Opening night April 4, 2014!

You are invited to 

"Apron Stirrings" 

at In Bocca al Lupo Fine Art Gallery for my solo show.

Opening reception is Friday, April 4, 2014 from 5:00 -- 8:00 pm.

Hope you can make it!!

Ella throws it down!

"Ella Throws it Down" 32 x 24, acrylic

"Every child is an artist. The problem is 

how to remain an artist once we grow up." 

Pablo Picasso

There's nothing so refreshing as inviting a child into my studio to play. Before long I remember what it is to be fearless, curious, and completely involved in art making.

And so it was when almost seven year old Ella came to play. She picked up art materials and experimented with vigor and abandon. My role as guide was hardly needed as she drew, painted, and created some wonderful and very personal expressions of art.

For some of our splashy fun with acrylic, I had her wear an apron to protect her clothes. Ella wasn't thrilled, but she complied. As soon as she was done with the acrylic work, she asked if she could take off the apron. Of course. I was intrigued to see her not only take off the apron, but throw it down. That gesture was priceless.

After she and her mommy left, I picked up my sketchbook (you thought I was going to say that I picked up the apron, right? Hah!) and quickly sketched some little thumbnail ideas of Ella in the studio, including her throwing down the apron. This painting came from some of those sketches.

As I worked on this painting, I thought about times in my life when I put on some covering of protection. I accept that I needed it for a time, but when I am released from that need, do I take it off? I might ignore the constraints, the itchy neck, the binding strings, and adapt myself to the discomfort of it. Over time, layer upon layer build up to create an entire shell of protection and my voice becomes muffled under the burden of it all. 

I think I will take a lesson from Ella. When protection is no longer needed, I'll take it off and THROW IT DOWN! 

This painting, and many others that relate in some way to aprons, will be in my solo show "Apron Stirrings" and I hope you will come to see it!

"Apron Stirrings"

Artist reception: Friday, April 4, 2014

In Bocca al Lupo Fine Art

2025 SE Jefferson

Milwaukie, OR 97222

971.258.2502

Triad at Trinity, opening reception

Triad at Trinity
Portland Women in Abstract Media
PDX!WAM

Nikki Dilbeck
Ann Fullerton
Jan Heigh
Bonnie Garrett
Collin Murphy
Katherine van Schoonhoven
Marilyn Woods

Exhibition: March 9 -- April 27, 2014

Reception: Sunday, March 9, 11am -- 1pm
                   Guitar music by Allen Matthews
                  Kempton Hall
Forum with artists: Sunday, April 27, 9am

Trinity Episcopal Cathedral
147 NW 19th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97209
503.222.9811 

Show at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral

Gathering: Alone in a Crowd, acrylic on panel, 24 x 24

"Do you know about 'Quirkyalone'?" a viewer asked me when he saw this painting. 

I had never heard the word before that moment, but I asked him about it and then looked it up on line. According to Wikipedia:

"Quirkyalone is a neologism referring to someone who enjoys being single and generally prefers to be alone rather than dating for the sake of it"

 The word has been around for 15 years and this was the first time I heard it. 

There is no greater compliment than to hear that a painting touches someone in a meaningful way.

This painting is part of a group show of abstract work with some paintings based on a specific triad of paint colors. I hope you will be able to come and see the show!

"Triad at Trinity" work by  Portland Women in Abstract Media
 Artists' reception March 9 at 11:00 am
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral 
147 NW 19th Ave Portland, OR 
503.222.9811

at the framer

Dig, monotype, 6 x 6

Led Zeppelin "Kashmir."

monotypes for the shows

Monotype, "Breeze" 14 x 14

 These are just two of many monotypes that are getting framed and ready for two shows coming up this Spring! 

Simple black wood frames and wide white double matting make these pieces windows of color wherever they hang.

In March/April 2014 you can see my work as part of a PDX-WAM group show at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, OR. 

In April 2014 you can see my work in a solo show at In Bocca al Lupo Fine Art Gallery in Milwaukie, OR. 

Monotype, "Ascending" 14 x 14

More details to come!

this land

Yosemite Falls, 16 x 20, pastel on BFK

I cannot resist a national park when I travel. A month in California afforded me the chance to see three: Joshua Tree National Park, Pinnacles National Park,  Channel Islands National Park, and Yosemite National Park.

I will never forget my first trip to Yosemite. I was eight years old and we went on a family summer vacation there. 

My grandmother was with us and that filled our stations wagon with: four kids, three adults, luggage, ice chests, pillows, and all manner of toys and books and other stuff for the four hour drive.

To help pass the time, my grandmother started to sing songs. Mom knew the songs and the two of them sang in a magical kind of harmony that captivated all of us kids. I begged them to sing the songs again and again so that I could learn their words and melodies and harmonies.

This week, Pete Seeger died and the media is filled with many tributes about the man and his music. Much of what I hear are the songs my grandmother and mother sang in the car on our way up to Yosemite. Maybe your family sang these songs on your car rides when you were a kid, too. "If I Had a Hammer," "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," "Swanee River," "On Top of Old Smokey," and one of my favorites, "This Land is Your Land."

Rest in peace, Pete Seeger. Thank you for your great love of our country and the people who live in it and for your legacy of music. Your message of peace and beauty will live on.

Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie "This Land is Your Land." 

learning from the plein air line up

Here are all of the "Times of Day" paintings from my time in California, painting plein air at the beach. Now that I am back in the studio, I have pinned all of these paintings to a corkboard, where I can see them all together. The line up teaches me a lot. Actually, the line up just sits there and waits for me to figure out what there is for me to learn. 

In the first piece, "9:00," I was full of excitement about being out painting plein air. I was stimulated by everything: the sky with the dynamic clouds, the shape of Santa Cruz Island out in the water, the reflections in the water, and the varied colors and shapes in the sand. This piece has no focus because I had no focus when I was painting it. The painting is an accurate depiction of my enthusiastic visual jumping all over the scene.

The second piece, "11:00," shows a little more restraint. The sand is simplified and rests at the bottom of the picture plane as do the reflections on the water. Santa Cruz Island, slightly obscured by hazy fog, is less firmly stated. In this piece, the sky takes center stage, well-deserved for its variety and value range. I can see how I settled down for this painting and I painted what interested me most about this scene.

The third piece, "1:00," is nearly an abstraction. Fog completely hid the island and formed a pinkish gray band of separation between the mid-day sky and the reflective sea. I left off the sand because it seemed less important. The cirrus clouds break up the dark blue sky expanse and the small fog band and sea bands balance out this piece. 

I was excited by the abstraction of the third piece and pushed it harder in the fourth, "2:00." I deepened the intensity of the sky as it was the heat of the day and a flatter, grayer fog hid Santa Cruz Island. I had a difficult time capturing the shimmering violets on the water surface and felt frustrated by this piece. 

The final piece, "4:00," was a challenge as all pieces are when the sun is directly in your painting view. I looked at the sky and tried to memorize what I saw and then when I looked down into my pastel box, everything was dark and nearly monochrome. My eyes were dilated by the light and not quick to respond to looking down to a shadowed box. Because I could not see well, I painted this by feeling it. I reached into my pastel box, organized by value and hue, and pulled out sticks and used them because they were where I thought the right one should be. Back and forth, chasing the sinking sun. Looking at it now, I think it is my favorite of the group. It smells of salt spray and sounds like gulls and surf.

January 2014, California beach at Rincon parkway.

It's good to be home. I am reflecting on what I learned from the above series and thinking about how I might create some new plein air situations for myself for more learning opportunities. 

4:00

Here is the last plein air painting I made from Rincon Parkway, near Ventura, CA. 

As the sun set, the line between sea and sky blurred and color became the most important element. Staring into the sunset put my pupils down to pinpricks, then looking at my pastels and paper with those same eyes made everything impossibly dark. 

Yesterday I got to see Robert Burridge's show, "Soulmates" at the Buenaventura Gallery in Ventura. Click here for a photo of some of the pieces. It was like drooling over the dessert table at a buffet to see his vibrantly painted figure pieces in a row on the wall. And a tender juxtaposition to see the quiet nudes in their black and white simplicity. 

"The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see." Gilbert K. Chesterton

2:00

20 x 16, pastel on Rives BFK.