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Lola Jovan
@lolajovan.com
4.6K followers 3.6K following 8.8K posts
Artist, wanderer, rockhound, sparkle-seeker. Married to my soulmate❤️

Democrat! Liberal! Blue 💙
🚫porn 🚫crypto 🚫DMs 🚫MAGA

Art home at www.lolajovan.com
Blog at www.lolajovan.com/blog

#art #fantasyart #pdxartist #oilpainting #inclementweatherhikingsociety
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Lola Jovan @lolajovan.com · Dec 7
Hello Bluesky humans! I’m so happy to be here in the friendly place. 😁

Art does not always speak for itself, so you’ll see words with my paintings to help illuminate. Want more words? More art? Subscribe at www.lolajovan.com

Join a great community there and enter a monthly art giveaway!

#art
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We Swim Amid Particles
oil on Yupo
12 x 19.5

And meanwhile,
up here,
we swim amid particles
we cannot perceive
folded into dimensions
we cannot imagine - MARIA POPOVA

Get the art: www.lolajovan.com/store/p813/f...

#art #painting #crow #crowart #fantasyart #oilpainting

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A gigantic crow sits atop a small boat against an abstracted sky ad sea. The quote continues: “to tell stories about what is real and what is possible, and what it means to be. “ And just like that, we're here at the end of a year. A year of telling stories and of trying to figure out what it means to be. It is tempting to count the blog posts, the paintings, the canvases shipped and the ones remaining, the comments, the followers, the reposts and shares. It is tempting to tease out what the counts actually mean, what stories they tell. And yet. That is the way I used to be (data-driven and quantified) and I cannot now be entirely that anymore. Instead, I pause and notice what I am thinking now, how I am feeling, whether I am energized or exhausted, inspired or depleted, engaged or withdrawn. How does it feel at the end of a year? All the information I need is right there. It is more difficult for me to check in than to measure. More challenging to probe and question than to analyze. But there is gold in them thar hills, and I am excited to go looking for it. I put one foot in the river and smile. Despite the whole world seeming to run amok with madness and mayhem, what is real, what is possible here in this very moment is good. Very, very good. I am curious - do you have end of year practices in your world?
December 29, 2025 at 3:55 PM
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An early morning walk just as the sun smashed into the buildings downtown; as fog weighted the city like a much needed blanket in the cold.

#portland #sunrise #fog #cityscape #urbanscape #photography #morningwalks
The collision of sun and fog over Portland A fog-blanketed river Buildings aglow on the hill Sun glow under the bridge
December 29, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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Pippi is Unstoppable
pen and ink on wood panel
12 x 8

‘I don’t think you have a very nice way with ladies,’ said Pippi.- ASTRID LINDGREN

Get the art: www.lolajovan.com/store/p752/p...

#art #drawing #illustration #penandink #pippilongstocking
#fantasyart #blackandwhite #ballet

Story-ALTtext⬇️
A pen and ink drawing of Pippi in a tutu in her best ballet move. The quote continues: “And she lifted him in her strong arms — high in the air — and carried him to a birch tree and hung him over a branch. Then she took the next boy and hung him over another branch.” In the pantheon of fictional characters I’d like to be, Pippi is high on the list. She says what she means, follows through with action and walks away without a second thought. Oh yeah.
December 28, 2025 at 3:47 PM
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One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is my love’s amazing pie…a little slice of homemade pumpkin, anyone? (Just kidding - we won’t leave a single crumb. Yum!)

#pie #homechef #pumpkinpie #luckyme #ourhouse #delicious
My husband is a pie wizard Scrumptious pumpkin pie
December 28, 2025 at 1:58 AM
lolajovan.com
Boneyard
acrylic on watercolor paper
30 x 22

We all know that fear is a desolate boneyard where our dreams go to desiccate in the hot sun.
- Elizabeth Gilbert

Get the art: www.lolajovan.com/store/p364/b...

#art #painting #abstractlandscape #trees #landscapeart

Story-ALTtext⬇️
An abstracted landscape of fallen and falling tree trunks. Fear is my nemesis. It pokes me in the creative solar plexus and stops me cold. I cannot move forward with a painting or drawing if I am feeling fear ; I must first face the fear and send it out the door. I imagine fear marching up and down the sidewalk outside of my studio window holding signs and placards. I can’t hear it anymore and just smile at its antics.
December 27, 2025 at 3:45 PM
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Another tumbler day! Some beauties fresh from the rolling rumbling army of machines in the basement.

#rocks #rocktumbling #rockhound #oregoncoast #agates #ourhouse
One big beautiful agate in my hand A bounty of agates Mixed material agates This one looks like a beautiful landscape!
December 27, 2025 at 2:01 AM
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Our Wild Ride Into Modernity
oil on canvas panel
20 x 24

But I want to extol not the sweetness nor the placidity of the dog, but the wilderness out of which he cannot step entirely, and from which we benefit. - MARY OLIVER

Get the art: www.lolajovan.com/store/p770/o...

#art
Story-ALTtext⬇️
A lanky dog wearing a collar and leash sits against an abstracted background The quote continues: “For wilderness is our first home too, and in our wild ride into modernity with all its concerns and problems we need also all the good attachments to that origin that we can keep or restore. Dog is one of the messengers of that rich and still magical first world. The dog would remind us of the pleasures of the body with its graceful physicality, and the acuity and rapture of the senses, and the beauty of forest and ocean and rain and our own breath. There is not a dog that romps and runs but we learn from him. “ The dogs throughout my life have been some of my favorite sages and teachers. And as I watch our aging chihuahua learn new things, I am encouraged that even the old dog that I am can learn new tricks.
December 26, 2025 at 4:03 PM
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What’s more festive than a drizzly walk on the cold PNW morning? Wild laser-beam reflection eyes! Oh yeah!

#portland #morningwalk #love #laserbeam #reflections #selfies
Malcolm and me during our morning walk om Christmas. 🎄❤️
December 26, 2025 at 1:54 AM
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A little animation mischief just for fun! Happy Merry Day to everyone!

#animation #penandink #drawing #comicart #art
December 25, 2025 at 4:22 PM
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A bit of seasonal cheer from our home to yours! Happy Merry Eve!

#portland #flowers #branches #skeleton #ourhouse
An indoor bloom looking glamorous Our giant, jasmine-covered skeleton guarding the house A bouquet gift from a sweet neighbor! Seasonal branches in a vase bringing the RED!
December 25, 2025 at 2:08 AM
lolajovan.com
Running From The Art Police Because I’ve Been Banned
pen and ink on Yupo
8 x 8

This month in the blog, a Question Exchange between myself and artist/poet Dotty Seiter.

Head over to the blog: www.lolajovan.com/art-blog-lol...

#art #penandink #artblog #blog #conversation

Story-ALTtext⬇️
A pen and ink drawing of the artist running away. A couple of months, ago a blog reader suggested a “question exchange” between myself and the winner of the monthly giveaway. Last month’s winner wanted to answer my questions in poetry form, so I am answering her questions with visual art. 😁 This piece is in response to her first question for me: what is the origin story for your life as an artist?
December 24, 2025 at 3:50 PM
lolajovan.com
Remember the sun? Here’s a reminder to get you through the next round of storms in the PNW.

#portland #sunrise #cityscape #photography #riverviews
Bright sun reflecting off downtown buildings A city aglow in the morning sun Glowing riverwalk Mid and debris in the river from recent storms while the bridges and buildings glow in the sun
December 24, 2025 at 1:57 AM
lolajovan.com
Renunciation
oil on canvas panel
20 x 24

The road to human development is paved with renunciation. Throughout our life we grow by giving up. - JUDITH VIORST

Get the art: www.lolajovan.com/store/p771/r...

#art #painting #oilpainting #figurativeart #femaleportrait

Story-ALTtext⬇️
An oil portrait of a woman in an exotic robe or dress The quote continues: “We give up some of our deepest attachments to others. We give up certain cherished parts of ourselves. We must confront, in the dreams we dream, as well as in our intimate relationships, all that we never will have and never will be. Passionate investment leaves us vulnerable to loss. And sometimes, no matter how clever we are, we must lose… It is only through our losses that we become fully developed human beings. “ Loss, just like death, touches us all. There is a trail of loss in the rear-view mirror; a road littered with people, places, things, ideas and hopes. How do we cope with loss? What do we choose to fill the space with? Or do we fill the space at all? As with my own aging, my attitude toward it (loss) changes me. I am not always good at the choices I make when faced with loss, but I am getting better.
December 23, 2025 at 3:43 PM
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It’s easy to be cooped up inside during days and days (and days and days and DAYS) of rain when you’re little. The whole inside is another world to be explored. And now we have bully sticks hidden (by the dog) everywhere in the house. Thanks, Wonder Mike!

#portland #ourhouse #rainydays #chihuahua
Our chihuahua stands at the top of a staircase, ready for adventure!
December 23, 2025 at 1:56 AM
lolajovan.com
Messy and Marvelous
oil on cradled wood panel
14 x 11

​It cannot be always comfortable.
So love the thousand knives as they enter
and see your shape still sitting.
- Rachel Hébert

Get the art: www.lolajovan.com/store/p812/m...

#art #painting #landscapeart #abstractlandscape

Story-ALTtext⬇️
An abstracted landscape inspired by a misty morning walk along a river in the city. The quote continues: “See that you too belong to paws of soft silent hungers, to thirst-tangled roots, to silver-spun constellations. Know you’re no sicker than the rest of us. The big secret is this: No one else can brave you. Messy, yes. And marvelous.” Life is a little uncomforable right now in the world. We are challenged each day to process societal changes we may never have imagined in our lifetime. For each of us, this cannot help but become a very personal examination - what does this mean for me? For those around me? For my neighborhood, for my city? What does it mean for my mental and emotional health and for my physical wellbeing? We are, each one of us, messy and marvelous. The spotlight seems to be on the messy part right now. And so we hone our investigations to focus on the beauty, the kindness, the tenderness and the hope. Yep, there are still the thousand knives poking and prickling and prodding. We are still here, still sitting, still ​marvelous.
December 22, 2025 at 4:03 PM
lolajovan.com
Oh, it’s raining heffalumps and woozles here in Portland again. So let’s look back a few days to when the sun made a brief appearance…sigh.

#portland #willametteriver #urbanscape #photography #morningwalks
A view across the Willamette River on a sunny morning The river and bridges under soft clouds Sun peeking through the Hawthorne Bridge
December 22, 2025 at 1:51 AM
lolajovan.com
Priceless Diversity
pen and ink on cradled wood panel
11 x 14
(Sold)

I will argue that every scrap of biological diversity is priceless, to be learned and cherished, and never to be surrendered without a struggle. - E.O. Wilson

#art #drawing #penandink #robot

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A robot crouches down to examine a dandelion. I have read a few of EO Wilson’s books and was saddened when I read that he had passed. Known mainly for his expertise in entomology (he was partially blinded as a child and only saw small things well) , he spent much of his career observing ants. In some of his later writing he gently tried to bridge the gap between science and faith, wanting to forge an agreement based on the wonder and beauty of it all. This piece was created as part of a commission for a scientist with a love of robots and wonder.
December 21, 2025 at 3:32 PM
lolajovan.com
Portland has had a LOT of rain this month.

How much rain?

Enough that our crabapple tree has become a mushroom sanctuary! Oooooh! Aaahhhh!

#portland #mushrooms #fungi #rain #ourhouse #photography #nature
Beautiful mushrooms on our tree Ooh la la! More mushrooms! Mushrooms or potato chips? Ha ha! Little mushroom colonies
December 21, 2025 at 1:50 AM
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The Fragility of Everything
pen and ink on wood panel
11 x 14

…the shock and vertigo of the recognition of the fragility of everything, and my own powerlessness in it, has left its mark on me. - Katie Mack

Get the art: www.lolajovan.com/store/p811/r...

#art #drawing #robot
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A robot holding a dandelion watches tufts and floofs floating up to the sky Inspired by a recent commission from a fellow robot and sci-fi enthusiast. Capturing soft emotions in a machine, butting nature and wonder up against technology. Also, any excuse to spend more drawing emotive robots!
December 20, 2025 at 3:59 PM
lolajovan.com
A break from the second atmospheric river this morning - sparkly sunshine for a bit.

But the aftermath in the Willamette River is bonkers! A debris field of floating things! Slip sliding away…

#Portland #river #morningwalks #photography #atmosphericriver
December 20, 2025 at 1:53 AM
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Today in our Little Free Library! Holiday art cards generously donated by the talented @marypohlmannart.bsky.social ! Hooray!

#art #littlefreelibrary
Art cards in our little free library
December 19, 2025 at 6:32 PM
lolajovan.com
We’re All Just Trying
pen and ink on cradled wood panel
11 x 14
(Sold)

We’re all just trying to be comfortable, and well fed, and unafraid. - Becky Chambers

#art #drawing #penandink #robot
Story-ALTtext⬇️
A robot sits on the ground holding a small bird. This piece was commissioned by a scientist living in the UK - a person with a kindred affinity for broken robots, deep emotion and science fiction novels. The request spawned a trio of robot pieces,, as I fell down the rabbit-hole of emotive robots.
December 19, 2025 at 3:53 PM
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A couple of river pirates taking advantage of floating debris from the storm…ahoy, mateys!

#portland #river #crows #portlandcrows #piratelife
December 19, 2025 at 12:20 AM
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Dolores on Tuesday
oil on cradled wood panel
24 x 12 x 1.25.

“I sat with my anger long enough until she told me her real name was grief.”― C.S. Lewis

Get the art: www.lolajovan.com/store/p625/d...

#art #painting #portraiture

Story-ALTtext⬇️
An abstracted portrait of a reclining woman. When I was younger, I felt angry a lot. Even then, I knew the anger wasn’t the root of it, though. It wasn’t until decades later, when grief emerged in deep, shuddering sobs, that I knew what the anger had been hiding (or protecting). I don’t get mad anymore. I often go straight to grief - like a bullet train, I take the express! No need to linger in anger.
December 18, 2025 at 3:59 PM
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There is a vending machine company several blocks away. I walk by it each morning. A recent detour took me around the block. I never knew the other side of the building was covered in giant vending machine murals! Whoa! Go Portland!

#murals #art #portland #morningwalks #streetart
A vending machine mural on the side of a building Another amazing vending machine mural!
December 18, 2025 at 1:48 AM