New Paintings by Catherine Freshley

Montana 
24" x 48" on gallery-wrapped canvas
  

Spring Storm on the Palouse 

30" x 30" on gallery-wrapped canvas

Clouds Over the Columbia 

24" x 24" on boxed birch panel

I've been more than a little preoccupied the past couple of months, planning for and now in the midst of a small remodeling project that has impacted several areas of our house in successive stages.  We currently have all of the furnishings from our living/dining/kitchen areas crammed into other areas of the house while our hardwood floors are being refinished.  The stove is not operational, the refrigerator is not in the kitchen, the dishwasher is taped shut, the kitchen cabinets are taped shut and covered with plastic, and wispy sheaths of plastic drape the doorways between rooms. There is a foggy quality of light in these rooms, and with everything out of them, it is only too apparent that they are in much need of fresh paint and that this would be an opportune time to address the situation.  Except that. . . . it is December 10th and guess who would be doing the painting?  Hmm. . . Do people really take on these types of projects so close to the holidays? Needless to say, my art practice (and blogging) came to a screeching halt.  

Meanwhile, my daughter Catherine, has been very busy at her easel, preparing for her current show at South Perry Pizza in Spokane.  If you're in the vicinity, stop in to take a peek at these works and Catherine's other paintings, and while you're there, do partake of some of South Perry's artisan pizza.  The show's up through December 18th.

Cheers!

Warm-ups

 Speed Painting #4 

(sketchbook)

 11x17

I've had some ideas floating around in my head about painting over stripes.  I need to begin some new canvases for a show, so I turned to my sketchbook to explore the stripe idea in a speed painting.  I'm glad I did -- I learned a thing or two.  I gessoed the pages first, blew them dry, and jumped right in by quickly painting one bright stripe after another. And then . . .  I painted over them.  

At the end of these speed painting sessions, I'm done.  That's it.  It is what it is.  Time to move on.

We had the nicest groups of trick-or-treaters.  

Happy Halloween and thanks for visiting!

Autumn

 

 Did you remember with anticipation the smell of autumn?

the colors, yes,

but the smell of leaf fall?

no?

nor did I

 no matter,

now, we relish it

Blueberry

Hand painted

Acrylic on cotton

6" x 8"

(older piece)

All in all, it's been a great weekend.  Spent some time becoming familiar with textile guru India Flint's book, Eco Colour.  Spent some time yesterday with artist friends, LeBrie Rich and Joan McGuire, testing fabric swatches in conventional dye baths. Back at the house, I rolled up some eco leaf bundles per the instructions in India's book and steam-tested them for dye effectiveness. Today, I over-dyed some of Saturday's test swatches in mashed blueberries, and also took the paintbrush to the pulp (some of which is still adhered to the linen in the first photo). To top the weekend off, I went to see an awesome retrospective exhibit of Portlander Stephen Hayes' prints and paintings and was truly inspired. Indeed, it was a great weekend!

The rains have arrived and the wild(?) bunny continues to visit.

Have a wonderful week!

More About Speed Painting

Sketchbook Speed Painting #2

Sketchbook Speed Painting #3

Several months ago, it dawned on me that my "sketchbooks" aren't really sketchbooks at all, but rather they are more like "idea books".   I use them to do thumbnail sketches (as in one to two inches square) of  possible resolutions to current paintings or ideas for possible future paintings; and also to jot down notes about various techniques and products, as well as ideas for possible future projects.  Meanwhile, I continue to be inspired by other artists' sketchbooks.  (Sophie Munns' and Lari Washburn's come to mind at the moment.)

Of course, the idea behind sketchbooks, and sketching in general, is that they offer freedom to loosen up and mess up while capturing scenes or ideas and simultaneously developing techniques and skill.  So with that in mind, I broke-in a new sketchbook last weekend that will be dedicated to "speed paintings".  The phrase came to me as I was opening the book to begin my first painting.  Now, by "speed",  I don't necessarily mean works that are completed in fifteen to twenty minutes or less, although they might be; but my intent is that the works will be completed in one sitting.   And my concept is slightly different than the Painting a Day (PAD) concept, that Annamaria Potamiti and others are currently adhering to with wonderful results. For one, I will not be doing these paintings daily.  Secondly, they will frequently not be representational.  And lastly, they will remain in my sketchbooks.  But . . .my speed painting goals will surely be similar: improve observational skills; expand my repertoire of techniques; develop confidence in color, composition, and mark making; gain speed; and develop images worth pursuing on canvas.   Sounds like a plan!  (Hoping I stick with it.)  I'll post  the results regularly on Facebook and/or Flickr.  Anyone care to follow suit?

Have a great week!

Park and Art

 

Spokane boasts a wonderful park called Manito, loosely translated from the dialect of the indigenous tribes to mean "spirit of nature".  Designed in the early 1900s, it now features a Japanese garden, a formal annuals garden, a perennial garden, lilac gardens, a conservatory filled with cacti and succulents, and Mirror Pond.  Such an ambitious project for a young city that was so remote; and still, today, an ambitious project by the City and 100 volunteers to keep it so well maintained. 

My sister and daughter and I took a leisurely stroll through the park on Saturday afternoon in perfect weather and book-ended it with some productive art-making time.  I christened a new "speed painting" sketchbook.  Perhaps I will share some images from it on another day.  And now, the work week calls.

Black and Citron / Prints and Marks

 

 Versatex fabric dyes on recycled cotton .

Well yes, I said I would be picking up the paint brushes this week.  And actually, I was referring to painting on a canvas; but so far, all I've done is experiment with mark making on fabric in combination with relief printing. 

Tonight's the night:  I WILL put away the printing tools and inks, and bring out the acrylics.

Wishing you a creative, productive week -- whatever your work and/or activities may be!

Weekend . . .

 

 

 

Weekend

A little harvesting.

A little fire to prime the smokehouse for salmon.

A little photography of patinaed wood and metal.

A little printing.

Next up?  A little painting. :)

Have a great week, and thanks for visiting!