SADNESS AND JOY

These last few weeks have been a series of ups and downs, sadness and joy.

Several months ago, I remember coming across a story about a Wayne Thiebaud exhibit in a California Museum (now I can't remember where). But, the show was closing soon and there was no way I could get to see it. I searched and googled and searched and googled, but could not find out where the show was going next. Oh, I would have loved to see that show!

Skip forward to last week. I was going through my emails, when I spotted an announcement from Wetcanvas.com where someone mentions that a printmaker I really admire

Frances Gearhart

(this is her woodblock print, "Sundown", 1936)

is having a show opening in Pasadena, California.

Wonderful! We are going to be in Pasadena in October. So, I went to the Pasadena Museum of California's website and Bam! the opening page has an image of a Wayne Thiebaud painting!

And the title of the page says, Join us for the opening of the "Wayne Thiebaud: 70 years of Painting" exhibit, the same exhibit I hadn't been able to attend earlier! Yippee! We are going to be in Pasadena during that show! And it's a double-header, Wayne Thiebaud and Frances Gearhart. I am so thrilled and can hardly wait.

Both of these extraordinary exhibits will be in Pasadena October 4th, 2009 through January 31st, 2010.

To refresh your memory and whet your appetite, here are two Thiebaud paintings,

Cakes, 1963

and

"Down 18th Street", 1980

And as for the sadness... a few weeks ago was the one year anniversary of losing Moe. My life has gone on, but as that date approached I started thinking more and more about her and how much I miss her. My heart still aches.

After about two weeks of no painting (or any other art-making) because I've been busy with life and cabinet-painting, I finally sat down to paint. Here is my rendition of a Thiebaud. I learned a lot about his style while doing this. I found it very enjoyable and very frustrating. Thiebaud is a master of control. His painting has absolutely perfect circles! I'm a long way from that kind of accuracy. Barring that, I realized that when left to my own I tend toward muddy neutrals. Thiebaud uses a lot of colors, but they remain very clean, very true. I had to 'clean' up my style. He also is working in oil while I'm working with acrylics, so that makes for a few style differences.

Because Moe's 15th birthday, would have been October 9th, I painted this for her:

acrylic on canvas, 11" x 14", "Moe's 15th Birthday"

Sadness in the loss of such a grand companion, and joy in the memories.

EXHIBIT AT WINDERMERE REALTY & WEST SEATTLE ART WALK

I want to thank Windermere agents Kim Tingley and Barb Ogden for inviting me (and for being such gracious hostesses) to exhibit my paintings in their offices for the September WEST SEATTLE ART WALK. Thanks to my husband Darrell for helping hang my canvases and to my various friends and family members for supporting me with their attendance. It was really a pleasure visiting with you.

I had a really good time. The evening started out a little slow but it soon got really lively! I couldn't believe all the people that showed up (and thanks to the weather gods for such a pleasant evening). I had planned to take pictures when there were a lot of people there - but I got so busy, I forgot!

The most enjoyable moments were hearing all the generous and meaningful comments about my work, it meant a lot to me.

But the really interesting stuff is listening (or should I say eavesdropping) without people knowing I'm the artist. I heard some great (and very helpful) comments:

"I like the style, but not the content"

"I recognize that building" and "I recognize that freeway"

"But the buildings are all run-down and depressing"

"I want to see more of what's in the shadows"
(my art instructor Julia Hensley has been saying this too!)

"I like the close in shots of the freeways best, they are more abstract"
(I heard this comment quite a few times - and Julia also said the same thing to me several times, hmmm. I noticed people were drawn to the small grouping of paintings representing the structural details probably because they are more just shapes and colors, not the freeways they drive to work everyday!)

“These are the only paintings my husband (the architect) enjoyed in the Art Walk”

But my favorite was:

"I vote this one 'Best of Show'"
(I want to know - is that for the best of just mine or all of the West Seattle Art Walk?!)

If you are interested in seeing my paintings in real life, they are display through October 7th at:

Windermere Real Estate
4526 California Ave SW

Seattle, WA 98116

STUDIO COUNTER TOPS

Darrell is giving me a few more half-days to work on my cabinets. Here he is making lots of sawdust, cutting the MDF and putting Lamellos slots in the ends to join the pieces together.

We brought the thee big pieces upstairs where he joined them together in place. That was the end of Saturday afternoon.

Sunday morning I found him up in the studio putting the mahogany edging on. He was pretty much done with that before we went out for our regular Sunday breakfast and grocery shopping. When we got back he put on the backsplash and finished up.

Then it was my turn to putty the holes, sand it down and put on a coat of clear urethane varnish. I love the golden brown color, with little uneven patches, that the MDF becomes. Over the next several days I will lightly sand and put several more coats on it. This will be a very servicable surface for many years.

You might notice that I put the new chrome handles on the big flat files, they match the handles that were on the other flat files. And, when I get drawers and doors, they will have matching handles also. The doors might be a while in the making, Darrell has to get ready for a few shows he's got coming up soon.

SELF-PORTRAIT 2009

I had a few hours to spend working on this painting this afternoon. I think it's coming along just fine. Of course, as John Singer Sargent said, ""It seems there is something wrong with the mouth! A portrait is a painting with a little something wrong about the mouth."

And, compared to some of my recent past self-portraits this one is not so dark and gloomy. I have a better outlook on life. That's good.

This is Self-Portrait 2009, acrylic on canvas 11" by 14".

PROGRESS ON STUDIO AND NEW PORTRAIT

I've spent most of this week putting coats of paint on the studio cabinets and flat files. Here's what it all looks like at this point.

I prefer using oil-based paints on the wood cabinets. Oil can be a pain, but I like the looks and feel of it after its on. And I really enjoy opening up the cupboards to find the nice white finished insides. It makes me feel good! And they are easy to keep clean.

I've learned some good tricks over the years, such as - freezing your roller and brush instead of cleaning them. If I'm going to be painting every day this works much better than dealing with paint thinner. I always wear non-latex latex gloves when painting. I'm using a foam 4" roller and a good China bristle brush. At the end of the day, I wrap the brush in plastic wrap, making sure there are no air bubbles. I do the same with the roller, except I'm using a small plastic bag (originally for dog-doo!). I'm using two colors, so two rollers go into the freezer for the night. The next day I just don the gloves and unwrap the roller, stick it on the handle - good to go.

The last few days I've just been doing the shelves (seen on top of the cabinets) so I don't even need a pan. I just dip the roller into the can and slop it onto the horizontal surface! I did this on the inside of the cabinets, too. I could start on a horizontal surface and get the paint evened out on the roller before I went vertical. Cool, huh?

At the end of the job, I'll just throw these cheap foam rollers away. But, I always take very good care of my good brushes.

And, here are the paintings I've been working on this past week:

This one, Leslie, I touched up and re-worked a few times and I think it's finished now.

The top one is the same picture I posted a few weeks ago. I went back in and in an attempt to even out the color, obliterated most of it! So, I had to then add some color back in. You can see the final version at the bottom. This is Leslie, acrylic on canvas 11" x 14".

Since I am kinda into portraits at the moment, I thought I'd start another self-portrait. Here it is after a few days work. It's VERY ROUGH. As you can see I like to go in and first describe the lights and darks and some rough patches of color.

Later I will go in and even it out and make adjustments. [Hopefully I won't ruin it!] I do tend to overwork things. It's a constant battle for me to loosen up and let things be!

Anyway, this is Self 2009, acrylic on canvas 11" x 14", just the beginning!

STUDIO CABINETS

My husband Darrell and I spent the weekend working on the cabinets for the south wall of my upstairs studio.

I first had to go through and move everything out of the way. I put all the junk from that end at the other end. I packed up my painting stuff and moved it. The studio is a mess! I can't believe all the 'junk' I have.

I need to re-think where I keep everything and what configuration would work best.

I've been using the above white set of flat files, they were on the other side of the room. But I found that a lot of the paper I buy wouldn't fit in it, so I recently purchased a larger flat file. I wanted them built into the cabinets. So, I took them apart and cleaned them and sanded them and primed the outside front. That's them, in dark red, now set in place in the cabinets. Eventually they will be the same color as the cabinets, a muddy clay brown color. In the blank spots above and below the built-in flat files will be drawers. As you can see we stopped before the doors, drawers or top were made. Hopefully, it won't be too much longer before Darrell can get to them. In the meantime, I can be painting what is there. I also plan to strip down the white flat files and paint them the same brown color.

Over to the right is Lucy-dog in her little bed. [She's all tuckered out from all the hard work this weekend.]

And lastly I'd like to say that I am so fortunate to have such a generous and talented husband [who just happens to have a woodshop below my studio!] Thank you Darrell.

LINEAR PARK & OTHER

Here's the painting I've been working on this week. I changed it quite a few times, in fact, now that I've looked at it here I see something that I must fix! One of the things was the sky, I wanted a little more drama than I had originally planned.

I remember the day I took the reference photo for this. It was several years ago when we lived in Renton. I was coming home on a beautiful autumn day when I noticed all the vivid orange maple leaves that were covering the park, Linear Park, and the street that runs parallel with to it. The leaves were probably six inches deep in the street. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing. It was spectacular! And I didn't have my camera.

We lived just a few blocks away so I hurried home and found my camera and headed back. I couldn't believe my eyes, the street sweepers were there cleaning the leaves from the street. What poor luck. I hurriedly took some photos, but the light had changed and the leaves were gone. But, the image has remained with me for quite a while. I love autumn.

I painted the image that was the gloomier, more emotional image. Someday, I'll do the one that's only in my head, with the brighter colors and the bright sun.

This is Linear Park, acrylic on panel, 12.5" by 20".

This next image is just at the first stage, I've got a lot of work to go on it. But, I was tempted to leave it as is, but as I looked at it, after a while, I noticed some things that need fixing.

This is Leslie, acrylic on canvas 11" by 14".

ANOTHER 17TH & ROXBURY PAINTING

Well, I think I'm finished with this one, finally. I did this scene because I needed to work on shadows. I really struggled with it. I probably re-did the walls at least four times, before it finally sank in and I got it.

I've spent the last four weeks looking at shadows in real life, in photos, and in other paintings. I had to decide how I wanted them to look and figure out how to paint them like that.

I like that it's a little surreal in places.

Am I getting tired of this building yet? I don't think so!

This is acrylic on canvas 20" by 30".

RENTON RIVER DAYS AWARD

I was pleasantly surprised earlier this week when my husband brought the mail in and there was a letter from the Renton Art Show Committee stating that one of the paintings I entered into the show had won a prize, and enclosed were complimentary tickets to the preview party.

Last night was the reception preview party. Even though they don't start it until the ungodly hour of 8pm, we went and had a good time. There is a real nice spread of hors d'hoeuvres, wine and dessert. Which is where we both headed first! Me to the wine and Darrell to the food line.

It was a very nice show with some very impressive pieces. I saw some people I haven't seen for a year and we had a nice time.

I'm always impressed with the quality of the young students that show their work. It makes me wish that I had started out so young and winning awards. It might have inspired me to head in a different direction in my life and become a professional artist.

This is the painting that won the Jurors award of $200 "Little 17th & Roxbury". It's acrylic on canvas, 12" x 9". This has been on of my favorite paintings since I painted it. When I put it into the show I was reluctant to have it purchased so I placed a very high price on it. I liked it so much I did another version that is 20" x 30". That's why this one is called 'little'.

Maybe I should enter the larger one into a contest, also.

SKETCHING IN PORT TOWNSEND

Darrell, Lucy-dog and I spent the weekend in Port Townsend, Washington because Darrell was teaching a woodworking class at the Port Townsend School of Woodworking.

While they were setting up, on Friday afternoon, Lucy and I sat in front of the school and sketched.

Above are two of the better ones.

The top sketch shows Darrell (seated on bench in red) and the owners of the school talking about the class beforehand.

The bottom sketch is of the NCO houses that are across the way from the school.

These are on 9" x 9" Super Deluxe Aquabee papers. I used a Pigma pen and then went back and colored with watercolors.

I haven't used watercolors in a long while. They are great en plein air.

After Darrell finished we went for a really nice walk around the gun emplacements.

It was a very warm, sunny and relaxing weekend.

CLASSICAL ELEMENTS FINISHED

Finally finished with Four Oceans Press Classical Elements Exchange. Yeah!

I started this project with the idea of portraying the elements as we encounter them today in our urban environments. We have limited exposure to the elements, or have tamed them for our convenience.

This last one, Fire, was the one I had the initial idea about. We seldom use fire in our urban lives. Even cooking, we use heat, not fire; and with the microwave, we don't even use heat!

FIRE - DAY TWO

It was a busy day today. I made two passes through the press with the forty sheets of paper. So, there are now four colors on the paper. Tomorrow I'll do the key block, which outlines everything in black.

I'll let them dry over the weekend and then I've just got to sign and number them and stuff them in clearbags. Oh, and write a colophon to accompany it.

Almost there! It will be nice to be finished with this series.

I'm really looking forward to receiving back everyone elses prints. I plan to sit down and look through them all and see each participants four prints together.

FIRE - FIRST DAY PRINTING

I finalized my drawing for my last Classical Element, 'Fire' on Sunday and carved the key block. Yesterday, I transfered the keyblock carving to two more blank lino-blocks. I decided on the colors this morning and carved the first color block.

Today, I finally got ink on paper and just finished the first run.

I set my Zune to play just 'rock', turned up the stereo and set about the repetitive job of inking the block and running the papers through the press. It's mindless but fun. The hardest part is to keep from completely zoning out and not repeating each step exactly the same.

I must reiterate: I love Akua inks, I love my Ettan press and I love the registration system I learned from PrintMakerGuy on Wetcanvas, Andrew Gott.

I think I'm finally getting the hang of it.

I'm going back up to the studio now to carve the next color block.

See ya soon!

PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION

I hung some of my paintings upstairs at a coffee shop in Ballard (northwest Seattle) today. They will be available to see through the end of July. Thank you to my friend, Sue Danielson (there is a link to her website on the page under 'Links') who curates the artwork for

Java Jahn's Coffee

1438 Leary Way NW, Seattle, WA 98107

206-789-9441

They are open M-F 5am to 6:30pm, S-S 7am to 7pm.

Stop by, have some great coffee, go upstairs and view the show.

Let me know what you think! Thanks.

I am so pleased to have them out in the world!

FABRIC FINDS IN DENVER

One of the things I used to do all the time was go Quilt Shop Hopping. I love fabric! I love collecting it. I haven't been fabric buying in a long time. So, while Darrell was busy in Denver I went to a few quilt shops in the area. Having a gps in the car made it extremely easy. I had a whole list of shops, but after I went a little nuts at the first one and spent too much money, I had to cut back on my list. I didn't pace myself. So, I only went to two shops, The Great American Quilt Factory and Fabric Expressions. Nice stores but I think their selection was down a little, maybe due to the economy. I did my best to stimulate them, though!

In the past what I would do with the fabrics, when we got home, is make a quilt commemorating our trip. [See Berkeley quilt] So, now my mission is to come up with a design for Denver. Hmmmm.

Stay tuned.

DENVER TRIP

Wow, my Mom just pointed out to me it's been a while since I updated my blog.

We went to Denver last week, got back on Sunday and was back to work on Monday. So, I didn't have a lot of time to paint (or anything).

I wasn't sure if I should post about our trip or not. I started this blog with the idea it would be about my painting and art making. It has evolved.

We had a good time at the Denver Art Museum. Unfortunately it was covered in tarps because the brand-new roof had been leaking. A very cool building. We'll have to go back when its fixed.

We saw:

a show of posters from the 1960's San Francisco area. Then we wandered around looking at their collection of Western paintings, a nice collection of European paintings (Pissarro, Monet, and folks) a very cool Hieronymus Bosch (strange) even some Gustav Baumann prints. Darrell enjoyed the furniture, there were a few nice pieces by William Morris. There was even a chair exhibit, showing examples of different styles through history.

We went to Denver because Darrell was conducted a workshop for a group of woodworkers. So, on Saturday I was on my own for most of the day. I took the advice of a friend and went to the Mile High Flea Market. I didn't go to shop so much as people-watch. I put a long lens on the camera and wandered around trying to get candid pictures of interesting-looking people without their knowledge. I want to use the pictures for painting portraits, so I was looking for people with no hats and no glasses (I hate painting glasses). Such people are pretty rare, especially on a very sunny morning. The light that morning was very intense, just the way I like it. I did get some photos I can use, and I got some interesting photos of some of the stuff for sale there.

Oh, and I did buy a very interesting African Mask. This is the second mask I've acquired, the first, a 'Day of the Dead' type mask I got in Galveston, probably 10 years ago, while on a side trip from Quilt Market in Houston. I guess this means I'm on my way to having a collection. (nooooo).

Vanilla Houses #4

I've spent the last few days working on this, the fourth painting in my series I'm calling Vanilla Houses. So called, because of their common blandness (among other reasons). Its acrylic on canvas, 24" by 30".

I'll have to let this one rest for a while and come back to it with fresh eyes.

Let me know what you think - what doesn't work, what does....

Thanks!

BOXED ME REDONE

After I loaded up the image of my self-portrait, "Boxed Self" I saw some things I didn't like. So, I've spent the last few days re-working it. I took out the black outline off the boxes, and changed a few other things, one of which was lightening up the shadow over the eye and doing away with so much yellow. Which is funny, because the very first addition, which I don't have a picture of, has the eye box mostly all yellow. I thought that worked very well. But, I kept fussing with it until the yellow left didn't look quite right. It needed to either add more yellow or totally eliminate the yellow...and of course, I went for the more realistic look.

I like it alot better, now. It's still acrylic on canvas 8"x10"

Here are the two, side by side:

BOXED SELF

Sifting through my photo files again, I came across a photo I took of myself. Using it as a starting point, I painted this today.
It's an acrylic painting on canvas 8"x 10".

INTO PORTRAITS

I saw a photo in the Seattle Times the other day, and thought it was a very interesting face. Turns out it's Geitner, the photo is by Applewhite of Associated Press.

I've been thinking about painting faces for a while now. So, when I saw the photo I had to cut it out. This might be a copyright infringement, so .....shhh.

I've got an inquiry into AP for permission (I didn't tell them it was after-the-fact).

I never did hear how the Obama 'HOPE' poster controversy turned out.

This is acrylic on canvas 12"x 9".

Since I don't want to get all tangled up in copyright infringments, I took a look through my own photo files. For years, I've been taking pictures of people and squirrelling them away with the idea I could use them for portraits.

When I look at family and friends pictures I have a hard time seeing just a face. I see memories and how they looked years ago and I find it very difficult to actually paint them. I've tried, and it just doesn't work! So, I need photos of people I'm not close to....

Here's Jenna. This is a photo I took in September of 2005.

This is an acrylic painting 8"x 10".

I like the Geitner painting better because it's a little more abstract. I started out wanting to make a very abstract painting. But, next thing I knew, it was this!

But, I think Jenna turned out really nice, too. I started it thinking I would get very defined with her 'edges and planes', but again, it turned out more realistic than I had intended. The under painting was very plane-like. I think that is what ultimately makes it a good painting.

Should I fight this tendency to go realistic? or go with the flow?