife-- beaver, chipmunk, owl, woodpecker & other birds, mushrooms, ferns on crossed tree trunks

Even though I live in a city, a block away from a busy street, I’m definitely xylophilous! (In the etymological sense, that is– wood-loving.) My childhood home bordered on a forest, & my family spent many hours working, playing & wandering in the woods. But I’ve always said that I can’t see the forest for the lichen, because my favorite thing to explore & paint are all the tiny little life-forms that are overshadowed (yet also supported) by the overstory.

So when Anu offered this word, I jumped at the chance to create my own little peaceable kingdom of wood-loving flora & fauna. It’s certainly not an accurate sample of xylophilous species in the scientific sense, & it vastly under-represents the number of species that depend on trees– I couldn’t begin to show the tiny beetles and borers that live in & under bark, for example– but I hope it gets the point across that even dying or damaged trees can be teeming with life & potential & beauty in their own way. As William Blake said, “A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.” Or even a wise beetle!

I couldn’t resist hiding that quotation in the bark, & if you look in the background near the pendulous possum, you may find a rather dreadful math pun tucked in there too. Apologies in advance.

The original painting is sold, but prints are now available in my Etsy shop, Curious Art Lab.

Coronamas Ornament Acrylic on Text on Wood, 4″ x 4″ Round

A masked coronavirus reading a book entitled Love in the Time of Covid, illustration by Leah Palmer Preiss

Despite covid19 restrictions, a broken furnace & serious carbon monoxide scare, unprecedented shipping delays & other seasonal difficulties, I’m feeling strangely jolly these days! Perhaps it’s the brush with death, or the thought that we’re almost to the end of the year & there’s a glimpse of light at the end of the 2020 tunnel.

I painted this ornament for my book club’s annual gift exchange, which didn’t end up happening, though we did enjoy a Zoom meeting. You may recognize the faux-antique text in the background from Yeanling… it seemed appropriate for this one too.

Let me know if you’d like a pdf with multiples of this image to print out for gift tags or ornaments. I’d be happy to send a link to a downloadable file!

Happy holidays & a happy new year to all!