Centrum

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted. Well, now that the skies are gray and the temperature is falling, I’ll be inside on the computer a bit more, I have no doubt. So to catch up a little, I wanted to post the big piece I started at Centrum this summer. It was just accepted into the Central Washington Artists’ Exhibition at the Larson Gallery, a juried show that opens Nov. 7. I’m pretty excited. It was my piece last year in that show that I think really got me thinking that I could get out there in the world as an artist.

I had actually planned to do a series of 4 pieces, celebrating Central Washington’s roadside weeds, but really under estimated the amount of time this would take! As it was, it was a couple months in the making. I plan to do another similar piece using warm colors and a different weed this winter as a compliment to this one.

some new, some finished

Thought I’d post an update on a few pieces I posted earlier. I’ve finished a couple of the stitched pieces, using a leather punch to punch holes through the paper.

Then I started a new piece last night, on a whim. I like pears. I plan to stitch around all the pears, using a different color of thread on each layer. Good thing I have a couple of long plane rides coming up, makes for good sewing time!

new camera

Well, I’ve been busy busy this summer — lately with my new camera. While I’m looking forward to working with it next week during my artist’s residency at Centrum, I did get a little time to play this week. So this is a little preview of work to come.

summer vacation

I’ve been away from this blog for a bit, mostly because it’s too nice outside to be in at the computer. The yard sings its siren song and out I go to water or garden or just bbq. But I thought I’d post a quick update on some of the things I’ve been working on art-wise.

I got to go to San Fransisco about a week ago, which was a hugely needed break. I took along some smaller airplane-friendly pieces (meaning no carry-on paint, no exacto knife, no carving tools) to work on. These are 3 of the 4 pieces in a small series that I plan on hanging together at the show next April. I haven’t come up with a title yet, and they are still far from finished. I’ll add some painted accents, and maybe some graphite too. But I like how the sewing came out and it was a very zen process that complimented my trip to the busy city nicely.

weekend work

I had a little art time this weekend and did some experiments that I think turned out pretty well. I’m back to trying plaster and had some new ideas after a trip to Portland over Memorial Day weekend, where I was inspired by an artist who poured plaster into cut pieces of mailing tube then painted the surface. I wanted to experiment by the lovely surface that plaster has again and the idea of using something to contain it seemed like it might solve my problems with the edges chipping when I took it out of a mold.
I stopped by one of my favorite treasuring-hunting spots on Saturday, the ReStore, which sells donated used hardware and lumber and house stuff. I found some interesting metal stuff that looked like it would make good containers for plaster, and a nice textural contrast to the natural materials I wanted to incorporate. So here’s what I came up with:

meet Alex

Here’s another video from work. I met Alex at the Larson Gallery juried show last fall — she deservedly took the show’s top prize, her work is fantastic!

2 new

When I haven’t been out in the yard enjoying the sunshine in the last couple of weeks, I’ve been finishing up a couple new paintings, both inspired by the change in weather and sudden blooming of everything. The first is a larger piece, maybe 4ft by 3 1/2 feet on an old beat-up real estate sign I bought at the ReStore for $3. It’s titled “Lease” — for obvious reasons and also because I wanted to suggest that really, this lovely planet we’re on is really on loan, we’re not the owners and it we (as in we the world) should keep in mind that we shouldn’t trash what isn’t ours to begin with.

The second is a painting of poppies, which will probably be titled simply “Poppies.” Poppies are one of my favorite flowers, I just love the forms of the stems snaking up towards the sky.

meet Leo

This weekend is the Larson Gallery’s Tour of Artist Homes and Studios, their big fundraiser. For work last week, I did a little video on an artist who has pretty much the coolest house I’ve ever been in. Moreover, it’s so HIM, just as his his art is kind of an unfiltered expression of the artist’s vision, Leo Adams’ home is built around his aesthetic vision, so that the two work seamlessly together. Check it out:

journals

I ran across these wonderful journals on one of the photo blogs I read. I enjoy Matt Mallams photography, but LOVE his journals.

You can look through them on the site, each page layered in handwritten and printed texts, family photos and commercial imagery. Some pages are spare and some are crammed and busy. Makes me wish I could hold one in my hand and flip through the pages, explore the heft and texture.

His site lets you come close to that experience though, you can click on a journal and click through page by page — as close as you can get on-line.

engaging

Spring here is finally in full swing — one reasons the posts have been a bit sparse lately — it’s too beautiful to stay inside! Last weekend I got to take some engagement photos for some friends, which was one of my creative projects for the week, so I thought I’d post some of them. I did a mix of more traditional and artsy images, although I to like the artsy ones best. Here’s a few of my favorites: