A Post for Spring

Contrary to appearances, I HAVE been painting, even though I haven't been posting.  It has been a chaotic Spring for me... between the tree branches coming through the roof in January's Perfect Storm (which put me out of my studio for a while) with all the subsequent repairs and clean-up, and the multiple colds, coughs and ills brought home by my first-year schoolgirl and first-year daycareboy, life has led me a dance the last few months!

I thought I'd post a few before and after pics of my studio:

you can see the painting I was working on-- the branch came through where I would've been standing had I been in there at the time!

Yuk.  Ceiling stuff was everywhere.

Daylight...

And all better!

I am so happy to have the exterior and interior of our home watertight again!

My Thoughts for the Day

I don’t use my blog very often to philosophize about art.  Mainly because I’m not very good at it.  Don’t get me wrong; I LOVE to philosophize, but I’m better one-on-one.  Nevertheless, here goes.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and no one knows this better than an artist.  Just recently, I was accepted at a top-notch regional art festival and turned down by a relatively unknown event, both based on identical images of my work.  Go figure.  And I know I’m not alone in this—I’ve heard similar stories from other artists.

You just can’t take it personally.  Even the most analytical juror sees art through the lens of personal preference.  That goes double for a collector.  After all, the art is going home to live with them.  The fact that the viewer likes or dislikes or is ambivalent towards a piece of art is no reflection on the work, but rather a reflection of the viewer’s taste.

Ultimately, jurors approve what they like, people buy what they love, and every genre has an audience waiting to be found. 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and art is in the heart of the collector.

Sweet Invitation

Sweet Invitation

30x40 inches, oil on canvas

$1950

This painting is making its debut at the Stevenson, WA, library, in the traveling "Trees" show.  I've been painting a lot of tree portraits lately, and this is crossing back over towards landscape.  It was a challenge because of the backlit scene, and very rewarding once it was done.  The title tells you how I feel about it.

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Centrifugal Force

So, I actually have been painting in the four months since my last post, although somewhat sporadically.  And even more sporadic is the photographing of my work, so I can share it! :)  Despite the smiley face, I DESPISE photographing my work.  I can never get it just right, but I try to get close.  Here's one of my latest pieces, which will be in the show "Celebration of Creativity" at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Beaverton, OR, next weekend, March 1-5.  Check out their website for more details.

Centrifugal Force

oil on canvas, 48x24 inches

Interlude

18x24 inches

oil on canvas

The view upwards through the trees still has the power to draw me into the moment.  For a brief instant, I feel again the childhood sense of being present. No future, no past, just now-- what a blessing of innocent youth.

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Fugue - SOLD

48x24 inches

oil on canvas

From the dictionary: 1a : a musical composition in which one or two themes are repeated or imitated by successively entering voices and contrapuntally developed in a continuous interweaving of the voice parts b : something that resembles a fugue especially in interweaving repetitive elements

I had thought about "choral group" as a title, because I felt these trees were making music together, and I stumbled upon this definition of a "fugue" and it just fit.

This is also in the "Trees" show at the Columbia Art Gallery in Hood River, OR.

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Day of Grace - SOLD

30x40 inches

oil on canvas

Anyone who knows me knows that along about October I start griping about the weather.  It shouldn't come as a surprise to a native Oregonian that summer here is just a blink between the wet seasons, but every year I get indignant that the warm weather is over already.  And yet I LOVE the fall colors.  Hence the title of this painting: a day of grace, or, unmerited favor.  A day with the benefit of blue skies and a warm sun shining down on those lovely autumn hues.

This is hanging in the "Trees" show at the Columbia Art Gallery in Hood River, OR.

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