Finding my GrOOOOOOve. . .

 

. . . with one little mark
 

This post is from my monthly Studio Updates, dating November 2020.  Take note that the timing of this post my not be relevant.

~

At this very moment of writing, America has resolved the election and potentially developed a strong Covid cure. It sure has been a tough road. Together we all have been on them at different times of our lives, with steep hills to conquer and bruising bumps to get over. Our 2020 stories will take the route into the history books and cement them into our current generation. I wonder how stories we all have in common from 2020? Sad, yet somehow I am feeling a little glimmer of hope. 

On a brighter note, so much is bubbling up in my studio! There are several half-finished paintings that I'm re-addressing, online courses are starting to take shape, a BIG, long-term project is being imagined, and just some good vibes all over. I"m happy to say that my slump is nearly over and I'm starting to find my groove! It all came to a head while I was working on a painting last week, when one little, and very joyful brushstroke "giggled" at me! Yes, I wrote giggled. You see, the act of painting is a dialogue...and sometimes it speaks to the artist in most mysterious ways, but this time it giggled! And the best part? I was ready to receive it! What a joyful and intimate moment. I sure hope that joyful mark comes back to greet me again and again. As for the photo above? Yup, that's me...high up on the top of the beautiful St. John's Bridge in Portland, OR., during a graffiti abatement closure. A while back when life was "easy", a few of us artists, Don Bishop, Quin Sweetman, and Za Vue had the idea to paint a nocturne of the Willamette River upon the closed bridge. And what should one do when in a most opportunistic place? Well... Cartwheels! ... and take a rest in the middle of the high road!

So how do you find your grOOOOve? Do Share!

Moooving along...

An Artist's Voice Is Not Heard

 An Artist's Voice Is Not Heard

Grandpa's Barn, Creswell, OR.  Demolished c..2010

 

I'm hoping all is well with you and are getting through your summer unaffected by all the bad news out there. It's been so difficult to find positive in our world, and as an artist, I feel a deep responsibility to bring some beauty into your life.  You see, it's more of a calling and I must do what I am destined to do.  So hand over the reins for a minute and hear me out, OK? 

So over the past ten months, give or take, I have been feeling something brewing in my artwork that was not apparent to me until last week.  As the paintbrush was burning up the easel, my work began to steer towards barns and rural life.  Simple subjects. Things that I could relate to on a deeper level.  And through discussion and feedback from my collectors and artist peers, there seems to be a common thread that is felt in my most recent work:  

Nostalgia  
Fond melancholy
Calm
Hope
Resolve

and all those feelings have been sensed in paint?

WOAH!  It is more apparent to me just how my deep feelings translate over to the canvas. So it isn't COVID or riots?  Well, I know those feelings of injustice and tragedy are pouring out in oil just the same. But now more than ever I realize the apparent visual communication I have been whipping up is coming out in ways I had never imagined.  It's a SENSE of calm I get when I paint.  My main catalyst?  The sale of my family's 100-year-old farm and a deep regret that I could not take the farm onto my own to cherish, nurture, and allow to blossom.  The change of hands had to happen at some time I suppose,  and so I express my feelings through creating with pigments. 

So please take a minute to visit both my "Landscapes" and "Plein Air" pages on my website.  Please let me know what you feel when you look at my barns. Is it nostalgia? Or perhaps you might sense a resolve in my work? For me, I believe that the artists' voice is not heard, but felt... and I feel hope.

Roadmap for a Successful Painting.

Amidst the Lines (36x48" oil on gallery wrapped canvas)

Do you have paintings that have taken several different directions during it's creation? It can be frustrating and is a similar to getting lost in a new city without a map, or worse, getting a flat tire on a freeway.  Well, that is what happens when a plan is not in place before putting paint onto your canvas or paper.

What do I mean by a "plan"?

Roadmap:  Have a compositional sketch or two to see if the elements have a flow, or movement that keeps the viewer in and exploring your painting.  Try out a your plan with a vertical, horizontal or square shape for starts.

Horizontal composition

Vertical composition

 Square composition

City Limits:  Decode your scene with a three or four value structure to keep things general. There is no room for detail, so keep it simple. This is a basic necessity for any painting, much like a map has city limits or borders. use felt markers of 3 or 4 values to keep it simple.

Red Lights:  Where will your focal point be located? Use complimentary colors, detail, high contrast, letters and numbers, and faces or people to attract the eye to stop and take a closer look.

Notes on where the focal point will be with supporting detail to guide the viewers eyes around and throughout the piece.  The road and skyline areas offer light values with little detail, providing a large resting spot.

Rest Stops:  Use negative space to allow the viewer's eyes to rest through the painting. Sometimes pieces have too much detail all over the entire piece, creating a noisy, busy piece that can't stop honking.

Road Conditions:  Decide on a color theme. This creates a mood and gives life to a overcast day or light-filled landscape. Ask yourself "What color is today?" Is it overall a warm sunny day filled with Cad Yellow, or a cool wintry day filled with Ultramarine Blue? Asking these questions help you to zone into a color theme.

I sure hope you liked all my urban inspired descriptions to help you navigate the necessary points for a successful painting journey.

Carry on,
~B

Roy Rodger's Woods, 6x8

Roy Roger's Woods, 6x8" Pastel

This was a quick 1 hour plein air demo for my Advanced Pastel students yesterday. It's a small piece just big enough for a quick demo. The morning light was really beautiful for a fall day, and so I picked this particular scene because the foreground and background played upon the wonderful glowing atmosphere. This was painted on the West shore in Lake Oswego overlooking the Willamette River, OR.

Getting back on track

Gosh, I've been offline now for nearly 3 months and so much has happened with no time to recover and replenish my energy.  Moving into the plein air season means a lot of painting outdoors when the weather is cooperating, especially in Oregon where rain is the main deterrent.  I took a trip down to California to paint the desert in the Palm Springs area and Monterey CA. with a couple of fun and adventurous painters Michael Orwick and Thomas J. Kitts. We three packed ourselves, our luggage, and painting gear into a Prius with a top box and ventured on to paint. I didn't expect to, but I  truly fell in love with the desert. It was quite a different scene than what I was imagining with coral and sage colors in the early morning to orange and soft blues in the late afternoon light. We discovered the best times were the starts and finishes of each day, making for long working hours. Here are a few paintings from the desert.

"Skirts" 12x9" Pastel 

This piece was painted in Indian Canyon, an area that is sacred to the Native Cahulla tribe. It hosts many types of palm trees that nurse off of the streams that spring from the San Jacinto Mountain range.  The colors of the palm skirts range from orange to grey, purple to pink and almost any color you can see. This was a magical piece to paint.

My setup.

"Desert Breath" 8x6" Pastel

This piece was painted in a 30 minute race to catch the setting sun's last glimmer. It was probably the most exciting and favorite piece to paint in a long time. Unfortunately, this desert floor is slated for a housing development :(

We woke up at 5:30 to catch the sunrise on the San Jacinto Mountain Range.

"Color Cast" 12x9" Pastel

Just after the sunrise, all the colors immediately go flat.

"Evening Wash" 9x12" Pastel

Another one of my favorites, because of the warm and cool colors used to portray the evening's last hint of light, I painted this as the sun was setting behind the San Jacinto Mountains. The light was incredible in the desert and was so happy to experience such a tender display of color. The mountain range took most of my rendering time because of the subtle nuances of light on the range. The foreground wash area just happened to fill in so immediately. Ya gotta love that when that happens.

Then off for a full day of driving to Monterey, Ca for the Plein Air Convention.

The Plein Air Convention & Expo (PACE) provides a great time to reconnect with painting friends from past competitions as well as making new connections along with tons of learning. I love this event and the energy it has. Again, I was asked to go on stage and offer up a pastel demonstration. Although I was fully prepared for the demo, I didn't get "staged" in time and then tripped up on the staircase. My side tray of selected pastels all fell to the floor and made for an Academy appearance. It did rattle me a bit, but I recovered and continued as best as I could.  Here is my demo, titled after the spill.

"Tripping Pond" 12x16" Pastel

Demoing onstage

One of my pieces from the 700 artist paint out painted at Point Lobos State Park

There is still so much more to share about my past adventures, but I'm guessing you have read this far and are ready to tune out. I may be a bit sporatic at best, to post more regularly, but like I said the plein air season has me outdoors chasing the time allotted for me to create. 

Thanks for sticking with me. ~Brenda

Nautilus Know-how, 6x6

"Nautilus Know-how" 6x6" Oil

I'm continuing my fetish with the 6x6" canvases as I seem to sell them almost a quickly as I paint them, which isn't such a bad deal. This one by far is my favorite because of the complexity of colors, although all of the 6x6"s continue to hold close to my heart. This time around I payed more attention to lost and found edges of the shell. Softening edges has always been a challenge while at the easel, but when it's done right it really adds so much more interest for the viewer. Setting the shell up upon a table, it was well below eye level, so I searched around the studio to find something available that could be used for the prop. A couple of books laying around would solve the height issue and these two had just the right hints of the same colors in the shell making them an instant "plus" for this piece. Hope you enjoy.   

Demonstrating Pastels~From start to finish

I love to share my pastel techniques! As a matter of fact, it is one of my favorite parts about painting. This coming Saturday morning, March 20th, I will be giving a demonstration of my pastel painting process from start to finish. For those of you who have never seen this process or are simply curious just how to create with pastels, here is your chance...and it's all for FREE!

From 9:00 ~ 11:00 am at Amato's Gallery located at 12320 SW 1st Street, Beaverton, OR. A complimentary continental fare with coffee will be served for those hungry ones. Yummy! So come on out for a "free lesson" and a little bite to eat!

Dune Path (study), 6x6

"Dune Path, study" 6x6" Pastel on sanded paper

As I sit in my cold studio this morning, I long for much warmer days. Even thought the sun is out, and spring is on it's way...I still linger for the heat of the sun, wearing shorts and tank tops, painting plein air and sipping a frosty drink. Sounds like I just took a mental vacation. This little painting reminds me of the times at the beach at Greyhound Rock, CA. where we'd go as a family to romp in the waves and play hide and seek in the grassy dunes. Always returning home with a suburn and sand to wash off. Oh, those were fun days!

Sylvia, 12x12

Sylvia, 12x12" Pastel on sanded paper

The Portland Plein air & Studio Painters' group has a couple of winter projects underway to keep our skills up during the colder months. One in particular, the Portrait Challenge, is a fun one because each participant is paired with another willing artist to act as the model. This is Sylvia, my partner, in all her glorious color! We met a couple of weeks ago at a Starbucks coffee and sketched each other and talked about art for nearly 3 hours. This is what I have so far and I hope she is not offended by the garrish color! I realize that the monitor is nowhere close to realistic color, so hang with me on this one! As you look at it, squint your eyes to help mix the colors. That bright orange somehow changes to a flesh color when you simplify your vision. Try it!

Final weekend of Portland Open Studio.

Demonstrating to a small crowd...

After five years of opening my studio to the public, I have decided that this will be my last Portland Open Studio event...at least for a while. Portland Open Studios has given me many wonderful opportunities and has provided me the chance to share my work with so many friends and new visitors. I'm thinking that I'd like to focus my creative activities towards state and possibly national gallery representation, possibly start teaching, or maybe volunteer with the NPS at some level. So, be sure to stop by this last time on October 18th and 19th for an inside look at the inner workings of my studio processes, view my current body of work, discuss inspiration, methods, motivations, and all that entails my creative processes. I will be providing 20 minute demonstrations throughout the day. Please do come by and enjoy the creativity and enthusiasm for one last weekend.

Women In Art

Since I have been busy gathering my taxes together (what a drag!) and not able to paint anything for a coupla days, I thought I'd post this up for those who haven't seen it yet. I will post once again after my books are done! But for now, this is my favorite Youtube video and I think you will like it too. And just for kicks, how many artist's works can you name? Music: Bach's Sarabande from Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 performed by Yo-Yo Ma, 500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art. Enjoy!