WAXING RURAL

Follow me to my new Waxing Rural blog site

2012-01-24T17:02:00.000-08:00

Well it happened! I finally changed my blog site from the long and often mistaken url for Waxing Rural to the much easier to remember url www.waxingrural.blogspot.com
This should be a live link so just hit it and let it take you to my new blogspot then replace my link and subscription on my new site.

Looking forward to seeing you there......I will be posting all of my new work there as well as my 2012 workshop schedule and I'll even be re-posting some of my stuff from here. Already gearing up for a great 2012 with cool pictures and paintings in both encaustic and oils, plus inspirations, poetry, sayings, links to sites with wonderful content, and daily life here on the peninsula.

I am also in the process of changing my web site and web host though my domain name will stay the same at www.barbaramallon.com so you can check back regularly to see when I get it up again - probably April 2012 or so.

Catch up

2011-11-06T15:09:00.000-08:00

Lot's of work has happened between last posting and now and lot's of classes as well. Here are some of them. Several were bought before I could get them up and posted. That's a good thing! :-) I've used several techniques in these and in one of them I've recently decided to rework it into a color palette that is more similar to the series. I'll put that up shortly so you can see how effective rubbing into the surface is as well as scraping back. I like the new one even better.

Also part of the Journey series

2011-07-27T17:35:00.000-07:00

This painting started out ok with a good idea and some interesting texture, but in the middle turned hopeless. I took an "easy" cliched way out and hated the result. So the next morning I began scraping back, inscribing in, rubbing oil into the incised areas and turned out loving the combinations. Guess it goes that way sometimes.

This one is 18 X 18 and as always, as I learn to paint larger in a medium there is a learning curve for scaling up and minimizing small details so the painting will "show" from across the room. This one does now and I love the warm colors. I've entered this and the last 2 on the blog in the IEA show scheduled for September-October to coincide with their annual conference. Haven't heard yet if any of these have juried in.

As I previewed this before hitting the publish post button, I noticed how this painting (maybe all paintings) seems drabber than it is in real life. The burnt sienna color against the rich creamy wax background just doesn't show that well.

And Another

2011-07-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

This painting changed a number of times over the course of the work. I like it now because it contains a lot of pattern in it and the symbols have meaning to me. Also for the first time I tried carving the encaustic wax and really like the effect of it - exposing the other color underneath.

I recently went to an Art Fair and while I was walking around, one of the artists called out to me to come and get a free Rune reading which I did. Remarkably scary for being right on.

I also entered this in the IEA call for artists for September exhibit - hope I get juried in. I've now got 3 more I need to paint by August 12th.

Just as well the weather has been cold and overcast. The forecast is for a bit sunnier weather on the coast here now that the big high pressure over the midwest appears to moving east and taking the wet and cold with it.

Power of discipline

2011-07-18T08:19:00.001-07:00

Here's one of my latest encaustic paintings. This one is 18" X 18". I've been working larger because I'm entering for shows and so there is some learning curve in scaling up the patterns and designs so they will read well large.

I'm nearly every day in my studio and the ideas seem to be flowing. Sometimes they don't work out and I have to scrape back but this one seemed to come easier. I paint to music and there are about 5 CD's that I like and play over and over. I recently tried some different music that I used to just love but the painting didn't slip into place so I've gone back to my 5 tried and true. I'll have to add more by these artists because I've found it really helps condition my mind to creative ideas and stay on a roll.

I've got 3 shows I'm entering and this one is for a fall IEA show. I'll add at least 2 others to this blog in the next several days and hopefully 3 more by the end of the month.

Latest creation

2011-07-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

I got a commission in June to paint a little rocking chair for a new baby boy by his young grandmother who wanted some vintage aircraft and that sort of theme so I painted the patterning of propellers and flight insignias from that era. I did take some license in colors which were the colors from an already picked out mobile, wall colors and crib liners. It came out cute and hope she'll like it. I'm putting the last coat of varnish on now.

In other news, I've got an International Encaustic artist Call for Entries due on July 15th that I'm painting several pictures for, another Call for Entries for a show at Trails End Art Association in August and then another Call for Entries for a themed Icon show -August deadline -at a Seattle gallery which I'm hoping might lead to representation . Lot's of painting coming up, some of which I'll post here.

There are also a few spaces left in my beginning encaustic class to be held at Trails End Art Association on August 20th so if you know anyone interested in a great painting and relaxing weekend on the Coast, send them to Trails End website www.trailsendart.org for more information and to register. Trails End is in Gearhart which is oh so very close to Seaside and Cannon Beach and the weather is typically very nice.

Looks like the weather is going to be beautiful for the weekend and 4th of July down here.

From the studio

2011-06-12T02:07:00.001-07:00

Here's another 8" X 8" little gem using the plaster and a more brilliant white background with black and mars teracotta theme. It actually came about because I wasn't happy with my original design so I began to scrape back certain areas and voila, I liked the reduction. As you can see I'm enjoying using the cross hatch motifs and I know I'll be using the reduction of black squares. I've got to be ordering more wax pellets for mixing up new medium in the near future and anticipate ordering in bulk.

The last 2 days have found me outside planting spring-time plants from the nursery. Honestly the weather has been too cold and rainy here until the last week and now I'm worried we'll go from cold to hot like the rest of the nation. But I did my planting and transplanting with just a few left to go tomorrow and then I'll be done. And finished before the onslaught of the mosquito pestilence that happens here every year. Still in all, even with the aches and pains of overtaxing muscles I'm enjoying being outside. It feels like I am finally breathing full lung-fulls of breath.

And another one

2011-06-10T08:22:00.000-07:00

Here's another one which I did recently and like. Plaster is underneath to create that interesting texture and then I build up from there. Not the typical use of encaustic where you have layers hiding layers, hiding layers but I think there is room in the industry for all kinds of ways to use the medium.

Haven't named this one yet. Also 8"x8" on birch luan. I do like the image element on the upper half of the painting and want to reuse something like this in a larger painting so stay tuned.

The weather is stubbornly cloudy, a cool 59 degrees and has been this last week. Not typically warming weather we see by now but I am thankful it's not the tremendous heat of the mid and east coasts. Global warming showing it's throat. I know lots of people who don't believe it. Here it just seems to be stormier and cooler than normal. My new English laurels are barely getting green. Anyway, out to get all of our new plants into the ground this weekend.

Here's some work

2011-06-09T09:58:00.000-07:00

So here is some new work coming out of my encaustic studio. Over plaster with the theme of simple connections and unity of three's.

Our Beginning Encaustic Class was held at The Picture Attic this Saturday and was filled, and we even had a small waiting list. We had a lot of fun and did some really amazing things with wax. We used those new "Hot Wax Sticks" from Enkaustico's and found them to be very small but very intensely colored. In future classes I'll be diluting them with some medium so they will go further.

We are planning a "Return for the Burn" Encaustic Class later in the summer and I'll announce it here as well as at The Picture Attic website. It will be an Intermediate Class and along with burning papers, fabrics, shellac and we'll be dying papers with tea, coffee and watercolors and burning them too. We'll focus on metallics - not just wax but foils, pigments and joss papers and how you can include those in your designs. We'll also go over fabric and paper hangings as well as rub on and sticky texts. So keep checking here for the exact dates.

Spring Finches

2011-05-29T11:34:00.000-07:00

It's so darned nice to see the birds back. This time of year it's the cliff and barn swallows, the goldfinches and their cousins the little purple finches and of course the hummingbirds.

The swallows are so joyful in flight, they are mesmerizing to watch. They build their nests all over our buildings on top of our knoll so we also get to see the babies hatch and learn to fly here. They are constantly zipping around catching insects in flight and I feel like they keep the mosquitoe's at bay for at least awhile.

The finches which normally have plenty to feed on since the grasses grow very heavily here, are sometimes, like this year, a little too early so we subsidize with a thistle feeder and they frequent it heavily. We taper this seed feeding off later in the summer as the natural seeds become abundant.

Here's a look at the feeder with birds. Endlessly fascinating to watch. We had to move it from where we initially placed it - overhanging the bank - because the neighbors cats just got a little too close and a little too interested.

The Plaster "thang"

2011-05-20T08:17:00.001-07:00

So in my studio over the retreat period I got interested in experimenting with plaster on board and how it would take the heat.

Here is one of 3 plaster pieces I did and it's such a nice material to work with. It dries fast and takes a burn really nice as you can see. I'll be doing some more with this material.

I like the whiteness of the surface as well and the plain encaustic medium goes over the surface and adheres. In keeping with the low color this type of preparation works well and adds lots of texture variety to paintings.

I've got 6 places filled for my Picture Attic class in June now and already 2 or 3 places filled for the Encaustic Class I'm teaching for Trails End Art Association. I'm looking forward to meeting the people who will be coming and seeing what the classes yield in terms of the work - it's always very rewarding. I'll take some pictures too and post them here.

After some very dreary weeks of late rain it looks like the temperature is climbing here into the high 50's and even a day or 2 of low 60's. The wind has turned to a more warm weather pattern and people are planting their gardens up. Two nights ago though it was still 37 degrees out. Spring may be around the corner and people here are breathing a big sigh of relief that outdoor activities are too. I got some gladiola bulbs and dahlia bulbs into the ground and look forward to some nice flowers this year.

Spring Cleaning

2011-05-15T07:30:00.001-07:00

Here is a new encaustic I did from my retreat last month. It's another one of my Little Gems (8" X 8" on self framed birch panel for $150).

This one is called Red Gold Seal and I used a texture devise, a stamp, a fabric ribbon and wax plus my new Iwatani torch which helps make things much smoother than I have been able to do before.

I found out about this torch at the last years Encaustic Conference in Beverly Massachusettes at Montserrat College - this years Encaustic Conference is going to be held in Cape Cod at Truro Art Center there - if you're interested in this go to this blog and find out all about the great presentations and activities they are having this year : www.encausticconference.blogspot.com

Doing new work energized me to get my website renewed and updated so back into that well I went. Go to my updated website (website address is the same) and check it out here: www.barbaramallon.com I do have all of my recent encaustic work here so you can see the new directions I'm going.

I use a template driven website from Network Solution and it works very well and I can update it myself without knowledge of programing or program language.

You'll notice on my website that I have now joined the Trails End Art Association in Gearhart Oregon. I've missed having a cohesive community of artists to interact with and I have found them here at this great place. They own their own building which houses a gallery for the members and functions much as a Co-op Gallery and another space which functions for general meetings, art classes and just general daily meetings of artists doing great art work together. I feel right at home. Come by and see our member exhibitions which hang all month - the gallery is open Wednesdays thru Sunday 10-3 and starting in June it will be 10-5.

My teaching schedule for this summer is also posted on my website with contact and registration information but just so you know I'll be teaching these 2 Encaustic classes locally:

1 day Beginning Encaustic on Saturday June 4th at Long Beach, WA
1 day Beginning Encaustic on Saturday August 20th at Trails End Art Association in Gearhart, OR

I also had a playdate last Sunday with a friend who came over to work in my studio with me and we had a fun time waxing and experimenting. We'll play again soon Jean :-).

The weather this Spring has been pretty horrendous - we are still getting winter-like, soggy, rains and wind, with daytime temperatures running mostly in the low 50's. The advantage is it has allowed for more inside painting time without the distraction of too much gardening and yard work. So have fun in your own studio!

After the Retreat

2011-04-28T14:24:00.000-07:00

Boy that felt good to go to my studio and be able to work pretty solid for 3 days straight. It was really more like 2 1/2 because I had to clean out the studio first, reset up one of my tables, find where I'd put all my supplies having just moved them to brand new shelves, and then just generally get into the groove of hot wax. I blew a switch and had to reset and now know what my limits are. And I'm loving my Iwatani torch. It does in fact do a better job of smoothing my layers of wax though there is some show of the underlayers of plain medium through my colored waxes overlaying. I haven't quite figured out why yet nor how I really want to deal with this opportunity to problem solve. I'll put some images up shortly from my retreat.

I also discovered that as much as I'd like to sit down to create in more comfort, it makes more sense and is physically easier to do the laying on of medium and color and the fusing standing up. Now I must think how I can alternate so I have some chair time and standing time -- and not forget the stretching time either.

Also, I'm going to be teaching an one-day Encaustic Class at Trails End Art Association/Gallery in Gearhart in August and I'm gathering some new material to teach, especially ways to incorporate representative wax drawing into paintings which often tend to be wildly abstract or collaged. Look at the sidebar for information but give me a day to get it up!

Spring Season Retreat

2011-04-23T06:35:00.000-07:00

So what do you do when you're brimming with ideas for new series of works and want to explore some imagery? That's the best time to get into your studio and work. Call it a retreat and work just like you do in a retreat - that means put out the dog, let the cat do what cat's do, put aside every other "To Do" on your list, get some great breakfast and lunch supplies on hand with tea and cold water and pop available, and order dinner out. Time to immerse yourself in the art you create and let it take you.

For the next 4 days I'm all about encaustic. Sleep, dream, think, do and do and do! Tune in for some new works going up in the next week after my retreat is over.

Texture, texture!

2010-08-17T10:17:00.001-07:00

One of the things I like so much about encaustic is the ability to embed a variety of papers and objects.

This 8" X 8" contains balled up tissue paper that is covered with shellac and partially burned and it stands up from the surface about 2 inches. It has lots of warm carmel and brown colors. Also, I know books and instructors out there say that really only light tissue paper can be properly embedded but here I burned some sketchbook paper making large holes and I was able to embed this, so I always say, experiment with the rules!

By the way this is called "Blister" - don't let it creep you out. It's my husbands favorite of the Burn series so far.

We've been struggling a bit on the coast here because the weather has been tootling along for the last 2 months between 57-63 degrees with lots of overcast and patchy fog which is honestly rather cool to do my best work in encaustic without a heated table. So though it's been cool and comfortable in the studio, the wax is a bit sluggish. Then last week the temperature went up to 95 degrees for 2 days then back down to 63 yesterday and today. It's hard to be happy about getting hot weather like that because it's hard to adapt that quickly to a 30 plus degree change.

However we did have some fresh grilled oysters and they were terrific! Yummm.
Happy painting!

Moving forward

2010-08-04T07:03:00.000-07:00

With my earlier work destroyed and my new direction set, I find a calmness, a sense of rightness, and a little spark of itchiness returning to me. Curiosity, different dreaming, walk with me day and night along with scary new steps and constantly reassuring friends that I'm on the right path.

All people young or old who take drastic steps like this or who have it foisted on them always walk around for at least a little while with a huge lump in their throat, a stone in their chest wondering what life there is after their big leap.

It's a changed life and life that now can accept new visions. These moments are as close to real freedom as we can get. We can do something different though we may have to linger a while in this scary place till we know what to do. Take heart in knowing soon a new vision will present itself because the clutter is gone along with new energy to carry it out.

In the meantime, I've moved my studio to my garage totally (this would have been really overwhelming without the new energy I mentioned above) and am starting some larger pieces than this 8" X 8" piece called Copper Pit which has been Sold.

At the recent international Encaustic Conference in Beverly Massachusetts, founded, organized and led by Joanne Mattera , I had the great opportunity to hear a 1 hour talk on working large from Kandy Lozano. Kandy is an artist making large encaustic pieces and a gallery owner of Martin & Lozano gallery located in California. She generously shared her own process and tool and substrate changes required when she started working large and added information such as what is required for storing, packaging, showing, representing size on a website and shipping those pieces. Such a rare person to be confident in her own work and forthcoming about the journey. Thank you Kandy.

So I'm going to be putting some of her tips to work and I'm going to be starting a body of work that I feel is cohesive and can be represented to a gallery as a unique expression. The directions will be offshoots of "Copper Pit" and the next several small pieces. I'm tremendously enjoying working in a neutral palette and it's changed the work I do. I like the simplicity and primitiveness of it.

I have to add here that living in rural Southwest Washington on the Coast has turned out to be a real blessing this year in that the weather has maintained a constant 57-63 degrees all summer so far. The marine air has rolled in during the night and stayed nearly all day every day for all of the last 2 months except for 1- 95 degree day. With the rest of the country blistering today, I can work my wax in rare comfort. All of the trees, shrubs, plants and flowers and grasses, even the dune grasses are green and well watered by the dew every morning.

Change -pain and hope

2010-07-24T07:57:00.001-07:00

Change is often traumatic, even when you can feel it coming on as I have for almost a year now, and you have an idea what it's about and why "now". The repercussions of change are painful and exhilarating at the same time or alternating from despair to hope in the space of a day and then back again in what feels like an endless loop. But at some point it all comes to a head where you have to make a jump, and usually it feels like it's off a cliff.

Today, here, my picture is Ancient Forests - it's an 8" X 8" encaustic with shellac burn on birch luan -$125 and it's the one I brought with me to Montserrat Conference in Boston for the "Best Foot Forward" exhibit. It's fitting that this is my new beginning because it also signals the end to some of my past painting life directions.

This past week I destroyed all of my work on paper from my watercolor days and more recent acrylic work, and all the inventory I had built up for doing fairs and markets. I sold my tent and am getting rid of my tent table covers as well as most of those related art supplies. I kept some framed work and feel I will reuse canvases. I have been in deep mourning and depression about doing this but now after it's done I feel free and see joy may be around the corner.

I will be focusing on a new body of work for gallery presentation in encaustic in a relatively neutral palette with a primitive sensibility. I'm developing a theme and will use that to guide the direction of this new work. I've chosen this as my primary medium for right now - it's very physical work, there are many elements to experiment with, wax has a venerable history and I'm drawn to everything about it. I will be using venetian plaster as my ground (thank you Kandy) on wood cradles. To that end I've set up my studio in my garage where I have good ventilation, a big rough space, large tables with heating matts, overhead lights and new propane and butane tools.

As I move forward and especially as I begin to miss the intense color I am used to painting, I'm going to begin relearning to paint figurative patterned work in oil paint and again I will be developing a theme which will guide my process and development of new work. And yes I have a partially formed idea of what it will be. It's how I knew that change was coming. I kept having these ideas of work that was so different than my abstract color work from my past.

I've contracted with myself to work intensely in these directions and bring some new pieces into the world and I am feeling new energy about it. Hope you will like my new directions. Oh, and yes now I wear a respirator all the time when I paint.

Do any of you readers want to share your change stories?

Montserrat and Beyond

2010-07-10T08:24:00.001-07:00

Well what a fantastic experience - going to the Montserrat Encaustic Conference in Beverly Massachusetts.

Here is a small shot of the exhibition of everyone who attended the conference. We were each allowed to bring one of our encaustic paintings and hang it on the board called "Best Foot Forward" . Since there were nearly 250 attending this turned out to be quite the gallery. It was on the second floor of the School building where all of the demo's and talks were being held and where all the vendor's were selling their wares. So we got to go by it frequently and see the new additions.

I met up with 2 painters from Omaha Nebraska named Tricia and Betsy and all together we took in the 4 day event which was packed full of lectures and panel discussions as well as great restaurants and the conference demo's and lectures. In addition there were 4 other gallery shows in the area sporting encaustic works - one of them called "Wax Libris" met us first thing on the morning of the first day as we picked up our registration packets in the Montserrat Library since it was a show of waxed book arts - absolutely charming and amazing. I'll be showing you pictures of this next.

And other than the show itself and the good company I kept, I was charmed and overwhelmed by the beautiful surrounding landscapes, the port and nearby Salem where we made an excursion to. More about that later. It was a cool 65-70 degrees too so just right for my northwest coast sensibilities.

And it helped me choose the direction I want to focus on more clearly as encaustic. So you'll be seeing more wax paintings as I go forward.

Countdown to Montserrat

2010-05-26T07:20:00.001-07:00

Here is an acrylic painting I finished recently. It's 24" X 30" and I call it Mixed Message. I have it up at Azure with a price of $350.

In many ways I like this painting in that I felt freer when I did it. I used favorite processes and images like circles and the pattern of metallic gold on my small block stencil. I also wanted layers of colors from background forward and I wanted to include white since many of my paintings once layered with colors don't include this clean looking color. So I like it with the final cobalt blue strings of color to jazz it up and it has a bit of an ancient/modern combined feel to it. The eye catches on the circles.

Though I've been on an acrylic run here for awhile, I really do paint in encaustics and to that end, I'm attending the annual migration to Beverly, Massachusetts in early June to attend the Montserrat Conference. It's now only 2 weeks away and I'm busy making lots of plans to ride share and connect with friends from different parts of the country whom I've known in doing my encaustics. It will be intensive, tiring and jet-lagged, but fun and full of lots of new art work and techniques in molten beeswax. Such fun!

The only challenging part is that I now live and have adapted to basically the lovely marine climate we have on the Washington coast which is right now about 60 degrees and misting where as Boston at Logan Airport hit 80 yesterday and is projected to be 96 today with tons of humidity. How do you get through that much difference in temperature? Any thoughts readers? We are supposed to each bring an encaustic painting that would fit within a 12" X 12" space so we can a feel for what others are doing.

Gracies Dress

2010-05-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

My husband's granddaughter just had her first birthday and so I made her this little sundress for her to wear over a little t-shirt or bare if it gets too hot. Already she is a national traveler since she will journey with her parents to Oklahoma every summer.

I hadn't realized it had been so long since my last post. I finished up a number of paintings, varnished them and rigged the hangers and have now hung a 14 piece show of new work in variable sizes at Azure Day Spa in Ilwaco, Washington. All of it is mixed media and all of them are paintings except for a 12" X 12" cloth quilt and bead piece.

I'm getting ready for the big peninsula wide garage sale that is annually held May 28th through 30th and is attended far and wide drawing people from Vancouver, Portland, Longview and many places east. This is our first since we moved down here and we hope to clear the whole left side garage bay of it's treasures and trash. It has been a really overwhelming process.

And for those of you who follow this blog, I'm heading out on June 10th to Beverly Massachusettes for the Monserrat Encaustic Conference. This is the 4th annual I believe and it is an international conference of encaustic painters. Many of my aquaintances will be there for the 4 day conference which includes a full slate of demonstrations and talks and gallery showings of encaustic work. There are 3 days of post conference classes which I will not be attending. But this is my first conference for encaustic and I'm looking forward to it mightily. I'll take lots of pictures with my crummy digital and post some for you so you can see a bit of the conference.

I'm sad I won't be able to attend my friend Sue Robertson's Joyful Art Exhibit opening at Art's and Cultural Exchange in Astoria for Art Walk that will be showing during the time I'm gone but I will get in to see it after I return. I'm encouraging my art loving friends from the peninsula to go see her show as she has great, great work! It kicks off the summer tourist season too!

Coming Down and Putting Up

2010-05-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

Morning All! I'm getting ready to put up a new group of paintings at Azure Day Spa in Ilwaco next week. Meaning I'm in the finishing stages of preparing the work - wiring up the canvases, putting on isolation coats, varnishing, taking pictures (with a terrible digital camera).

This picture will go up and is much brighter and more cheerful in real life. I call it "Migrations", it's 30" X 24" mixed media and I think I put a price of $425. I used technical inks, reduced fluid acrylics, absorbent ground and lovely patterning all over.

I have some other paintings I'll be showing over the next few posts that will be hung in that show and I'll be painting more too!

We've been doing intensive landscaping at our new home since the site was completely filled with beach sand and in order to prevent tracking indoors on our new floors AND to prevent serious erosion we planted local lawn and sod and it's been a big project. We're done now with that and are just finishing our shrub borders.

I'm going to be attending the Montserrat Encaustic Conference in Boston on June 10th through June 14th which I have been wanting to do for many years and it just so happened we had the airline points to do it this year so back in January I signed up for this - a great confluence of encaustic artists in this country - capped to 250.

Then on June 21st through June 25th I'm taking an Acrylic Workshop with Robert Burridge up in LaConner, WA - my friend Sue Robertson has taken many classes from him and highly recommends him. And since I feel the need for some change in my work - more texture maybe, more meaning definitely, more versatility in and direction in creating series of works, this seems to be the year - and the month for investing a bit in myself and my painting.

And let's not forget how important it is for an artist to get out and see new things, get excited about new patterns and combinations, bump into different opinions and ways of looking at the world. Several of my friends are in the process of planning wonderful trips and I just wish I could ride in their pocket as they travel to all parts of the world.

So all you readers - get out there this summer and sample the life all around you especially if you're going to new places and send us some pictures of your travels, even and especially if it's just interesting patterns or colors on pavement or on old walls!

And on to Poetry

2010-04-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

Today is a new day for us as we have great hopes of finishing the sod in our landscape. Trying our best to get all of our plants planted and the sand kept safely tucked under lawn. It's blowing a cold north, northwest wind but we are motivated to get this main work done.

The painting I've posted for today is called "Poetry" and it's 20" X 20" and is $300. As you can see I'm still having trouble with my camera, overexposing on the right hand top and not picking up true color which is a strong yellow gold. This painting was a remake of an older self portrait painting I had done and I like it much better in it's new life. I combined colored paper towel pieces and hand made stencils and it came together the way I like the work to do. This is a favorite.

I subscribe to a free online Art new letter/email from an oil painter named Robert Genn that comes twice a week to me and today he talked about how an artists style becomes somewhat hard-wired, even if they are flexible in many other ways. (I'll put a link to his site over on the right hand side so you can sign up for this free newsletter yourself if you'd like. I agree about half the time with what he says but it's always interesting to hear what another artist has to say.) His premise being that we need not try to change our style so much as go deeper and embrace that style. I regularly have thoughts about landscape painting in oils but it may be that I would never be satisfied with any of my work unless it was very abstract. So maybe it's time to embrace and go deeper into the original abstract and hope there are people out their who also enjoy symbolic patterning and can bond with these paintings. Any thoughts from you artists out there?

My show at Arts & Cultural Exchange is coming down on Sunday and I will have those pieces in my home studio. An I hope to line up a new series of work at Azure this coming week.
Happy painting, and happy poetry too!

Hailing again

2010-04-28T07:27:00.000-07:00

How do you like this painting? I call it 1950 Night Traffic and it's a 10" X 8" and is $45. It has a lot of reduced crackle paste on it so it's not functioning like crackle paste but more like a gritty light molding paste.

I point this out because when I started this painting I wanted to play around with yellow and purple and before I knew it I had a night scene and traffic and building lights bouncing off wet pavement. I guess those late night city work nights driving in traffic or waiting for the bus are still right there in the old memory because I was right there again, cold and shivering!

Speaking of shivering, I woke up this morning and it was hailing. Both dogs couldn't wait to go out and being the furry double coated kinds of dogs it really was their kind of weather. Have I mentioned my dogs are a Samoyed girl named Delilah, now 10 years old whom I got as a rescue, and Keir my 6 year old boy, black and white Sheltie - Shetland Sheep Dog. Excellent dogs to raise together by the way. Both heavy coated with outside guard hairs and inside soft fluffy fur.

Now it's blue sky out and ready to begin the day! I was thinking this morning that I really have to change out my paintings at Azure and I need to call Julia at Arts & Cultural Exchange to go take down my exhibit there next week. Have a great day!

Life Happens!

2010-04-23T04:30:00.001-07:00

Just when you think everything is cooking along all right life happens!

Before I tell you the story, here is another small painting I did called "Supplicants". It's 8" X 10" and is $45 and in this one I layered strips of canvas and extra gesso and crackle paste to give me some texture then dribbled and dabbed Quinacridone Gold and Pthalo Turquoise - a favorite combination. It looks and feels old to me-even ancient and the imagery felt like it could be a call to a sacred site, so I enhanced it with a little mettalic gold.

So on to the story. Who would have guessed at 9pm on Tuesday night as we all began to go through our end of the day routine - take the dogs out for their last duty call, feed the fish, brush our teeth and settle the dogs in with their end of the evening "biscuit" which in our family is a carrot chunk since our dogs need to lose some weight that all hell would break loose! Keir, my bi-black Sheltie in an acrobatic leap, amazing in it's gymnastic grace, snapped up his own chunk of carrot and then midair grabbed Delilah's chunk and swallowed it whole. Thank goodness it didn't get lodged in his trachea or I'd be very sad right now instead of just very tired.

After frantically calling to our vet on call for emergency advice on what was happening (choking? or retching? or what?) and another vet in Tillimook, Oregon many miles away, we connected with Dr. Daniel Cameron and he had us check if Keir had a pink tongue and whether we could see the stuck carrot and then advised us to go to the DoveLewis ER Vet Hospital in downtown Portland, Oregon - a 2 and 1/2 hour drive (though it only took us 2 hours that night). They are open 24 hours a day and all weekends and provide emergency as well as intensive care. This veterinary hospital is caring and endowed with equipment and personnel and were able to x-ray Keir and test to find out where the carrot was lodged and then perform an endoscopy which entails putting him under anesthesia and snaking a camera to the chunk and in our case pushing the carrot all the way into his stomach from where it was lodged.

John and I grabbed short naps on their benches in the waiting room while we waited for the operation to be over. We got to the clinic at midnight and left at 4:30 in the morning for home, but we left with an alive Keir and very, very thankful there are such places to get the help for our family. Our heartfelt thanks to you DoveLewis!!!

It has taken us 2 days to get some sleep. On Wednesday morning when we got back from Portland - a 3 hour drive making the many stops for coffee/tea we had to make, we layed down to sleep but couldn't sleep more than 2 hours so we got up and went about our daily business. Today, Thursday, we crashed big time sleeping 12 hours straight then added a 3 hour nap mid-day and seem to be doing better today. Keir has recovered from the anasthesia and appears to be fine following the fiasco. Though his esophagus was abraded a bit and he's getting medicine for that, he's eating soft food and following me around like normal now and I cherish every minute of this!

Back to painting tomorrow I hope. Hug your pets tight and love them while you have them!

A little rain, a little sun.

2010-04-20T06:10:00.000-07:00

I really like these Spring days. Because I do a lot of gardening and landscaping now, I welcome the rain because it means less watering for me. But I like the sun as well because it warms the plants I've just put out and takes the chill away, starts lawn seed germinating and generally makes me feel good.

It has been a few days since I've added here because of my outdoor chores but I thought I'd show you a cute little piece I did called "Watching" it's 8"X10" and is $45.

I'm preparing boards to do monoprint color splashes as starts - one canvas just has the acrylic gesso finish that comes with the canvas, one has an added coat of gesso, and one has 3 coats of absorbent ground which makes the canvas surface act like watercolor paper. I'm going back to trying my initial process to see if I like that better than my texture experiments. I'll let you know.

Getting Past Critics

2010-04-12T09:42:00.001-07:00

I have to again apologize for my digital camera - this is the best I could do with the flash going wonky. I tried to to distort and skew in Photoshop to eliminate the worst of the exposure but I'm afraid not very successfully. I see a big expenditure in my future!

Well this being a Monday morning, rainy outside, with the soft rain more reminiscent of late spring than early winter, I come into my studio. I see all good things around me, lots of light, inspiring work from my collection of artist friends, excellent starts begging to be worked on. I am feeling deflated and not jazzed to paint.

This is a common feeling artists get when they see a lot of artwork which I have this last week - the PAA Exhibit, the Astoria Artwalk and local galleries. It's not the art itself but the internal questioning that starts within the artist to go forward with work after a battering of critique.

In some case bad judges exhibiting poor choices calls into question what is good art. In other cases it's ordinary viewers criticizing work that is intentionally done and well done in certain styles. It makes artists wonder if it's worth it to create a vision that exists in our minds, that explores concepts not of the everyday experience.

All artists have to get past other peoples opinions and get on with the work. Put away the voices and listen for the clear tone that happens when those voices have been silenced. Wait for the questions that start in our own mind and follow those bread crumbs of thought down the rabbit holes of our own thoughts, experiences, challenges and problem solving. It must be that here is where our occasional greatness hides out.

Today I wish you successful painting, and with luck I will see you down the rabbit hole today! Happy painting!

Artwalk Astoria, Oysters and Art, and Bernies Artichoke

2010-04-11T09:15:00.000-07:00

Before I tell you about the Astoria Artwalk, I must tell you about Oysters and Art which happened in March here on the Peninsula. It's an annual Rotary Club sponsored fundraising event for several groups locally like the Boys and Girls Club, scholarships for kids etc. Artists and businesses donate art, trips, meals etc and then they are bid on in a silent and live auction. They charge for tickets and there is a buffet sponsored by many of the local restaurant and catering businesses.

It was very well attended, I had 3 paintings in the auction of which 2 sold but what I wanted to mention mostly is that I bid on and got this very fine painting of Bernie Elliots! I was stunned to see it and lucky to get it. I love seeing it every day and although my jpeg doesn't do it justice the picture is a wonderfully done bright and crisply painted artichoke and I now have it in my studio where I can see it every day when I start to paint. I love the colors and the sharp textures of the ribs of the leaves. It reminds me again when the pressure builds to come up with something totally never seen before that an ordinary vegetable, done well by a fine artist, is as compelling as any abstract can be. Thank you again Bernie for painting it!

The Astoria Artwalk last night was too short to see everything! I think next time I should go early and eat early and then just have all my time to see the galleries. The Artwalk hours are now 5-8 which is a shorter time then they used to have, and it isn't enough time to eat in the middle and still see everything. But even so, I got to the Lightbox Gallery, River Sea Gallery, Lunar Boy, Adiago. Bergenson Tile and Art & Cultural Exchange were closed by the time I got there. I'm going to start taking in the Clatsop Community College Gallery spaces - one in the art building and I think there's another one in or near the Library too.

The Exhibits in Lightbox were exceptional. On the lower floor was a great fine art photography exhibit and the upper floor, along with fine prints by the Lightbox's user group, there was a special exhibit of photographs of Ibeji's - iconic wood holders of souls of dead twins from Nigeria. River Sea had an interesting exhibit of impasto oils as their main exhibit along with their group of selling artists and Lunar Boy had a well publicized exhibit of characterized painted and collaged birds in seasons. I haven't done anything I saw justice so from here on out I will take notes on artists and see if I can get a picture or 2 for my blog.

And the weather was perfect - like a summer night!

Something Different and Artwalk Astoria

2010-04-08T16:38:00.000-07:00

So here's a painting I did, something different and darker with more texture. It's finished meaning I'm not going to add anything more to it. It has some great pattern in it but other than that appears tighter than I usually get.

It is a recovered painting times 2. And I like it better than any of it's other lives. Not perfect but....

This Saturday is the Astoria Artwalk - always 2nd Saturday of the month and I'm hoping for decent weather. That is, no hail, no snow, no downpour of rain and no 40 mph wind gusts. A group of us are going and I hope to make up for not seeing the art last month. I'm going to stop in at the Art & Cultural Exchange and see what Julia's been up to over there. Always tons to see and projects that she's doing. After dinner out at a local Italian restaurant we'll take in the other 10 or so galleries on the map.

I think the point is it's important to go to the art openings, see the new art and patronize those shops and restaurants that are trying to stay afloat during this extended recession. Wall Street and Washington pundits may tell us all that the recession is over but if you live rurally, in Washington and Oregon at least, you know it will be a long time before our economy is lively again.

So it's supposed to be Spring but the weather is keeping me indoors so one thing I thought I'd do is to sew a Jean Jacket. I got a Petite Plus pattern, initially measured all the pieces and then did the sewing, trusting that the proportions would be correct and the details sized down for a petite. But at try on time -today- I am disappointed at how badly it fit. Then I had to go on line to see how tight the jean jackets should fit on various models because mine had fistfuls of extra fabric all in the wrong places. So now I've got the various seams partially torn and repinned hoping I will be able to get the right look and size more in keeping with an authentic jacket. But disappointing! I'll let you know how it turns out and maybe take a picture.

More news on the art front is the Peninsula Arts Association is having their local show over the weekend at the Kite Museum and an artist friend of mine and I are going to go view it tomorrow. Also, there's been a new gallery opening in Ocean Park called the Bay Avenue Gallery and we may stop in and see the owner and the gallery. Their grand opening on April 1st was successful and well attended by local arts afficionado's. Good luck Betty Lu!

Art resolutions for 2010

2010-04-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

Today I wanted to say a little something about art resolutions. I didn't really make any art resolutions for 2010 until now because we had just finished moving to our house and I hadn't even got finished unloading all the boxes much less sorting through and throwing out a bunch of stuff. And typically right around the first of the year I actually do my Art Income and Expenses so I don't hold up my tax preparer. This year I didn't do it until 2 days ago thus I didn't get around to my resolutions.

What I'm really trying to say is that I have a much better idea now what those resolutions should be. I've already done an Encaustic demo, had an exhibit of my mixed media "Legacy of Trees" work. Watched the recession recede somewhat. Recovered from the worst of the winter flu season. And tried to find storage space for my painting finished and unfinished that are not in shows.

Drum roll please......the only art resolution that is possible after looking at my supplies and materials and unfinished paintings is .....To finish all unfinished paintings and use up all canvas', boards, paints, wax, collage materials in an envelope pushing kind of way and to make them exhibit ready artwork!

Here's an example of what I mean. On the left was a painting with potential that I got too detailed with and started "fixing" then put away because it was a sample of the worst thing an artist can do, then I picked it up at the end of last year and gessoed it over totally and did a new painting which then promptly sold. If I can do that with every half finished painting I have then I will have the work I want for 2010!

And lest you think I've given up on encaustic - NOT SO. Its just that my garage studio is ccccooooolllllllddddd right now and windy and the wax will work much better for me when it warms up so I've pretty much settled myself to doing my encaustic work only on warmer days, ie mostly summer.

So have a happy Easter to you where ever you are!

It's about the work

2010-04-02T15:09:00.000-07:00

I've decided that there is nothing in the world like doing the work. That is, challenging myself everyday to paint and let the creativity just pour out. I stop up everytime I try to structure it or corner it or guide it. I think for me it just has to flow. This plays havoc with trying to develop a conceptual theme and a body of work but perhaps with many, many works done, the theme will arise naturally. So that's what I'm going to try.

My friend Sue just finished a great class with Robert Burridge in Palm Springs. I've heard so much about him from her that I finally decided to take a class from him this summer. I have been trying to find my way into more texture and maybe he can help with that.

For now, on this very windy, blustery day, I finished varnishing 5 small paintings like this 8" X 10" called "Future" which will go for $45 and I will show them over the next several days. As they dry, I wire them up and it's very satisfying to send them out into the world. Stay tuned to this blog.

This particular painting is mixed media with collage elements. I painted most of it in one session at the firehouse where I meet on Wednesdays with my fellow artist Bernie. A great way to stay connected to whats going on around the community and not just with the arts happenings. On our way home, we stopped in at a small artists studio which neither of us had ever visited. We were quite blown away by the great paintings - Michele is a superb artist doing work in metallic painted scratchboard. Some of her paintings are $4500 and worth every penny. She also has been investigating some very interesting textile "art to wear" knitted items.

Now joyfully back to painting!

Sign and Gallery Opening

2010-03-18T07:45:00.000-07:00

After so much time has passed since my last entry, I thought I'd catch up on my finished projects lest you think living rural means doing nothing! Quite the opposite!
The Sea Mist cottage sign was finished in real life with proud owner Marcia standing beside it at her house. This project required buying a piece of fine cedar, then distressing it with bleach, washing it, drying it, knocking off the edges, sanding it and finally staining it to match the character of the driftwood piece that it is accompanying. Came out beautiful. and I agreed to talk about garden and house art at their July Garden Club meeting which I'm looking forward to.
Today looks to be a beautiful day at the coast with temps soaring to low 60's after some very seasonal weather mix up. that means that 2 days ago the wind was gusting 30 mph and it was 43 degrees and raining buckets.

Next up is a picture of the Astoria Art Walk opening of the "Sanctuary Gallery" for the Art's and Cultural Exchange headed by Julia Carter with help from husband Mathew and many friends in the community. Here are some of the entrance way art done by children of the local Catholic School Star of the Sea. Julia worked with them to create these patterned flags that represent different tribes in Africa and really looked like colorful mud cloths whether done by young children using crayon resist or older children using fabric paint. Congratulations all on fine art work and magical night. My picture here is not nearly as good as I'd like but you get a feeling of how great it was.

And lest you think that I had time to really rest on my laurels, this week I am finishing up the planting plan for one of my landscape clients, meeting with a new client and beginning the concept sketches for the cutest little house in town. Hopefully next week I'll have some new paintings for you on the site. Stay tuned.

New sign

2010-01-25T12:40:00.000-08:00

Today along with gesso-ing my large panels and getting them ready for a triptych painting, I thought I'd put up a mock up of the house sign I'm doing for a lady here in Long Beach. She's a transplant from the Seattle area and saw my earlier sign - see Pub sign posts in archive)and I had to put her off till I finished my move and set up my studio. Now all that's done, I have the mental room to concentrate on her design and do a color board - part watercolor part color pencil full size image of how it will look. I'll be meeting her tomorrow and we will add or subtract based on what we see here. Then next will come the actual painting on a piece of her found driftwood and a partially deconstructed cedar board.

I'm looking forward to the Encaustic demo on Saturday, February 27th at 9:30 at Arts and Cultural Exchange in Astoria and then later the Gallery opening on Saturday March 13th in Astoria at the same location.

I've also got some smaller paintings going and will post as soon as they're finished. I need to move on to a new series of work in both encaustic and acrylic and I'm not there yet. Like some of my other art friends, it takes a period of thinking, feeling and experimenting time to find that series of thoughts and concepts that click. See the links I've posted to the right to go visit some of my favorite artist and non artist blogs.

I'm back

2010-01-21T08:19:00.000-08:00

I've got my studio(s) back up now and am just finishing up sorting supplies. It's been like 2 months down and the creative devil is gnawing me from the inside out.

I've had a young man helping me push boxes, bins and tables into just the right place for creating masterpieces both in my garage and in my inside office studio. I got 2 inspiring magazines in the mail - Ornament with a shimmery egg on the front showing jewelers and beaders inside the covers and Surface Design all about felt this time.

And it isn't that I lack customers either since I left one client hanging until after my move to finish her gorgeous house sign composed of dolphins and seahorses - I'll take a pix to show. Both of my local art hanging places would love to see some larger brand new work, and I've got a new gallery gig for March of my "Legacy of Trees" series in Astoria at the Arts and Cultural Exchanges new gallery space.

So I'm bbbbaaaaackkkkk! :-)

Stormy Bay

2010-01-16T08:42:00.000-08:00

Here's a typical picture of the deluge like rains, low cloud cover and wind we've been having here. To live here you must love this kind of weather and you need to have several inhouse activities that really turn you on!

Which makes it the perfect time to a: unpack boxes (this is where the real deluge is since we moved into our new house just before Christmas) b:unlitter yourself-that is go through your belongings and simplify by throwing out or giving away 1/3 of your belongings and c: set up your art studio(s) in my case it's 2 different locations - one where I can vent fumes (say garage) and the other that's warm and dry d: knit e: read. Preferably the last 2 by a lit fireplace.

For men though, going to Home Depot seems to be the activity of choice. Something about rain and the smell of lumber and all those tools.

After all that rain yesterday and the rain and wind to come which has been forecast for the next 7 days, it dawned today with a beautiful sunrise which I hope to be able to show you shortly once I find my download cord. It's these wonderful winter sunrises that are so inspirational here whether you're a painter or not.

ART NEWS:
My encaustic painting class did not fill though there were 7 very interested people. The recession/depression has hit our families hard here and money for classes is scarce though interest is high. So Julia of Arts and Cultural Exchange in Astoria has suggested I do a demo on February 20th instead and so I will.

My "Legacy of Trees" series will be hanging in the Arts and Cultural Exchanges new gallery space opening in March for 2 months. It will be seen for 2-3 Artwalk nights.

I have 5 small paintings up at Old Trading Post Coffee Shop - a gathering of artists, antique collectors, knitters and Heritage Museum folks as well as 15 paintings up in Azure Day Spa. There always lots to see and do here for people who want to get away and take a breather on our lovely coast.

January 2010 - the resolutions

2010-01-10T09:42:00.000-08:00

Well as part of my first blog of the new year, you all will note that I have changed my blogging name to Waxing Rural which just seems a lot more fitting to where I am both physically located and where my head is.

It seems like all the blogs I look at have great resolutions for the new year and I applaud this. Jokingly at first I have been emailing friends and family with my top 3 resolutions of the year and these follow directly from our recent move.

1. Eliminate printing everything out on paper which not only is bad for the environment but means you have to save and try to re-find those pieces of paper and they are just impossible to find when you are 59 years old as of December! So my alternative is to create some directories on my computer to save things and we'll see how this works in 2010

2. Get a cell phone for god's sake so people can get me - this is a problem for my husband as well as for friends and clients since I am rather reclusive and elusive at the same time. (By the way, this one is done as of 2 days ago, breaking a long standing vow never to have a cell phone -the most demonstrable item of my former and hated life)

3. Simplify my life by dis-accummulating material things that I have to keep track of, dust, move and make room for. I always had this goal when we moved here to coastal Washington, but the reality of getting rid of stuff that filled a 2,500 square foot house and fitting in to a 1,200 square foot house is still daunting.

Now these seem like very worthy resolutions but here a couple more that I found out there in the ether that I especially liked:

Start everyday from a "yes" point of view, meaning get up everyday willing to embrace the positive spin rather than the negative or crabby spin. It's surprising how easy it is to fall into the negative but negative doesn't help you find or seek answers,or joy, or acceptance. So this one is one I'll adopt.

Become healthy self - not a thin self, not a certain weight self, not an athletic self (all of which deny the many years of dieting, running, walking, low carb and low fat foods I've done or eaten) but instead be as healthy as I can be, as pain free as I can be, as benign as I can be right here and right now. I think this is worthy one too.

And then finally I really will blog nearly every day and put up plenty of photo's and painting. I'm also going to update my website more often too so folks can link to that and see all the work. I PROMISE!

Mixed Media Collage - what"s going on?

2009-09-05T07:27:00.001-07:00

So, can any of you tell me why these small little collages 8 X 10 and 10 X 10 have not been juried into 2 shows? One up in Kirkland at Parklane and one down here in Canon Beach - both were collage exhibitions. This makes a difference to me because I can't get a fix on what the reason is they are not getting in to shows. Is it because they are too small? Is it because they are not considered fine art? Is it because they are too bright? Is it because they are too detailed? Is it because they each have words, some of which could be construed as a message - titles are Work, Life Spice; Planet Asia, Peddling; Earth Revisited; Sculpture Gate; Raku, the Source? Is it because of quality? Also look at several of the collages in August blogs - these 2 were the latest not to get juried in.

So readers, what do you think? I've never not been juried in before in any exhibition that I've entered so I'm at a loss. These are paintings I've just started doing this year and are interesting to me because I can use lots of different techniques and is a way for me to express detail. Are these a dead end? Do I stop doing this kind of work altogether? Please, your comments are appreciated!

Ta...Da.....Pub Sign

2009-09-05T06:32:00.000-07:00

So here is the finished Pub Sign. Well actually 2 signs exactly alike which were hung on either side of an old sign which remained in place. We had the hanging and unveiling last night with some local friends over for some delicious soup, pizza and a fresh peach pie.

It took about 104 hours from start with initial consultation to hanging. In real life it is a little more yellow in the background than what it shows here. By yesterday when I was taking this picture the weather had started to become overcast and unfortunately today it's going to rain buckets and the wind is already fierce with 30 mph gusts.

So my next project other than teaching my upcoming classes and finishing our house is to assemble 18 paintings and start showing them to galleries. I'm really going to focus on finding regional representation even though this may be an uphill battle in this economy. First with my encaustics I think and 2nd with my newer large acrylics on canvas. They would find different galleries I believe who would be interested - no overlap.

It's interesting to realize that I do (and probably most artists do) go through a little bit of a depression after the completion of an intense bit of work - even if you're really happy with the final result and are glad to see it go to a good home. It's coming down from intense focus and intense work and intense creativity, but it's also natural and it does pass. The way I get through it without letting it overwhelm me is to clean up my studio and reorganize so that I can move on to new projects. This little time away allows me to figuratively clean out my mind too and get me some free space so to speak to allow for a fresh new idea for the next painting project to emerge. And it inevitably does. If the clean up time doesn't seem long enough, I take the time to blog, to update my website which needs to be done and to make some more business cards to hand out. Now is actually a good time to market and use that left side of the brain.

The Pub Sign

2009-08-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

The Pub sign has taken over my life! I've been working on it almost 6 hours a day since August 15th and I have just 5 more days until it has to be done. It's going up at the start of a one day festival here in Ocean Park in the center of the Long Beach Peninsula. The one thing about it other than how great it's turning out is that I got introduced to the One Shot Oil Enamel paints which are what outdoor sign painters typically use. The solvents are hellish but the paint drys to a wonderful shiny silky smooth vibrant color that I just love. I wear my paint respirator but still. Anyway the sign is actually two signs - each side identical or nearly so.

The man whose sign this will be had strong inclinations for the plants he wanted shown and they have turned out fabulous. One, the Gunnera - or Dinosaur Food, I nailed spot on and so far he's happy with it. Today I'm on the final background and then there will be the topcoat.

Check back for a picture - it's so much better than the concept sketch I did. And in the meantime I finished the workplan for a Mixed Media-Getting Started class to be held in Astoria on October 17th. And I've been encouraged to do an Mixed Media-Next Step class in December, an Encaustic Introduction class in January and perhaps a spring series. I'm really looking forward to this -- and of course painting, encaustics and moving in our new house by christmas!

Painting and the Arts community

2009-08-16T10:54:00.000-07:00

I sold this painting last week to friend Sharon who must have seen this one hanging around my studio for a long time. I did the underpainting back at Patricia's studio before moving to the peninsula but didn't do anything with it. Then a month ago I started finishing it and became very happy with the strong gestural strokes and then with the addition of some composition corrections, it was done. And it looks beautiful on her dark blue wall surrounded by metal starfish, crab and salmon!

I've now got another of those paintings whose underpainting was done some time ago on my table and I've got some ideas to finish. So that and 2 more small collages are what I'm working on.

In addition, Julia Carter who is head of the Arts & Cultural Exchange in Astoria saw my work hanging at Azure in Illwaco. She called me and I went over and met with her and toured her lovely workspace and agreed to do at least 3 one day workshops over the next 6 months to a year so I'm busy now making a flyer advertising the class, working out the details of the workshop plan and coming up with a materials list. First up will be a mixed media class, and one will be an encaustic plan and then we'll see how it goes to decide what the rest will be. I'm excited about that.

And the sign project is coming along as well. I've finished cutting and sanding the marine plywood for the signs, 2 coats of oil based prime and 2 coats of oil based undercoat. I expect to start painting the design on Tuesday and hope to finish by Sunday next week and I'll put up a photo as soon as I can.

Pub signs

2009-07-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm doing a pub sign now. A friend of mine has a landscape business here on the peninsula "Strange Landscape Services" (his name is Ed Strange) and the only thing missing from his cute little house now is a pub sign. He goes all over to clients' yards for his business (as well as some very great local commercial accounts) but he also has fun sales from his yard. The sign has Gunneras (Dinosaur Food) a favorite plant, as well as Rhodies, a Sitka spruce (which is actually not bent in the sketch) and some daylilies.

All year he collects ceramic pots, concrete planters, funky garden art and plants, plants, plants - the cast off's from his jobs (which he brings back to brimming good health), and then for Memorial Day Weekend or Labor Day Weekend he pots everything up and sells it from his home - which is on the main drag of Ocean Park - perfect location. And the stuff he does and the way he puts it together is very cool.

Also, he's got great hanging baskets and window sill boxes and he's done some great rock scaping in the front of his house. The pub sign sketch (in colored pencil) and the house are above and you can see where the pub sign will be bolted on to when it's done. I'll take a picture of the actual sign and show you when it's up.

Ocean Park is going to have a "sunset walk" on the main drag on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend and the sign (actually 2 signs) will have to be done by then. Typically these events attract a lot of the tourists as well as locals. I may throw up my tent and sell some of my pottery tiles, small paintings and cards - nothing over $50. Love this life at the beach!

The Finish of the Commission

2009-07-18T10:57:00.001-07:00

So I began the research of finding out how to fix and preserve and image that has been printed from an ink-jet printer. Golden puts out digital grounds and varnishes which worked well so go see their website for the products and information for you artists out there - they have some great U tube video's you can play right on their website. In addition, I discovered that I could apply a Krylon fixative and put the UV varnish over that - drying between layers.

I also added some additional images that have personal meaning, gold stitches and tracings of the objects, a netting with symbolic meanings, extending the pine tree branches to enfold, embrace and support the other images. Pines being so much a part of our ocean dunes here on the Peninsula. Everything in the painting has symbolic meaning to myself or/and her. I also had to knock back the white and find an opaque or transparent color that worked and tied everything together, and even though it obscured the stamped words I decided that was ok as the words form an underpinning like a whisper, not a shout.

This picture doesn't look as vibrant as the real painting. My at home critic is unsure if he likes it since it has a lot more realistic images than my normal collage mixed media and is not as bright. And the jury is still out if the person who received this as a gift likes it. In the end there is always lots of uncertainty about a commission.

When I paint for the general public in gallery or exhibition hanging, I paint mixed media with a very bright palette and I paint for myself, until I am fully happy with the painting and there is a resonance I feel inside that I have expressed something I needed to and that it jumps from the wall in a certain way. All this is modified for commission because the painting has to resonate and jump for both of us, me and the client, not just necessarily for me I think.

The Restart of the Commission

2009-07-18T10:41:00.001-07:00

So I began again by initially stamping words that reminded me of her and of the great time we always have when we meet her - usually for knitting at her beach front cafe. This I knew would be covered up by images but they are important to me to put them as the first layer, the underpinning of the painting and of a life well lived.

Then I added pictures I'd collected in a collage format. So you see the roses, the coffee and treats, the balls of yarn, the hands in the mandela remind me what she does for the young people and old people in our community here at the beach. People that need a friendly word of encouragement, recognition, personal attention, in a word-help.

I wanted a picture of her cute little dachshound to put front and center so I got her husband to hold Copper and I got a great digital picture which I adjusted in Photoshop, printed out on Japanese rice paper and then added to the picture though as you see here I removed it because it was smearing and I had to find a better way to fix the ink before incorporating. Thus began some research about how to do what I wanted to do.

I tell everyone that art is creative vision but it's also at least 1/2 problem solving.

The Beginning of a Commission

2009-07-18T09:48:00.000-07:00

I was approached by a friends husband who wanted to commission a painting for his wife and he wanted these elements in the painting: her dog Copper, yarn (she's the community knitting guru), grapes (she also runs a great cafe) and roses. I told him I am a mixed media mostly abstract painter so I couldn't promise that any of the above would be recognizable, and he had seen my website, so I said I'd do it on condition that the painting should be returned no questions asked if she did not like it.

So when I start a commission I listen very carefully for the elements that a client wants, her colors and the wall colors and then I let it percolate and when I get this great idea, I start out and the painting turns out fantastic! NOT!!!!!! As you can see here from my initial start.

A friend of mine, Bernie, who has been doing commissions since he was very young says thats the first thing you rid your brain of is all of the specifics that the client wants to see in the painting. Then you find a way to express the subject, the way you feel about that subject in your style of painting.

Obviously, I needed to start over again.

A Work in Progress

2009-06-26T09:39:00.001-07:00

This is a new old painting I've been working on and just took up again to finish. As you can see there was an older start of a painting underneath the yellow (and it's really a true yellow not a greenish yellow) and some stencilling as well, and I painted over it with a transparent yellow to unify it. Then began collaging and found my footing although I'm not yet satisfied with the wording or the images in the red circles and I think I have some details to add to give it more interest. So this shows a work in progress and I'll show you it when it's totally finished and I'm happy with it.

On a second note, I've been painting my house exterior trim indoors but in a well ventilated space, before it gets put up in the siding project and have spent about 2 weeks being dizzy and having some horrendous headaches. Woke up 2 nights ago and had a clear thought that regardless of the warning labels on the acrylic latex paint can - I needed a full face mask respirator (not the flimsy paper filters) with activated charcoal cartridges etc. So my husband picked one up at Home Depot/Lowes for about $30. And I started feeling better the first day and today, my mind is sharp and I'm not dizzy at all. So for all you acrylic painters out there - over time you can start getting a reaction to the acrylic paint fumes - both fine art quality acrylic paint and house grade acrylic paint, especially if you are close to what you are painting and breathing in those fumes. PROTECT YOURSELF!

Here's the picture

2009-06-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

So, here's the picture that wouldn't get done, but is now! Along with a closeup of a section on the right. You can see in the background where the dripping paint flowed sideways but I've put a whole new twist on the original. Oh, and it was 10 X 10 not 8 X 10.

Incidently, I don't know what these will be when I start out. I may have a picture from my picture stash that is arresting or a series of words that bring on thoughts or memories and sometimes as I work things just pop into my right brain and I choose to add it. Like I had some paper towels that I had used to sop up old acrylic and this is the center that I collaged over. I also included a piece of rug backing that I frequently paint through to it - stuck it on with Golden Acrylic Soft Gel which does a good job holding bulky things to paintings. And I've used some parts of my own old paintings that were part of the theme and have meaning to me though not to anyone else and that's ok. In fact, if I don't include things that have meaning for me even if other people don't know then the painting is less satisfying for me.

I think how this theme came about was musing about global warming initially and then came the words Eden at the end and then came the snakes and a part of a picture of my feeling on 911. This reflects then taking the global warming issue as a human responsibility to it's worst case scenario ending and relating it to a widely held belief of humanities initial curse.

So what do you think? My friend Sharon now says I have 2 readers that follow so I'm challenged to keep posting.

Below are 2 of the close up's I took to show parts of the painting that are not easy to see.

The painting that won't die

2009-06-18T16:09:00.000-07:00

I've had a small painting 8X10 in my studio that I started a couple of months ago. Tried to do some dripping like I used to do on watercolor paper with the inks only this time I was doing it on canvas with thinned down fluid acrylics. Sorta, maybe, didn't quite work. Then I added a paper towel full of old wiped up paint-straightened out and then I applied some bubblewrap as a stencil to it. It was intriguing but wasn't sure it would ever work. Had a concept but didn't quite make it. So I left it for months. Well yesterday and today I pushed forward and put on a lot more detail and it does work! It's drying now but will get a photo tomorrow and put it up here for comments.

I also took another look at that commission painting I'm doing and told myself "this is another one where you have to go all the way through to the end before you're going to know if it works and was worth doing." If this doesn't work I'll have to start over with a new concept and this time I'll make it according to my current work and not pay so close attention to the client colors or realistic images of client objects they want included. That's what often doesn't work for me. Look for photo's tomorrow.

Sample Collage

2009-06-16T16:23:00.000-07:00

So I thought I'd see if I could post a Collage I'd recently done and here it is - yayy I did it. So all, tell me what you think. I did this early this year and it's now in Shoalwater Gallery here on the Peninsula for the summer. Shoalwater is trying out abstracts to see if there will be a tourist audience interested in them. They are showing 4 of my encaustics, 3 of these collages and 2 other mixed media pieces. I also show at Azure Day Spa who take all of my large pieces and display on wonderful white walls 10-12 feet tall!!

Eater Up of Art Making Time

2009-06-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, I too have just set up (hurried for sure) my new blog. I usually spend way too much time thinking about these types of things..the name of the blog, the look, the pictures, the titles and everything else. But this time I decided to wing it! Because I want this to be about having and working with interesting ideas and/or what creatively is happening in my studio or inspiring me to new work!

Also, I want to start putting up what's coming out of my studio each day as a way to make sure that something is coming out each day. Yes I know, I'm building a house, putting in a landscape, helping my friend Sharon put in her landscape, querying my husband about his latest trip to Home Depot and walking my dogs on the bay or the beach but hey - for me the thing I long for the most is getting into that studio and doing something creative.

So Collages are on my radar right now. Made directly on canvases and likely to have words and fabric and threads and interesting papers and lots of color and acrylic paint. Mostly smallish like 8 X 10 but going up to as big as 16 X 20's. In other words I just got my order in from Blick and I'm ready to go. Now I just have to figure out how to post my pictures to the website. Hmmmm and then next it'll be twitter!