Portland's Eastside Esplanade

Best-laid plans to finish my painting and organize my "studio" were thwarted today when my husband announced he wanted to go for a bike ride. We hopped in the car and headed for Portland's South Waterfront Park and biked north and then across the Willamette to the East Esplanade. There wasn't much time to shoot photos, but I managed to get this interesting one of the shipyard from where the bike path crosses from the Eastside Esplanade over the Steel Bridge to Northwest Portland:

We finished the outing by stopping in at the Sunday Best Sale (see previous post) and all the goods were even better in real life!


So below is the current status of my Euro-Dresden-American folkcraft-schoolgirl. I'm afraid her right eye (left facing) has gone from bad to worse and now looks rather "cycloptic" (pretty sure that's not a word).

Hadley Hutton and Penfelt at the Sunday Best

Somehow, I've managed to miss the Sunday Best Sale in downtown Portland for three years running. Fact is, I didn't even know such a thing existed. Luckily, I received an email invitation to it yesterday from LeBrie Rich, (the "Duchess of Felt"), of Penfelt and I spent 1 1/2 hours visiting the websites of all of the amazing Oregon vendors who are participating today and tomorrow (11 - 7 pm) at "The Cleaners" on 10th and Ash. Hadley Hutton, a perennial favorite will be there. You can view her beautiful encaustics and prints in her Etsy shop or on her website. Additionally, the wonderful works of several letterpress stationers will be available as well as beautiful textiles, ceramics, jewelry and leather goods. Help support our local economy by supporting these artists/artisans, several of whom employ others in their small businesses.

A Rough Start and the Beautiful Work of K. William Kaust

work in progress

Acrylic on canvas 16 x24 (cropped)

During the past month, I have been very busy at work. Like--work day and night busy. Artistic efforts basically came to a standstill and consequently, so did my blog. I now have a full week off, bookended by two weekends, and I'm bound and determined to get something done -- to have something to show for my days off. The above is my first effort, and what an effort it's been so far! This was supposed to be based on a very loose doodle-sketch that I did of a woman. The sketch was cartoon-like, and only three colors: yellow, orange/red/pink (mottled- which counts for one color), and black. The woman had big hair and an attitude. Somehow, I now have a Euro - primitive -Dresden schoolgirl who appears to have been painted with milk paint! In fact, the paint quality reminds me of carved American folk art pieces. Haven't decided whether to go with the current flow, fix the eyes (and a few other things) and wrap it up, or to add more color, more modeling and change the feel. Stay tuned. And meanwhile, check out the exquisite, new, American Folk art carvings by K. William Kautz. He's been on my "Favorites" list for several years and his work is truly amazing. My favorite piece in his website gallery is "Woman with Candelabra," which, by the way, is nearly 6' tall!

Fall's Gifts

The rains are coming. The richness of fall's palette will soon be gone. A walk through the garden and neighborhood yielded many glimpses of patterns in nature but my photography didn't do justice to the majority of them. My friend reports this is the first year the heart-shaped leaves have displayed the speckled coloring.

Block Printing in Adobe Illustrator

Recently, I've been experimenting with a new-to-me printmaking process. The above image is the result of my activities mixed with a bit of alchemy...truly! I scanned my original print, which was French blue and cordovan, altered the colors to deep turqoise and dark coffee in the scanning program, put the pattern into repeat in Adobe Illustrator, and imported it into this blog. Voila! Deep turquise magically turned into shocking lime and dark coffee turned into deep periwinkle! Wow -- shocking but lovely! Below, is the original print.

And below, is the altered print put into repeat. (I finally figured out how to import it without changing the color.)

Discovering La Bella Casa in McMinnville

I've always been enamored with all things metal: Heavy or light guage; aluminum, iron, tin, or steel; smooth or with most any kind of pattern (be it perforated, embossed or woven). Drains, manhole covers, gasoline tank covers and other mundane objects offer some examples of very good design. I found the above drain cover on a recent trip to McMinnville, which by the way, was charming. It's definitely becoming a destination spot for tourists coming to visit Oregon's wine country. Within a few blocks--which, basically, comprise the town--there were several eateries and boutiques, as well as the wonderful stationery, gifts and accessories store, La Bella Casa. I like what McMinnville is becoming, but I especially like that it's still a farm town that caters to the hardworking folks that grow our food.

Colors of Autumn

Well, here's something in an autumnal palette similar to that of Diane Allison-Stroud's gameboard shown in yesterday's post. This is a small mixed-media piece that I did a few years ago. The vessel-like image was cut from a print I did in my first monoprint class with Lynn Thomas. I glued it on the background painting and then I hand-cut the little circles out of some heavy paper I had painted and glued them on. The decorations on the vessel were cut from a photocopy of one of the vessel prints in the monoprint series. 9"x11".

Diane Allison-Stroud's Game Boards

Above, is a beautiful reproduction game board made by Diane Allison-Stroud. I've followed Diane's work for a number of years and it's been wonderful to see her honored first as a Country Living Artisan and then as an Early American Life Artisan. In addition to her richly colored reproductions, Diane has developed her own designs which have been influenced by the vintage boards as well as by the designs of the Gee's Bend quilters. Be sure to visit Diane's very interesting and inspiring blog where you'll find many photos of her work, studio, and the beautifully scenic area of the Appalachians where she has chosen to live.