Sitka Class: Abstracted Waterlines in Oil and Cold Wax

Happy are the painters, for they shall not be lonely. Light and colour, peace and hope, will keep them company to the end, or almost to the end, of the day. Winston S. Churchill

A dream came true last week when I taught a four-day class at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, located on the Oregon Coast at Cascade Head. I have taken many classes at Sitka over the years and many of those classes helped shape me as an abstract artist, so it felt satisfying and exhilarating to be standing on the other side of the table.

I arrived at the forested campus on Sunday evening and got settled into my private cabin, located just a few steps from Boyden Studio, where my class was to be held.

A couple of people offered to help me get the studio set up, but this was something I wanted to do by myself. I was feeling emotional and sentimental about teaching at Sitka, and I just wanted to fully experience it in solitude.

Monday morning I arrived early, ready for the day to begin and feeling just a tiny bit anxious.

Students began to arrive and get settled in. . . . . and then the next four days were a glorious blur of demos, activating boards, spreading paint, discussing how to let go, experimenting with new techniques, and making brave, bold marks.

Throughout the week, some artists arrived early in the morning, some stayed a little late into the evening, but there were three hearty souls who arrived early and stayed very late into the evening.

One night several of us went out to dinner in Pacific City and stopped to visit Lynne’s studio.

Boyden Studio was a blur of camaraderie and activity with artists working independently at times, other times soliciting feedback and ideas from each other.

The weather was good for three of the four days and we were able to take advantage of the outdoors to eat lunch, lay out our boards, and occasionally relax.

I had fun doing demos every day (even when they didn’t turn out exactly as I had planned!).

At times everyone worked hard, other times they kicked back.

I went into the studio early every morning to prepare for the day and enjoy the remnants of the previous day’s energy.

For the majority of time, everyone got into a zone, the flow state of letting go and laying down layers for the pure pleasure of experiencing the paint.

On Thursday afternoon we did a show ‘n tell and walkabout.

Here’s a sampling of what was created over the four days.

It was an amazing experience and the perfect mix of students.

Go and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make. Good. Art. Neil Gaiman

The Book: “Cold Wax Medium-Techniques, Concepts & Conversations”

It’s finally in my hands: my copy of the newly published and released book Cold Wax Medium – Techniques, Concepts, and Conversations by Rebecca Crowell and Jerry McLaughlin. I was invited in mid 2015 to submit photos of my art for possible inclusion in Rebecca and Jerry’s book project. A contract was signed in July, 2015, and now the book has arrived. It contains 319 gorgeous pages – full color, dreamy heavy paper, and chock full of beautiful art, techniques, and ideas. (Preorders have ended, but general sales begin May 12 and you can place your order by going here.)

These are the two pieces of my art that appear in the book (pages 68 and 229):

“Insatiably Curious,” 16×16 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax, 2015, from my Ricochet series. SOLD.

“Things Still Remembered,” 24×24 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax, 2014. SOLD

The two images included in the book were both pieces that had incorporated niches into the substrate and subsequent composition. Here are the pages as they appear in Rebecca and Jerry’s book.

A bit of the text:

I can’t wait to sit down and begin reading through this compendium of everything oil and cold wax. And more.

Quarterly Open Studios

The artists at the Art Studios at Mission Mill decided at the end of last year that they wanted to host quarterly Open Studios rather than monthly events. I personally liked having them monthly, but they did seem to roll around rather quickly. Our quarterly event, under the umbrella of Art After Dark, will be held this Thursday, April 13, from 6-8 pm (a change from our old time of 5-7 pm). Studio A, where I hang out, has been converted to my Special Project Studio, where I am working on a big mixed media and collage project titled: What’s Your Story, Real or Imagined: Telling Stories through Black and White Photos. I started this project last year, but it has been evolving and morphing into something bigger than I earlier anticipated. I still have my two walls of black and white photos, which have expanded and taken over more real estate.

I recently had the opportunity to sort through a couple dozen boxes and three chests of family photos and ephemera and somehow I managed to find room in my compact corner space for piles and mounds of paper, 3-D bits, and photos.

I’ll be doing an Artist in Residence at the Salem Art Association Annex in the fall, so for now, my ideas are percolating as I spend time in this special studio. I’ll be sharing more about my fall project a bit later, but it includes a panel discussion, two weeks of working in a spacious light-filled studio, and will culminate in a one-day workshop I’ll be teaching. In the meantime, come see my newest acquisitions and hear more about my project on Thursday night.

ART AFTER DARK

The Art Studios at Mission Mill are located at the Willamette Heritage Center, across from Willamette University on 12th Street and across from the Amtrak Train Station on Mill Street. All of the second floor studios will be open, Carol Green will be demonstrating a Polaroid emulsion lift process (“The World Through Polaroid Imagining”), and Bonnie Hull is bringing her instant camera and will be taking curated photos ($1, please bring exact change). There will be new art on the communal walls and all of the artists will be serving refreshments. On the first floor, Max Marbles, the bookbinder, will be open, the Eco Hub is featuring student artwork honoring nature, and you can meet the newest tenants: award-winning photographer Frank Barnett and his wife, 3D artist and writer, Mart Soloman. It’s going to be a splendid night!

Waterlines Art Show: Making Headway

“Where the Blue is Deep and Soft and Silent,” 24×24 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax.

I am happy to share the news that I’m having a show at Guardino Gallery in NE Portland. My show is titled Waterlines and I’ve been painting and preparing for almost a year, although I’ve been experimenting and painting waterlines for the past three years. My fascination with waterlines began as a child. Growing up as the daughter of a river rat on the Columbia River, plus time spent at my grandparent’s beach cabin on the Oregon Coast, I learned to love waterlines at an early age. In the summer of 2014, as I was floating in the Columbia River, I noticed the waterline on a boat. I was captivated by the beautiful colors and imagined it as an abstract painting.

“The Wind Stilled Itself,” 10x10x2 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax.

I like to describe waterlines as: Where water meets an edge. A shoreline. The hull of a ship. The sand. Riverbanks. Sky. In exploring various forms of waterlines, I am especially interested in experimenting with the intersections, where water meets the land. I ask myself, “What’s happening at the horizon line? Turbulence or ripples. Calmness or agitation. What’s above, or, what’s below.

“The Turmoil of Raging Tides,” 12×12 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax.

Drawing upon the flexibility of working with oil paint mixed with cold wax medium and sometimes R and F Pigment Sticks, I am able to create layers of color using palette and putty knives to apply, push, pull, and scrape the layers of paint to reveal and explore the rick complexity of water, land, and sky.

“Sweet Blue Rhythm,” 8×8 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax.

The show opens Thursday, April 27 and runs through May 21st. The opening reception is Thursday, April 27th from 6-9 pm.

“Heat Waves Buckling the Air,” 11×14 inches, plaster, oil, and cold wax.

I Spy . . . . .

I spy . . . . a propeller, a watch, false teeth, and keys.

I spy . . . . handcuffs, a comb, boats, and a ladder.

I spy . . . . a brush, an eraser, numbers, and a whistle.

I spy . . . . wheels, a fish hook, curlers, and a doorbell.

I spy . . . . a luggage tag, pencils, a knife, and perfume.

I spy . . . . hands, a mouse trap, a harmonica, and rulers.

I spy . . . . a clothespin, mirrors, a diaper pin, and a ladder.

I spy . . . . flowers, a shovel, stars, an anchor, and a clown.

I spy . . . . dishes, a wing, bells, and a car.

I was invited to create a piece of art in response to the Salem Reads: One Book, One Community project. The book chosen for the project is Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream, by Joshua Davis.

Since the four teenagers built an underwater robot using spare and scavenged parts, I created my piece using my favorite found and scavenged objects. The title of my piece is Everything Accounted For, and here is my artist statement:

I’m a collector, energized by hunting for worn out and discarded objects. When I see a beat up vintage tin or discover a rusty piece of metal, I hyperventilate a bit. I’m excited about the opportunity to give new life to these cast off, expendable objects. Everything Accounted For represents some of the best pieces from my collection, each one a sacred scrap. In creating this piece, I was inspired by the resourcefulness, vision, and creativity of Oscar, Cristian, Luis, and Lorenzo.

The exhibit will be at the Salem Public Library from January 31 – February 26, 2017. The opening reception is Tuesday, January 31st at 5:30 pm.

When my piece returns home, this is where it will hang:

I’m excited to announce a new website!

It has been in the works since last summer and it is finally here: my new website. I am kind of over the moon excited for the clean, new look. I am grateful to Phil Webb of Dial A Tech who met with me frequently to discuss my ideas and then to figure out how to make it all work. The website went live about a week ago, but we’ve been working out little bugs since then. As of today, it has officially been launched. Phil was able to transfer all of my previous blog posts as well as my earlier archived posts beginning in 2009. This will be my ninth year of blogging.

My website is meant to be an introduction to who I am and the type of work I do and it will be periodically updated. However, this blog and my various social media sites are where I will be posting the most current content as far as my ever evolving art. If you’re interested in what I’m working on, where I’ll be teaching, and what shows I’m participating in, please subscribe to my blog, and follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook.

Thank you for your continued support of the arts.

What’s Your Story, Real or Imagined: Telling Stories Through Black & White Photos

I’m excited to share a project that I’ve been working on for many months. Someone recently asked me where the idea came from and I realized it has actually been in the works for years. I told them: It has been inside me for a long time and most of my mixed media art has been leading up to this special project, although I didn’t know it at the time.

It was 2007 when I created a class called Itty Bitty Pretties. It involved creating little tiny mini collages on 1-1/2 x 1-1/2 inch squares: a background, a cut out black and white photograph, a word, and finally, an assemblage piece; each one represented a different family member. Here is 64.

It has been inside me for a long time and most of my mixed media art has been leading up to this special project, although I didn’t know it at the time.

Jump ahead to 2012, when I started creating mixed media collages on playing and flash cards. During the summer of that year I lived on a boat at the Portland Waterfront for 29 days; I created a card for each day I was there.

In the fall of 2015, I made a travel journal in the style of my current project, creating about 60 pre painted pages, which I embellished throughout the 40 days I was gone.

At the beginning of this year, I started to lay the framework for an idea to take all of these past projects and incorporate them into a new one. It gets a bit blurry about the timing. I remember working on page backgrounds when we went to Arizona in February, where I slathered paint and created texture using plaster and gesso, always writing and embedding text into the wet paint and over the dry plaster.

I remember returning to my studio and beginning the process of gathering textiles, ephemera, and little found objects to eventually incorporate into my collage pieces. I also began gathering dozens of black and white photographs, mostly of strangers.

In May of this year, I went on an art retreat with my Portland Art Collective, where I spent three days composing and auditioning layouts.

After returning from the retreat, I continued building my collages and gave them a name, What’s your Story, Real or Imagined: Telling Stories Through Black & White Photos. My collection of ephemera expanded, as did my obsession with black and white photographs.

I continued building my collages and gave them a name, What’s your Story, Real or Imagined: Telling Stories Through Black & White Photos. My collection of ephemera expanded, as did my obsession with black and white photographs.

These are a sampling of my mixed media collages and all are a work in progress. When I’m at my studio, I am continually digging through my bits and auditioning that one more thing to add another layer of interest and mystery.

My plan is to continue working on these pages and in the fall of 2017, I’ll be offering a workshop at Salem Art Association’s Art Annex in conjunction with a collaborative history project, which is in the works.

Art for Everyone: An Affordable College Art Textbook

Over a year ago, I was invited to submit art to be used in a college textbook being published by Chemeketa Community College. The book was being put together by the Chemeketa art faculty in response to the steady rise of textbook prices. The textbook being used for ART 101 had risen to $214. For the past year, a beta version of the faculty-produced textbook was used by students. During the year, the textbook was revised, edited, and fine tuned.

The college recently published the first edition of the textbook, Art for Everyone, and it is available for only $28. To celebrate the launch of this beautiful book, artists who submitted art to the textbook were invited by the art faculty at Chemeketa Community College to participate in an art exhibit at the Gretchen Schuette Art Gallery, located in the heart of the campus.

The reception was held on Wednesday, November 2nd in the afternoon so students would be able to attend. There was a steady stream of visitors, students, and artists, with introductions and the story behind the book shared with everyone present. Here I am standing in front of my piece, The Essence of a Thing, which appeared in the chapter titled Nonrepresentational Approaches, in a subsection on Color Field Painting.

A few photos from the afternoon reception . . . .

The other piece I had in the book (but not in the show), was Freedom in the Silence, which appeared in the chapter titled Formal Elements: Value and Color; my art was featured in the section on Complementary Color Schemes.

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.

A Studio Story

I recently changed studios. It all happened rather quickly and unexpectedly, but I jumped on the opportunity to make the switch. I’ve been in Studio F since the Art Studios at Mission Mill opened in October of 2014. I started out sharing the space with my good friend Tory, then she moved out into Studio B sometime in 2015. For the past year, Studio F has been my space.

Two weeks ago, one of our studio members decided not to renew her lease, creating an opening for Studio A, a lovely corner studio overlooking the stream and the Willamette Heritage Center. Two artists were interested in the studio, Rollie and myself, so it required a dual, I mean a drawing, which occurred a week ago Friday. We sought out an independent person to do the drawing. Max Marbles, our resident bookbinder was selected, and the drawing took place, with Max’s son Spencer, doing the actual drawing.

My name was drawn and I set to work putting my mark on Studio A, rushing against the clock in time for our monthly Art After Dark Open Studios. First up was painting, which I accomplished (with the help of my husband) on Sunday. tick tick tick

Monday and Tuesday of last week were moving days. As I moved my stuff out of Studio F, Rollie was moving his stuff into Studio F, all part of the grand studio shuffle.

Mission accomplished by Tuesday night, with fine tuning happening on Wednesday and Thursday, all in time for last Thursday night’s Open Studios.

Studio glimpses:

I am using Studio A as my special projects studio, and accordingly I moved the bulk of my oil and cold wax supplies to my painting studio at home. In my Mill studio I’ll be working on a project I’ve had in the works for several months: What’s Your Story? Real or Imagined. . . . telling stories through black and white photos. More on all of this later.