9/30/08

September's Color, 9x12"


September's Color, 9x12" Pastel on sandpaper

This past weekend was incredibly Fall-like! The color in the sky had a warmer, golden glow which affected the color of everything in its' domain. The crisp morning brought forth a warm sunny day in the low 80's, so good enough to go out and plein-air paint! A group of us from the Paint Out Group went to Schlicting's Century Farm in Sherwood, Oregon. The farm, located on a corner intersection off of Roy Rodgers' Road is plump full of produce. Especially tomatoes, which have fallen to the ground in the fields. My easle fitting was missing, so I sat in my chair with my pastel box in my lap. All worked out well with this hour-long piece. I'm pretty happy with it and the colors. This time around, I didn't cover the entire paper with pastel, leaving some of the middle ground color showing through. And I was able to use some of my newly hand rolled, neutral colored pastels. Ummm, Fall!

9/21/08

Portland Open Studios 2008 Video



This past two weeks I have been matting and framing 21 new pieces that will be debuted at my Portland Open Studios event. Some of which have been posted on this blog over the course of the past year. This is the time to come view the new work, see past work, discuss inspiration, and to just see my methods of creating. Throughout the day, I will be doing 20 minute smaller scaled demonstrations of pastel work so you can better understand the process I go through. Posted above is a video of some of the artists participating in Portland Open Studios and their thoughts on what makes them tick. It is very inspiring!

My Open Studio will be on October 11~12th and 18~19th from 10:00 to 5:00pm.

9/11/08

From Open Studio visitor to workshop tutor

I couple of days ago, I was asked by Susan Gallacher-Turner if she could interview me for the Portland Open Studios Blog.
This is the interview below, and if you want to see other artist interviews, visit the Portland Open Studios Blog

By Susan Gallacher-Turner

Brenda has been on both sides of Portland Open Studios Tour. First, she was a visitor on the tour, watching artists’ demonstrations in their studios. Now, she’s teaching other artists on the tour how to demonstrate their work to tour visitors.


Brenda doing her “how to demo demo” during a workshop.

For those of you who go on Portland Open Studios Tour, you may not realize all that goes into making it work every year. There are meetings, committees, and assignments that cover legal issues, signage, publicity, website information, graphic art for the tour guide and map, tour guide sales, studio safety, artwork exhibition, and demonstration techniques. Portland Open Studios Tours have been running for a decade, thanks to the expertise and dedication of artists like Brenda.

As part of my cluster group, I met Brenda at the very first meeting. Her calm professional attitude mixed with her contagious enthusiasm, really got me excited about being part of 2008 Portland Open Studios Tour. I got the chance to ask Brenda how she went from visitor to tutor and here are her answers.

Q. Why did you decide to go on the studio tour the first time?

A. I heard about Portland Open Studios from a friend who told me that all the artists are working in their studios. I was very curious to see how other artists’ created their own work and how they worked in their studios. I was also interested in seeing what caliber of art we had in Portland. It was the connection that I needed because I am so isolated in my own workspace/studio.

Q. When was that?

A. I believe my first trip out to Portland Open Studios was in 1999 or 2000.

Q. Can you remember specific artists/studios that you visited that inspired you?

A. I heard about Kitty Wallis, so she was a definite stop. Her workspace and intimate studio setting as well as her love of teaching while she was demonstrating her work was very inspiring. I loved the colors of her work and wild mark-making! She had a sign-up sheet for those who were interested in taking a workshop from her, so I signed up!

I also remember visiting Kimberly Gales, Gene Gill, Pam Green, Dawn Phelps McConnell as well as a few ceramicists, glass blowers and collage artists. Sometimes I’d make it to a studio that was just a few doors down from one I had visited and found something that was truly unique. Each artist was very unique from the other. All inspiring!

Q. Over the years, what volunteer jobs have you done for Portland Open Studios and what, if anything, have they taught you?

A. I’ve held many volunteer jobs with Portland Open Studios. My first was Volunteer Tracking. I was asked to talk to the artists in the workshop about volunteering, and I didn’t know what to say. I’ve also sold Tour Guides at events, and done the Demo on how to demo for the August workshops. I’ve also been doing the pre-press sales and I get a kick out of that job. I learned that I’m good with sales. It’s fun to call and talk to the patrons, especially after a few years, now they know my voice and my name.

Q. Tell me about the benefits of Portland Open Studio for the artist before and after the event.

A. A huge benefit to Portland Open Studios is the networking with other artists and getting inside the art community. One of the biggest benefits I’ve had is through the pre-press sales. Through that, I’ve met and spoken with art gallery owners and art organization leaders educating them on the event. From this, my name is recognized or at least they’ve heard of me. As an artist, this is a big part of marketing my own work.

I’ve formed friendships with other artists through this organization that have lasted over the years. These artists also know other artists, and before you know it, you have networked with dozens of artists in very little time. Because of the friendships I’ve made, I’ve gotten many other opportunities. We’ve hung our shows together, shared information about the community, helped each other when in need, creating critique groups, gathering for paint-outs, the list goes on.

Q. You’ve gone from tour visitor to tutoring artists who are new to the tour…how did you get from there to here?

A. I guess I’ve gone from being a visitor to tutor pretty quickly, but it didn’t happen overnight! This only happened because I said yes to the opportunity. Over the course of my 4 previous Open Studios, I’ve shared how I paint to the visiting public. This easily transitions to teaching artists on how to demonstrate their work. I’ve tried out a few different ways on how to demonstrate, as well as viewing the artists in the tour who are demonstrating, and learning what worked and, what doesn’t! There are some truly exciting demonstrating artists out there.

Q. What advice would you give artists who are considering applying to Portland Open Studios for next year?

A. If you’re considering being an Open Studio artist, ask yourself these questions: What can you give back? Do you consider yourself to be a professional artist, or want to be? What makes your work special and can you share that with others?

You can see Brenda at work in her studio during the Portland Open Studios Tour this year October 11, 12 or 18 and 19 by picking up a Tour Guide at many retail locations around the Portland metro area and any Art Media or New Seasons. See Portland Open Studios for a complete list of retail locations.

Visit Brenda Boylan’s website at www.brendaboylan.com.


Above, Brenda doing a demo for visitors in her studio.

Labels:

9/8/08

Needs a "Title" 18x12


(No title yet!) 18x12"

Finally, I get an image up! I've been working on this one for a couple of months now, and the only thing that has kept me from posting it is, well, kids. And, my crazy work habits! Once I finished it, I took it to critique and got a few suggestions. Gosh, if it wasn't for a few extra eyes, I'd probably have framed it only to later find something wrong. Isn't that the case?

Anyway, I need a fun title for this third and final marine piece. The first two marina pieces are called "Boats With Ropes" and "Bouy Dance". I'm looking for something that has a twist to it, with a boat-like pun in it. Post a title in my "comments" folder, below, and if I pick it (in December), I'll award a free giclee' of it! As always, I took a progression of photos of the work in progress.


First starting out with an underpainting of an intense orange of Createx Pure Pigment paint, I lightly sketched in the scene to be painted with a pastel pencil. As seen in the photo above, I have started to "block in" some areas. I seemed to want to go right to that beautiful water!


Here, I have established my values. Darkest darks and lightest lights. This includes the tops of the boats and sky as the lightest, and then the stripes and parts of the deep water for the darkest values. I seemed to have started too soon with some details. (I'm supposed to leave the details for last)


At this point, I'm adding in the mid-tones in the water and am beginning to establish the distant shoreline.


Now, I'm beginning to take time here, watching especially the values of the boats and the reflections in the water. I'm at a point where the details started to take over. I'm careful to look at how the reflections are formed, where they are going and if they read accurately.


Finally finished!

I also have this posted on Wetcanvas with several title ideas!
Now, do you have an idea for a title?

Labels: , , , , , ,

9/4/08

Upcoming show and changes for current Subscribers...


Click image to enlarge.

Upcoming show for Portland Plein Air Painters "Expressions of Nature/Expressions of Self" will be at the Kingstad Gallery this September 10th through December 6th. Our opening reception will be on September 10th from 6:00~9:00pm, so come on out and see some incredible art. More details of the show listed on the right in my Upcoming Shows list. The postcard mailer features the artwork of pastelist Kitty Wallis, one of my favorite artists. You can read on the groups' activities on their blog.

Also, just a note for those who have subscribed to my blog, a huge thank you! However, I will be changing my subscription service to the new Blogger supported link. I will no longer be using Feedblitz for this service. If you care to continue getting updates on my work, please consider re-subscribing in the new entry field on the right hand side of this blog. You can choose to get updates on my posts and/or all comments to each post. Your choice. Thanks!