Dennis Galloway is a world renowned photographer who happened to visit the art exhibit, Ricochet, that Cynthia and I had up during January and February, in downtown Salem. Dennis liked our art and sent both of us an e-mail asking if we would be interested in having him create a panoramic studio shot of our studies. He sent some photos of a series of studios and artists he photographed in Eugene, Oregon, for an exhibit, and his work was stunning. Both of us said yes.
Cynthia chose to use her “outdoor” studio for her shoot.
For my shoot, Dennis wanted to take the necessary series of photographs at dusk so the light through the big windows in my studio would read as a dark blue. He came three times to get just the right light.
And then he got it and stitched together this awesome photo of my studio!
And here is a link to a You Tube interview with Dennis.
A new show opens on Thursday, March 12, 2015 at Compass Gallery, located at the Willamette Heritage Center. The show, Eco Icon: Art About Environmentalism, opens with a reception on Thursday, 5-7 pm. From 5:30-6:15 pm there will be a panel discussion, Environmentalism Then & Now.
I was invited to submit a painting to this juried group show and I chose Aldo Leopold as my Eco Icon.
All entries had to be 10×10 inches, so I chose a board that I had already applied plaster and some initial layers of oil and cold wax. I did some research on Aldo Leopold and pulled out his book, A Sand County Almanac.
Here is what I wrote to accompany my submission:
Aldo Leopold is known as a fierce environmentalist and one of the foremost conservationists of our century, with a deep love and respect for the land. I have created an abstraction representing the restoration of natural habitats and man’s relationship to the land.
“Some Other Explanation” 10×10 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax
The show is hanging and it is beautiful.
We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.
Being sick is no fun. Here is what I’ve been working on after about a three week hiatus. I battled pneumonia for most of February, and although I wanted to get back to painting, my body screamed NO. But I’m back on an abbreviated schedule, hoping to ramp up my time as I continue to mend.
I’ve been working on about 27 boards ranging in size from 8×8 inches up to 36×48 inches, all in plaster, oil, and cold wax. During each painting session, I work on several boards (not all 27!), adding swaths of paint, scraping it away, scratching into the paint with my awl, blotting paint from one board to another, adding marks using graphite pencils. and drawing with oil paint sticks.
Slowly my boards are beginning to take on a personality, a unique identity. As I wrote in my journal this morning, my hope is that each painting will evoke a feeling of intrigue, mystery, and curiosity. They aren’t there yet, but as I often tell my students: It’s just a layer.
This series of paintings is for my June show at Guardino Gallery on NE Alberta in Portland. My work will be in the Main Gallery, so I have a fairly sophisticated schematic in place to fill the many walls. This afternoon, my big paintings got some attention.
I recently acquired this three-tier, light weight cart. I painted it red and put it to use as a place to put my palette; it is easily maneuverable so I can take my palette to the boards all around my studio.
I also worked on my smallest boards. Here is a peek at sections from six in various stages of layers and completion.
Tomorrow, I’ll be adding more layers and marks. At the end of my painting session today, this is how one of my 30×30 inch boards looked; it started out as something entirely different.
And then it was time to end. A final look into the studio from two different doors.
I’ve just spent the past three days guiding six beautiful women through the process of using plaster, oil, and cold wax. This was the first workshop held at The Art Studios at Mission Mill and it was a huge success. We went from this:
to this:
The women bonded instantly on Friday and by the end of Sunday, my sides were sore from laughing so much.
Friday afternoon we painted our boards and applied plaster.
Then on Saturday morning the ladies sanded and stained.
Before lunch on Saturday, I had the women applying initial layers of oil and cold wax.
And by the end of Saturday, the hall was filled with drying art.
Sunday morning, we were back at it.
We had snacks available all the time . . . .
. . . and on Sunday, Howard delivered a salad bar lunch to us.
Before we knew it, it was time to clean up and prepare for show and tell.
Here is a sampling of the incredible work the women created. A sampling, I tell you!
It was an energizing, exciting, creative three days.
My current show with Cynthia Herron, Ricochet, was hung last Tuesday and our opening reception was Saturday, but I’ve already been working on pieces for my next show so I thought I would give a peek inside my world of board prep.
I picked up my order of boards from Matt in Portland last October, then during November and into December I painted all of them, applied plaster, sanded, and sealed. I’ve already started to apply oil and cold wax to several, but for this post, I’ll leave it at the prep. And I’ll save the information about the show for a later post as well. It’s all very exciting.
Picking up my boards from Matt’s workshop in PortlandFrida inspects my new boardsBoards prepped for plasterPlaster marathon, boards everywhereBoards, sanding block, maskTime to sand the boardsOh, so many boards to sandPreparing to stain the plaster with acrylicFirst plop of paintI whipped up lots of fun colors to seal the plasterPainting the big guysReady to plaster the big guysBig boards, big spreaderUnderfootTruly underfoot
The opening reception for Ricochet: A Year of Collaborative Painting was held yesterday in the afternoon at Roy John Designer Goldsmith. We had a steady stream of friends and art lovers stop by. We sold several copies of our book, chatted about our paintings, shared about our year long process. It was a great celebration of our friendship and art.
Lucy and Jay relax before the reception beginsNancy Eng with CynthiaMe with Mary and Debbie, who made the trip from PortlandGuests enjoyed looking at our art journalsBonnie and Roger HullSusan and my niece, KristinMy mom and sister, DeniseDelores and Rollie look at our book about the showHoward was our wine server for the afternoonFriends Tory and JillRollie and Delores WisbrockCynthia shares about our processMe with my supportive husband, Howard
The show will be up until February 28, so if you are in downtown Salem, please stop by.
Today we hung our show, Ricochet: A Year of Collaborative Painting, at Roy John Designer Goldsmith, where our show will hang until February 28th. I wrote all about the show itself last week, so today I’m sharing about the hanging of the show.
We both arrived at 10:30, our arms full.
We each chose a wall and lined our paintings up to figure out spacing and layout.
And then we hung.
And adjusted lights.
And added labels.
Added art to the window.
Then admired our work.
Views.
We celebrated our accomplishment over a nice lunch at Amadeus, just around the corner from Roy John’s in downtown Salem. We talked about our year of painting, and how much we would miss our time together. Each month when we got together, we started by sharing a latte and visiting for about an hour about what we had been working on, how our art was progressing, what we had coming up. We chatted about our current theme and chose our theme for the following month.
So we decided we wanted to do it again, but not until summer or fall of this year. I have a big show coming up at Guardino Gallery, so that is where all of my attention will be focused for the next several months . . . . but we do already have a theme.
One of the paintings I did for Ricochet (click HERE to learn about this upcoming collaborative show) was month #10, September, 2014, when our theme was WATER. I knew immediately what I wanted to paint: the waterline of a ship.
The back story. We have a boat, which we moor on the Columbia River in Portland. In August, we went out for a weekend of boat camping with our daughters and grandkids. The weather was perfect and in a rare burst of exuberance, I put on my suit and jumped in the river for a float on the inner tube. While I was in the water, I noticed the waterline of our boat. It was a beautiful array of colorful patinas. I had someone carefully hand me my camera and I snapped a shot, thinking what a great painting it would make.
Fast forward to September. I dug out the photos I had taken and also looked on the internet for rusty ship hull waterlines. Oh, so many possibilities. I scooped up all the images and chose one for this project.
Then it was paint day with Cynthia.
By the end of the afternoon, it was pretty much completed. I futzed with it a bit more the next day, did the final wax, and called it done.
“Anchored in Memory” 16×16, plaster, oil, and cold wax
I plan to continue exploring the theme of waterlines in upcoming paintings.
For the past year and a half, Cynthia and I have been painting together. It emerged out of casual painting dates in the summer of 2013 and in the fall of 2013, it morphed into the idea to have a show.
We met monthly to paint. We usually started around 10:00 am with a latte and a visit, going over what we had been up to, how our painting had been going, and what was going on in our art life. We often scribbled in our journals, and always determined what our theme or topic would be for the next month of painting, so we had time for ideas to formulate and percolate.
We would paint for a couple of hours, then break for lunch – a recharge for us and a time for our oil and cold wax to set up.
After lunch, we would head back upstairs to my painting studio and paint for a few more hours.
About midway through the afternoon, we would eat a gluten-free treat that Cynthia provided from a local bakery.
Our show, which opens with a reception on Saturday, January 10, 2015, reflects 12 months of painting together and covers 12 topics/themes.
#1 October 2013: The way I wish I could paint
“It Was a Relief to Disappear” 16×16, plaster, oil, and cold wax
#2 December 2013: A poem
“Remembered Always” 16×16, plaster, oil, and cold wax
#3 January 2014: Something borrowed
“Full of Expectation” 16×16, plaster, oil, and cold wax
#4 February 2014: Words
“Practicing Vocabulary Words” 16×16, plaster, oil, and cold wax
#5 March 2014: Spring
“Along a Curious Path” 16×16, plaster, oil, and cold wax
#6 April 2014: Precious
“Insatiably Curious” 16×16, plaster, oil, and cold wax
#7 June 2014: Astoria
“Protected by Silence” 24×24, plaster, oil, and cold wax
#8 July 2014: Summer
“Lingering Shadows” 16×16, plaster, oil, and cold wax
#9 August 2014: Window
“An Invisible Thread” 16×16, plaster, oil, and cold wax
#10 September 2014: Water
“Anchored in Memory” 16×16, plaster, oil, and cold wax
#11 October 2014: Fall
“The Shadow of Chance” 16×16, plaster, oil, and cold wax
#12 November 2014: Music
In addition to our two-month show, Cynthia and I have created a book, which includes photos of all 24 pieces of art created by the two of us, a narrative of how our show came about, 24 action or process photos, and a brief narrative from each of us for all 12 months. Here is a link for ordering a copy through Blurb.
Dennis Galloway is a world renowned photographer who happened to visit the art exhibit, Ricochet, that Cynthia and I had up during January and February, in downtown Salem. Dennis liked our art and sent both of us an e-mail asking if we would be interested in having him create a panoramic studio shot of our studies. He sent some photos of a series of studios and artists he photographed in Eugene, Oregon, for an exhibit, and his work was stunning. Both of us said yes.
