Take Two.

I'm working on a summer collection featuring everyone's favorites of late- color, geometry, and animals! This winter I painted a series of 10 animals that sold too soon! Just kidding... but I really loved these portraits and am going to use some of the same models for my new collection. Stay tuned to see how I remake these two beauties. 

"King Cobra" 8"x8" acrylic

"Barn Owl" 8"x8" acrylic

Resurrection Part 2: Over a Year Later.

"Resurrection" 22"x28" 2011

Wow. I can't even try to deny that I am a slacker at keeping up on this blog. Around the time of the last post I felt like I was in a prolific period of painting. Then I moved to Portland temporarily, chasing a change of scenery and chasing love. While still painting constantly and still immensely inspired, I entered a new phase of life that had little to do with where my heart and mind were the last time that I posted here. These paintings ended up moving with me to Portland and have been adorning the tall walls of the studio room in a quirky old home that Watson and I share with the amazing man who inspired our move. I would look at these paintings every day, wishing that I could finish them, but truly uninspired to do so. I didn't know how to continue their story in earnest while being in such a different place in life. I didn't want to revisit the emotions attached to these paintings because I felt like it would be a false and forced effort. But given the opportunity to hang my work for 2 months in a fabulous downtown Portland business (the Foot Bar), I realized that I had to buck up and make this happen. With a bit of input from my artistic boyfriend, I was inspired by pattern which in turn led to a honeycomb/hexagon design that seemed to have everything to do with where I was then, where I am now, and where I want to go. I won't elaborate further (unless asked) since I like to give my viewers the chance to attach their own meaning to each work of mine. I used this honeycomb element in 3 of the paintings that had me completely stumped for nearly a year. I'm grateful for that bolt of inspiration that allowed me to close the door on one chapter of my life, while still providing the excitement and pride that comes from completing work that I love. 

Please visit the Foot Bar on NW 13th Ave at Kearney in Portland OR through the end of December if you would like to see these new works in person.  I would also be thrilled to see you there at the next First Thursday opening on December 1st.
You can see the progression of some of these new pieces on my Facebook page in the album titled "Progress".

The Warrior Mask.

Back in late December I picked up this mask belonging to a Wallingford family. Their sweet son suffered from cancer as a baby and had to wear this mask when he underwent radiation treatment. For the family, the mask is representative of victory that is strongly tinged with sadness and struggle. About a year after his treatment ended, this child's loving mom had the motivation to artistically reassign the mask a look of triumph and strength. 

"Keaton the Warrior" 2010 plastic, acrylic, beads, gold leaf, paper, wire

I was excited about this project from the start, and grateful that the family chose me as their artist. Because it's such a meaningful piece for the family, I wanted it to be AMAZING and only add to it elements that I was very excited about and felt confident would be representative of this family. Trying to sense what would be meaningful in terms of design, color, and symbolism, I was able to create a powerful piece that included some touches that are very personal to me as well(most special being the African beads that were given to me by my lovely great-aunt Irene, who spent her youth in Angola).

The protective mask before artwork

Now in mid-May the family finally has the mask back in their home. We're all thrilled with the transformation. 

Happy Holidays!

I've been very neglectful of this blog, even though there's been so much art going on in my house. Things always get a little hectic before the holidays, and we've had the unexpected trial of dealing with a burst pipe that soaked the inside of our garage. As I'm rushing to prepare for a 2 week trip back east, I'd like to leave you with some photos of this Christmas chair. It was commissioned to be a Christmas present for a 7 year old boy in Reno. I love the throwback theme, even though it's not exactly PC. It was a little trickier than I expected to find reference pics for this project! You may remember seeing this chair mid-stripping in an earlier post.
I hope you all have a great Christmas/Hanukkah/Winter celebration!

Chairs.

Today I decided to strip a chair before painting it, instead of chipping the loose paint off and sanding the paint to scuff it up for primer. After many a rash, I really hate to use harsh chemicals like turpentine, lacquer thinner, kerosene, etc. That being said, this chair seemed ancient so I decided that working in some fumes might not be as bad as working in lead paint dust. I ended up buying an aerosol spray can of thinner at the Home Depot. The aerosol turned out to be a bad idea as the spray is thick and wild, but I chose it because I thought I'd use it all unlike the larger container. It was messier than I expected, but the fumes seemed mellow (thinner vapors tend to sink, and I was working outside) and it worked great! There's still a bit of paint on the wood but I think I'm done with the thinner. I may even stain the wood so that I can use some real wood grain amidst the painted design which is to have a Cowboys and Indians theme.

Once I was done with the thinner project, I had the nice surprise of finding out that I'm featured in a treasury on Etsy.com. It has the theme "Interior" and is made by Hungarian felt artist Kati Bobaly of Dekorart. She chose my painting "Elvin's Chair" to join the collection. Elvin's Chair is a rare still life (love them but rarely paint them) of one of the first furniture pieces I bought when I moved to Portland. This was a pretty sweet chair and I just sold it to a Miami transplant since it was getting no use sitting in our garage. Please take a look at it on Dekorart's treasury. The collection features some Etsy artists that I frequently check up on.

Two Loves

Art and Dogs.
If you know me then you probably know that I'm obsessed with Watson- my fiery, funny, adorable mini pinscher. I blame him in part for my procrastination of at-home projects including my canvas paintings. It's hard for me to paint when he's pawing at my arm while my brush is in hand, with big yellow eyes that say things like "please play with me", "let's go for a walk" and "I bet you can't catch me!". I usually reluctantly cave in to his demands, but I'm grateful for those distractions. Our walks around the neighborhood and runs around the yard helped me to really notice nature coming alive this past spring. The local flowers, plant-life and sky of this past spring and summer were direct inspiration for many paintings I completed recently. So many of our neighbors maintain lush gardens- some of which I've admired for a while, but some that I may not have noticed if I wasn't circling the neighborhood again and again with my furry friend. A lot of time and commitment comes with having a dog, but one of the things we dog-owners get in return is a new reason to appreciate the great outdoors. This painting is of Ginger, who's part of Brett's sister's family. I painted this for his sister and brother-in-law's 10th anniversary, as Ginger's been with them longer than their children. The painting took longer than I hoped- in part because in the early stages it looked so good that I was afraid to work on it more! It's all about capturing the personality of the dog, and Ginger is a sweetheart who loves nothing more than fetching a ball. This particular scene comes from a round of "Chuck-it" at the beach in Northern California with her biggest fan, Brett.

Simplify

I often have to hold myself back from painting more and more when a project is probably at the point of completion. I get so involved in the artwork that I want to keep going, but I know from experience that there can be striking beauty in either the early stages of a painting or from small accents of artwork. This week I painted a relatively simple design of two birch trees and a woodpecker over a great base color in a Seattle bathroom. Because the design was not busy, I was able to give the artwork the attention it deserved to be a uniquely striking statement that reflects the client's creativity and love of nature. While full, intricate murals are amazing, I also highly recommend clean artwork over a unique base color for a modern take on the mural.

Art Weekend!

Thank you to everyone who came out on Friday for my show at the Greenwood-Phinney art walk location Art on the Ridge. I had a great time thanks to the crowd and the fantastic tunes by The B-3tles! This was my first show in Seattle featuring many paintings. My goal was to showcase my recent impasto works which are abstract and impressionistic. After this past long winter, I had a craving for color and nature which is reflected in all of these new pieces. Before the opening show, I picked up my Portland landscapes from another gallery, and was lucky to be able to fit them into the Greenwood-Phinney show.
Photographer Anthony Huss paid a visit to my art opening, and wrote a lovely description of the evening on his blog, Seattle Art Walks. Anthony's blog is a must-see for Seattle's artists and art lovers. He has the best compilation of Seattle's art walks, and wonderful reviews and photos of the shows he visits.
The next day I did my first craft show at C&P Coffee in West Seattle. C&P had delicious coffee and is a great place to spend time with a homey setting and great outdoor seating area. It is also dog-friendly indoors and outdoors, which we love!

The Great Outdoors

Happy August! We've survived Seattle's heatwave and are now back to gorgeous summer days. Yesterday I woke up to chilly air which felt incredible, and was a perfect start to my day, which began at Camp Long in West Seattle. For anyone who doesn't know, this is one of Seattle's hidden gems. I've driven by it hundreds of times without knowing it was going to become one of my favorite spots to enjoy the outdoors. It has numerous cabins that are available to rent out, a cute little stream, and a real stone rock climbing structure called Schurman Rock.
I ended up there for the first time accompanying fellow artist Cheri Kopp to experience the final day of Mandy Greer's fiber arts installation in the trees along the water. The natural environment is already beautiful, but the artwork transformed it into a magical place that is hard to step away from. The large scale makes you feel like a part of the artwork, but examining it closely, you'll find special tiny intricate accents like beading that make you wonder if you're the only one lucky enough to notice that small detail. The pictures don't do it justice, but here they are!

Happy Fourth of July!

I love this holiday, and I'm so excited to see fireworks tonight! We'll be hanging out in the "country" checking out the local talent while making sure nothing catches on fire. Watson has no idea that he's about to spend a long night with his best girlfriend Franny. Since everyone except me will probably be playing music for a lot of the night, I'm going to bring some acrylics to experiment with. I just painted a tiny 3"x3" for a mini-red themed art show, and it was fun to utilize water and gravity in creating the abstraction.
I hope there's an art store open today!

Over the Big Top

This new painting is 16"x20" on stretched canvas. I've had visions of circus stripes running through my head, but once I started putting them on the canvas, they weren't telling me what to do. I began this painting by blocking in color in cloud shapes. I'm a sucker for sky blues and whites so I was reluctant to cover the clouds, although I did cover the original brushwork with the palette knife. I like the peaceful sky over the contained energy of the circus tent stripes, so I may leave it like this, or work it more if a solid idea comes to me.

Naming a Painting

I was wondering what to name this impasto painting that I finished today. I usually have a name that comes to me quickly (although they're often straight-forward and unimaginative!). Looking for inspiration, I came across this poem by Robert Frost, and my painting has a name:

Blue-Butterfly Day

It is blue-butterfly day here in spring,
And with these sky-flakes down in flurry on flurry
There is more unmixed color on the wing
Than flowers will show for days unless they hurry.

But these are flowers that fly and all but sing:
And now from having ridden out desire
They lie closed over in the wind and cling
Where wheels have freshly sliced the April mire.
~ Robert Frost ~

San Francisco murals

Last week I joined Brett in San Francisco, after not going down there since the fall (before we got Watson). I flew in the day of his show at the Boom Boom Room with Lord Loves a Working Man. That day was the sunniest of all the days I was down there. With some time to kill in the afternoon, Brett took me on a mini tour of some of the wild murals that decorate an alley in the Mission. Here are some of my faves.

Small things.

I bought a few mini canvases and mini easels thinking I'd do some tiny paintings for kids. I did my first 2 today, using some reference photos I had saved for my regular paintings. The one with the cow is a scene from near Brett's father's home in Bend Oregon, and the other one is a scene I shot in Ireland many years ago. They're so small! 2"x2" and 2"x2.75".


Later in the day Brett and I took Watson down to Alki Beach to scout out what stores and restaurants carry artwork, since I want to start showing my work in the Northwest finally. It was a beautiful day so Alki Beach was packed with characters, including this little fella, Pancho.

Sticks and Boats

I was working on this little number today while Watson took a rare afternoon nap. As soon as we came home from a pre-dinner walk, Watson went bananas, running around the yard like a greyhound. I let him do his thing, because the more tired he gets, the better! As soon as he plopped down he started chewing on a stick and got a piece of it lodged in between his teeth across the roof of his mouth. He was freaking out, and I tried so hard to dig it out with no luck. I started running around door to door frantically looking for an available dog-friendly neighbor. A heroic neighbor came to the rescue and quickly dislodged the bloody stick. Oddly enough, Watson got a big scrape next to his eye yesterday and that same man was the one to clean it with hydrogen peroxide. I feel very lucky to have awesome neighbors.

Tulips!

A couple of weeks ago when I was listing paintings on my etsy shop I noticed for the first time how somber my paintings look as a group. I love these paintings, and the colors truly are rich and beautiful, but many of the scenes are from fall and winter in Portland Oregon, which can be a little gray. Now that spring is popping off here in Seattle I've been craving color and joy. The artwork I'm drawn to lately
is lively, happy and saturated with color. I decided it's time to take part in the spring celebration and do a some quick little paintings of pretty things. Here's one of my first impasto pieces based on some tulips in our front yard.

.

This time last year.

Here's what I was doing this time last year to try to get more local business (with some success). That plank was a terrible idea. What was I thinking?

Time to relax

This is what happens when we walk to the dog park and back. If only it lasted longer!

I painted this little impasto piece last night, which got me thinking about doing a series of little patriotic works. This one is called "Red, White and Youth".

BLOGGING!

I just created my blog! I feel like a geek, but I look at other people's blogs and don't think they're geeky... I can't wait to get into it and add some photos of artwork that I'm working on right now. I'm really into painting with the palette knife for the first time ever. They're a blast. I also decided that since I'm a Seattle artist, I should probably do some Seattle scenes. I'm very excited about this first one from Lincoln Park (facing the Fauntleroy Ferry). The top half is almost finished, but the bottom is just blocked-in color.
I'm excited to paint today but it's absolutely gorgeous out so I'll have to put in some dog-park time and yard work first!