The Work of Erika Lee Sears

Tweeted: erikaleesears: Round 1 - me vs my dentist

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:05:40 GMT

erikaleesears: Round 1 - me vs my dentist

Tweeted: erikaleesears: time to get to work :) it is sooo nice outside

Mon, 8 Mar 2010 13:57:25 GMT

erikaleesears: time to get to work :) it is sooo nice outside

Tweeted: erikaleesears: When is puppeteering coming back in style?

Sun, 7 Mar 2010 21:25:06 GMT

erikaleesears: When is puppeteering coming back in style?

Tweeted: erikaleesears: Watching hurt locker.. Gross :( don't watch it

Sat, 6 Mar 2010 22:18:28 GMT

erikaleesears: Watching hurt locker.. Gross :( don't watch it

Tweeted: erikaleesears: @saramoriarty23 woohoo

Sat, 6 Mar 2010 16:56:38 GMT

erikaleesears: @saramoriarty23 woohoo

Tweeted: erikaleesears: Anybody seen Alice in wonderland yet?

Fri, 5 Mar 2010 18:56:28 GMT

erikaleesears: Anybody seen Alice in wonderland yet?

Blogged: SE Artwalk and Oysterville

Fri, 5 Mar 2010 12:47:00 GMT

Just finished wrapping up this painting of Oysterville, WA- The funny thing about this place is they have cranberry bogs and oysters- what an unusual combination. If you go driving up here, you will see mountains of oyster shells and tiny little houses that sit very close together. Also the guy who invented the invisible band aide has a 200 acre estate up here. If you get up close to the gate there is this bird sculpture with a little video surveillance on top of its head. :)

This weekend is the Southeast Artwalk and over 100 artist are participating and its free to one and all. :) Click the link and there is a map and I am spot number 13.

Tweeted: erikaleesears: Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster. Theodore Roosevelt #quote

Fri, 5 Mar 2010 08:15:14 GMT

erikaleesears: Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster. Theodore Roosevelt #quote

Tweeted: erikaleesears: I wonder how much time I waste waiting in line .. Or how much time is wasted just waiting.

Thu, 4 Mar 2010 17:41:36 GMT

erikaleesears: I wonder how much time I waste waiting in line .. Or how much time is wasted just waiting.

Tweeted: erikaleesears: wow- american idol is horrible this year

Wed, 3 Mar 2010 21:18:22 GMT

erikaleesears: wow- american idol is horrible this year

Tweeted: erikaleesears: Le travail n'épouvante que les âmes faibles. Louis XIV. #quote

Wed, 3 Mar 2010 09:02:15 GMT

erikaleesears: Le travail n'épouvante que les âmes faibles. Louis XIV. #quote

Tweeted: erikaleesears: @u2elan no you aren't. You love public speaking and love being the center of attention

Tue, 2 Mar 2010 15:22:38 GMT

erikaleesears: @u2elan no you aren't. You love public speaking and love being the center of attention

Tweeted: erikaleesears: Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned. Mark Twain #quote

Tue, 2 Mar 2010 13:24:39 GMT

erikaleesears: Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned. Mark Twain #quote

Tweeted: erikaleesears: i love twitter- i can search who gets picked on the bachelor and then I dont even have to watch it :)

Mon, 1 Mar 2010 20:01:31 GMT

erikaleesears: i love twitter- i can search who gets picked on the bachelor and then I dont even have to watch it :)

Tweeted: erikaleesears: "And now, I'm just trying to change the world, one sequin at a time." — Lady Gaga #quote

Mon, 1 Mar 2010 15:46:53 GMT

erikaleesears: "And now, I'm just trying to change the world, one sequin at a time." — Lady Gaga #quote

Tweeted: erikaleesears: Hello Insomnia

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:36:36 GMT

erikaleesears: Hello Insomnia

Tweeted: erikaleesears: At art group.. Some fabulous paintings #pdxart #art http://yfrog.com/2e62954473j

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 13:49:36 GMT

erikaleesears: At art group.. Some fabulous paintings #pdxart #art http://yfrog.com/2e62954473j

Tweeted: erikaleesears: At pnca - I heart art #pdxart http://yfrog.com/4ivc1zj

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:28:33 GMT

erikaleesears: At pnca - I heart art #pdxart http://yfrog.com/4ivc1zj

Tweeted: erikaleesears: At toro bravo.. Yum yum

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:13:31 GMT

erikaleesears: At toro bravo.. Yum yum

Tweeted: erikaleesears: watching Groove- brings me back to the glow stick days of my youth. ok.. now i feel old. #movie

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:00:29 GMT

erikaleesears: watching Groove- brings me back to the glow stick days of my youth. ok.. now i feel old. #movie

Tweeted: erikaleesears: RT @u2elan: Clint Eastwood stars in... Firefox. An epic drama about a man, a motorcycle, and an industry-changing browser. http://yfrog ...

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:00:30 GMT

erikaleesears: RT @u2elan: Clint Eastwood stars in... Firefox. An epic drama about a man, a motorcycle, and an industry-changing browser. http://yfrog ...

Blogged: Beach and NYC

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:37:00 GMT

So this week has been a pretty stressful week. I went to the dreaded dentist and let me tell you I had horrible dreams about all my teeth falling out and having all me teeth removed. his I haven't been in what seems like forever but I finally decided to go and the only bad news is that I have to have my wisdom teeth out. What makes matters worse is that my brother in law was telling me how horrible of an experience of having his wisdom teeth removed. Then I proceeded to read online about horrible wisdom teeth removal was. :( So I hope I don't go running and screaming out of the oral surgeon's office.

Tim decided to surprise me and dragged me to the beach with our little dogs and it was beautiful out. Simply beautiful :) Now its back to raining but we had 4 solid days of sunshine.

Here is a painting that I can't decide if its done yet. NYC and I was playing with the soft sky with the lines of the water and buildings.

Creative thoughts and Productivity Vibes out to all :)

Blogged: Love and little puppies

Sun, 7 Feb 2010 09:55:00 GMT

My little dogs have been full of mischief this past week. Not sure why they have been leaving me surprises and chewing on things. Think its a cry for help? :) We do time outs occasionally for our dogs but when Winston is in trouble Yoda usually waits for him. Winston is more of the obvious trouble maker and we don't find out about Yoda's surprises until hours later.

I decided to repaint my painting for the Love Show because I wanted to provide something that was more consistent with my current body of work. Let me tell you- trying to make an oil painting dry faster once its been painted- is tough. I read online about sticking the painting in the oven on a low heat or a blow dryer on low. I was afraid of sticking the painting in the oven because of the flammable materials. I also read about an artist who uses a McDonald's Fry Lamp to dry her paintings, which I thought was a little brave. I tried the blow drier on low for a couple of hours- I am not exactly sure how successful I was but its dry! (a little tacky but dry).

Have a creative week everyone :)

Blogged: Land of the Birds

Mon, 1 Feb 2010 14:26:00 GMT

I can not believe we are already in February. February equals Valentines Day for me, which means hopefully I should be getting a surprise from my husband. (Hint Hint.. Timothy if you are reading this) :)

I am participating in the Love Show - which the final artist count for the show is a huge 350 and opening night is next Friday.

I am also working on a few paintings for a nursery and it's hard to have spring thoughts when we are in gross rainy winter. I decided to revisit doing some paintings of birds with some spring atmosphere. Here are two sparrows in a cherry tree with some fun stripes in the back ground.

Blogged: Maui and Andy Warhol- what a combo :)

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:56:00 GMT

So this painting is of a look out point of the ocean on Northern Maui right before a heavy rain. I really wanted to play with the abstract quality of the water and with the light of the storm. I went to Hawaii this last year and I am so ready for some nice weather. It seems that I can see some signs of spring. This one is still a work in progress. :)

I just watched the documentary series Andy Warhol's Factory People. And I totally fell in love with some of Andy Warhol's drawings. Here is one in the MOMA . Look at how adorable that little bird is :) He did these type drawings before the Factory was open but they used to sell for $25-50 bucks. Crazy huh?

I seem to have found my motivation and I have a few projects coming up for this spring/summer.

Creative thoughts to everyone out there.

Blogged: Bend

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:31:00 GMT

Tim and I are in Bend, Oregon. for a long weekend. We love to come out more often but it is over a 3.5 hour drive from Portland and going over the snowy mountain is always stressful. We usually stay at my parents cabin in Bend. My mother hides these plastic owls all over the inside and outside of the house that have motion sensors on them and they howl at you if you get to close. My mother thinks that it protects the house from burglars. They really freak out the dogs :)

Usually when I travel I have a travel kit with water color set, pens, etc. But this trip I needed to do some oil painting for the upcoming Love Show, since I have been putting off this painting for some reason. This is one of the few open shows where anyone can be apart of it and there are over 300 artists participating this year.

So I decided to painting the perfect essence of Love. PBJ ! Always a match made in heaven. Personally I am a creamy peanut butter fan and black or raspberry fan. I do prefer my PBJ to have potato chips in the middle for that extra yummy crunch.

Blogged: No pants

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:13:00 GMT

This week I am starting on a larger panel and I have been looking through my sketchbooks and pictures and I really want to do do some kind of beach painting. I think this cold and gray weather is really getting to me because all I can think about is sunshine.. warm.. and beach. This point in winter all I can think is- Are we there yet? Ready for summer!

Here is a quick study of a cranberry vodka, that I painted yesterday. Yum!

Over the weekend I went to an event called the"No pants subway ride," since Portland doesn't have a subway, we have the Max. So there was about 50 people in their undies and grundies walking around downtown Portland. Yes those are leopard and no that is not me. :)

Blogged: 2010 and Santacon

Fri, 8 Jan 2010 14:49:00 GMT

Welcome 2010! 2009 has gone by so incredibly fast and has hosted some significant changes in my life. I went on a leave of absence from my finance job to focus full time on my painting. I have been painting since I was in high school and have always loved art. About 5 years ago I decided that I would try and sell and show some of my work and since then I have only gotten busier and busier. I used to come home from my day job and paint until about 11-12 o-clock at night and weekends I was in my studio. So my husband and I decided at the end of 2009, it was time to make a change.

I have embarked on a new series of work of unusual events or maybe I should say usual events I have been doing a lot of thinking about what is going to be our generations thumb print? What are they going to say in the future about our generation and community. I know that our economy and our society's use of resources has played a major impact of what our thumb print is. What about the joy? What about our community? Here is the first painting in my latest series... "the makings of Santacon"

Santacon is an event that you have to dressed up as Santa to attend. It is a very secret society event were they announce the the meeting spot a few days before but do not release the route until the day of the event. Santacon does take place all over the world but here it is in Portland.

Much luck, success and adventure to everyone in 2010.

Blogged: Oh little sparrow........

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:12:00 GMT

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 :)

Blogged: Happy Holidays!

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:08:00 GMT

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!

Blogged: Snow and the Hoff

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:58:00 GMT

I went to a very delightful David Hasselhoff inspired party and here I am with a bow and a David Hasselhoff t shirt. As you can see behind the group there are pictures highlighting the Hoff through out his career. There was even a cake with a picture of the Hoff. :)

This is what I have been working on - not done yet but thinking about if we are going to have a white Christmas.

Blogged: Tomorrow and Plug :)

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:28:00 GMT

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/Keen Creative, Anna Todaro, April O’Connor, Ashley McGinnis, Beth Myrick, Brenda Dunn, Brent Wear, Brett Superstar, Brin Levinson, Casey Rae Wickum, Chelsea Fletcher, Chris Gaslin, Chris Haberman, Chuck Bloom, Constance St.Clair Jackson, Dan Ness, Danielle Kirby, David Cordray, Derek Olsen, Dizzy Lavery, Elephant Smiley, EMEK, Erika Lee Sears, Erica T. Melville, Erin Nations, Flora S. Bowley, Gabe Flores, Grant Johnson, Greg Pitters, Heather MacKenzie, Heidi Elise Wirz, Heather Nichols, Hugh Newell, Hunter Armstrong, Jaik Faulk, Jamie Graeter, Jason Brown, Jason Edward Davis, Jason Graham, Jason Prouty, Jeff Fontaine, Jeni Lee, Jenn Feeney, Jennifer Mercede, Jeremy Nicols, Joanne Licardo, Joel Barber, John Fragale, John Gajowski, John Graeter, John Hoar, John Wray, Jonny Tragedy, Jolyn Fry, Jonathan Hill-Jacquard, Julie Jetton, Karah Bruce-Larkin, Kelly Williams, Kendra Binney, Kerosene Rose, Kirk Charlton, KMF Illustration, Lana Guerra, Lea Keohane, Leeanne Young, Levi Pitters, Liana Norton, Luna Littleleaf, Malynda Shook, Matt Schlosky, Matthew Delbello, Michael Fields, Micah Krock, Michelle Ramin, Michelle Tuffias, Misty Ray, Mona Superhero, Natasha Liegel, Nicole Linde, P:EAR artists collective, Rai Villanueva, Robin Carlile, Roscoe Hall II, Rob Pellicer, Ronni J, Ryan Kennelly, Sam Arneson, Sarah Cruse, Shawn Demarest, Summer Hatfield, Suzanne Elizabeth, Stephany Swanson, Tanya Herrera, Tara Gelien, Taylor Cass Stevenson, Terence Healy, Teresa Garber, Theresa Andreas-O’Leary, Tia, Tim Combs, Tyler Corbett, Tyson Stanger, Zak Gere

Blogged: December December Remember December

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 21:57:00 GMT

So a few things- they are moving the first Thursday opening at Equilibrium to the first Thursday in January due to the highly anticipated civil war game this Thursday. Go Beavs!

So all my paintings are done for the Big 100 and that is next Friday the 11th. Here are a few more :)

Blogged: more paintings..

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:18:00 GMT

More paintings for the big 100. Since I am totally addicted to coffee and since I pretty much only wear converse.

Blogged: Sneak Peak

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:09:00 GMT

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?

Blogged: Coming soon :)

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 11:58:00 GMT

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.

Blogged: Aloha

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 08:21:00 GMT

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.

Blogged: Family Show

Fri, 2 Oct 2009 21:20:00 GMT

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.

Blogged: The Drawing Habit

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:49:00 GMT

So last night I went to the opening of Art and Soul in Portland which they had a lecture from Danny Gregory. He has written several books such as "Everyday Matters" and "Creative License" which his books illustrate (no pun intended) how he rediscovered drawing in his mid thirties and how it has led to his several books. The main thing that really resonated with me was that you need to be fearless with drawing and how drawing specifically changed his life.

I never really thought about how Art changed my life. Art has been in my life since before I could remember and it's always been there. Art has changed my life completely because with out it I would be a totally different person.

I do carry a sketch book and I do sketch often. So I decided to share something from my sketch book. My little puppy, Winston snoozing away on his favorite pillow on the couch. I think he is probably one of my more favorite models.

Blogged: Lesson

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 08:04:00 GMT

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 a part of the painting. The worst part about the whole situation is that I am a little sad to see this painting go :( it's one of my favorites. I usually like to meet the people that buy my work so that I can make sure my paintings go to a good home.

Blogged: Moxie

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:12:00 GMT

I have a closing Reception for my solo show at Moxie this Friday from 6-8 pm. I can't believe we are fast approaching the end of September. Pretty soon it will be Halloween! I have 6 paintings hung at this fantastic South East Portland boutique.

I have been showing my work for about 4 years now and I remember that when I first started trying to show my work I sent an email to Moxie. I never heard anything until recently but it's funny how you can put things out into the universe and it happens.

My good friend Lisa Madrid will also be bringing her cupcakes fresh from her bakery for the closing reception. They are scrumptius little bitefuls of yumminess. She bakes everything from scratch and they are little little fluffy pieces of heaven. I do not have the baking gift :( . I am actually a pretty big disaster in the kitchen. I always get messed up with the measuring cups and everything turns out dense.

Here is one of my paintings that i have been working on of the industrial district in Portland.

Blogged: Time after Time

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 08:36:00 GMT

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 10 years but this is was the first opportunity that I had to explore.

I can't wait to go back..

Blogged: HOT HOT HOT!

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:32:00 GMT

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!

Blogged:

Sun, 5 Jul 2009 17:41:00 GMT

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. :)

Blogged: The Gorge and Beyond!

Wed, 1 Jul 2009 22:07:00 GMT

So this past weekend I went to the Maryhill Art Museum and it is about two hours outside of Portland and literally out in the middle of no where. It sits up on the edge of the gorge overlooking the Columbia River. The view was simply amazing, but the Museum looked a little like a jail. It is a concrete poured mansion with bars on all the windows.... Granted they have some amazing art works inside like some Rodin pieces. I think the highlight for me was the scuplture garden with some modern pieces. BUT... lurking between the scupltures there were several crowing and skwaking peacocks. Pointed claws... Beady eyes... sharp beaks...

So I have been working feverishly getting ready for 1st Thursday in the Pearl.. organzing.. working on the display.. And it's supposed to be 90 degrees tomorrow!