Smalltown Hotspot

On my long journey across California to Montana this past summer, there were many interesting scenes that intrigued me in some way. There is something about the rural areas that have small hints of beauty. As plain and mundane as this little town was, (and I mean mundane because I don't even remember what it's name was), it had some interesting old signage and buildings that seem lost in time. As we travelled, I took many snapshots. This is one of those shots that had a pretty good composition. I beefed up the color in this one and gave it a sexy sky. Still no name for this small Idaho town, but it was one of our many gas-stops along the way. If you recognize the location...pipe up! I'd love to know.

"Turnip Teeth" Artist Statement and Juror news

This entire week I have been pulling teeth from a turnip! Well, that's what it felt like when I was revising my Artist's Statement. Sure, I can paint and make pretty pictures. But when it comes to writing about my work, I fall flat on my face! So I Googled Artist Statement for some much needed hand holding and found Molly Gordon's site that was exceptionally helpful! Besides the help on writing Artist Statements, she also has a plethora of advice on other areas of marketing. I think this is a site that I will be referring to on a regular basis. After I had the meat of what I wanted to say in my Statement, I found the best advice in step 4, and that is to have a trusted friend or professional give feedback on clarity, tone and more. So I called up my painting buddy Gretha and she helped me grind out the rest. Thanks Gretha! So now I am done. So wanna see some Turnip Teeth? You can find it here.

On another note, I was asked by the City of Beaverton to help in the jurying of the city's public art installations. The city has had several citizen artists and business persons, who are interested in this endeavor, meet over the course of the past 2 years to find a "voice" for the city. The goal is to beautify the city by uniting it with a centralized area where people can gather, meet, rest, play, and just hang. The City of Beaverton will be accomplishing this by installing a monumental sculpture. Here are some examples of large scale public art that you may recognize from other US cities:

If you know of the location of any of these pieces, please comment.

Beaverton Showcase entries

"Duet" 6x6" Pastel on sanded paper

"Being Sour Has it's Benefits" 6x6" Pastel on sanded paper

I'm happy to announce that I got a painting (or two) accepted into the 28th Annual Visual Arts Showcase. The Showcase is a regional show that attracts artists from the Northwest area and is held in the beautiful Beaverton City library. This has been an elusive show for me for the past 4 years, and it was all my doing, you see. For one reason or another, my work didn't make the cut because of slide prep, secondary work, or I was too busy to enter and let the submission date pass. It goes to show that I have got to be more organized and on top of things. And I thought I was organized! Augh! Confessions of an artist! Anyway, you may have seen these two in previous posts.

The Showcase artists will be honored at an opening night gala on Saturday, February 6th, 2010 from 6:00 till 9:00 pm. More info can be found in my "Upcoming Events" to the right. I hope to see you "locals" there!

2010 Lake Oswego Chronicle Invitational

The other day, I received an invitation to participate in an Invitational Show. An "Invitational" is when the artists are selected and invited to submit to a special show, this one being the Lake Oswego 2010 Chronicle Invitational. Evidently, they found my name and searched me out. I often wonder where, who, or how they find me with so much competition out there to get recognition. Hmmm.

Anyway, I went out to Lake Oswego and thought I'd take some reference photos of some of the city's landscapes. I've been interested in street scenes...the ordinary, boring, unflattering curbsides of our lives. But of course there are the many beautiful water subjects too to select from. Is there one that you like or would like to see for my entry? Don't be shy! Vote by commenting! Thanks!

Roadside, State Street

Riverview

Picnic View

River view II

Shoreline Shade

Little Lava Lake, 9x12 & Studio Sale update

"Little Lava Lake" 9x12" Pastel on sanded paper

As I was preparing for my Studio Sale/Christmas show, I stumbled across a pile of artwork that was somehow squirreled away in a portfolio in my closet. Now, this either tells me that I'm losing my memory or I'm a pack rat! Maybe someday I will find a stash of exotic treasures hidden away next time I'm preparing for a show! After all, I have been clearing out all my "stuff" and it has proven to be a much needed cleansing.

This one (above) was painted last summer on my trip to the Central Oregon area and had somehow escaped me. Like finding a lost friend, I looked at it with fresh eyes and decided it was a nice piece after all! Always the critic within!

Anyway, I'm glad to announce that my Open Studio went very well! We figured around 5o or so visitors that found homes for 22 pieces of art! To market this event I used Facebook, email, and standard mailers. Interesting enough, the most successful method of promotion was primarily a combination of both email and Facebook. The traditional snail-mail had the least amount of return.

Michele, me and Christine at my Open Studio

I always seem to be "laughing' in every post! Gosh, maybe a shot of me with my mouth closed would be nice, huh? As a testament to my friends, they are a great support and am so glad to have such a great group who support me and my ambitions. And now the new work begins!

Studio Sale & Christmas Party!

This is one of my demos from a lesson on color values.

I have been pretty quiet lately, because I have been on vacation (Disneyland) and have been preparing for a big show...let me explain!

As the Christmas season revs up, I have been re-evaluating my year. Some of you may or may not know about my family loss this past summer, and just how it has taken hold of my overall outlook on life. Well, I have been focusing on clearing out my life and starting anew. This means I have been simplifying, lightening my load, and not waiting for "this" or "that" to happen. I have been weeding through my home and have been clearing out those extras things...and it has finally made it's way into my studio. Wtih the Holiday season upon us, I have decided to have an "End of Year" studio clearance sale and topping it off with some Wine and Cheese. It's Christmas time. and I want others to enjoy the beautiful artwork and so I have been drastically dropping my prices just for this one evening event. Everything is drastically priced to move so I can start anew! I am so excited because I want to make new artwork...but not sure which direction this will take me. Stay tuned for a new post. Who knows where this will take me, but definitely a new leaf has been turned!

Oh, and on more personal note...don't go on the Tower of Terror ride at Disneyland!!!!! It was so scary, that I was crying to get off! Comforted by my husband, I laughed at my knee-jerk reaction to the drastic drops. Here I am trying to smile after the terrifying ride.

Evening Reflections, 6x6

"Evening Reflections" 6x6" Pastel on sanded paper

This little piece was once an unsuccessful painting. Well, at least in my eyes. With all the work I create, there are a number of failed pieces that accumulate in my studio. So with all the clearing out I've been doing lately as well as all the new work being produced, I have been rethinking what to do with the many failed pieces I have on hand. With this one, I just washed off the failed painting from the sanded paper and "reclaimed" it, or what some would call recycled. With reclaimed mounted pastel paper, there is usually a ghosting of an image from the prior piece still on the paper. This can create an interesting color play as it did on this one.

Converging Pears, 9x12

"Converging Pears" 9x12" Pastel on sanded paper Sold

"Out with the color," I say! The fall is taking a back seat to the more colder, grayer days of winter where I live, so I wanted to paint something entirely colorful to brighten my day. I'm now producing studio work due to the season's prohibitive weather. (If you haven't guessed by now, I am a fair weather painter). Oh, the pear! It is so commonly used for students who are learning how to create shape, shadow and volume. On the other hand, I love it's complex layers of color, some of it just flat, and some more intriguingly mixed with layers of reds, peaches, yellows, and warm greens. Because of the cooler light source, I have made the shadows warmer. The shadows may be a bit too warm, but because I intentionally wanted rich color, it is just so. Loosely painted, fun and colorful!

As the Water Rises, 6x6

"As the Water Rises" 6x6" Pastel on sanded paper

A few weeks ago, a new blog "Subject to Interpretations" was created for the Portland Plein Air and Studio Painters for sharing painting experiences. The inspiration comes from the incredible concept of Karen Jurik and her successful Different Strokes blog. "Subject to Interpretations" is intended for the Portland group to express and converge online.

Here's my interpretation of the first bi-weekly photo reference. Have you ever noticed when you put an image on the screen, the work looks entirely different and more often you can find the boo-boos in the piece? Looking at this online I find that I need to make some corrections by suggesting the distant trees' reflections in the water. Later, I say, later.

Aurora Gallery Artist's Reception

Last night was the Aurora Gallery artist's reception for Cast Shadows: Pacific Northwest Plein Air Landscape". The show was a fun one to attend with the buzz of energy and a packed gallery with art-goers from the downtown Vancouver, WA area. There was music and many familiar faces and just incredible Plein Air work! Here are pics of my friends as we enjoy an evening of art and music. Can you tell I had a blast? I love my artist friends and enjoy their company!

Girls [and boy] just wanna have fun!

Back: Amanda Houston, Gretha Lindwood, Barb Szkutnik

Front: Michael Fisher and me.

L to R: Patty Gifford, Karen Lewis, Gretha Lindwood, Katherine van Schoonhoven.

A little animoto video production

Every once in a while I will stumble upon something that catches my eye on the internet. Recently I found this link from an artist blogger Celeste Bergin and loved what she did. She used a service called animoto and they offer these quick 30 second videos for free. You can make a longer one for a few bucks, as I did here. Check them out and try it! It was easy, fast, and really innovative! And no, I am not being paid to post this, I just think it's cool!

Sauvie Viewpoint, 9x12

"Sauvie Viewpoint" 9x12" Pastel on sanded paper

In my earlier post "Rise from Water" I mentioned the view in which I painted a larger piece. In "Sauvie Viewpoint" I paint the view just left of that scene, but with a much broader view before me. Whenever I go out of doors to paint there is so much information to wade through, and it becomes somewhat overwhelming at first. The good thing about this is there are many paintings from just one viewpoint. Narrowing the subject down usually comes once I've settled down and established myself in the moment. While painting with others in a paint-out event, it is always fun to see what the others come up with. Their interpretations are entirely different from one another. This is what is so awesome about art! Not one piece is the same, no matter what the subject is and it goes to say that any one artist could repaint this very same view the next day and it still would be entirely different!

Sometimes Quiet, 6x9

"Sometimes Quiet" 6x9" Pastel on sanded paper

Gosh, I'm finally sitting down to post this piece! I've been out and about running so many errands for my family; kids need costumes sewn, picking up family at the airport, flute lessons, soccer practice and teaching Art Lit...etc. When is there time to paint? Well, last week I did get out to Sauvie's Island again with my painting buddy Gretha. It was really quite beautiful out there, with the mist and cool colors. Finished this one quickly, a 20 min session, after working on a prior one that wasn't so successful. ouch!

I have been revisiting the idea and am getting itchy to paint more of the farm series again. I was down at the farm this past weekend and the autumn makes me feel so sad when I see the trees dropping all their leaves. It's quite barren and there is definitely a lack of color all around. There were some wild turkeys nibbling bugs in the fields... a very Thanksgiving feeling!

Rise From Water, 6x6

"Rise From Water" 6x6" Pastel on sanded paper

One of the many benefits to painting en plein air is the many different views you can choose from. This one little piece was just a quick painting made shortly after completing a larger painting of the same area. This time around I had a square format that helped me to narrow down what I was to paint. Something about the color combination or mood that makes me want to paint this scene over and over again. Maybe it's the colors, but whatever it is, I like it! There is a bright red underpainting of pastel with turp on sanded paper.

Cast Shadows: Pacific Northwest Plein Air Landscape"

"Tabor Firs" 12x9" Pastel on sanded paper Sold

"Color Stance" 12x16" Pastel on sanded paper. Sold

These two pieces were accepted into an upcoming show called "Cast Shadows: Pacific Northwest Plein Air Landscape" that will be held at the Aurora Gallery. Show dates are posted in the "Upcoming Events" section to the right.

Honestly, I have been to several art shows, but Plein Air work, by far, knocks my socks off compared to studio work! And believe me, I do plenty of studio work to be able to say this without shame. To me, Plein Air work is so much more spontaneous and colorful than my studio work and I believe this is because I'm painting against the clock, racing to get the images down before the shadows change or the light is gone. Spontaneous, yes...and fresh!