ERIKA LEE SEARS

Portland roof tops. Best sort of view. The art (the best part) is part of my making art everyday project and this is day 202. To read more about this awesome project click  here ....

8x10 oil on board Do you ever feel like you are running out of time? I'm about 6 weeks away from having my second baby, and feel like that time is slipping through my fingers. I know what to expect with the whole baby process this time around, but my major concern is time.  I love being a mother, a wife, and an artist but it feels like by growing a family, that the other roles are getting larger and the part that's just me is getting smaller.    I think I'm just in this juxtapose position that I want to have all my work done and have the whole birthing process over with. So with losing time, I just want time to go faster.  I know, now, it's just a waiting game for basically life to happen. It's official, I have started working on holiday and client work, before I go on maternity leave.  After Nora was born, I think I only lasted a couple weeks before I was back in my art studio working.  Making art was the best sort of healing after birth b......

If you follow me on Instagram you might have noticed I have been doing a little painting.  In my first trimester it was pretty hard to do any sort of art work but I am slowly finding time and solutions to paint. Let me tell you, I really missed it, like a lot! I have been mainly working in my sketchbook and have been painting in bed.  I know in bed isn't the best place to do any sort of art work but there is nothing more comfortable than wearing a good pair of pajamas, in my favorite pair of fuzzy bunny socks, laying on a big pile of pillows and making art. And, why not? Art can happen anywhere can't it?  Did you have a view master as a kid? I sure did! It's a little device that you look through with circular cardboard filled with color photographic film.   They have been around a long time and the one that I had when I was kid was filled with disney cartoons.  The view master is a place that once you look inside it puts you into this little viewing tunn......

8X10 Oil on Wood Panel Happy Friday! This is my first painting of the new year and it feels good to finally finish it.  October- December, I am usually so busy with painting from the holidays that I usually take a little bit of studio break after to let the creative energy flow. This record shop has been in Portland for a long time and some of the best neon lights.  It was pretty fun to paint but the posters and records on the walls and windows were a total challenge.  This weekend is going to be a semi boring one- Tim and I both working on our work but I made him promise me that we would do some sort of family activity that involves hot chocolate and donuts.  It seems like once the holidays wear off- all I want to is be in my studio and make stuff.  What are you up to this weekend? ...

I can not believe I almost done showing you all of my paintings for the Big 400. It is seriously my favorite art show that I look forward to every year.   I always paint a few vintage still life and they are usually my favorite because I love going on the hunt for old things. I envision each vintage piece has some sort of past life and an amazing story behind it like a secret story that I will never really know.  I think what draws me in most about painting clocks, typewriters, and radios is that they are every day items that really marks the time period of when and sometimes where they came from. I have been thinking a lot about thrifting lately and where I live Portland, Oregon- thrifting is extremely competitive because people love old things here.  So competitive that I have heard of people starting fights and other people getting banned from even going into estate sales.   I generally thrift for things in the 1960's or older which if you go to a thrift stores......

I can not believe it's already Friday but I am so looking forward to this weekend.  I have a lady thrifting date planned and hopefully I will find some vintage treasures.  We are going estate sale-ing and I have to work on the map- so that we can maximize our thrifting experience.  lol doesn't it make me sound hard core, but I learned with a little research and planning - I can hit the best estate sales. I have gotten into the habit of setting up a thrift date once a month for the last couple of months and I look forward to it. Not only do I get to hang out with my gal pals but I love finding things to inspire my art work.  We all meet up at my house and we go early at least early for the weekend and then we get a fluffy coffee and then we head out to hunt and gather. :) I have been in the studio a lot of this week and working late but I have to say isn't this little camera adorable? I particularly loving the mint and the flash.  I finished painting this la......

Happy Tuesday! I always do some vintage type still lifes especially meant for this show.  I started painting vintage little treasures maybe a couple of years ago and now I just love looking for everyday old items to paint. I think my favorites are clocks, radios, cameras and typewriters. The real clock I found at an estate sale for 50 cents.   I think my favorite era of time to thrift is the 50's and 60's and just love the use of color and how much personality it has.  Tonight I am having a few lovely ladies over to screen print- yah! so excited.  What are you up to today?  Oil Painting on 8X8 wood board.    Want to see previous work for this show?  Big400 / Big 300 / Big 200 / Big 100 Details: Date: December 14th- 2 p.m. and runs until January 21st. Location:   Peoples Art of Portland Gallery 700 SW Fifth (3rd floor) People's is Suite 4005, Portland, Oregon There are over 400 artists participating in the 6th Annual Big 400 ......

Here are more paintings for the upcoming show  88 Strong  and I have to say one of my latest painting addictions is painting portraits.  One of the theme for the show is Busted- and Busted is a newspaper (and it's online too!) of mugshots.  Since mugshots are public record, they are available for anyone to view.  I have never been arrested- the closest I have ever come to a run in with the cops is getting a speeding ticket when I was 21. I know I lead a pretty wild and crazy life!  I think what I find the most interesting is this little moment in time that someone who gotten caught for something- guilty or innocent.. a moment you are caught and are in trouble.  Looking through the photos I mostly saw guilty faces, the occasional smirk and some in a haze.   I picked busted pictures from Portland which makes me wonder if I will ever see these in real life faces.  I am particularly drawn to painting these faces since I am not much of a tr......

I don't know about you, but I love waffles.  This is one of Portland's special places- The Waffle Window.  The made a little window on the side of a building and serve lots of fancy waffles.  There is always a big long line but trust me it's worth every minute.   Now I am thinking.. dreaming about a light fluffy amazing waffle with fresh thick whip cream and then topped with fresh strawberries.  Sounds amazing doesn't it?  The waffles served here are a Leige Sugar Waffles (it basically is a fancy name for a Belgium waffle).  I remember when I visited Belgium and I could smell the waffles from a block away. Now I need a waffle! Do you like waffles? The Waffle Window- 8X10 oil on wood....

"Grilled Cheesus" Oil on Wood 8x10 It's raining out today and one of my favorite things on a cold and rainy day is a warm, gooey, grilled cheese sandwich.  The Grilled Cheese Grill is one of my favorite places to stop in, they have a old school bus that you can eat your sammy.  They have lots of different types of grilled cheeses but the ultimate is the "Grilled Cheesus"- I have been a little afraid to try it but it's a double decker grilled cheese with a burger in the middle.  My favorite one is the "preschooler" with pickles- which is a grilled cheese with out the crust! How do you take your grilled cheese?...

I use an an instant pallet when oil painting. There are a lot of choices when choosing a pallet, there are wood ones, plastic ones, glass ones and have come across a few vintage ones.. and some artists use a pizza pie tray or some other type of flat surface-  but I have yet to be successful in keeping a real pallet and now I just use these instant ones because I can make a big of a mess as I want and then when I'm done I can just toss it... start over. ...

Happy Monday! I am so incredibly excited that I finished this painting and it took me a really long time because of the complexity of the composition.  It was tough getting the balance just right with the organic quality of the city and the business of the industrialism.  I am totally obsessed with doing lettering on signs, buildings, or pretty much anywhere. I'm not sure what it is about getting the lettering perfect but it is my favorite.  Have you ever had Stumptown coffee? They do their own custom roast, and its pretty delicious.  This corner is a pretty busy area of SE Portland and has grown quite a bit over the years.  The light poles always have a ton of fliers and grow so fat until the city clears out the layers upon layers of fliers.   You could stroll this street and poke into fun shops, drink a tasty treat and just people watch all day.. which is very Portland. What are you up to this Monday? Details: Oil painting on custom wood panel '15......

It's that time of year again, it's time for my all time favorite art show of the year.. I am talking about the Big 300!  The Big 300 is an art show that is near and dear to my heart because I have been participating  in the show since it began.  It's a show that has all different types of artists and artists of all different stages in their career.  All the artwork is the same size and the same price $40 and it's cash and carry- which means you take the art work home with you that day.  This show also gets larger and larger every year which means people start camping out for the show earlier and earlier every year. When the show opens there is a mad rush in and people start ripping art off the wall... It's pretty crazy but an awesome show, and art makes the perfect Christmas gift. 8X8 oil painting on wood. Stumptown Coffee- probably one of the most delicious roasts in Portland :) Details: Date: December 8th- 2 p.m. and runs until January 1......

The 88 Strong Show opens tonight at the Goodfoot! If you are in Portland you should come, it should be a great show.  This show is the opener to the holiday season.  I can't believe it's almost the holidays! yikes! Here are a few of the Portland paintings that I made. About the Show: 88 Strong Location: @ The Goodfoot, 2845 SE Stark, Portland, OR Date: September 27th- 5pm and goes until October 23rd Details: 88 artists that make 8 works and can choose from any of the 88 themes.  Every 8X8 painting is $50 and comes framed.  The show is a cash and carry show which means you pay and walk out with the painting that same night.   ...

The 88 Strong Show- has 88 themes hence the name which you can pick from any one of the themes.  It's a really fun show because you can do pretty much anything that falls into any one of the themes.  Portlandia is one of the themes- which I decided to paint Le Happy- which is a crepe and steak restaurant in town- it really stands out because it's a vibrant yellow.  Crepes certainly make me happy.. especially when they are filled with nutella and bananas. yum! About the Show: 88 Strong Location: @ The Goodfoot, 2845 SE Stark, Portland, OR Date: September 27th- 5pm and goes until October 23rd Details: 88 artists that make 8 works and can choose from any of the 88 themes.  Every 8X8 painting is $50 and comes framed.  The show is a cash and carry show which means you pay and walk out with the painting that same night.   ...

Here is another painting that will be apart of the 88 Strong Show.  I always love painting vintage still life and always have a weak spot for that beautiful turquoise color. The funny thing about vintage radios- I am always afraid to turn them on because then it's almost as if you are contacting outer space. :) About the Show: 88 Strong Location: @ The Goodfoot, 2845 SE Stark, Portland, OR Date: September 27th- 5pm and goes until October 23rd Details: 88 artists that make 8 works and can choose from any of the 88 themes.  Every 8X8 painting is $50 and comes framed.  The show is a cash and carry show which means you pay and walk out with the painting that same night.   ...

This year I am lucky enough to participate in the annual 88 strong show curated by Mr Chris Haberman and Jason Brown.  I have been tucked away in my studio trying to get some new paintings done. It's even harder to get in the studio since I am a new mommy of a 2 month old but have been working away when she sleeps- and her long sleep happens to be around 8 pm to 1 am, but I am pretty darn proud that finished all the work on time.  Woohoo!    I decided to paint a couple of vintage radios.  I do have a soft spot for hunting for vintage treasures.  I am still trying to figure out how to bring a baby estate sale hunting because she doesn't fit into one of those baby back packs.... yet :)   About the Show: 88 Strong Location: @ The Goodfoot, 2845 SE Stark, Portland, OR Date: September 27th- 5pm and goes until October 23rd Details: 88 artists that make 8 works and can choose from any of the 88 themes.  Every 8X8 painting is $50 and co......

Here is my 2nd piece for the Big 200! and I am doing a couple of land/urbanscapes for the show. I painted pretty much only landscapes before I embarked on painting urbanscapes and I still love painting the fluffy trees.  I wanted a gray cloudy sky and just love how there is only one little intersection with a huge monster tree.  I always think it's interesting seeing the tangled up power lines and how there is so many power lines- out in the middle of no where. :) This is an oil painting on wood- and I am using vintage oil paints.  Details: The Big 200 is an annual event that 200 amazing artists paint 10 panels and every piece goes for $40.  This is a cash and carry show- which means you can take the work off the wall and then take it home right then and there! There is a very long line to get into this amazing event- so come early.  Date: December 12th 2:00 pm-10:00 pm Place: Peoples Art of Portland 700 SW Fifth (3rd floor) People’s is Suite 4005 Pionee......

I really wanted to paint a fun old yellow couch for a painting a day chellenge.  This is an oil painting that is painted on wood panel.  I started out with a pencil sketch directly on the panel.  How I came up with the image- is that I use a series of images and piece them all together to create one image! This way I can get exactly everything that I want in the picture. :) I  wanted to have the light streaming through the windows and do an outside in kind of effect. What are you making today? ...

I have always wanted to learn how to do an animated gif and I finally figured out how to do it!  Well...I didn't figure out how to do it- the hubs showed me how to do the gif magic! I married a smart one.. well he would like to think that he is smart but we all know I am a smidge smarter then he is.  :) I really wanted to do an animated gif on a time lapse of one of my paintings- I think next time I am going to try using the tripod so that I can get an even point of shooting. I am continuing to do a painting a day for the month of August- but I have decided to post them when they are a little bit more dry- so the color is settled and so that I can take a good photo of the work.  I do a lot of my painting at night- I think it's my optimal painting time when I am the most creative.  I am not sure what it is-but around 6-7 pm- I am in complete work mode... my ultimate artistic zen time.  haha like a painting ninja!  Maybe it something to do with all the years ......