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".

Resurrection.

"Nearly Not Endangered" 30"x40" 2010

This has been a beautiful summer physically, emotionally and spiritually. For many people it has been a summer of great challenges ranging from heartbreaking to humorous to disastrous. With perseverance, time, support, and a little luck, we've been adapting to our circumstances and turning misfortune into treasure. I feel so lucky to have people in my life who have always greatly encouraged me as an artist and who have given me incredible emotional and physical support this summer. Words and actions of support, encouragement and love can lift the spirit from a darker place. I think back to memories of being encouraged by my friends, my family, and strangers I've met along the way to keep me strong and confident in art and life. We all have those moments of doubt and insecurity which can be legitimate but are often silly and unnecessary. As much as we can self-talk or work our way out of that state of mind, it's a great gift to have people who are there to do that for us.
If you need some help with believing in yourself, watch this video for inspiration.

Snails and Puppy Dog Tails.

This past week I had the opportunity to paint for a little boy which was super since I haven't painted a boy's room in over a year. The parents came up with the idea of the planes, trains and automobile theme, and large parts of the design. Their 2 1/2 year old son was definitely into it! I love how it looks. As with most of my recent jobs, this one involved a few firsts for me: a growth chart, painting a background for 3-D letters, and incorporating text within a mural. Take a look!

The Sun is Cold.

The tradeoff for a sunny winter day in Seattle is the bitter drop in temperature. Watson and I braved the cold this morning to romp around at the Westcrest off-leash area- a trip that was more than worthwhile since one of his best girlfriends Lucia was there for him to play with. 
When I couldn't take the cold anymore, we headed back home for a day of painting in the warmth of home. I worked on my fifth small floral for the group that will be shipped to California mid-month. My goal is to have 6 paintings dry and framed, with more that will be dry enough to ship after the holidays. Today I was inspired to paint these yellow flowers with abstract filtered sunlight in the background.

Here it is in the early stage:

Quick break for coffee and to admire mums in the afternoon sun:

The finished product: 

Flower Power

Wow- Early October is the last time that I worked on an oil painting, well before our glorious trip to Maui. Since I returned to Seattle I've been so focused on printmaking, and I also felt a little burned out after the SeaMonster mural, as fun as it was. I'm lucky enough to have the opportunity to sell some small floral paintings at a gallery in Northern California (details to come once my work is on the walls!) so it's time to get back in the swing of things. I'm painting with the palette knife on 5"x7" canvas boards that I'll frame when the work is dry. Photographer and friend Doug Davenport has generously e-mailed me a ton of reference photos. For now I'm picking from the florals, but I can't wait to revisit the others soon to paint some of the incredible wildlife, landscapes, and waterscapes that he sent. After struggling with two florals, I finally feel like I've reached my stride with my third attempt- this red flower that I painted today:When I paint impastos, I try to paint everything at once with no drying time for the painting. If I try to rework it while it's drying, the paint often becomes crumbly in sections and turns into a big chunky mess. I have let a painting dry completely before working further (Montmartre and Ushidoshi are two successful examples of this) but the wet-on-wet smudges are what I really love about painting with the knife. It's tricky to do this without the paint color getting muddy. My trick is to wipe off the knife after every stroke to keep the colors pure. The paper towel ends up looking like a little work of art in itself! I just cropped a section of this photo to make a new banner for the Etsy store that features my canvas paintings:

Exciting stuff.

During my October road trip to California I brought along some Speedball rubber blocks to carve with a cute pink carving tool. I thought that I might have some down time to craft-out, and after bringing watercolors to Maui I wanted to try something new. First I carved a simple tree with 2 hearts, and next a bird and branch silhouette. I didn't know how the plates would hold up, and since one of the types (the pink one) said "won't crumble", I assumed the other kind I brought (yellowy beige) might. Since I got home I've made a ton of prints and all of the blocks have held up really well. I've become addicted to printing- it's all I want to do! I decided to turn the prints into greeting cards that I'm trying to sell through my Noon Moon esty shop. I sold one hot-pink on white "Tree of Hearts" on the day I posted it, which definitely fueled my fire! I found an amazing packaging shop in Georgetown- Packaging Specialties- where I bought cello sleeves for protecting the cards. They make the cards look so pro! Packaging Specialties is one of those stores that a crafter can go bananas in. The ribbons alone are hard to get past, until you see the tower of brightly colored chinese food style boxes in all sizes. It's great!
It's been a while since I worked on an oil painting, and I've actually been procrastinating out of the insecurity in my skill that I sometimes get after time off. I'm hoping to get a few 5"x7" impastos completed to send off to a gallery in Carmel Valley, CA by early December. I have a huge headache, but I just finished the first one and I think it looks pretty cute.Another challenge I'm taking on (starting tomorrow) is an underwater mural at the SeaMonster Lounge in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle. This will be my first underwater mural that is not geared towards children, so I've very excited to tackle the task of painting eerie underwater depth. After snorkling in Maui and going to the Monterey aquarium recently, I'm in the zone- hopefully that will translate into the artwork. I also took some great photos for reference on the way home from Califonia in Newport, Oregon. I admire these murals every time I pass through Newport. Most of them are painted by Rick Chambers and they are just incredible. Take a look:

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 ~

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.

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