This little sparrow always seems to want to be painted every few months. I think sparrows do have a little bit luck. Luck is always a funny thing isn't it? This is my 2nd week of taking a break from my full time job to focus on my painting. Even though it is the holidays, I have started several paintings of some urban-scapes and some events around Portland so hopefully I will have sneak peaks of those soon. I can't believe the year is almost up! Everyone have a safe and happy New Years :)...
I just finished up this painting of the ever beautiful Sauvie's Island during fall. Fall is always so beautiful there because of the changing trees and the quietness of the countryside. It was a perfect October day but very cold. 2009 has moved by so fast and I can't believe we are already approaching the new year and I have lots of things in the works and lots of painting. I do have a first Thursday opening at Equilibrium next week from 6-8. Happy Holidays Everyone!...
100 Artists. 2000 pieces. $30/each. (Cash and Carry) – ONE NIGHT ONLY!!!! OLYMPIC MILLS GALLERY - First Floor of Olympic Mills Commerce Center 107 SE WASHINGTON Friday, Dec 11th. 6-11PM IMPORTANT: Bring a can of food for Oregon Food Bank! Donations are down, we really appreciate all of your help. Benefit for KBOO Community Radio, Oregon Food Bank and Portland City Art – arts non profit. Event sponsored by BEAM Development/Brad Malsin, PARR Lumber, Red Slate Wine Company, Pyramid/Portland Brewing, PDX Pipeline , PoBoy Art Framing, Hungry Eyeball and Olympic Provisions (the brand new restaurant at Oly Mills!!!) Event presented by Portland City Art – arts non profit (“Artists for Artists”) and Po Boy Art. Music provided by DJ Non Prophet. Curated by Portland City Art (Chris Haberman, John Graeter) and our guest host, Jason Brown of the Goodfoot and Po Boy Art. Artist List: Adam Ciresi, Ashley Costa, Adam Sheppard, Amy Stoner, Andy Kennedy , Angela Gay , Anawanitia Petty , Anna Magruder/...
More paintings for the big 100 . Since I am totally addicted to coffee and since I pretty much only wear converse. ...
I am on schedule for doing a painting a day. Here is a little sneak peak of what I have been working on for the Big 100 . He looks a little mischievous doesn't he?...
Dere is a commission piece that I just recently completed. Its this little town nestled in the mountains in Italy called Callesano. The most challenging part was making sure I was able to capture the essence of this small town. I wanted to keep a really limited color pallette due to rustic and quiet nature of the town. I used cad red, cad yellow, naples yellow, ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, and burnt umber. Also coming up for first Thursday in December, my solo show at Equilibrium in December, which I will have several new pieces. Another December announcement is that I am in the big 100 which I will have 20 pieces. There is 100 artists which means 2000 pieces of art and it is a cash and carry show which is right on time for the holidays. ...
I can not believe that it is almost Christmas time. It feels like almost over night it has be come practically winter. So we just got back from beautiful Hawaii and it was very relaxing trip. We sat on the beach practically all week and drank fruity drinks. Even though there were many drinks- I did successfully complete a few sketches. :) I also got an email that one of my painting was picked for a publication. So I never went to art school but I did take one painting class and one of the assisgnments was picked for the schools literary magazine. Time to start thinking about Christmas planning... and making my Christmas list. ...
I am in the Family Show at the Launch Pad Gallery and I just did a small painting of a church. I went to a small private Catholic School for all 12 years of school. I know.. pretty painful. Yes I wore a uniform.. Yes there were nuns with large rulers.. Thinking back . Now feeling old.. we used to write the answers of our spelling tests on our upper legs under our skirt to cheat, to this day I am still a horrible speller. Thank god for spell check. :) So this is a little church out in the middle of no where in Helvetia, Oregon . Helvetia is best known for their burger joint, Helvetia Tavern . I have gone out and eaten there a few times because the burgers are so monstrous and fresh. I did a lot of thinking about what I wanted to do for this show since lately I have been mainly working on landscapes and I thought I would go with something a little bit more from my back ground....
So I learned a valuable lesson over the weekend. I had the closing reception at Moxie this weekend and I received a phone call this past week that I had a customer interested in one of the larger pieces but there was a "finger print" and I would need to fix it in order for the customer to buy it. Well since I am a extreme perfectionist- I started having flashes of someone wiping their grubby muddy hands all over my painting... maybe spitting on it.. poking at it.. So who knows what could have happened to my poor innocent painting and the damage kept getting worse in my mind. I let Moxie know that I would bring a small repair kit and see if I was able to fix it. So I get to show and I take a look at the painting and I do not see a finger print at all. On all my paintings I put on the varnish and it usually is not even and I only do one coat and it's meant to be uneven because I like the how the light hits the painting. Thankfully I had nothing to repair and it was ...
Well I am no longer in my 20's. I can't believe how time has been going by faster and faster. I know time only gets faster as you get older. I recently went to New York City for my birthday and it was completely incredible and even a little life changing. I went to the MOMA , which was as amazing as I thought it would be. They had a everything from Van Gogh to Jackson Pollock to Freida. I would have to say my favorite by far was Jackson Pollock. His paintings in person- all I can simply say is that, I totally get it. I have seen a few of the Pollock movies about his auto biography and I always referred to him as the splatter guy. The emotion that jumps off the canvas can only be described in person and knowing the stories behind the paintings just added to the experience. I am still amazed at how fantastic they were in person. It's just a great reminder that sometimes paintings do not translate over print, the web etc. I haven't been to New York in over ...
It has been sooo hot here! I can't really remember a time that it has been this hot in Oregon. Also there has been no AC in my studio. :( I have tried to paint in my studio but it has been sooo HOT! So I have been working on little things outside of studio. My poor little dogs also have been roasting in the weather. Here is little Yoda making a face. This painting is of Sauvie's Island. I have been thinking about changing up my medium that I add to the oil paint. I normally do 1/3 turpenoid, 1/3 linseed, and 1/3 galkyd, but I have been doing a little bit of reading about expanding my horizons with stand oil and damar, or maybe doing some egg tempura. Cheers to you all out in blog land!...
So we were having dinner with my parents and my mother walks over and wants to show my a tomato. She let me know it wasn't just any tomato but a 5 dollar tomato. So I decided to paint it before we ate it. Also so I participated in first Thursday in the pearl as a vendor and it was a great success! I sold one my Oregon Landscape paintings and I was a little sad to see it go, but the woman who bought it let me know it would go to a good home. Here is a picture to the side of my booth and there were ballerinas! They did swirls and twirls all up down the street. So I have been feeling extremely motivated and inspired to get in my studio.. so that is where I will be hiding. :)...
The weather has been so amazing here this last week or so- it reminds me that summer is here again and that time is moving a little faster every year. I have been known to buy piece of art here and there and have made a mini gallery in my hallway to really show case some of my favorite pieces and all originals. So that everyone that comes to visit can appreciate some of the work that I enjoy and work that inspires me. I have been getting resin prints and things ready for last Thursday this next week on Alberta . I will have a few friends joining me and it should be beautiful day....
I know that there are many artists especially in Portland that are green artists. My main issue with using too much recycled material is the archival quality of the work. If the wood that is being used is water damaged or moldy then the painting wouldn’t last and the work would start to deteriorate. So I have been getting leftover wood from different places but the wood is brand new- but it’s left over. Does that mean it’s considered green or recycled materials? Since it’s new but it’s left over. A good friend of mine from my art group discovered these brand new slash "recycled" cabinet doors that were scraps. One person's garbage is another person's treasure. Pretty fabulous. So this Friday at Muse - the auction is ending for an Artist a Day paintings. 50% of the proceeds go to helping buy school supplies for teachers. I can't believe it's almost Summer! almost June- ready for Summer!...
So here are some pictures from the artist a day that I just finished at the Muse Art and Design. I started out with an undertone of yellow Cad Medium and then spent the whole day painting quickly! The opening is on May 15th and there is really a mix of artists of a lot of different mediums and experience. So this week I am back in my studio working on a painting that seems like it will never be finished. What's the old saying? Work is never truly done. I mean Leonardo carried the Mona Lisa around with him and worked on it until he died....
Another beautiful day! It truly has been so gorgeous here. Here is the husband and my sweet little angels at the park by our house. All the beautiful weather really inspires me to think about growth and nature. This type of weather really makes me want to stop and smell the roses and be inspired by the movement around me. This next Sunday, I will be at Muse doing an artist a day. I am pretty nervous I will be painting in front of people. Maybe I should imagine all the people in the store in their underwear? :) I was featured on a blog this last week and it's pretty darn adorable. Melinda's etsy shop is Vivid Texture and she's from Western Massachusetts. Have a good Monday!...
I think I can see little signs of springs sprouting up around. Today was the first sunny day in a very long time. I have been busy painting away in my studio working away at my landscape series. Also I am going to be doing An Artist a Day fundraiser which is raising money for school supplies for teachers. I am going to be at Muse Art and Design on the last Sunday of April painting away in the store. Thirty 16"x20" canvases/panels will be hung in an exhibit at Muse Art and Design. Each canvas/panel will start out blank, labeled with the name of an artist and the date that the artist will create their piece....
So here is my little painting currently at the Love show at the Olympic Mills. I went over there today to look at all the paintings because it was so hard to look at the opening because there were so many people. My friend Lisa baked me some delicious cupcakes which was my inspiration because who doesn't love cupcakes? I think everyone loves cupcakes. After I finished all of the sketching- I totally ate them all in one sitting. MMMMM! I have been painting like a crazy person this week for the SE art walk fast approaching and a few little things for my etsy shop. Hopefully everything will dry soon so that I can put up some pictures....
The love show is upon us and opening night was this last Friday. The show will be up until the end of March. There are over 250 artists that participated and the opening was a complete zoo of people. Honestly it is one of the most interesting shows I have participated in and have been in. There is such a wide array of art in the show from paintings to installations. I have started planning my next piece in my Oregon landscape series. I have been taking Sunday drives around NW industrial parts of Portland. So hopefully I will start the painting this week. In class this week we are starting to paint people which I am DEATHLY afraid of since all my people look like cartoons....
This weekend has been a very busy weekend for me! Lots of painting and being creative. My homework for class this week was to paint a shoe. I decided to paint my favorite shoe- my black converse hanging over a chair in my kitchen. We could use whatever color palette we wanted but had to paint a shoe. I have been wearing converses since high school- which basically means FOREVER! So I knew instantly I had to paint my beloved converse. I used oil paint on wood with a number 4 Filbert brush. I am still working on my cupcake painting for the love show and I hoping and praying that it's all done by this next week. I am probably am about 65-70% done but I really need to get focused and be productive. I always seem to reach a point in a painting that I get caught up in all the details when instead I need to just move forward... and that's were I am at with my cupcake painting. Everyone have a great creative week. Can you believe it's already February!...
I have been so busy with painting.. school... work.. my life is a Hurricane! Work is extremely busy! They are pushing us to work at 48-56 hours per person. Then I have class 2 nights a week. Then I also have my paintings to work on. Here is one my homework assignments starring my super model little angel Winston. The assignment was to paint something in my house using 2 colors other than black and white. I used yellow ochre, raw umber, black, and white. He is sleeping on a pillow on my couch and he is pretty adorable. Over the weekend I had the orientation for the SE art walk and there is going to be over 100 artists participating.. so the room was quite packed! It was great to see so many passionate people. I am also going to have a piece of art in a group show at the New Deal Cafe for the month of February. I am also working on my piece for the Love Show at the Launch Pad Gallery/Olympic Mills annual Love event. :).... so hopefully I can finish everything in time. Have a go...
So I am waiting for few paintings to dry because I really need to get into gear for this summer and my future endeavors. I started my class this last week and it's my first painting class, EVER! It was an extremely humbling experience. Going to a class and being open and honest to change and learning something new which was and is huge challenge. So this last week we starting working on a still life black and white painting and it really makes you realize that sometimes you need to get back to the basics. This weekend I met up with my art group and we haven't seen each other in awhile due to holiday hiatus. I really missed each and everyone of them since they all bring a different percecptive to the group and we all really "get" each others creative spirit. I also found out this week I got accepted into doing the Southeast Portland Art walk which I don't know exactly where I am going to be but I'm sure I will found out more information in the orientation ...
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