Art at the Library

I am excited to have an exhibit at the Salem Public Library July 5 - 30. You can see 8 of my paintings there, including these.

What a great way to enjoy art...while reading a book.

Snoqualmie Falls

I've been working on some new paintings. Here is the latest one that I finished. It's currently hanging in my living room so that I can collect my thoughts on it. I love putting a painting on the wall as soon as it's ready so that I can look at it, ponder it and decide what I think about it. I'm not sure if this is normal or not. If I had more artist friends, I might check. Sometimes I will change something about a painting once I have time to look at it on the wall. I usually leave them as they are. I'm not a fan of editing. This is true about most types of editing. Not a fan. I like the big picture, I like the process but I do not enjoy going through and checking for errors. I could probably work on that.

When I started painting this, I had just finished a few different fruit/veggie paintings that had not a trace of blue, so I was literally giddy about painting with blue. I didn't know that it was possible to have such strong emotions about a color. I grinned from ear to ear as I was putting blue onto the canvas. I must have really missed that color.

This painting took some twists and turns along the way, but I think that I'm happy with the finished product.

I took the original photo at Snoqualmie Falls in Washington. It's a beautiful place. I hope some of that beauty is evident in this painting.

Opal Creek

Opal Creek is the first commissioned piece that I have done. I did this for a woman that had first seen my art at the Salem Saturday Market in 2005. The following summer she commissioned a piece for her house. I used a picture that one of her friends had taken years before underwater at Opal Creek. She loved the original photograph, and she had started to incorporate colors from the photograph into her home. It was a treat to do this painting for her. The painting was 30" x 40". I tried to give the idea that the rocks were underwater, so there seems to be a lot of movement in this piece. There is a high level of detail, as I wanted each rock to be unique and stand apart from the others. The beautiful colors are quite true to the photograph.

Sailboats for Finn

My little boy, Finn, is the light of my life. His smile and laugh are contagious. It's hard to not feel joy when he is near. He radiates hope and energy. He lives in the moment, which is something I strive to do. He challenges my creativity, and he inspires me every day. He even inspired me before he was born.

I did very little painting when I was pregnant with Finn, because breathing oil paint and paint thinner fumes is not a good idea for a pregnant lady. I was determined, however, to paint something for Finn before he was born.

It didn't take me very long to settle on the theme of Sailboats for his bedroom. There is something about sailboats that speaks to me. I find them to be calming. And magical. When I see a sailboat, I wonder where they have been and where they are going. I think of adventure, and I think of the ocean. I love the ocean. If I could live anywhere but here, it would be next to the ocean. Like painting, being near the ocean makes me feel alive and at peace.

I ended up painting two sailboat pictures for Finn. I love the fact that my little boy has original art in his bedroom. Yes, it's Mom Art, but it's original art. He also has a boat steering wheel and a colorful world map that says "Finn's World". He's already learning about where he lives and where India is. He can show you where the Penguins are and where the Blue Whales spend their time. He can also point out where his paintings hang on the wall.

I hope these paintings inspire Finn to dream. I think that's perhaps the magic of sailboats. I want my little boy to dream and create and become inspired to do whatever it is that he wants to do. Just like he inspires me.

Searching for inspiration

I'm not a photographer. I don't know anything about shutter speed, pixels or lighting. But I seem to carry my camera with me everywhere I go searching for something interesting to paint. I find myself climbing mountains or strolling through towns for the purpose of finding inspiration. Anytime my husband and I are in a new town, whether it's 60 or 600 miles away, I search for places where I can find places that might look interesting on canvas. When I was 5 months pregnant, I went to Washington DC with my husband. He was on business, I was much more official "art" business. While he worked all day inside, I walked around town, exploring with my camera. The 90 degree temperature and my pregnant belly did not slow me down. I've convinced my husband, who does not enjoy heights, to take a tram up a mountain in Palm Springs so that I could search for something intriguing with my camera. I've fallen in the mud, tripped on rocks, got myself lost on a trail and was chased by while dogs (well, maybe not that last part) all in the name of finding inspiration. It feels like a lost cause sometimes, because of the thousands of pictures I've taken over the years, I use a small fraction of them to paint pictures. It's hard to know what will hit my creative nerve once I see the pictures at home.

These are some of the pictures I've taken that will likely never make it to canvas. If you are curious, they include San Francisco, various places on the Oregon coast, Acapulco, Newport, Eugene, Washington DC, Palm Springs & Palm Desert, Snoqualmie Falls (Washington), Seattle, Multnomah Falls and Smith Rock.

It's too bad that I make it a practice to not paint pictures with people in them because most of the pictures I've taken lately involve a handsome 1-year old boy named Finn. And I find him to be quite the inspiration.

Painting by Numbers

Number of minutes spent painting today: 80
Shades of red used: 3
Shades of green: 1
Shades of blue: 0
Total hues used today: 11
Cost of 1.25 ounce bottle of yellow oil paint: $7
Paint brushes involved: 8
Paintings I've done that hang on the walls of our home: 12
Art by other people: 4
Paintings completed today: 1
Paintings completed to date: over 100

One brush stroke at a time

Paint on my nose and on the doorknobs is a good sign, at least in our house. It means that something creative is happening in my painting dungeon, or as it's more commonly known, the garage. I was suddenly misplaced when my son was born. We decided that he needed a bedroom more than I needed a painting room. Parents are known for making these difficult decisions...

My new veggie painting is finished. Now if it only had a name. Naming paintings is my most least favorite part of painting. It's high on my short list of not-fun things involved in the artistic process, along with scrubbing paint off my nose. I would call each of them "untitled" if I could get away with it. But even "untitled" is a name.

New veggie painting #2 is underway. I had some serious pleasure painting broccoli today, but green is quite the stubborn color. There will be other delicious foods involved...carrots, tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower. And some not so yummy cabbage, but it adds an interesting color so I'm including it despite objections from my taste buds.

I keep reminding myself "a little bit is better than none" as I try to squeeze in time painting between working full-time and being a mom to a toddler. I'm trying to take the advice that I give people who are struggling with exercise. A little exercise is better than none. Little by little the paint adds to the canvas.

Fussy Duck

I'm so excited to be renting space at the Fussy Duck, a very cool shop in Salem that has all sorts of art, crafts, collectibles, etc. I have a 4' by 5' space with original artwork, prints and greeting cards. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to have a "storefront" for my work.

My little boy, Finn, is now 15 months old. I'm no longer able to use the "new mom" excuse to put everything in my life on hold, so I intend to get some painting done this year. I love painting, and I did very little in 2010. I wasn't able to do much in 2009, as I spent most of the year pregnant (breathing oil paint fumes is a bad idea for an expectant mama). I feel balanced and calm when I am painting. I always encourage my health students at Chemeketa to create wellness goals and keep the 6 dimensions of wellness in mind (physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, environmental). We often think about the physical dimension of wellness when we think about health, but there are these other important aspects that impact our wellness. I have a few wellness-related goals for 2011, and painting is at the top of my list. I hope to share my progress here.

I started on a veggie painting today. I did a few fruit paintings and 1 vegetable painting a while ago and had plans for more when I embarked on my journey of motherhood. So I'm picking up where I left off. Don't worry, mom, I will still be working on your 4x5 painting. Promise. This new painting has carrots, peppers, an onion, broccoli and peas, among other things. I'm most excited about the peas. Art that makes you go mmmm....