Alley Art Studio

The Art of Communication

2012-02-02T16:38:00.016-08:00

The 100 Artists Show at the Mary Lou Zeek Gallery has opened. I wrote about my donation to the show, Fragments, about a week ago. You can see more about what I created by clicking here. Mary Lou's website has all the details of the show as well as photos of the over 100 pieces of art. Just a simple click right here and you'll be taken to her site. You can also check out Mary Lou's blog post about the recent opening. Mary Lou describes the essence of the show:

During the month of February, the Mary Lou Zeek Gallery will be presenting “The Art of Communication”, the 10th annual 100 Artists show. Participating artists received a blank letter through the mail and were asked to write a thought, a story, or whatever they so choose and then send to their “partnered” artist. The artists had over three months to transform the writings into their work of art.

All art is for sale by bidding, which can be done in person or by calling the gallery. Bids start at $50 and can be raised in increments of $5. There are four closing dates, so the artist's assigned number determines the closing date. The closing date for my art is next Friday, February 10th -- so if you're interested, get your bid in! And I must say, there are some great pieces of art in the show this year.

Okay, let's get on with some photos. On Wednesday of this week, I met up with Tory and Steph, who both have pieces in the show, for a preview of the exhibit before the opening reception later that evening.

Each of the artists has a folder at the gallery, which Steph dubbed our dossiers. Inside each folder is a copy of the letter we received from our partnered artist (mine is Kim Robertson who has become a real life friend and pen pal through this process - she lives in Pennsylvania!), our artist's statement about the piece we created in response to the artist's letter, and some of our business cards.

The fabulous and tireless curators, Tina and Mary Lou.

A preview of the show . . .

After an afternoon of roaming around downtown Salem, our tummies were rumbling. None of us had eaten at Napoleon's, a newish French restaurant, so buckwheat crepes were the order of business. Melissa, Tory's daughter who is also in the show, joined as well as two husbands, Antoine and Howard.

Mary Lou and Tina put together an artist's only reception next door to the gallery and our passes were the chained post cards I shared in an above photo.

And then it was time for the opening!

Now I just need to decide which piece of art I want to bid on!

The Heart of the Matter

2012-01-26T09:51:00.000-08:00

Last night was the opening of Guardino Gallery's annual group show: The Heart of the Matter. The opening receptions at Guardino are always fun. Lots of friends and family show up to support the artists and the work they've created. Here's the evening . . . and most likely some familiar faces.

My heart gang that was part of the show.

Some individual shots just because they're kinda pretty to look at.

Winter Wax

2012-01-24T09:04:00.000-08:00

I spent a rainy winter Monday playing with wax at Deanna White's country studio. There were just four of us, so it was intimate and cozy. I wasn't feeling overly ambitious or productive, so I just allowed myself to putter -- paint on wax, scrape it off, add a bit more, carve out a door, fill it with wax. Relaxing and meditative. Just what I needed.

100 Artists Show: Fragments

2012-01-23T18:55:00.000-08:00

I'm filled with wonder. I am one of the participants in Mary Lou Zeek's annual (and final) 100 Artists Show: The Art of Communication, running February 1 - March 3.

Mary Lou paired two artists with the assignment to write each other a letter (paper and envelopes provided). Then, using the letter received as inspiration, we had to create a piece of art in response (the finished pieces could be no larger than 12 x 12). Mary Lou wrote a longer and more detailed explanation of the process, so if you're interested in the nitty gritty, just click right here. You can also see photos of all of the art donated (the whole thing is a fundraiser and all of the artists donate their art) and read the artist's statements about the creation of their piece. So here's my journey in words and photos.

I received my letter from the artist I was paired with: Kim Robertson of Pennsylvania, back in October.

About the same time, I sat down to write my letter to Kim.

After reading her letter, a page full of rich imagery and juicy words, I decided I would create a mixed media piece. I set out to glue strips of worn linen and gauze and planned to build up layers using plaster and paint, but somewhere along the way, I totally switched gears. At the time I was working on my piece, I was at the beach with Stephanie and Tory and we were all working on various art projects. One of the other things I was working on was some guerilla art (here's a little blip about that). Well, a comment from Tory, a comment from Steph, and before long, the guerilla project was put on hold, but the cardboard tiles I thought would be guerilla art pieces became the focal point of my piece for the 100 Artists Show. Words were chosen and circled from Kim's letter and eventually the chosen words were stamped onto the little cardboard tiles . . . . Fragments was created.

The finished piece.

The individual tiles.

Post Script: I made a cardboard tile for Kim as a memento of our project and sent it to her with a note.

Post Post Script: Two years ago I bought a piece of art from Mary Lou's 100 Artists Show. I didn't think anything about it until I saw some of the art that Kim created. It got me to thinking, so I went to my studio and looked at the art I had purchased in 2010 - yep, Kim was the artist! We were already connected and we didn't even know it.

Post Post Post Script: Kim sent me a beautiful three-page handwritten letter this week with an original piece of her art! I feel so honored. And the best part is we're now officially pen pals - the real deal kind. Handwritten letters on real paper. Tag, I'm it.

A Monkey, A Shovel, A Gun*

2012-01-22T17:27:00.000-08:00

I had the privilege to facilitate a Vision Board class at my studio on Saturday. The ladies all knew each other as they are all members of a book group they belong to and they wanted to get together to create Vision Boards. I knew a couple of the women and they asked if I would be the one to lead them through the process. Why, of course! I told them I would be honored.

The morning was a riotous jumble of flying hands, whirring scissors, and lively chatter.

After lunch, the gluing commenced.

The women created some wonderful intentions for the new year.

What a cheerful, fun, intelligent group of women I got to spend the day with!

*The title for this blog post came from things falling off the walls of my studio. My little studio is so crammed with stuff, that the women kept bumping into things I had hanging here and there. The first to go was a metal monkey, then a metal shovel, and finally a kid's cap gun. Fortunately, no one was maimed by the falling objects!

Rainy Day Playtime

2012-01-20T14:07:00.000-08:00

Wednesday was the monthly meeting of my Salem Art Group and it was a full day of arty playing. Katy, one of our members, owns the Art Department in downtown Salem (well, she owns it with her husband . . .) and at the back of the store is a lovely, big, bright work space. Wednesday had our name written all over it. One of the things I did was deconstruct the monstrosity of a skirt that I'm modeling in the above photo. While I started in on that, the other ladies started in on a variety of their own projects (after we did about a two hour show and tell!).

I was the first to arrive . . .

. . . but in no time at all we had taken over all of the tables!

I spent the day working on two Fearless Faces makeovers; I just felt they needed a new look. So here are the two faces, before and after!

Before . . ..

And after . . . .

Before . . . .

And after . . .

Play Time: Prayer Flags

2012-01-17T18:42:00.000-08:00

I took another class on Sunday afternoon just for fun. It was taught by my friend Jami and was offered at Stampin' Cat Studio in south Salem. Here's Jami showing off her prayer flags (and that's sweet and funny Carole smiling in the background - take a look at the post she did on her blog about our class by clicking here).

Jami is SO generous with her supplies. She brought oodles of fabric, stamps, and embellishments.

By the time we actually got down to cutting and laying things out, we only had a couple of hours to work, so I didn't even get any where near being ready to begin stitching. I played around with an off white theme, added some punches of black, then played around with pops of color . I envision red stitching on several of the pieces, more bits and pieces of jewel-colored sari ribbon, and and and. But it's all for another day. Here's how far I got in the time I had. Of course, nothing is stitched down so EVERYTHING is subject to change!

It was a fun, relaxing way to spend the afternoon, that's for sure.

Sketchbook Project World Tour 2012: Writing on the Wall

2012-01-13T08:54:00.001-08:00

I've finished a long-standing art journal for the 2012 World Tour of The Sketchbook Project. I signed up in May of 2011 with a due date of January 31, 2012, so I'm feeling just a bit sassy since I finished up two weeks ahead of schedule and I don't need to overnight my journal to New York. Here's a brief description of the project from The Art House website:

The Sketchbook Project is a constantly evolving library of artists' sketchbooks from across the globe. This year thousands of sketchbooks will be exhibited at art spaces in 14 cities. After the tour, they will join the collection of the Brooklyn Art Library and made available to the public seven days a week.

In addition to being exhibited across the United States and in several countries, the tour is COMING TO PORTLAND (May 11-13, 2012). I can't wait to go check out my book.

We were given the option of several themes for our sketchbook (dozens and dozens, actually) and I narrowed down the many choices to: Encyclopedia of _______, Along the Line, Uncharted Waters, Fears and Tears, and Fill Me With Stories. In the end, I chose Writing on the Wall because words are so important to me. With that in mind, I made photocopies from several of my visual journals, glued portions of the copies into the sketchbook, and added quotes and poetry fragments. The front and back covers were created by cutting up strips from the leftover visual journal pages that didn't make it into the sketchbook. I also sprung to have my journal digitized, something that many artists are doing, so if you aren't able to make it to one of the cities to see the journals, you will be able to see them online.

Here is the evolution of my project from receiving the sketchbook, to my signature on the last page. Whew. Glad it is complete!

Come on in for a quick romp through most of the pages . . .

Parting shots . . .

Creative Explorations: Row Houses

2012-01-13T05:13:00.001-08:00

After the craziness of December and the many shows I participated in and after making close to 200 Curious Elements, I was in need of some artful playtime. I found just what I needed in a Sunday afternoon class offered by Christy Wood at Stampin' Cat Studio . . . . Creative Explorations: Row Houses. Christy got her inspiration for the class from a couple of past issues of Cloth Paper Scissors, but of course, she put her own spin on the houses she had us create.

We started with five precut and prepared wood block houses and were set free to do whatever we pleased. Christy had some suggestions and ideas for us, but I just went off into my own world and did my own thing (now there's a surprise!).

I've never had the pleasure of taking a class with Christy before this and I had so much fun I'm already looking ahead to what she'll be offering next in her Creative Explorations series.

I didn't get my houses finished, but I sure had fun gettinggthe paper and paint foundations in place. Now I get to sort through my bins and drawers of metal bits and pieces at my studio to complete my dark little lane of houses.

Guerilla Art Project

2012-01-11T16:44:00.000-08:00

My Salem Art Group decided awhile back that we wanted to do a Guerilla Art Project. Keri Smith wrote a whole book about doing guerilla art and here is her definition:

Guerilla art is a fun and insidious way of sharing your vision with the world. It is a method of art making which entails leaving anonymous art pieces in public places. It can be done for a variety of reasons, to make a statement, to share your ideas, to send out good karma, or just for fun. My current fascination with it stems from a belief in the importance of making art without attachment to the outcome. To do something that has nothing to do with making money, or listening to the ego.

So with that in mind, the members of our Salem Art Group are making small works of art to leave in various places anonymously. Now I realize that by sharing this project here and showing my art that I kind of take a bit away from the idea of being anonymous, but 1) not all that many people read my blog, 2) I'm not telling where I'll be leaving it, and 3)you most likely won't be the one to discover it. Wanna see what I created? I thought you might.

I added a little identification tag to let people know about the project, which includes an e-mail address for them to write and let us know where they found the art and whether or not they kept it or hid it somewhere for someone else to discover.

I went out of town today, so my first piece of Guerilla Art was left outside of Salem at a large health food grocery store! It was so exciting to leave it for someone to discover.

I'm going out again tonight and I think I'll be leaving a bit of art behind.

Vision Board 2012: AUTHENTIC

2012-01-10T10:40:00.000-08:00

I finished up my 2012 Vision Board and I'm excited about exploring my word for the year: authentic. I have identified several intentions for the new year that I have already set into motion. I love how identifying what we want and then getting it down in images helps to bring those dreams and ideas to fruition. One of my goals for the new year is opening an online etsy store and because I identified that as one of my goals, I've signed up for a learning the basics etsy workshop later this month. Another goal? Working my way through Julia Cameron's Vein of Gold. My newly formed group of hand-picked women begins meeting tonight to discuss Julia's meaty book. Of course a trip is included, Fearless Faces, reading, a new tattoo, some clothing ideas, and BIG art. I'm excited because everything on my Vision Board for 2011 became reality. Well, all except for my word of the year: compassion. I'm still working on that one and I certainly have lots of opportunities to practice.

Retreating in the Woods

2012-01-10T09:32:00.000-08:00

I ran away to the beach with two friends (Steph and Tory) the first week of January. We packed up food, art magazines, books, chocolate, DVDs, and lots and lots of art supplies. We stayed in a cabin nestled on the hillside at Cascade Head and across the street from the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. It's a smallish hike from the parking area to get to the cabin, so we distributed our provisions along the path thinking that psychologically it was an easier and less physical task.

Here's a glimpse of how we spent our time . . . .

We partially scheduled our week long retreat the first week of January so we would have the opportunity to see Pat Wheeler, a favorite artist both Steph and I have studied under the past several years at Oregon College of Art and Craft. Pat has been at Sitka for a three-month residency and she is returning home soon (she lives on an island in Maine). Pat graciously shared all of the pieces she has been working on over the past several months. We were giddy with excitement and more than a bit inspired.

Another Sitka resident, Susan, is working on thousands of little ink drawings inspired by nature. It was a stunning display and only a fraction of what will be included in her finished project.

It was such a lovely day and we had heard a rumor about a special, magical beach that offers up a particular kind of rock . . . off the group of us trekked.

While I was at the cabin, I worked on a variety of projects: Heart art for Guardino Gallery's Heart of the Matter show, guerrilla art for the Salem Art Group, my 2012 Vision Board, and my contribution for the upcoming 100 Artists Show (The Art of Communication) at the Mary Lou Zeek Gallery. I'll be sharing more about each of these projects in upcoming blog posts.

Look Closely . . .

2011-12-29T19:49:00.000-08:00

The Portland Art Collective is featured in the January/February 2012 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors. The article, Str3ngth in Numb3rs: Or How To Start Your Own Art Group, was written by PAC members Tory Brokenshire and Robin Olsen. Here's a peek at the FIVE pages!

Because this is my blog, I will highlight little old me in the article as I appear (sort of) in three photographs.

Time Makes All Things Clear

2011-12-21T13:39:00.001-08:00

Back in October, I bought several boxes of vintage goodies from my friend Jami, also an avid collector of stuff (click HERE to see the post and photos of the treasures). Jami didn't want to be paid in cash, but rather in Curious Elements. She had carefully set aside some of her favorite found objects and asked that I create a series of Curious Elements for her. I've been working on Jami's pieces alongside the dozens I created for various holiday shows. Today I gave Jami her Curious Elements so I can now post photos of what I created. Here's the whole gang of Curious Elements that are now residing with Jami:

Individual photos of all eight of the pieces.

Jami's leftover bits that I wasn't able to incorporate into Curious Elements.

Today, when my Salem Art Group met for our December gathering, I handed Jami her box of Curious Elements and we all got to watch her open the eight little gifts.

Magical Downtown Portland

2011-12-19T08:38:00.001-08:00

On Saturday, we spent the day in downtown Portland enjoying a play day without much of a to do list. A highlight was meeting up with long time friends Dave and Vicki (and by long time, I mean close to 40 years long!). We started our meandering day at the Portland Art Museum.

Howard bought an art book at the museum store and demonstrated how to properly break open a new book (his mother was a high school librarian).

A highlight of the day was imbibing in drinking chocolate at Cacao. We were trying to decide which of three choices to order, when we saw they offered a flight of three -- one of each flavor: Rivoli, cinnamon, and spicy. We all agreed that we liked the deep, dark, pure chocolate of Rivoli. So much so, that Howard got one to go.

While Howard looked a little jacked up on the chocolate, Dave looked a bit chocolate drunk.

A trip to downtown Portland would not be complete without a stop at Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland's living room.

We also got to see some of the renegade Santas heading to SantaCon, carolers at Pioneer Place mall, live music at an immigration demonstration, and endured the longest line ever at a downtown Starbucks!

Art Market: More Curiosity

2011-12-16T09:49:00.000-08:00

I finally had a chance to pop over to the Salem Art Association and check out their Art Market where I have some of my Curious Elements on display (and for sale, of course). I'm not sure if they have more under the table, but only nine were left hanging on the wall. Curious.

The Art Market is located inside the Bush Barn Art Center, which is located in Salem's lovely, large Bush Park. The show and sale will be up through Christmas.

A Time to Relax

2011-12-14T06:34:00.001-08:00

It is always a treat to attend the annual Christmas Party of the Portland Art Collective. It is especially a treat because it is usually held at Maggie's beautiful historic home (aka mansion) located in the heart of one of Portland's best old NE neighborhoods. Not much need for words when photos will do.

One of several delicious desserts.

Some of the PAC members assembled and ready for the festivities to begin.

I received a beautiful original painting from Lenall in our gift exchange.

A couple of parting shots - it was such a beautiful, sunny, December day.

Liebster Blog Award

2011-12-14T06:26:00.000-08:00

First of all, I must admit to being derelict in my blogging duties. I was nominated for this award at the end of November and I'm just now posting about it! My apologies to Rebeca Trevino of Obtainium Art who thought I was worthy of this award. And just what is the Liebster Blog Award? Here is how Rebeca describes it:

'Liebster' means 'favorite' or 'dearest'. This award, which originated in Germany, recognizes up and coming bloggers and is meant to showcase bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers. This is all done in the spirit of fostering new connections.

As a recipient of the award, I'm supposed to list five blogs and carry the love forward. For now, I'm just acknowledging that I received this award and thanking Rebeca - hopefully I'll be able to carry out the rest of my Liebster duties sometime in the future!

Open Doors Sale: Finito!

2011-12-05T09:57:00.000-08:00

The Portland Art Collective Open Doors Show and Sale was this past Friday and Saturday at the Multnomah Arts Center. It was a huge success. I've documented the sale from set up to tear down . . . .

The set up. Tory was our logistics queen. She arranged to have the 60+ doors transported to the gym and arranged so that everyone had just the right amount of space. She divided us into teams and each team captain had a printed schematic of the layout. We learned very quickly that she knows how to use two of her fingers to blow a very loud mouth whistle!

By Friday morning, the gym had been transformed into a magical wonderland of over 20 artists booths. I just did a post on the Portland Art Collective blog with photos of many of the booths and candid shots of the shoppers, so rather than repost all of those photos, just click HERE to be transported to the PAC blog.

My booth. Getting started on the huge job of hanging close to 150 pieces of art seemed daunting at first, but finally the job was completed and the shoppers came. But first, we had to face down the dreaded blank space.

A pause. I want to thank my always supportive (and good-looking husband) for all that he does to help with this show, actually with all of my art. I want to give him credit because he 1) wired all of my art, 2) hung all of my art (and there were 125 Curious Elements), and 3) helped me set up and take down my entire booth. That doesn't even take into account that he helped to unload the doors on Thursday night and reload them on Saturday night!

The show. I sold three of my Fearless Faces during the show. The first, No. 18, was bought within the first hour by a lovely woman artist who was taking a class at the Multnomah Arts Center!

Dozens of friends and family came to the show, but I was so busy with working my shifts or visiting with visitors and patrons, that I rarely had time to snap any photos. But here are a few -- one with two of my grandkids, one with friends, and the last is of my sister and mom!

The end. There is nothing like a good, hearty laugh at the end of a long day to finish things up!

On the Home Stretch

2011-12-01T09:42:00.000-08:00

The Portland Art Collective Open Doors Show and Sale opens tomorrow at 10:00 am and all of the artists are abuzz making final preparations. I thought I would share some of what I'll be offering for sale when the doors are flung open in the morning.

I'm bringing lots of original art, most are smallish in size and under $100. I won't share much of the art here 'cause we want you all to come to the sale and see it in person! But of course, a little teaser . . . .

I'll be offering over 120 of my Curious Elements ranging in price from $10-$60 - something for everyone. You can see more Curious Elements by going to my blog.

I love arted up hands so I'll be offering six-card sets in my latest series: Artful Hands.

I'll have a variety of my Fearless Faces cards, journals, and original art. Here's a sampling of how the cards are packaged and one of the original faces on repurposed board.

And of course, I just had to put a bird on something!

Last night was a final frenzy of finishing up the last of the Curious Elements and getting everything tagged and double-checking my inventory lists. Here's the very last of my Curious Elements, finished up just last night.

And final preparations:

Curious Elements: The End is in Sight

2011-11-29T20:55:00.001-08:00

I am totally nearing the finish line. My Curious Elements are in place at Guardino Gallery and at the Mary Lou Zeek Gallery. Next up is the Portland Art Collective Show and Sale and I've made, get this:

123 Curious Elements for that show alone!!

Yikes Almighty! When I counted the pieces today, I thought I must have made a mistake because I couldn't possibly have over 100 pieces. So I recounted, and yep, 123. I snapped photos of my most recent completed pieces, but let me warn you, there are a lot of them. So zip your cursor quickly down the side and take a peek. But even better? If you live in Portland, come on out to the show on Friday, December 2 and Saturday, December 3. Here's a LINK for more details about the show.

Small Things For a Prettier Life

2011-11-25T12:28:00.000-08:00

I delivered my art to the Mary Lou Zeek Gallery on Wednesday for her upcoming show: Small Things For a Prettier Life. In addition to a small batch of my Curious Elements, I also dropped off a couple of my metal birds. I can't wait to get down to her gallery and see the work in place.

I popped into the gallery this afternoon when Steph was dropping off her art for the show and was able to get a few photos -- the display, Steph with Mary Lou, and me with Steph.

Fearless Faces: Meet Numbers 17, 18, 119, & 120

2011-11-22T11:43:00.000-08:00

I just finished four of my quirky Fearless Faces - two in an old oversized atlas journal and two on repurposed boards. The faces on the boards will be available for sale at the Portland Art Collective Open Doors Show and Sale on December 2 and 3 and all of them are being made into cards that will be available for sale at the show. The first two are from my journal (Nos. 119 and 120) and the last two are on boards (Nos. 17 and 18).

Little Things at Guardino Gallery

2011-11-20T16:12:00.001-08:00

I've been invited to participate in Guardino Gallery's 11th annual Little Things Show during the month of December. We had no restrictions on what we created except that everything had to be 7x7 inches or smaller -- it truly is a show of little things!

Here's a sneak peek at the batch of Curious Elements I selected to be featured in the show:

I also created three pieces that are a cross of my Curious Elements and my Funky Junkyard Birds. I designed one of these for my contribution to the recent Audubon Society of Portland Wild Arts Festival and I liked the result so much that I made three for each of my three upcoming shows. Here are the ones that went to Guardino:

The show runs November 25 through December 26 and the opening reception is Friday, November 25th, from 6-9 pm. Guardino Gallery is located at 2939 N.E. Alberta in Portland.

Painting With Wax

2011-11-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

I got to spend all day Friday playing with colorful wax. I was sicker than a dog, but I had signed up for this all day encaustic workshop a couple of months ago and didn't want to miss it. So armed with cold meds and a very large handkerchief, I made the drive to Deanna's beautiful country home and studio. This was the setting and the view from a couple of windows. It felt luxurious.

My work space. So tidy and full of promise . . . but not tidy for long! Here are before and after shots.

I just love paint pots! I even love the drips, or as Deanna says: Drippity, drip drip.

A word about Deanna. She is everything I want in a teacher: thorough, generous, and patient. She gave us time to create, but was always available if we needed or wanted help. She was encouraging, but not afraid to challenge us. I recommend you take one of her classes if you live in the area.

By the end of the day, I had completed two little encaustics. I was quite pleased with myself and the results!

Toward the end of the day with a little time to spare, I pulled out an unfinished encaustic I had started in Serena Barton's class in the fall. I didn't get a before photo of what I was working on, but here's a link to the class I took with Serena and here is how the piece looked at the end of the day yesterday. I already have an idea of what I plan to do with this encaustic, but will save that for another day.

Deanna and I recently did an art trade and I got to see my Curious Elements hanging in her sun room!

Curious Elements: Homestretch

2011-11-17T16:06:00.000-08:00

I've started to wind down the production of my Curious Elements, and the first batch of completed Elements are due at Guardino Gallery tomorrow. I've been showing my progress both in blog posts and on my art Facebook page (click here to visit my FB page). I've made close to 100 of my Curious Elements, so it will feel good to pack up my rusty bits and pieces and switch gears in the new year. But in the meantime, I'll keep sharing my latest creations -- right up until the Portland Art Collective holds their Open Doors Show and Sale on December 2 and 3!

Salem Art Group: Play Day

2011-11-16T21:42:00.000-08:00

Art play day. My Salem Art Group gathered in the studio space of our local art store, The Art Department, for a full day of doing whatever we wanted. A bonus was having the ability to jump up and shop or wander through the store for inspiration whenever we wanted. Thank you, Katy, for opening the store space for our use!

Our group getting set up.

We started our day with show 'n tell and then moved into working on our individual projects: clay, monoprinting, felting, collaging, and painting.

It was a day of painting Fearless Faces for me. I didn't start any new faces, but I was definitely able to futz with and move along six existing ones.

Curious Elements: On Fire

2011-11-10T06:48:00.000-08:00

I was in a creative frenzy yesterday at the studio and completed several of my Curious Elements. It is going to be a challenge to determine which pieces go where: Guardino Gallery, Mary Lou Zeek Gallery, and the Portland Art Collective Open Doors Show and Sale. I posted a tad about the three shows yesterday, but for today, I'm a creating fool.

There is always tomorrow -- what I'll be assembling during my next studio session:

Curious Elements: The Race is On

2011-11-08T20:58:00.001-08:00

I have been spending a lot of time at my studio recently, busily creating new batches of my Curious Elements for three upcoming shows in the month of December: Guardino Gallery Little Things Show, the Portland Art Collective Open Doors Show and Sale, and Mary Lou Zeek's Small Things For a Prettier Life. I'll provide details about these shows later in the month, but for now, I wanted to share my progress.

So many possibilities!

Some of my recent completed Curious Elements*:

*Thank you to Mary Lou Zeek for taking this series of photographs.

Sweet Tweet

2011-11-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

I'm participating in the Wild Arts Festival, a benefit for the Portland Audubon Society. Also called the 6 x 6 Wild Art Project, all canvases must be be 6 x 6, all work is donated by the artist, and each will be sold at the 2011 Wild Arts Festival for 40 bucks each. The festival will take place November 19 and 20 at Montgomery Park in Portland. For my donation, I brought together my Curious Elements with my Funky Junkyard Birds to create a Curious Bird? A Funky Curiosity? How about a Funky Curious Junkyard Element? Whatever it is, I used a vintage tin that once held toffee so I've named my piece: Sweet Tweet.

Day of the Dead: Portland Style

2011-10-28T18:10:00.000-07:00

Last night was the opening of the Day of the Dead show at Guardino Gallery, all part of the Last Thursday Art Walk on Alberta. Lots of my artist friends contributed to the show and Stephanie Brockway was the curator extraordinaire!

The altars . . .

The curator . . .

The musicians. . . .

Some of the people . . .

Some of the art . . .

Overall, it was a campy, high energy opening reception. I'll leave you with a parting shot of a guy dressed up as a female ghoul looking longingly into the gallery.

Arty Road Trip

2011-10-28T09:13:00.001-07:00

I was invited to join three artist friends on a trip to the Long Beach Peninsula in SW Washington for three days. We packed up our art projects, comfy clothes, scads of food (and my portable latte machine), and hit the road on Tuesday morning. Besides myself, the bandits included Tory, Suzanne, and Debi. We're all artists and all members of the Portland Art Collective. It was a grand three days.

ASTORIA

Our first stop was Astoria, where we had lunch at T Paul's Urban Cafe, then hit up Lunar Boy Gallery and Cargo, with a stop for lattes at Astoria Coffee House. Of course we also popped into Riversea Gallery.

VINTAGE HARDWARE AT THE ASTOR HOTEL

This little, I mean BIG, store was a fun discovery!

DOTS AND DOODLES

Astoria's amazing art store, Dots and Doodles, is always worthy of a stop. We had so much fun with the owners and their little dog, too!

LOW KEY WEST

Over the bridge we went and deep into the Long Beach Peninsula to Ocean Park. We arrived at Suzanne's beautiful beach house, located right across the street from the ocean. Such a warm and comfortable home. Tory and I shared a room and we even had our own bathroom! We got the latte machine fired up and eased into our art making by looking at a large selection of art magazines first.

JAMMIE DAY

Wednesday was our designated jammie day - all day, all he time. I abided. Making art, going to the beach, even to the grocery store to return and rent another movie.

BEACH WALK

THE ORANGE BEACH CHAIR

ART-MAKING

I worked on several Fearless Faces during my art-makin' time, also moved forward on my journal for the Sketchbook Project.

POST SCRIPT

We are fortunate to have a big old house in Astoria that has been divided into an apartment and a studio. The upstairs studio is vacant, so we swung by to have a look see. Well, four artists looking at a studio in Astoria with a view of the bay? We went crazy planning for converting it to a little apartment to use for visits to Astoria . . . we even had ideas of how to convert the closets into sleeping quarters. Alas, the timing isn't quite right to undertake something like this, but we came this close and plans are underway for a future conversion.

Private Studio Tour: Ann Kresge

2011-10-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

I got to go on another private studio tour Friday morning. Artist Deanna White arranged the studio visit because we were both on the September Visual Artist Studio Tour and unable to visit the studios of other artists. Deanna and I already did a tour of each other's studios, so this time we met at the home studio of Ann Kresge, just a short distance from my studio.

Ann discusses her work and some of her processes.

A few close-ups of Ann's versatile and wide range of work.

Even the outside of Ann's studio is fun (she lives on a gently flowing creek).

After our visit to Ann's studio, we popped over for a quick peek at mine.

Artists at Play

2011-10-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the fall retreat of the Portland Art Collective at Menucha. I could go into lots of details about the great food, the badminton game sitting in chairs using fly swatters, or the wonderful art we made, but instead, I'll tell the story in photos and focus on the art.

I love photos of hands making art and I got so many great shots of the women working on a wide range of projects.

Meet the new gang of Fearless Faces that are beginning to emerge.

Goodies Galore

2011-10-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

My friend Jami has been on a mission to downsize her collection of vintage bits and pieces and I've bought items from her in the past. This was her final batch and she asked if I was interested. Well, hello, yes I'm interested! Here's some of the treasures Jami delivered to the studio on Monday morning. And guess what I did for the rest of the day? Yep, sorting and putting away all of those fun bits.

In return for all this goodness, Jami pulled aside some of her favorite elements for me to make her a series of Curious Elements using her prized vintage pieces. I'm excited to get started on these pieces for her.

Do Not Paint Here

2011-10-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

While out and about on Saturday at an Art Walk in an unnamed Western Washington city, we came upon some graffiti artists at work in an alley. I have such a thing for graffiti, that I couldn't resist snapping some photos (no faces, please).

Tacoma Six Pack

2011-10-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

I was in Tacoma last week to do an art project in my daughter's second grade classroom. After finishing the project, I headed to the theatre/antique district of Tacoma, where I made some wonderful discoveries.

London Couture Vintage

What a beautiful and hip store.

Glenna's Clothing (New/Designer-Resale/Vintage)

This was a beautifully organized store, jam packed with beautiful vintage and nicer resale clothing. Glenna, the store's namesake, does a beautiful job of displaying and promoting her store.

LBo Designs (Sweater art at it's finest)

By far my favorite shop of the day was LBo Designs, located inside Luna on Broadway. What a delightful find. Bo is amazingly creative and imaginative and her prices are great. Bo was so sweet, I want to share a little information about her:

Ever since she was a child, Bo has been making clothing and accessories from cast-off materials including bed linens, clothing, and remnants. Her work has suddenly become relevant as the rest of the world has finally caught up to her fashion recycling. Bo is inspired by color, texture, life in the Gritty City, and her two children.

When I got home, this wonderful cuff bracelet was tucked inside my bag with a happy birthday wish written on a card.

Sanford and Son (Antiques and Auctions)

Sanford and Son is a whopping 25,000 square feet of ambling walkways and three floors of rooms. Unfortunately there were a lot of empty spaces and at one time it was probably a pretty hoppin' place. However, in the lower level there were lots of religious artifacts out of a Catholic church, so although the pieces were expensive, they were sure fun to look at.

Rampart Antiques (More fun, less boring)

A great jumble of an antique store, my favorite kind. Glen Ripple is the owner and encouraged me to dig in and to feel free to make a pile!

Brownie Morrison (Novelties & Assorted Oddities)

Located inside of Rampart Antiques is Brownie Morrison, a wacky little store with a wacky little proprietor. Cindy Murphy is the owner and you can tell she loves what she does, loves people, and likes to laugh.

Little Hands, Big Hearts

2011-10-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

A few times a year I head north to the Tacoma area to lead an art activity in my daughter Melissa's elementary classroom. Last year she taught third graders, but this year she is teaching second graders -- oh my, what a difference a year makes! I chose a simple activity -- painting and embellishing smooth river rocks. My grandkids, Luke and Ella, attend the same school where Melissa teaches, so they enthusiastically helped me get things set up.

The morning was a blur of paint, glue, and sparkly things. The best quote of the day? When one little boy yelled out: We have glittery eyes and poofy balls! We had lots of both!

Time for our gallery walk!

The kids are already excited about the next time I come.

Private Studio Tour: D & D

2011-10-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

I have known Deanna White since taking an encaustic class from her several years ago. Recently, we were both on the Visual Artist Studio Tour, so we were unable to visit the studios of other artists. Deanna had an ingenious idea: to tour each other's studio. So we recently did that. Deanna came to my studio for a visit and then I got in my car and followed her out to her studio. Deanna's studio is located in her home - and her home is a beautiful estate in the country. Let's go inside first.

Some of the art in Deanna's studio.

Deanna graciously allowed me to snap a photo of her in her studio.

Here's a peek of her valley view, the grounds, her garden, and of her friendly kitty.

Before heading to Deanna's studio, she picked out four of my Curious Elements that she wanted to purchase. Well, after I saw her work, there were two that I wanted so we worked out a trade! Her art for my art. Perfect.

And look what I came home with.

I Keep Remembering More Things

2011-10-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

Last month my sister commissioned me to do one of my striped abstract landscapes after she saw a couple of pieces I had done over the summer. I took an old canvas that already had some sand on it from a sand painting class a year ago. The texture on the canvas was perfect and I got started adding layers and layers of colors.

I finished the piece this week, which I've titled: I Keep Remembering More Things.

I personally delivered Denise's art to her on Wednesday afternoon, and although she was waiting for John to get home to hang it, she held it up so we could get an idea of what it would look like. Perfecto! She was thrilled.

Denise forwarded this photo later that day:

Anatomy of a Creepy Doll: Meet Molly

2011-10-04T19:24:00.000-07:00

Anyone that knows me at all or has been to my studio knows that I love me a good creepy doll. I collect and display them throughout my studio and never get rid of them. But when Renee of Stone Buddha in Silverton put out a call for her Creepy Doll Show, how could I resist. So I chose Molly, a recent addition to my menagerie of lost dolls, to be the centerpiece of an old wood box. The box was also a recent acquisition and came filled with vintage shoe repair bits: an assortment of heels, rusted nails, and all kinds of push pins and tacks. Turned upright, it begged to house a doll. Enter Molly with her poor little gnawed off hands.

Molly is ready for her debut. Her story goes like this:

It was a tragic accident -- a day at the park that went horribly wrong . . . the merry-go-round was removed a short time later. Molly has been on a quest ever since, devouring medical books and articles on transplantation, implants, and prostheses. Molly hopes that one day science will catch up with her dream, her dream to become a surgeon.

Molly's housing with prosethic information and her story tag attached.

Preparing Molly for her journey to Silverton.

Saying good-bye to Molly after dropping her at the store.

Stone Buddha is located in the heart of Silverton and the Creepy Doll Show runs through the month of October.

Wabi Sabi Wax

2011-10-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

I had the privilege of spending the day with Serena Barton on Sunday taking her Wabi Sabi Wax class. Last year I took Serena's Wabi Sabi class, sans the wax, and loved it so much I came back for more this year with the luxurious addition of wax. I spent the day playing to my heart's little desire. I started about five pieces, and finished two. Here's how my day progressed, from Serena sharing her supplies, to her demos, to my attempts, and finally Show 'n Tell and my finished pieces.

Time for me to jump in!

At the end of the day Serena led us around the room for a time of Show 'n Tell. Here's Serena and a sampling of the other artist's work.

I believe these two are completed!

Curious Elements: Incubation to Completion

2011-09-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

I completed twelve Curious Elements yesterday. I recently wrote about the 20 plus steps it takes to create a Curious Element, so I'm always working on some aspect of the process. But it feels like a red letter day when I finally add my signature to the back of the piece and move it from the working side of the studio over to the completed side. I've shown many photos of the process in previous posts so for today I'm just going to show you the pieces I completed.

While I am working on various projects in my studio, I am always auditioning ideas for new Curious Elements, letting them incubate for awhile. Here's my latest batch in the incubation stage.

Getting Wild and Wicked With Watercolor . . .

2011-09-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

I was back at Sitka this past weekend for my final Sitka workshop of 2011.

The title of the class I took was Watercolor With a Tweak: Unraveling Your Painter's Personality. It was my understanding that this was not a traditional watercolor class -- but boy, that's where things got haywire on my end! I've played with watercolors before in my journals -- nothing traditional, nothing formal, just blotches of color and splatters of paint. I went into the three-day workshop thinking there would be some guided exercises playing with watercolors. Well, there were some exercises all right, but also a lot of traditional type water coloring going on. I was out of my element quite quickly -- and to top it all off, there were several, I mean many, women in the class who were traditional watercolorists looking to expand their repertoire of techniques.

It was definitely a weekend for learning. I learned I am NOT a watercolorist and I don't like traditional watercolor (well, I already knew that) so I guess the weekend reinforced that. But I did learn a few things.

I learned that I love:

Oil paints
300 pound rag paper
Plein air painting

It was also reinforced that I love:

Judy Vogland as a teacher (probably one of the most generous art teachers I have ever had)
Lami Li Loka handmade papers
Ebony pencils
Oregon Art Beat

Okay, given all that reflection, here's how it all went down.

Judy's space, so vibrant and alive with possibility.

My space. So full of promise.

Our first warm-up exercise was a prompt-driven painting using oil paints. OIL PAINTS! I have never used them before and I fell in love. Deeply in love.

Collage exercise with Judy demonstrating, then what I got started on (I do have plans to finish this).

Tree exercise (my trees are not viewable due to horrible watercolor painting skills, or should I say lack of skills):

Plein air painting:

Post Script: I decided at the end of Saturday that this was not the class for me. I am NOT a watercolorist and the frustration level was just too high. So when the class was done for the day and everyone was out for dinner, I packed up my stuff and left a note for Judy and the class.

Salem Art Collective: The Oregon Garden

2011-09-22T08:59:00.001-07:00

Once a month the Salem Art Collective (formerly the Salem Art Group)gets together for some kind of creative outing -- we've visited a monastery, a cultural art center, even a field trip to Portland. For our September event, we travelled to Silverton to visit The Oregon Garden. Several of us used the opportunity to hone our photography skills, and a couple of us did some sketching. After poking about on our own, we reconvened for lunch at an outside picnic table. It was a perfect fall day: warm and sunny and many of the bright colored flowers were still in bloom.

Clown It Forward

2011-09-22T08:40:00.000-07:00

What do four ladies do when they get together at my studio for an artsy fartsy play date? Well, if Sam from Lil' Gypsy is involved, you play with large plastic clown shoes. So here's the deal: At the next First Wednesday (October 5th if you don't have a calendar handy) in downtown Salem, Sam will place pairs of clown shoes in various locations with the instruction to put them on, snap a photo, then post the photo on Lil' Gypsy's Facebook page. I think it sounds like a very fun way to connect people in a silly activity and I hope you'll come out and play. In the meantime, here's how we transformed the clown shoes: