Upcoming Shows

It's been awhile since my last blog. Happy New Year to all and may 2010 be filled with good health and good creative experiences.

I wanted to share two new exhibits of my work, one is for the month of February and the other is installed and ongoing.

The first show will open on the 1st of February at the Lloyd Center branch of U.S. Bank, 1601 NE Weidler Street, Portland 97232. Hours are Monday thru Friday 9-6, and Saturdays 9-2. This exhibit will feature watercolor images of Italy.

The other exhibit is at Amato's, 12320 SW 1st Street, Beaverton OR 97005. My watercolors and mixed media pieces are currently installed along with paintings by Michael Orwick, Brenda Boylan, and Gretha Lindwood; and sculpture by Joni Mitchell and John Weisener. An opening gallery reception will take place on Friday, February 12, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. This is an exciting group of award-winning Beaverton artists whose work is varied and engaging. On behalf of owner Karen Amato and the other artists, I hope you will stop by and enjoy our opening reception. Gallery hours are currently Monday thru Friday, 10 to 5 p.m.

PPASP Winter Project #2 Chinook

I had fun with this challenge. Chose to work in pastel on Canson paper and focus on the rock formations and the zigzag quality of the shapes in the photo. To see other PPASP member interpretations, go to www.portlandpleinairandstudiopainters.blog where the photo reference is posted along with resulting images from about 20 members.

I'm happy with how I interpreted this reference and handled the pastel material. Working in pastel seems more like drawing than paiting to me; the material is held directly in the artist's hand like a pencil or a pen or charcoal is when drawing. I enjoyed this more direct contact with the support for a change. My day was good; hope yours was too.

New PPASP Winter Project Result

PPASP Winter Project Participation

Overworking paintings is one of the things I seem to do best these days. In an effort to improve my paintings, I have recently tried more irregular and unpredictable methods, colors, textures, etc. The "irregular" and "unpredictable" elements came from a John Salminen workshop I attended; I know they are tried and true elements of good design. I just haven't mastered them yet.

In a recent attempt at working from a photograph taken by a member of Portland Plein Air and Studio Painters for the group's Winter Project, my husband told me at least three times that he thought I was done. I, however, was not convinced and continued to apply paint in a less conventional way. This was an exercise first and foremost and so an opportunity to experiment. It was a fun experience and I look forward to the posting of the next image in about a week.

I wonder however if an artist should play it safe and quit while the painting has a good traditional quality or risk what's working for a chance at creating something more exciting and original. I think I'm at a stage in my art journey where I need to reach outside my comfort zone. I've posted my interpretation of Winter Project #1 here on my blog.

I had a wonderful day today. Hope you did too.

Two for the Price of One

I hope to be able to share two images on my blog tonight. I'm still not good with moving things from one area of my computer to another, so bear with me. The first image, "Movement in Lines and Circles," no longer exists as an original because it has been transformed into a second image, "Love Happens," - corny title, I know, but it feels to me like the bursting joy that occurs when love truly happens. Both were done with gouache on the same canvas, and both were fun and challenging to create. With "Movement," I got so enthralled with the caligraphy and detail work of the ink marks that I sometimes forgot about the overall look of the painting; as Kitty Wallis noted, I had "different vocabularies going on." I loved her way of describing my problem - it is almost poetic - and so I took a wad of Magic Eraser to several parts of the canvas and began my revision. I chose the circular vocabulary of "Movement" (as opposed to the high contrast or the caligraphy's ornateness vocabularies) to bring together its various parts, and tried to reevaluate its overall look as I worked my brushes back and forth and up and down across the painting. "Love" is the final result. What a difference in feeling the two images project - one more masculine, hard-edged and somewhat fractured; and the other more feminine, more cohesive, more social. I think I solved the vocabulary conflict and ended up very pleased with my creation. I had a great day today - hope you did too.