One Fine Day

  One Fine Day

acrylic on panel

10" x 10"

 

 

Two months have passed since my last post!  This constitutes a record in my four years of keeping this blog.  But the hiatus has been semi-intentional, as I allowed myself an "art and blogging sabbatical" of an unspecified duration.  Aside from changing the palette of my doodle painting shortly after my last post, and doing a little block printing, I haven't produced any art whatsoever since the beginning of June. Outside of my nearly full-time job, I have been concentrating on the ongoing process of getting rid of things around the house and have also painted two rooms.  Beyond that, I've been enjoying time with visiting family members, and have spent time watering and harvesting the vegetable garden and turning the compost (my current favorite garden task.) 

The middle three photos were taken on a recent walk, and the last photo is of one of the clover patches that have gone rampant in our lawns.  This situation, too, is semi-intentional and is a decided departure from the well-watered, well-groomed lawns that one typically finds at our house.  After all, my husband is a landscape architect and he greatly appreciates a well-maintained design.  But here's the rub:  lawns in the Pacific Northwest require extensive watering to remain green during the summer; but clover thrives in drought conditions and furthermore, binds nitrogen to the soil, which serves to fertilize both the clover and the turf grasses. Equally important, if not more so, the clover attracts honeybees.  And goodness knows, we all need to do everything possible to support the honeybees, our lifeline to a vast array of our foods.  Oh, and by the way, bunnies like clover, too. :) After having all but given up hope of seeing the presumably lone bunny that visited our yard for a few weeks this past spring, it made an appearance a couple of days ago and enjoyed its breakfast of clover!  Sure, the look of the clover takes a little getting used to, and we do have the neighbors to consider, but all in all, it seems like the time is right to return to lawns reminiscent of those we remember prior to the advent of widely available broadleaf herbicides.

Cheers!

A Flower Doodle in Process

 

Happy June!  Who can believe it is already here?

Hoping to spend a little more time on this 12 x 12 painting on a panel that I started last weekend. I approached it as nothing more than a doodle.  Beyond this, I'm contemplating doing some paintings on paper again.  It's been a long time since I've painted on paper and I'm thinking some quick, loose works would be good for me.

Thank you for stopping by!

Chevrons in the Fog

 

A rather cold, wet, foggy weekend here, that was filled with extended family, cooking, a couple of walks,

and the beginnings of a new small painting.  I also managed just a smidgen of block printing on some denim from an old pair of jeans that were on their way out the door to a charitable reseller.  Pretty pleased with it, actually, because the "drape" of the soft denim is wonderful.  Of course, you wouldn't find the periodic horizontal marks an a piece printed by a master printer, but the fact of the matter is, I like the interest they add to the pattern.  Our family has consumed so much denim over the years.  Lot's of potential. . . .

Looking for a little inspiration this week? Watch this 4-minute video on Nora Fok, an English artist,originally from Hong Kong, who was shortlisted for the Jerwood Applied Arts Prize in 2007.  Nora creates extraordinary one-off jewelry pieces from plant parts and micro-filament that blur the boundaries between textile art, jewelry and sculpture.   

Hope you're able to fit some creativity into the week ahead!                          

An Appointment with a Professional Photographer

 "Sienna Square"

 24 x 36

"San Francisco"

30 x 40

I've been concentrating on putting the final touches on several paintings in preparation for my first appointment with a professional photographer.  (Funny how a commitment can do wonders to build a fire under you.)  Yesterday, my sister and I packed close to thirty of my works on canvas into our two cars and headed over to the photographer's warehouse-like studio.  

Of course, this very experienced photographer has his system down to a science, but still, the whole process took about three and a half hours with lots of moving around the space as my sister and I grouped paintings by size and orientation, and he set up the background and lighting, hammered nails into the wall, and moved his tripod back and forth.   After each grouping of similarly-sized paintings was photographed, the photographer and I would move back to his computer and work with adjusting the hue, saturation and lightness in Photoshop, while my sister,-- thank you very much -- packed paintings back into the cars.  I came away with both tiff and jpeg images of each painting; some that were uncropped (i.e., showing the background) for gallery owners, and some that were cropped to show the image, only.  The photographer also created a folder of files formatted to 4"x 6", ready to be printed as postcards. One the best parts of the whole deal??  Images of all of my paintings are now easy to find in two folders on my computer, which is such an improvement over my existing hodgepodge filing system!  Such a time saver for me!

Anyway, the above paintings are not recent, but I've never been able to capture good photographs of them. It's so nice to have these!

Portland is heavy with cloud cover and rain, and lush with foliage and flower.  A nap would be perfect!

Happy weekend!

"Bands" In Progress

"Bands" in progress

24 x 30

This painting has existed in my mind for several months now, so I'm happy that it is finally underway.  I'm attempting to achieve some areas of graphic clarity and some of receding vageuness in the composition, which is a current goal that I have in mind for my paintings in general.

In keeping with the palette of this painting, our yard is ablaze with luscious rugosa roses in various shades of pink and cream.   Their scent is heavenly. . . especially in the evening.

Thank you for visiting!

"The Sentinels" and Judy Hokanson's Mural

 "The Sentinels"

30" x 30"

Acrylic on canvas



Outdoor Mural by Judy Hokanson

(with motorcycle parked in front)

My most recent painting, "The Sentinels", is resting while I continue to contemplate the addition of pencil linear detail.  I like the simplicity and serenity of it the way it is and might decide that it is finished.

Imagine looking for a parking space and coming upon this huge, mural-size painting on canvas.  So amazing!  Although it was not signed, I did a little research and found it had been painted by Portland artist, Judy Hokanson, who sadly, is no longer living.  Such a gift she left for us to behold.  And therein lies the beauty and awesomeness of art:

Art moves spirit through space and time.

So keep making art and beautiful things!

Oh, That Golden Hour of Light!

 

Not much happening around here in the way of art this week. 

But spring cleaning is underway and order is being restored in my home and studio.

And these were the views from my house one evening; with trees silhouetted out front

and trees and sky all aglow out back.

Amazing beauty.

Sentinels, Remnants and Roots

"Three Sentinels" (Detail)

30" x 30"

 

Remnants

It's been a little quiet in this virtual space.  But I've been keeping up with what's been going on in others' studios by making my rounds of the blogosphere.   And I haven't been totally idle in my own studio.  The detail, above, is of the painting that's currently demanding my focus.  It's a spare, rather minimalist painting at this point; 30" x 30" on wrapped canvas.  I like it spare. It's front and center in my field of vision as I move through our house; with each passing, trying to decide whether to add some graphite line details or leave well enough alone.

My husband's family has deep roots on this Washington peninsula; akin to these old (but shallow) sprawling roots of the spruce tree that might have stood there more than a hundred years ago, before the bay claimed the land. 



"Roots"

Monoprint with vintage stamp

4" x 6" 

I did this monoprint over a year ago, long before I came upon the spruce roots.  Each time I have viewed the print since then, I have rotated it back and forth, vertically, to determine if I liked the image best when it evoked downward or upward growth.  I finally committed to the roots orientation a few weeks ago and added the collage elements.  And then I discovered the gorgeous remnants of the spruce.

Happy Weekend!