New Years Eve

On this snowy day, just past the winter solstice, I anticipate the return to light by painting colorful flowers.

Wishing you a New Year filled with beauty, color, joy, love & light!

Happy holidays

Wishing you and your family a warm & cuddly holiday!

December

The Architectural Heritage Center has been a wonderful place to display my work, two paintings have sold!  I have met many interesting people who are active in friends of the Columbia Gorge and Vista House.  Above is my painting of Latourelle Falls.  The group show remains through December.

Also, I have some landscape paintings on display at the Lloyd Center US Bank on Weidler through the end of this month, including a 12" square of Smith Rock.   If you're in the neighborhood of Lloyd Center doing some late holiday shopping, drop in!

Wishing everyone a delightful holiday season!

Gorge Inspirations

Gorge from Crown Point

Rooster Rock Summer

Morning Fog

Several of my paintings will be seen at the Architectural Heritage Center's "Gorge Inspirations" invitational group artists exhibit November 2- December 31.  There will be an opening reception on Friday, November 2, 6:00-8:00 pm.   For more information on the AHC and the Gorge exhibit, see www.VisitAHC.org.

I have been painting plein air when the sun shines, and in my studio both landscapes and portraits, but, alas, there is a pesky computer glitch preventing me from downloading new photos.  I expect to catch up soon on this blog with photos of recent art work!

Gorge View

The Columbia Gorge, as seen from Benson Lake.  I painted Benson Lake Reflections last summer, and it is currently on view at O'Connors Cafe in Multnomah Village for the month of September.

Sauvie Paint Out

It was a beautiful day for plein air painting last Wednesday on Sauvie Island.  The clouds were constantly changing shape and kept the temperature not quite hot.  I painted in the field of sunflowers, with corn, flowers and other crops.  Afterwards I picked a couple of peaches to take home and they were delicious!
Sauvie Sunflowers is painted on a 12" x 12" board.

Hello, Dahlias!

I visited the Dahlia Guy in his neighborhood garden and selected a colorful bouquet which I then painted

outside on my patio with nearby marigolds and sleeping cats.  It's on a 12" x 12" board which was given to me to be part of the Montavilla Community Art Show to be held at Salon 419, a hair salon for art lovers at 419 SE 81st Avenue off Stark.  On September 7th, 5pm there will be the art show and other First Friday festivities in Montavilla.  Stop by if you're in the neighborhood!

Sunday Art in the Park

Yesterday I spent a wonderful afternoon at the South Park Blocks near Portland Art Museum to visit friends, see art in progress, and paint plein air.  The event was sponsored by the Portland Art Museum Rental Gallery and featured exhibits of several of their represented artists.  I've been to the museum several times lately to see the excellent California Impressionist and Ellsworth Kelly exhibits.  The park outside was filled with colorful, fragrant roses, sculpture, and people enjoying the summer sun.  I painted one of the artists painting there.

Iris Garden

Awhile ago I painted at the Schreiner Iris Garden near Salem, a wonderful place, but did not feel satisfied with either of the plein air paintings I completed there.  The irises are long gone but still called to me, so I painted this area of the garden from a photo.  Iris, lupine and allium are painted on a 11" x 14" gallery wrapped canvas.

More Johnson Creek

Another painting from a photo taken at Johnson Creek Park at the Saturday paintout.  This blond lab's owner said he takes his dog for a swim in the creek every day.  Lucky dog!  This 12" x 12" painting on canvas will be submitted for the Johnson Creek Art Show at Reed College September 7-October 12.
See www.jcwc.org for more Johnson Creek news.

Plein air

Another visit to Johnson Creek Park to paint, another lovely day.  I was accompanied by artist friends Vicki Zimmerman and Mary Luzinski, friendly neighbors, a heron and ducks.  This painting is 12" square and may end up at the Johnson Creek Art Show at Reed College in September.

Plein air

I've been to the downtown park blocks several times recently to paint, once at the lively Wednesday Farmers Market, and returned on Saturday, a cooler day, for another view of the Shemanski Fountain, with the classic beauty of Rebecca at the Well.  Both days were full of color, light, people, trees, architecture and sky.  I enjoyed comments from passersby, like the seven year old boy in an Obama tee shirt who told me that he wanted to be a famous artist when he grows up (me, too)!  Not all artists appreciate being distracted from their art work.  On Saturday, my friend Vicki approached an unknown artist and was told " I'm here to paint and that's it, so please leave me alone!"  If you see me outside painting, anywhere, feel free to say hello!


Both paintings are 11" x 14" on canvas board.


The California Impressionist exhibit at Portland Art Museum is well worth a trip downtown.

Flowers

Two recent floral paintings, one at R. Blooms in Lake Oswego last Saturday, the other a bouquet of lilies and gladiolas and irises from the Montavilla Farmers Market.  It was fun to paint plein air on a sunny day on the sidewalk during the Lake Oswego Farmers Market!

Candlelight Studio

One of my favorite places for painting figures is at Janet Amundson-Splidsboel's Candlelight Studio.  Our model was Kai, dressed in exotic belly dancer garb.  My first acrylic painting was on watercolor paper, then I did a portrait on 11" x 14" canvas board. 

Plein air

This is the season for plein air paint outs and I've been busy out there in on good days this week.  Monday I went to the Columbia Gorge and revisited the Women's Forum with the view of Crown Point, then found a wonderful spot to paint near the Vista House parking area.  It was not windy and there were just enough curious and friendly tourists to be interesting but not distracting.  I painted one of the Gorge view on a 6" x 12" panel, then a quick sketch of the Vista House, but it looked like a muffin so I ate it!  Not really, it got painted over back at my studio.  

During the week I painted flowers from a Farmers Market bouquet and today I painted flowers at R. Blooms in Lake Oswego.  More flower paintings will follow! 

Plein Air

Down the trail and across the bridge over Johnson Creek, there is an old stone cabin built by John and Lilla Leach in the 1930's.  A delightful shady place to paint and enjoy the quiet sounds of the creek!  While I painted, deer ambled by.  To learn more about Leach Garden in SE Portland, see www.leachgarden.org

Creek

I've been to several locations on the Johnson Creek watershed lately, painting, sketching, taking photos, observing birds, dogs and people at play, enjoying the beauty in the heart of Portland.  At Leach Botanical Garden, the trail winds gently down and across a bridge.  This painting is from a photo taken close to the creek.  It's cool on a hot summer day!

Red, white, blue

OK, not much white and some other colors!  Crown Point seen from the Women's Forum is cool and blue.  I've painted this favorite view before and will again.  This one is from a photo reference.


Now that it is really summer, my car's air conditioning needed to be repaired.  While waiting in the waiting room, John found a box of art supplies (probably for kids, but I'm a kid at heart!) so I drew his portrait.  I liked the markers with patterned points like flowers, kisses, question marks.  He's wearing his USA tee shirt.


Stay cool!

Paint out

Another paint out at Sauvie Island, another visit to the pond near the "hunting lodge", another day in paradise!  The Pond is 11" x 14", the Sauvie Island View is 6" x 12".

Sauvie Island

On my last trip to Sauvie Island, there were three snowy mountains visible against the blue sky.  From where I set up my easel, I painted Mt. St. Helens, looking as usual like melting ice cream, in one direction, then turned around to view the marsh with herons and egrets, distant purple hills.  Came back with fresh strawberries and blueberries.  Ah!

Man Cave

For the "Art For the Man Cave" juried show at Art on Broadway, I submitted "Buffalo", along with "The Blacksmith". I was thinking of art for the cave man!  Both paintings were accepted and will be on view June 9 through June 30.  The Artists Reception is Saturday June 9, 6 to 9 pm.  Art on Broadway is at 12570 SW Broadway Street, Beaverton, Oregon.

Iris Garden

Schreiner's Iris Garden near Salem is a wonderful place to visit on a sunny Spring day.  I wandered the garden, and settled on a group of irises and lupine to paint plein air.  Later, I brought home a huge bunch of a dozen violet and yellow irises for a still life.

Billy Goat

Too wet to paint outside, I looked through my photos and found some of goats I visited recently.  It was easy to befriend this guy, I came prepared with carrots!  Painted over a previously done 10" x 10" canvas.

Paint Out Wednesday

Last Wednesday was a wonderful day for painting out at Sauvie Island on the Columbia slough, near freshly planted fields.  With me were fellow plein air artists Vicki Zimmerman, Anton Pavlenko, Dave McBride, Michael Orwick, and Don Bishop.  Herons joined us!  I worked small, and quickly, as the light changed and acrylic paints dried.

Paint Out Friday

Last Friday I went out in search of red:  crimson clover and red barns near West Union and Helvetia.  The fields of clover are brilliant against green, and the sunshine rendered everything in dazzling intensity!  I worked plein air under a shady tree and afterwards with photos.

Irises

Irises remind me of my Mom, and not just because they bloom around Mother's Day.  She was an artist who painted landscapes and nudes in oil and watercolors, and made linoleum block prints of flowers.  My favorites are the prints of irises hand tinted in different colors.  My front yard is bursting with irises now so I put a bunch in a vase, then painted them bursting out of the canvas.

Paint out!

Yesterday went to Woodland, Washington to see the Hulda Klager Lilac garden with my friend, Vicki Zimmerman.  It was a beautiful sunny day, a perfect start for the paint out season!  There were blooming lilacs in the back, but I chose to paint the garden in front of the 1880's farmhouse with rhododendrons and other flowers of many colors.  My shade disappeared, shadows changed, acrylic paint dried faster than I could paint, people sat in and moved the lavender lawn chairs, etc, the usual paint out in plein air complaints!  But it's all so worth it!  Hulda's Rhodies and In Hulda's Garden, both 11" x 14".

Marina

On a sunny day a few weeks ago I went to the South Waterfront River Place Marina to sketch and photograph boats, later painted from one of the photos that included the Hawthorne Bridge, purple flowers.  The 16 x 20 acrylic painting, "Marina", will be part of the Great Nautical Art Show at the Oregon Society of Artists and Oregon Maritime Museum.  Receptions will be at OSA Sunday May 13, 1-4 pm, and at the Museum Sternwheeler Sunday May 6, 1-4 pm.

Celebration

"Celebration" is my interpretation of what the 100 year anniversary of women's right to vote in Oregon means to me as a contemporary Oregonian.  Some things obviously change, like fashion, and more women holding public office.  For me, the young woman gymnast strutting and leaping with confidence symbolizes the feeling of freedom, backed by the history of those who fought for the right to vote. The Pittock Mansion is hosting an exhibit on this theme in July and I hope to have a painting included.

Hipbone

Spent an afternoon at Hipbone Studio drawing and painting a female model so delicate her ribs and bones were almost as visible as the skeleton hanging nearby.  Figure drawing is complex and enjoyable for me, something I've done since high school.  Each human being has more or less the same parts but each individual has their own beauty.  Poses ranged from 30 seconds to 30 minutes.