New Landscapes by Catherine Freshley

Untitled - by Catherine Freshley

22" x 30" 

Untitled -- by Catherine Freshley
 15" x 30"

Untitled -- by Catherine Freshley
18" x 24"

Untitled -- by Catherine Freshley

 15" x 30"

We're doing a little celebrating this month as our daughter, Catherine, has just hung her first solo show at Picabu Neighborhood Bistro in Spokane, Washington.  "Northwest Landscapes: The Pacific to the Palouse" includes twelve paintings comprising scenes from a pristine estuary, the Willamette valley and Cascade range in Oregon, and the grasslands of eastern Washington.   Here is an excerpt from Catherine's artist statement for the show:

"I have been fortunate to live the first couple decades of my life in places of particular natural beauty; whether that helped spawn my deep appreciation for place and home, or I have such a feeling for the water, the land and the sky because of it, I am not sure. For quite some time I wrote about the places that are important to me – attempting to recreate them, and preserve them as I know them, with words. While I have always been making art, it is only in the past year or so that I have taken to recreating these places (and some equally pretty, but less personally significant places) visually.

This interest in painting landscapes arose as a surprise to me, and suddenly, after driving across the country from New Orleans to Spokane. It started with a slightly blurry photo of a farm in Montana – taken one handed, eyes somewhere between focused on the road ahead and totally absorbed by the setting sun slinking across the backs of some cows and a low pond."                     

If you're in the area, stop by the Bistro to take a peek.  You can also find Catherine's work on her flickr site and in her Etsy shop.

It's been a lovely, "squally" day in Portlandia.  I managed to find visual inspiration while travelling through suburbia to get to the Department of Environmental Quality vehicle test station.  I saw gorgeous stands of bare poplar trees against an equally gorgeous sky; and a bonus stand of tall, dried cattails in a large wetland area.  A single red-winged blackbird stood sentry on the tip of one of the spent blooms; its form and colors in sharp contrast to the textures and subtleties of the browned cattails. Such a feast for my eyes!

Happy Saturday!!