"Place" . . . Recent Paintings by Catherine Freshley

"Willapa Bay Mudflats"

(Washington Coast)

30" x 40"

"Ross Island and Mt. Hood"
(Willamette Valley, Oregon)

36" x 60"

"Butte -- Columbia River Gorge"

24" x 48"

Our daughter, Catherine, has been painting like crazy and seems to have a ready pipeline of folks who would like a painting of a place that is special to them.  Place -- i.e., those places that have shaped who we are and that continue to pull us back to them after we have left -- is a theme that Catherine has explored for several years in her writing and art.   When she moved to Eastern Washington state, someone suggested that she concentrate on painting local landscapes of the Columbia Basin steppe, since the folks in the vicinity would likely be more interested in them than in paintings of the coastal area that has been so important to our family.  Of course, this makes perfect sense from a statistical standpoint.  Yet in the year that she's been there, Catherine has encountered people who have instantly recognized the rather anonymous scenes of her assorted paintings of Willapa Bay, and  have recounted fond memories of having spent a great deal of time in their childhood actively engaged with the endlessly changing coastal estuary that is impacted by the ebb and flow of the tide.  

Isn't it wonderful that mere pigments, when suspended in binders and transferred to a surface via a process of acute observation and carefully considered brush strokes, can instantly bring forth a multitude of memories and an infinite range of emotions?

Have a wonderful week!

Switching it Up

 Found carving by unknown artist.

Time to switch it up in our little house.  Time to take down this painting and put this beautiful carving, found for a song many moons ago in an antique mall, away so as to make room for a fresh-cut tree.  Time to get up in the attic and bring down the holiday boxes in order to begin the process of metamorphosis.  Time to clear off the dining room table of fabrics -- laid out in anticipation of productivity -- and the myriad stacks of prints that clutter other assorted surfaces.  Time to switch out the current mix of CDs for holiday favorites and to keep apple cider and cinnamon on low on the back stove burner to fragrance the house.    And yes, I might be just a little behind . . .  :)



Hope the season is treating you well.

Cheers!

Flower and Dots . . . to the Shop

"Flower and Dots"

acrylic on canvas

24"x 24"x 3"

Detail

This painting has found its way to the shop.    

Thanks for visiting!

:)

Water and Sky.....Paintings by Catherine Freshley

Willapa Bay Field

30" x 40"

Float Plane on Lake Coeur d'Alene

24" x 30"

Lost Lake

18" x 24"

We had a chance to catch up with our daughter, Catherine, last weekend.  She continues to paint landscapes and she had a large work -in-progress in tow.  She is focused and disciplined, and somehow managed to add a couple of layers of paint during a very busy weekend.  If you're in the Spokane area, you can see her work at The Elk through mid-September.

I managed to spend a little time doing relief printing on Saturday.  I was working with a very limited palette again -- this time pthalo green and sepia -- and I used various bits of vegetation.  I imagine some of the prints will eventually find their way to this blog after I go back into them with additional colors and mediums.  Printmaking is so satisfying.  Always so many surprises along the way.  Alchemy, perhaps. 

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Thanks for your visit  :)

 

In the Morning Light

Layered paintings

Acrylic on mat board and canvases

Perfume bottles by Anthony Parker

We have several skylights in our east-facing sunroom.   Last Saturday, the light in the room was soft, save for a square of brilliant light on the table.  The perfume bottles were created by Anthony Parker,  the well-known Portland glass artist behind Parker Glass.  Recently, I've been enjoying these beautiful bottles backlit by a south-facing window, but I was interested to see them in the soft morning light.

Off to catch up with what you've been creating....

Best...

"San Francisco" and Spokane

"San Francisco"

Acrylic on canvas  30" x 40" 2009

Above, a painting that evokes sky, water, bridges and structures.

Below, images from my recent trip to Spokane, Washington.

.

Woven "mega mesh" structure built for the 1974 Word's Fair in Spokane.
And at the very top of it--just barely visible in the photo--an Osprey nest!

A tree....with interwoven branches.

Close-up of a lovely sidewalk drainage grate.

Gondolas making their way in the mist across the deafening Spokane River Falls.

By contrast....stones to contemplate, beside the smallest of quiet pools in the
Japanese Garden at Manito Park.

Have a wonderful week!

Works in Progress and Artistic Process

Acrylic on canvas 

30" x 40"



Graphic Ovoids - third state

36" by 36" (in background)

Another one of my "Ovoids" paintings has come out from hiding, ready to be finished, (top photo).   I know where I'm headed with this and one more session should do it.   However, "Graphic Ovoids" is causing a little frustration.  I took the leap and added the textural element on the lower portion of the painting, shown above. I've decided to keep it.  But now, additional treatments to the horizontal band at the top of the canvas have me in a quandry.  I lost the soft ambiguity in the band that was present in the first two states and now I'll have to figure out whether to try to get it back, or to move in a different direction. 

Speaking of process and the protracted completion of works of art.... Shu-Ju Wang, a Portland artist, currently has a wonderful post on the stages of a mixed media piece that she recently finished.  Shu-Ju is a computer engineer-turned artist, having studied in multiple disciplines at Oregon College of Art and Craft. She is a printmaker (including Goco), book artist, painter and teacher who is always generous of her time and knowledge. Find out more about her, and view a lovely video showing her working on another painting, here.

Hope your week is off to a good start!

As always, thanks very much for visiting....

:)

Purple Rings...

  

36" x 36"

acrylic on canvas



East Wind Blowin'

Mixed media

Recent makings, tossed upon older makings.

...as though mixed by an eggbeater....waiting to morph into something more.

And such a lovely eggbeater, at that, although this one is strictly for my viewing pleasure.

Acrylic painting 30" x 40" (detail)

 And these "eggs" .....also awaiting their final state.

And meanwhile, the cold, east wind bearing down hard on us; causing the stately six-foot Miscanthus "Early Morning Light" grass to hunker down and curl itself into a unified, scrambled mat...

...that blows en masse, like a tethered tumbleweed straining to break free.

:)

Happy December! 

Visit here to see the beautiful paintings and drawings of Art Goods,

and here to see Taylor & Grand's lovely vintage gifts and holiday decor.

 And if you're interested...I've added a few things to my shop......

Hope you're finding time to create!