Lori Stanley: the Heart, Soul, and Life of a True Artist

"Woman Sleeping with Dogs"  by Lori Stanley 

For those that know me or that have been keeping up with this blog, you will know that I have not had much of a chance to do any real posting as of late due to the fact that I have been in the processes of closing our shop on Government Street here in Ocean Springs and moving to a new house and getting ready to reopen the shop over in D'Iberville at Centuries Antique Mall. 

As I was unpacking I came across one of my favorite works of art. A wonderful painting that was done by an artist named Lori Stanley, that I used to know when I was stationed at Castle AFB at Atwater, California.  This was way back in the mid 1980's.

I hung Lori's painting up in my new living room and it still looks just as fresh and as exciting as the day I first laid eyes on it in Merced, CA.  It is a wonderful image and I have always felt that it was her true masterpiece.  I rather unfortunately do not remember the original title of this painting.  I have always called it "Woman Sleeping with Dogs".  It is an image of a an alien woman sleeping ever so peacefully on an otherworldly beach surrounded by dog like creatures.

Artist Lori Stanley Circa 1969

From the moment that I first laid eyes on this image I loved it!  If memory serves me correctly she was asking a bit more for this work of art than I could afford at the time.  Once I had gazed upon it I could not get it out of my mind.  The image was so alive in my thoughts that I just had to have this extraordinary painting.  Well, as you have probably guessed by now I did end up getting it. That is how it has ended up in my new living room. I hung it in my bedroom in Merced and for the time that I was in Merced I gazed upon it every night before I went to sleep.

I have always found this image both haunting and beautiful.  To me it shows one of humankind's most archetypal  desires, the desire to have peace among the chaos of the world.  This is an image of Bliss. An image of being able to get the mental rest that we all so very much crave.  To be exposed outside and surrounded by the safety of these gentle wearily sleeping dogesque animals that would protect you from all harm as you sleep is the epitome of contentment. What more could one ask for from this world? Perfect contentment. Not much more in my opinion. The image is executed in Lori's typical dream like style, that is so often a literal paradox of sophisticated naiveness.

Lori was as physically beautiful woman that also had such a great magnetic personality.  She impressed me with her simple straight forwardness, but at the same time complex character.  I was not an extremely close friend, but I can say that I was a friend of hers.  We spent a number of times at the Arbor Gallery in Merced talking and she came over to my place for tea and a bit of an art chat on a number of occasions. I sadly do not remember much of what we spoke of, but I do remember that the conversations were always lively and fraught with interesting content.

I was laying on my sofa looking at this painting a couple of weeks back when it just hit me, That I should look her up and let her see my ceramic art pottery.

I went online and typed into the Google search engine "Lori Stanely".   I found some information
on an art site called Pablo Picasso Club.

Lori Stanley Painting

I was so shocked to read that Lori had passed from this world of dull unhappy colors into the world where the colors that people like her and myself have always seen with our minds eye are real and tangible. I read on and on and found a bit more on another site.  I read little pieces here and there.  Some were quite sad. some of the things that people stated sounded so much like the Lori that I briefly knew and other things did not sound right at all.

I could not find an actual obituary. I looked and looked and could not find any information that I could actually verify as factual. There are only bits and pieces of half told tales on a couple of threads. I am now left with so many question and I can not find answers. When was she born? Is there an obituary? Where is she laid to rest? Is there a bio for her? If not, why not?

Lori Stanley Painting "Birds"

I was not surprised to hear so many people going on as to how valuable her works have become. I was also shocked at how many people were going on about how they seemingly did not want to share information that others might use to sell her work or for them to use to write a book.  I must admit that I am a bit confused as to the attitudes of both friends and family. I as an artist can relate were she was coming from in many ways. One of the things that she loved most in her life (and on occasion hated the most in her life) was her art.  The relationship of a genuine artist and their art is a very complex thing and virtually inexplicable. Art for her as for myself is a hard master that sometimes rewards and sometimes punishes us. Artist's of our ilk never walk the gentile boulevards of the nice sleek gallery world.  We spend our time doing art. We literally do art for arts sake.  We do our art because we are driven over everything else to do it.

If Lori is actually no more of this Earth, all I can say is what a sad, sad, sad, loss this is for our poor bleak world.  Her work was astounding, haunting, and I can not stress enough, complex!  She had a full appreciation for her own technique and worked it to great advantage.  Here work was always, her work.  She copied no one.  She did things as she saw them and was always true to her own image of how she saw things.

Lori Stanley Painting

I can not imagine how anyone in her family or any of her friends could ever say anything about anyone wanting to sell her paintings for crazy amounts of money.  All artists consciously or unconscionably are doing art for one reason. That reason is to be remembered.  Yes, to be remembered.  We devote our lives to create things that will be held onto and loved and treasured for generations. If Loris paintings are worth very little, she would have just wasted her time.  I would never even consider that she wasted her time.  She spent hundreds and hundreds of hours of her brief existence on this bland little blue rock, creating vivid images of how she and she alone saw the world.

She had magical eyes and saw incredible beauty, albeit sometimes a sorrow filled beauty, but true beauty none the less and she was able to directly channel this vision onto her canvas and let the world have a glimpses of here inner being.  I will be honest and say that in my opinion anyone that truly loved this woman would not only consider her paintings to be of the utmost value, they would demand it!  Her works should be selling for insane prices.  Not just because I have one, but because her work is worth it.  It is the duty of everyone that cared for her to get her story out to the world. Let someone write a book. For that matter write one yourself.  Let the world know about this wonderful woman that dreamed of being at peace with the world and was able to paint the painting that I have, lived and loved and cried and dance her happy little dances and sometimes walked out into the night alone and dreamed in colors that most people will never see or even know.

Lori Stanley Painting

She needs a Biography. She needs a Wikipedia entry, she needs, a web site, she needs to be remembered, she needs to have her paintings being sought after and sold for unimaginable prices! Her work was that good. She deserves to have what all real artists want to end up with.... their own immortality through their art.

As a matter of fact I must tell you that I do "NOT" want to sell my painting.....I might consider an offer, but it would have to be of an earth shattering amount for me to even entertain the idea and my idea would make even the wealthiest collector turn a bit green at the gills.  So be very cautious of any offers one might make. I can be made to laugh at some fairly large sums of money.  Money is a wonderful and great thing. But money is not art.  Real art is one of a kind and that is it...just one...no more.

Lori Stanley Painting "Some Sleep"

It fills my heart with such sadness at the thought that there will not be anymore art from Lorraine Gay Stanley.  I must now make a much belated condolences to her close friends and family. Her lose will always be in my heart. I look at her painting, that I have been blessed to be the custodian of at this time, and I will think of her daily!

Artist Lori Stanley Circa 1969

If you have one of her paintings and would like to include it on this blog I will post it so that we can all keep her art alive!  Also I would so much appreciate any factual information about Lori that one may have.

As an afterthought, I must state that I did this post with only the intention of trying to create a bit of online buzz about an artist that I held and hold in great esteem. I truly hope that I have not said anything that will offend anyone.  I must also state that I hold no copyright upon any of the images used here other than the image of my painting by Lori Stanley that I own.  If for some reason you object to my use of an image that the copyright belongs to you.  Then let me know and I will remove it from this post.

Art is survival.


Update: 2014 05 14
I have set up a website for Lori's Art, Lori Stanley Art .

please contact me if you have any images or information that you would like to share.