I’ve been invited to participate in two upcoming shows. The first is at Guardino Gallery in Portland, Little Things 14. This is a group show where all the pieces are 7×7 inches or smaller. I have 12 little plaster, oil, and cold wax paintings in the show. The opening reception is Thursday, November 28, 6-9 pm, and the show runs through December 28th.
The other show I’m a part of is the Left Coast Artist Collective Artful Gift Sale. It will be held for two days, Friday, December 5 (10 am – 8 pm) and Saturday, December 6 (9 am – 5 pm). This event will be held in the gym at the Multnomah Arts Center (7688 SW Capitol Highway in Portland). There will be jewelry, photography, glass art, paintings, book arts, fiber, and mixed media arts. I will be selling paintings, Funky Junkyard Birds, Curious Elements, and a big assortment of cards.
If you are looking for gifts or something fun for yourself, both of these events will have a great assortment of art by local artists.
Outside Guardino Gallery looking into the Feature Area.
Last Thursday night was Guardino Gallery’s 8th Annual Day of the Dead opening reception. Attending Last Thursday on Albertais always fun, but Guardino’s openings are even better, especially when the guests dress up in celebration of Dia De Los Muertos.
Stephanie, the curator, with me
Me with my dateTory and StephanieStephanie and AleaCelebration guestsDonna Guardino with HowardHoward, Tabor, Lee, and JasonPeeking in the window
I created several assemblage pieces for the show.
“In the Dark Room”“Deep Dark Secret”“Travel Weary”“Abrupt Departure”“A Steady Quiet Routine”“Casual Indifference”“Missing Person”“Writing Down Numbers”“It Belonged To a Stranger”“Things in Common”“It Didn’t Matter”“Waiting For An Excuse”
The show runs through October 26. Guardino Gallery is located at 2939 NE Alberta in Portland, OR.
Last year, I had a show at Guardino Gallery in Portland. The title was Beneath the Surface: Searching For Memory and the show was inspired by my dad’s battle with Alzheimer’s. My dad lost that battle on Saturday night.
As I sat with my dad on Saturday, I reflected on what a great dad he had been. He was silly, generous, funny, out-going, and at times tender and sentimental. He was diagnosed with dementia in 2009, so he fought through the haze for five years. I thought in a tribute to him, I would post a few of the paintings I did for the show since their titles reflect what he was experiencing.
Struggling to Reach the SurfaceCreating Memories That Won’t Be RememberedEtched in MemoryWhat Came BeforeDarkness Closing InFading AwayGlimpses of the Way Things Used To BeCollecting ThoughtsSeeking RefugeChasing Memories
And finally, because it was one of his favorite songs:
It takes courage to cover up a completed painting, but it’s something I have learned to do. The question is why do I do it. In one instance, it was because of a technical problem: the black paint wasn’t drying and when I went to put on the final coat of cold wax, it began lifting the paint and the painting was ruined. That board was put into the pile of available boards for use in the future.
“Searching For His Lost Life,” formerly a painting.
Searching For His Lost Life became Where the Road Ends.
“Where the Road Ends, 24×24 plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel.
This piece made it into my Slightly Off Kilter show last year, but when the show came down, I realized I wasn’t in love with the painting, so once again, it went into the available boards pile. I recently completed yet another painting, Something More Was Required. Yes, something more was required and I think that painting has come full circle. With the initial layer of plaster and multiple layers of oil and cold wax, this 24×24 piece is getting pretty heavy. From Searching For His Lost Life, to Where the Road Ends, it is now Something More Was Required.
“Something More Was Required,” 24×24 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel.
Another recent transformation came when I took an 8×8-inch piece, To the Center of Silence, and transformed it into A Dark Curtain Against the Sky. I liked the original well enough, but it was a bit too yellow and wasn’t dynamic enough.
“To the Center of Silence,” 8×8 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel.“A Dark Curtain Against the Sky,” 8×8 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel.
Then there was Beachcombing. I loved the little niche filled with treasures, but it read a bit too precious. And the colors were a bit jarring.
“Beachcombing,” 24×24, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled board with niche.
So, I scrapped and dug out the found objects and sea shells, sanded the board, and transformed it into Things Still Remembered.I haven’t filled the niche yet as that takes a whole different level of creativity. What is tucked into a niche is very powerful.
“Things Still Remembered,” 24×24, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel (with niche).
Finally, one more example. I did a couple of pages in my art journal, which I liked and thought would translate nicely into a painting.
Initial inspiration in my art journal
So I loosely painted it onto a 30×30-inch cradled panel (after painting over another painting I had been working on for awhile – look at the big panel behind me in the first photo of this post – that’s what was on the board before I took the journal page and painted it onto the panel). It sat for a long time and I thought I liked it. In fact, it was ready to go to the gallery.
On the easel, thinking it was about complete.
But something was niggling at me, so I took it back into my studio and began revamping it. It became something entirely different.
And then I kept going.
In transition.
And going.
Detail from a “Stoking a Small Steady Flame.”
And going.
“Stoking a Small Steady Flame, 30×30 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax on cradled panel.
Stoking A Small Steady Flame was born and now hangs at Guardino Gallery in Portland.
The Heart of the Matter: A group show about the heart is an annual Guardino Gallery show. I’ve participated the past several years and I was invited to submit art again this year. I created ten Curious Elements with a heart theme. My Curious Elements are found object pieces of art created in a multi-step process. In a nutshell, I cut up pieces of board, apply paint, plaster, sand, stain, and wax. To add depth and interest, I cut up yard sticks, apply vintage paper and a layer of stain. Then I rummage through my bins and boxes of bits, auditioning pieces of metal and sometimes scraps of fabric. When I’m satisfied with the layout and the underlying story, I begin the process of attaching. And that’s how a Curious Element is born – I once counted about 22 steps in the process from beginning to end!
Enough yammering. Here are the ten Curious Elements I created for the show.
“Small Bits of Perfection”“Unorthodox Methods”“Personal Correspondence”“Obsessive Desire”“Familiarity With Chaos”“A Splice of Time”“A Warm Refuge”“Close Proximity”“Interlude of Silence”“A Matter of Moments”
The show opens at Guardino Gallery on January 30 and runs through February 23. The opening reception is Thursday, January 30, 6-9 pm.
I blogged recently about the seven pieces of art I created for Guardino Gallery’s 7th annual Day of the Dead Show. The art got hung and Thursday night was Last Thursday on Alberta, a monthly street party on a very cool street in NE Portland. It is also the night that Guardino Gallery hosts their art opening for the featured artists. This year I decided it would be fun to join the party in a different way: by dressing up in a Day of the Dead Costume. Warning: the only art you’ll see in this post is face make up, costumes, and a little incidental wall art.
Guardino Gallery is celebrating the 7th annual Day of the Deadgroup show October 31- November 24. Opening Festivities are on Halloween from 6-9 pm and will include spirits in costume, revelry, merriment, glowing alters, live music, and face painting. A ton of cool artists are participating and I was invited to be one of the artists. I created seven Curious Elements for the show.
Unfinished BusinessRest in PeaceRed CrossReynaldoConcerning DeathBuried MemoriesA Lock of Mother’s Hair
I’ve written this blog post in my head a dozen times over the past couple of days. I’ve titled it (“They Call Me Lefty”), re-titled it (“Brokenhearted”), and settled on something entirely different. I’ve started the post with the events of the past week, then decided to begin with my show at Guardino Gallery last March because that show was inspired by him. Now that I am actually writing this post, I’ve decided to begin somewhere else entirely.
Note: This is a bit more of a personal post than my usual art post, although art is included, it is about my dad’s battle with Alzheimer’s.
My mom and dad soon after moving into a retirement facility at the beginning of the year.
My dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2009, and as expected, he has slowly dissolved into the disease. It’s been a painful progression of lost and scrambled words, memory loss, and unfortunately, flares of anger. A couple of years ago when my dad was earlier in his disease, I made a small visual journal as a way to acknowledge the beginning of his long journey home.
Last March I had the privilege of a solo show at Guardino Gallery in Portland. The title, Beneath the Surface: Searching For Memory, was dedicated to my dad and chronicled his fading memory. The pieces were titled to reflect his mental decline. Here are a couple of photos of my dad looking at the old black and white family photos I had scattered in the window display and a few pieces of the art I created for the show.
Creating Memories That Won’t Be RememberedWhat Came BeforeFlashes of ClarityWe Laughed TogetherCollecting ThoughtsGathering Bits of Broken MosaicsTracing the Map of MemorySeeking Refuge
Over the past six months my dad has significantly declined. He lost his driver’s license and my parents moved into a retirement community. I took my dad for drives during the summer and he always smiled and laughed during our country drives or stops for frozen yogurt.
A week ago, everything changed. My dad’s outbursts of rage escalated to the point that my mom became fearful. An event occurred that required that my family intervene. We had a family meeting with my mom and told her it was time we put dad in a memory care unit – it was the only way we could guarantee her safety. She agreed and made arrangements at the retirement community where they lived. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t have a bed in the memory care available for about 30 days. The retirement facility put an emergency alarm bracelet on my mom and said they could do some respite care with my dad – a few hours at a time in the memory care unit. She made arrangements on Friday to give it a try. That’s when it all fell apart. 9-1-1 was called, the police came, an ambulance arrived and my dad was taken to the emergency room. While there, my dad decided he had waited long enough. He unhooked his monitors, got up, put on his shoes, and started to leave. It took four security guards, two nurses, and a tech to put him back in the bed, this time with restraints. During this time, the hospital’s social services located a bed for my dad in a memory care unit across the river where my dad could stay until a bed opens up where my mom lives. On Friday night I rode in the medical transport with my dad as he was taken to memory care. He was silent the whole way. He was reluctant to go in, but he finally did. He pleaded in garbled and disconnected words to go home. I had to say good-bye and leave him. My heart broke. I hate this disease.
I’ve been invited to participate in two upcoming shows. The first is at Guardino Gallery in Portland, Little Things 14. This is a group show where all the pieces are 7×7 inches or smaller. I have 12 little plaster, oil, and cold wax paintings in the show. The opening reception is Thursday, November 28, 6-9 pm, and the show runs through December 28th.
If you are looking for gifts or something fun for yourself, both of these events will have a great assortment of art by local artists.
