Painting for Pleasure, Seriously

At the end of October, I had the pleasure to take a five-day workshop with William Park, a Portland artist. For five days we had morning demos, then the luxury of painting the rest of the day.

In the afternoon Bill would share artists he loves and we would have chats about the love of painting and the challenge of keeping fear out of our process and paintings.

On the first morning, we did a nice warm up exercise of making marks and adding paint. Simple, yet profound in the ability to jump start our week.

The demos Bill did were primarily in acrylics, but I had brought my oil paints and a gallon of cold wax; there were eleven of us in class and a couple other people were painting in oils, so it was a mixed bag and we were encouraged to explore and do whatever we wanted.

Bill made the rounds throughout the day, spending time with each artist for as long as they needed. Here he is with my friend Katy, who also took the class.

For the first couple of days, I just laid down paint in order to get some early bright layers to respond to in later days. No fear, just the joy of painting and playing with color.

I’m not sure I finished anything, but I made progress and came away with some wonderful early layers.

And besides Katy being in the class, my good friend Stephanie was also there, so as you can imagine, we had a great five days together.

10th Annual Day of the Dead Show at Guardino Gallery

For ten years, Guardino Gallery in NE Portland has hosted a dia de los muertos group art show. I’ve participated in many of the shows over the past ten years. This year the show moved to the Main Gallery and features over 50 artists. The show, curated by Donna Guardino and Stephanie Brockway, runs through October 23, so if you’re in Portland, I hope you’ll swing by and see an amazing show.

MY ART

THE SHOW

THE PARTY (I mean, opening reception)

BONUS: Preparing

Make up done by our daughter, Amy Kayon.

Passage: Caught in the Flow of Life

Nine months ago I had the opportunity to become part owner in an art gallery. Along with Tory Brokenshire and Bonnie Hull, the three of us took over the reigns of Compass Gallery, located at the Willamette Heritage Center, where all three of us have upstairs art studios. We came up with nine months worth of shows and each of us took on a monthly task (Tory created the show cards, Bonnie kept our website current, and I produced the press release). Then there was the Herculean task of creating a steady stream of art every month (for those of us who didn’t have art in basement vaults). Yesterday, we hung our final show, Passage: Caught in the Flow of Life, which about sums up our nine-month grand experiment.

We all enjoyed our time as gallery owners, and we especially loved having lunch together after hanging a new show. Yesterday was no exception. We enjoyed a long, leisurely lunch at Taproot in downtown Salem, plotting and scheming about future projects. You knew we weren’t going softly into the night, didn’t you?

Fortunately, Compass Gallery will continue, reverting back to the original visionary, Catherine Alexander. There are some other changes in the wind with the gallery. . . . but all of that is for another day, another post.

Insight & Imagination

I was invited by the staff at Willamette University’s Hatfield Library to curate an exhibit showcasing the art of Salem artists. This local exhibit is being presented in conjunction with a semi-permanent exhibit highlighting the Pacific Northwest Artists Archive, which features a collection of materials related to the careers of artists who are or were active in Oregon and Washington for the major portion of their careers. Several of the artists featured in the larger exhibit are also included in the Insight & Imagination exhibition.

A portion of the Pacific Northwest Artists Archive exhibit. The large painting is a piece by Rick Bartow.

Insight & Imagination represents the work of 23 talented, innovative, and active artists in Salem. Artists of all ages working in a wide range of genres were invited. Mediums represented include painting, textiles, assemblage, ceramics, book making, and photography. Artists were asked to submit a favorite art piece and since the work is not for sale, artists selected from their private collections or borrowed pieces from their collectors to display.

"Joyful Ride" by Tory Brokenshire — “Joyful Ride” by Tory Brokenshire

Along with their art, artists were asked to submit sketchbooks and a sampling of the tools they use to create their art, giving viewers a peek into their world of creation.

Last week I hung the show with the help of my good friend (and artist) Tory Brokenshire. When we first arrived at the library, Tory looked at the cases and looked at the art we had brought and said to me, “This isn’t all going to fit.” Fortunately, through auditioning, shifting, and a bit of creative magic, we were able to fit everything in perfectly.

The art is packed and ready for transport to the library.

Tory and librarian Joni Roberts nervously laugh at the enormity of the project.

We begin the process of putting the puzzle together. Tory is holding John Van Dreal's "Coleen With Pearl." — We begin the process of putting the puzzle together. Tory is holding John Van Dreal’s “Coleen With Pearl.”

The 23 featured artists represent a vibrant and thriving art community and we are honored and excited to present their work.

A sampling of the art:

"Fetching" by Elizabeth Bauman — “Fetching” by Elizabeth Bauman

"In Out Box" by Sandra Nichols — “In Out Box” by Sandra Nichols

"My Frida Bowl" by Mary Lou Zeek — “My Frida Bowl” by Mary Lou Zeek

"There Now" by Laura Mack — “There Now” by Laura Mack

"Time and Two Dorothys" by Kathryn Cellerini Moore — “Time and Two Dorothys” by Kathryn Cellerini Moore

But it is probably best to make your way to the Hatfield Library to see the art for yourselves and to spend some time at both exhibits.

Participating Artists:

Elizabeth Bauman
Rob Bibler
Tory Brokenshire
Heidi Preuss Grew
Charles Hannegan
Carol Hausser
Cynthia Herron
Bonnie Hull
Ann Kresge
Kristin Kuhns
Nancy Lindburg
Laura Mack
Kathryn Cellerini Moore
Dave Nichols
Sandra (Sloy) Nichols
Alexandra Opie
James Brandon O’Shea
Rebekah Rigsby
Susan Trueblood Stuart
Jed Thomas
John Van Dreal
Kay Worthington
Mary Lou Zeek

The show will be up through October 28, and can be viewed at the Hatfield Library during daytime library hours.

Oil and Cold Wax: A Workshop With Lisa Pressman

It was pretty thrilling to experience several firsts in one week: my first visit to Whidbey Island in Washington, the first time I’ve taken a class at the Pacific Northwest Art School, and my first time taking a class with the talented Lisa Pressman.

I had a week of bliss. I invited my friend Tory Brokenshire to join me for the week and she enthusiastically said yes. It started with loading the car.

After a day of driving (okay, we might have stopped in Centralia for lunch and some junking in the many antique shops in that little town), we arrived on Whidbey Island. Our Airbnb was just as we pictured it would be: light, bright, cozy, and right on Penn Cove.

Class started on Monday morning and went for four days. Holy Moley. It was all I hoped it would be: lots of lessons, demos, prompts, and experimenting. Lisa left plenty of time for painting and was always circulating offering feedback, suggestions, and encouragement. The extensive demos and talks about R & F Pigment Sticks was an added bonus because I have been using these oil sticks for over a year, but didn’t know all the ins and outs of how they could be used. The answer is: endless ways.

Even my blotter papers turned out exciting.

I finished several 6×6 pieces on Arches oil paper.

And completed a series of little pieces on paper.

I came home inspired and motivated to continue experimenting with some new ideas burbling around in my head.

Waterlines: Life On and Near the Water

My fascination with waterlines started the summer of 2014 when I was floating in the Columbia River and I saw the waterline of our boat, Rapture. I was captivated by the beautiful colors and thought it looked like an abstract painting.

I continued to love the idea of waterlines, at first the hulls of ships, then shifting to more natural waterlines, defining waterlines as “Where water meets an edge. A shoreline. The hull of a ship. The sea meets the sand. A passage of water.”

A few months ago it was decided that our July show at Compass Gallery would be titled Waterlines. I started painting with that theme in mind. The paint flowed easily because I was excited about the topic and the vast possibilities.

At the last minute we decided to spend two weeks on board Rapture at the Portland Waterfront. Our show would be hung two days after we returned, so I had no choice but to pack up my substrates, oil paints, cold wax, pigment sticks, and the tools associated with laying down and scraping off paint. I set up an impromptu studio in the galley of our boat and painted whenever I could.

I spread out plastic table cloths in the helm, on the coffee table, and on the back deck. Things dried quickly because it was warm, windy, and bright – all three things that encourage oil and cold wax to dry.

I’m sure the gentle rocking of the boat influenced my work, as did the view out of every window and porthole. I created a couple dozen pieces, ranging in size from 6×6 inches to 12×24. Fortunately they were dry by the time we made the cruise from the Willamette River back to the Columbia where we moor our boat.

Here’s a look at some of the pieces I created during our two weeks living on board Rapture.

"Caught Up in Waterweeds" — “Caught Up in Waterweeds”

"A Thrilling Release of Earth and Air" — “A Thrilling Release of Earth and Air”

"A Small Current of Power" — “A Small Current of Power”

"The Air Was Perfumed" — “The Air Was Perfumed”

"Mist Rose From the Water" — “Mist Rose From the Water”

"Memory Floating Up" — “Memory Floating Up”

The show at Compass Gallery, Waterlines, runs July 8 through August 3, 2016. The opening reception is Thursday, July 14, 5-7 pm.

In addition to my work, the current show features the work of Bonnie Hull and her interpretation of waterlines.

Flags of Hope

Back in 2014 I was invited to participate in a pilot program between the Salem Art Association and the Salem Cancer Institute. I taught my Embellishing a Soft Cloth Doll that first year, then last year I taught three sessions in visual journaling. Over the past couple of weeks I taught two sessions of making prayer flags, calling the class Flags of Hope.

Creating prayer flags came out of a project I facilitated the summer of 2014 through the Salem Art Association’s Project Space. I wrote several blog posts about it at that time, which can be read by clicking here. After the success of that project, I led a similar project last year at Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility, and now, on occasion, I offer mini workshops on creating flags, which is how these flags were created.

The Flags of Hope project was held in the reception area of Building C at Salem Hospital, a lovely, comfortable space where patients and caregivers can relax with a latte, work on a puzzle, color a mandala, or read a magazine.

I always come away from these classes feeling blessed, humbled, and honored, as the women who take these classes are either in the middle of cancer treatment, just finishing treatment, or have gone through it in the past. Here are some photos of the flags being created over the past couple of weeks.

During this week’s session, a cancer survivor was chatting with a woman who just finished up chemo. Her hair is starting to come back in, but she revealed she wasn’t feeling very pretty. The woman who battled cancer in the past, stepped over and began encouraging and sharing her experience with this woman, affirming to her how beautiful she is and how it gets better. The painting of prayer flags was a lovely respite from the treatment, but the beauty for me was witnessing the human connection of two women being able to talk about a shared experience.

Another woman, who came in late, finished up as I was putting supplies away. She said, “This is so therapeutic for me. I needed this. I live with the fear of wondering if my cancer will return.” This is her flag:

The flags from the two classes will be on display at the hospital on Wednesday, June 8, during the National Cancer Survivors Day celebration.

Art Retreats x2

I have the good fortune to belong to two art groups: The Portland Art Collective and the Salem Art Group. The groups are very different. The Portland Art Collective has 33 members, meets monthly for a meeting where the main focus is show and tell, but they also take minutes and conduct business. Twice a year they have a retreat at Menucha and about twenty women attend. Attendance at meetings is not required and I haven’t seen a couple of members for years.

The Salem Art Group is a small group with only six members. This group meets monthly and does one of the following: 1) meet up for coffee and show and tell, 2) go on a field trip to an exhibit or museum, or 3) gets together for a day of art making. Once a year we go on an art retreat. In our small group, we have an attendance policy, which requires that everyone attend at least eight meetings per year.

This past week both of the groups held their art retreats, which meant I was gone for a week.

PORTLAND ART COLLECTIVE

PAC holds their retreat over a weekend at Menucha, a conference and retreat center in the Columbia Gorge, about an hour east of Portland. All of our art-making is done in The Greenhouse.

We arrive on Friday afternoon and the retreat concludes on Sunday afternoon, giving us two full days of making art, laughing,doing demos, relaxing, and being silly.

During our stay, all meals are provided in the dining room, and they beautifully accommodate people with special diets (like me, who is vegetarian and stays away from gluten, but obviously not from sugar!).

SALEM ART GROUP

SAG holds one retreat a year and the location and time of year vary. For the past several years we have retreated at Camp Sherman along the Metolius River. This year we chose to retreat at the Oregon Coast. Bonnie, one of our members, has a cabin at the coast and a friend of hers offered for us to use her house on the bay as our place to stay and create.

We arrived on Tuesday morning and stayed until Friday. Of course, there was no one preparing our meals, so everyone made their own breakfast and lunch, but we dined out every night at one of the great restaurants, all within a short drive from where we were staying.

ART

During the two retreats, I chose to work on three different projects. I always schlepp more art supplies that I ever use, and I panic at the idea of not having enough to do. During the PAC retreat in the Gorge, I focused on acrylic paintings and visual journaling, along with a new collage project I am developing.

At the coast, I lugged all of my oil and cold wax supplies, set up shop on a long table I brought, and spent the entire time slathering on layers, scraping away the oil and cold wax the next morning, then applying another layer. I have a show deadline coming up the first part of June, so these days were spent working on several pieces for that show. It was a luxury to have uninterrupted expanses of time to work.

Because of the intimate nature of the second retreat, I took more photos during the week. Here’s a look at our little group and some of our activities during our stay.

Here’s my two piles of packing. First to Menucha for the weekend, then to the beach for four days. I thought I took a lot to Menucha, but my stack of stuff doubled for the beach!

It was a treat to have so many days dedicated to art without any of the responsibilities of home. But now it’s time for reentry and to finish up some of the projects I started over the past ten days.

The Artist’s Journey: An Online Class

I recently finished a four-week online class with California abstract artist Nancy Hillis. I don’t find many classes I want to take anymore, but something about this one caught my attention. The official title of the class was The Artist’s Journey: 3 Secrets of the Masters to Transform Your Painting. I was also attracted to this class because I love Nancy’s style of non-representational abstract paintings.

The class was four weeks with five modules. During the month long class, we watched video demonstrations, read written course material, worked through workbooks, and interacted with other participating artists in a private Facebook group. We even had the opportunity for a one-on-one telephone consultation with Nancy. Each week we were given a painting challenge to put the lessons into practice.

I won’t give away the class in detail, but I’ll share a bit of what we learned. Our modules covered everything from why we create art, to the importance of committing to a daily studio practice. Nancy covered a variety of topics, such as trusting yourself, the importance of practice, and allowing yourself to be surprised. She offered lots of lessons addressing various techniques, i.e., activating the canvas (making marks), to veiling and experimenting with flux (creating layers). The module on composition was invaluable, filled with game changing pointers. Module 4 covered value and how to use value to make strong and powerful paintings. The final module was a refresher of everything we covered and how to move forward. Wow. This class was worth the investment of money and time.

Photos. How do I choose which photos to share. Rather than break my post down into weekly bites, I’ll just share a sampling of photos taken throughout the past month.

About two weeks into the class, it was time for Art After Dark, the monthly Open Studios event at my downtown studio. I decided to share what I had been working on rather than display finished art like I usually do.

Palettes. I ended up with so many great pieces of paper that I used as my palette, that I saved a bunch of them!

Time to hang up my gloves? No, I’m more inspired and motivated than ever.

Tulips-ish: Let’s Just Call Them Tulips

What? Tulips? I don’t paint flowers, at least not specific flowers. In the past I’ve painted a couple of paintings that could be considered flowers, but they were wonky and highly abstracted. But amazingly, they both sold . . . . ummmmm.

My heart sank a bit when Tory, Bonnie, and I met the end of 2015 to decide our 2016 show schedule for Compass Gallery. January was Magnetic Pull and reflected what art we felt pulled to create. February was Light As Air, and I had happily been working on my Funky Junkyard Birds for a couple of months. When it came time to decide on March, Bonnie suggested we have a show about tulips. I gulped and resolved to push through the fear and just make the art.

I decided I needed to start early for the March show. On a rainy day in January, I spent the day in my studio. I was playing with the idea of painting a close up of a tulip, abstracted beyond recognition. My first go round went like this:

Then I started another one and the first layer looked like a misshaped lemon (I’m not even sharing the photo of the big yellow painted lemon!).

I decided this idea wasn’t working for me. I eventually left the studio that day feeling like I had spread a lot of paint, but feeling uninspired and unsuccessful. I was missing something. I remembered a favorite children’s book titled ish by Peter Reynolds. Why couldn’t I paint tulips in the ish fashion? I felt myself getting inspired and motivated again, motivated to get painting, big and small.

I started in using three pre-prepared boards that were a wee 6×6 inches. I had fun adding splashes of color mimicking bouquets of tulips. I felt like I was on to something.

Then I prepared four 12×12-inch boards in my usual fashion, applying paint, a layer of plaster, and then sealing them with a layer of acrylic. I was ready to paint my version of tulips using oil and cold wax. I laid down paint, I scraped it back. I told myself I didn’t need to paint exact replicas of tulips, but just to use color and texture to create something tulips-ish. It was working.

I ended up with a series of three paintings where I used black and grey as a backdrop to really make the color of the flowers pop.

I wanted to create one bigger piece for the show, so I dug out a 24×24 inch painting that had been in a show in 2013. It was begging to be repurposed and given new life.

I had fun covering the bright stripes of color, leaving the essence of a flower, which I then went in and defined using an ebony pencil, a combination of reds and alizarin crimson mixed with white to create some lovely pinks.

The result of my push/pull transformation is Echoes of Summer.

We hung the show on Thursday and I was happy with my nod to tulips. Once again, our disparate work came together to form a lively show.

Just Tulips will be on display at the Compass Gallery at Willamette Heritage Center through March 30, 2016, and the gallery is open Monday-Saturday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm. The Opening Reception will be held Thursday, March 10, from 5-7 pm.