Still Battling the Missing Muse Blues

I have finally given up waiting for the next big thing to strike me, and I am just painting whatever happens. The top piece is on paper, and the dark spots on the upper part of the paper are actually holes I poked with my favorite sharp clay tool. The lower piece is a 10x10 addition to my large women doing unexpected things series. I will not be showing that series until May of 2011 at Local Color. I do have all the pieces on my website though.

Speaking of my website, I just spent almost a week with my website down because my website company had a huge meltdown. What a mess. I am glad to have it back up again. You don't realize how often you refer people to your website until you don't have it.

I just heard today that I won one of the prizes for the Pathways for Women raffle at Musings. I must get in there tomorrow and pick something out. They have something like 25 donations from Musings' artists.

Something Different

I am not sure where this one came from, but I know it is a one time venture. The orange sections are cloth, which was fun to do. The faces are African masks. I am still seeking the next new thing.

Still Waiting

Still looking for my muse. Where is she? So, in the meantime, here is an image of a painting done last summer at the Burridge Mentor Workshop.

Where's My Muse?

I have been having a difficult time getting back into creating since my surgery. I have not gone so long without painting regularly for years. So, today I decided to try something different. I am tearing paper into little pieces and creating collages of cups and hearts. It is a lot of fun and really, really messy. I have medium all over my hands, so every piece of paper sticks to me as I am trying to place it. I will probably start painting again just to stop making such a mess. I will post a picture of one of these collages when I get them finished and photographed.

When I get stuck like this, it is usually because I am ready to do something new and have not decided what it is yet. Tomorrow is the experimental painters group at my house, so hopefully something will inspire me during that.

Art Collector

I had a lovely experience yesterday that I want to share. The above vessel painting was sold at Parklane Gallery to a woman who has been collecting my art almost as long as I have been selling it. She bought the first painting in 2002. Since then she has purchased several more paintings, and the interesting thing is that the subject matter of the paintings is all over the place. Her first purchases were small abstracts. Since then she has purchased still lifes and a figurative piece. There is at least one other customer who has more of my paintings, but this collector has bought them over such a long period and because of the varied subject matter, appears to be a true collector of my work. It does not appear to matter to her what the subject is. Unfortunately, as far as I can remember, I have never met her. Thank you Geraldine.

Fraker/Scott Gallery Show

Tomorrow morning I am delivering 30+ 12x12 paintings to Fraker/Scott Gallery for their 12x12 show. Art walk is November 4, and I will be there from 6:00-8:00. The show will be up for November and December. There are several other artists showing, including Mona Smiley-Fairbanks, Tracy Fraker, Lynn Scott, Nancy Thompson, Kate Steiger and Lisa JonesMoore. Come by to visit with us and see all the 12x12 paintings if you can. If you can't make it to art walk, there will be a reception later in the month. For more information see www.frakerscottgallery.com.

A New Painting At Last!

Well, I finally made it back into the studio for more than a few minutes. I finished up a lot of paintings that had been sitting around for while, but have only posted one here. It is for the heart show I will have at Local Color in February of 2011 and is 18x18. It felt good to get back to work, but I am still not feeling really inspired. I think I just have to keep at it until inspiration strikes. If nothing else works, my experimental painting group meets on November 8.

I'm Still Here

I hope you haven't given up on me. I am 3 and 1/2 weeks post surgery, and I am doing really well. I have painted a few small paintings, but nothing has been photographed, so I have nothing to show you. I hope to get back in the studio regularly this week. It is difficult to get back into a routine when everything has been focused on my back for so long. I am far from recovered, but I should be able to get back to painting, and will be very happy to do so.

I looked around my studio yesterday and realized that probably 80% of the paintings I have hanging in there are figurative. The other 20% are vessels. I wonder what is going to happen next. I won't know until I get back in their and start creating.

Recovery

So, you have heard nothing from me since day one of the studio tour, which was ages ago. Well, two days after the tour I had back surgery. Since then I have done nothing but work on recovering from that. Today, which is 12 days since my surgery, I am going to go to my studio and attempt to paint. I don't imagine I will get much done since I have very little energy, but I won't know until I try. I actually want to get a few small things done for Musings Artist Inspired for the holiday season. Small will be a good place to start I think.

Day One of the Studio Tour

I sold this 18x24 piece at the tour yesterday. Thank you Eiya!

One More Day Until the Tour!

Okay, yesterday I said those were the last images, but I actually have a couple more that were just finished too. So, here they are. I am as ready as I am going to get for the tour. My husband is still doing the heavy lifting, but since I can't help with that, I am about done.

Edmonds Art Studio Tour

Only two days until the tour!!!! I am still painting. Actually, my husband said he is not taking anymore photographs, so I guess I am done. We needed to put the equipment away. The above are the latest and last.

Five Days to the Edmonds Studio Tour

I am getting really excited about the tour and that it is only five days away. I hope that you will all come and visit me and see all my new paintings. This is one of the newest ones.

Matthew Robert Salon Show

The show will be up at Matthew Robert Salon from September 12 through November.

Eight Days to Edmonds Studio Tour

I can't believe I only have 8 days until the studio tour. Instead of getting my studio ready, I keep going in there and painting. When I paint, that means I have paintings that need to be photographed. So, how can I put away the photo equipment that is all over, when I might need to photograph something so I can sell it? Then, after it is photographed, I need to put the hardware on it and sign it. That means I cannot put away all the hardware and associated equipment. Seems like I should stop painting, but I am onto something new and can't control it!

Something New!

I am very excited about the new painting I created yesterday. It is quite different from anything I have done before. It starts with lots of textured paper. Actually it started with a completely different painting that I painted over. Since completing this one, I have created four more boards with very textured beginnings to create similar work. I feel a new series coming on! Click on the image to get a better look at the texture.

Edmonds Art Studio Tour

It is time to start plugging the Edmonds Art Studio Tour. It is only two weeks from now on September 18 & 19. I can't believe it is so close. I have been working on getting ready for it, but not fast enough. I really look forward to this event. It is my favorite because I do not have to leave my own studio and can talk to people for two days about my art. It is a bonus that I also sell my art. Go to www.edmondsartstudiotour.com for more information on the tour. There are 42 artists at 21 studios.

I am very glad that I have this to look forward to, because just three days after the tour I am having back surgery. Oh no! Well, I prefer to think about the part where I can walk without pain, without numb feet and without pain medication. There is this little part where I need 6 months to recover that has me worried. I am sure that I will find a way to paint within the first month. I am pretty sure that I cannot go more than a couple weeks without painting.

Studio Pictures

I decided today to take a few pictures of my studio to share with you. This was probably motivated by today's trip to The Paper Source, where I bought several stunning new papers to work with. I, of course, have more paper than I will ever use in my lifetime, but must have more. The first image is of the paints and brushes that I use everyday. The second is one wall of my studio. I have slatwall, and I hang each painting as it is finished and it eventually goes from there to a show. Or, some of them actually end up going back into a pile that I repaint. The table at the bottom of the picture is where I have pieces drying that I am currently working on. The third picture is of the shelving behind where I sit to do my painting. It has all my really good stuff like polymer clay, metal, painted papers, yarn, etc. The fourth picture is of some of the beautiful paper I purchased today. I can't wait to use it. Watch for it!

Vessels at Fraker/Scott Gallery

The Vessels show is up now at the Fraker/Scott Gallery, and it will be up until August 28th. I will be attending First Thursday, and there will also be a reception on August 15th. Would love to see you there. The show is going to be fabulous. Check out www.frakerscottgallery.com. They have a slide show of their artists' work, including mine. No, that is not a halo behind my head. I have no idea why that portion of my painting decided to glow.

Large Women Series

These are two in my large women series that I have been working on since the Burridge mentor workshop. The second one is "Those Who Wish to Sing Will Always Find a Song. It is on the painting, but you can't read it on this image. They are both 18x24 and $525.

Some of my latest paintings

All of these paintings were started at the Bob Burridge Mentor Workshop I attended earlier this month and completed at home. I like the first one for the vibrant color. The second piece is a new figurative look I am experimenting with, and I particularly like the layers and texture. The third piece is one of those that I think will probably not result in a series, but I just like the feel of it. They are all 12x12 and $225.

ArtSplash

This weekend is ArtSplash, which is an ArtistsConnect show that takes place at ArtWorks in Edmonds. I spent four hours there yesterday being artist-in-action. I will also be there today from 2-5 p.m. doing the same thing. I really enjoy doing this primarily because it always gives me an opportunity to spend time with the other members of ArtistsConnect. They are the ones who are usually observing the artists-in-action. There are, of course, guests observing as well, but more artists. I spent time yesterday getting to know artists that I had not previously spent time with, and also catching up with some I had not seen much lately. So, it was time well spent.

Last night was the grand opening reception at Fraker/Scott, which was another opporunity to connect with old friends and make new ones. The reception was well attended and very entertaining. The high point for me was the short film by Mike O'Day. I believe it was called "A Day in the Life of a Lonely Sculptor" or something along those lines. If you know Mike, ask him to show you this film.

Robert Burridge Workshop

This is where I spent the last four days. I attended a Robert Burridge Mentor Workshop at his studio in Arroyo Grande, CA. There were only 7 students, so Bob was not having to attend to the usual 18 or 20, giving all of us more one-on-one time. His studio is situated on 9 acres and surrounded by open fields, trees, birds, cows and other critters. When the music is not playing, it is completely quiet, except for the sounds of birds. It is fabulous. The studio is surrounded by a deck, the walls are covered with Burridge paintings, and you have good music and good company. I couldn't ask for much more.

I have probably attended about 8 Burridge workshops of various lengths over the last 13 years. I never tire of absorbing his enthusiasm for all things art. He is truly a person who loves what he does. You cannot help but be inspired by him, at least I can't.

I started working on a body of work that is about large women doing things that they don't usually do. So far the paintings contain writing, such as "She used to fly only when she thought no one was looking." It is a series I will be working on for quite some time I think.

One of the most interesting things that occurred during the workshop was watching Bob create the centerpiece for his upcoming show at the San Luis Obispo Museum. It was amazing. He knew exactly what he wanted to do, threw himself at the painting (after organizing his space perfectly for that painting) and created a large painting in about 30 minutes.

I should also mention that Bob's wife, Kate, provided breakfast, lunch and snacks everyday, and they were delicious. They also provided a selection of California wines.

ArtSplash

ArtSplash in Edmonds is coming up next weekend. It begins during Art Walk on July 15 and runs through July 18. Thirty Five artists will be showing their work and there will be artists working on site, including me. You can catch me on Saturday from 10:00-2:00 and on Sunday from 2:00-5:00. For more information on hours go to www.artistsconnect.com and click on ArtSplash.

Fraker/Scott Gallery

I am going to have several paintings in the Vessel show at Fraker/Scott Gallery during the month of August. I hope to see all of you at First Thursday on August 5th. See www.frakerscottgallery.com for information on the gallery.

More New Work

I also have a couple of new entries in the Three Women series. This one is 18x24 and $525. The mother of a friend gave me a bead made of jasper, which I used in the figure on the right. This painting was created specifically to use that bead.

New Work

I am obsessed with painting vessels for the last few weeks. I think this is the last of the series though, as it is time to move onto something else. I may revisit this subject though. The above image is 12x18 and $295, and it is my current favorite.

New Work

This is a new 12x12 piece that was the result of an experiment I attempted after reading about it in one of my art books. First, I covered the panel with pieces of printed paper, then covered it lightly with gesso. When that was dry, I added another layer of various colored papers and once again covered it with gesso. When that dried, I tore pieces of the paper off and sanded the papers until I liked the look of the piece. The rick rack was already on the panel as a part of a previous painting. It was a lot of fun to work on, but the dust from the sanding made a terrible mess in my studio and made me cough. For that reason, this will probably be a one of a kind painting. I do really like it though.

Fraker/Scott Gallery

Be sure to check out the new Fraker/Scott Gallery during the First Thursday Art Walk in July. The owners Tracy Fraker and Lynn Scott will be showing their work, and Mike O'Day will be showing his whimsical sculptures. The gallery is located at 121 Prefontaine Pl. S. in Pioneer Square. I will be participating in the August show, so I hope you will come then as well. All of the Fraker/Scott friends are very excited about this new venture.

Astoria Show

The reception at Art & Cultural Exchange in Astoria was last Saturday night. It was a lovely space and Julia Carter had done an impressive job of hanging my work with that of a local fiber artist by the name of Constance. They truly enhanced each other. There was a nice art walk crowd, and Astoria seems to be a very "arty" city. Thank you to Barbara Mallon for putting me together with Julia for this show.

Julia and her husband Matt started the Art & Cultural Exchange in Astoria to serve the art needs of disenfranchised adults and children of the area. They have workshops for foster children and seniors in nursing homes, as well as on site programs for prisoners. They also offer workshops for the general public.

Arts & Cultural Exchange

I have a show coming up this month in Astoria at the Arts & Cultural Exchange. I plan to be there for the opening reception on Saturday, June 12. The images above are a couple of the pieces that will be included in the show. They are showing a sample of all the work I do.

Artists Garage Sale

Saturday was this year's wildly successful Artists Garage Sale. I just love this event and participate every year. I am so prolific that I cannot hope to sell all my paintings. I take those that have not sold, or that I have not painted over, and sell them for at least75% off and sometimes more. It just makes room for me to paint lots more paintings, and that is, after all, what it is all about. I am in it for the joy the process brings me. Over 50 paintings went to new homes this year. Then, at the end of the sale, I put some things on a free table, and they went home with some of the other participating artists. They were things that had been with me way to long.

Working Hard

I am hard at work (you know of course that it isn't really work) in the studio today and will be again tomorrow. I am in the zone and producing like crazy. Hopefully I will have several new paintings to show you next week. At the moment they are all in various states of incompleteness. Sometimes I produce series and sometimes I only paint one or two of a particular idea. Currently I am hooked on vessels. I was working on goddesses for a few weeks, and then all of a sudden I looked at one of my vessel paintings, and I was back on vessels. Hopefully I will return to the goddesses one day when the vessel train is complete. Pix coming soon.

I met Julia and Matthew Carter of the Arts & Cultural Exchange in Astoria last Wednesday. They drove to Federal Way to meet me and pick up the paintings that will be displayed in their gallery in June. The reception will be on June 12.

Finally, a New Image

The shells at the bottom of this image do not show very well, but at least it is something new to post here. It is 12x36, mixed media on canvas.

Fraker/Scott Gallery

I just realized that I have not written a post about the gallery being opened by my friends Tracy Fraker and Lynn Scott. As noted above, it will be called the Fraker/Scott Gallery, and it is located in the Toshiro Kaplan building in Pioneer Square. They are planning a show of vessels and one of Asian influenced art, and my work will be included in these shows. I am excited for Tracy and Lynn, and am also excited about showing my work in a Pioneer Square gallery. I will update my blog with all the exciting details of the opening of the gallery in June. Check it out at www.frakerscottgallery.com.

Painting Spree

After a week of not being able to get into the studio at all, I spent the last three days in my studio. It has been a long time since I have had so much studio time. It was very productive time too. I am currently working on a series of goddesses, as well as a series with fish. The goddesses are an attempt to find the figurative style I want. Unfortunately, though I like the first of the series, it is more realistic than I am seeking to produce. I imagine there are going to be a lot more painted before I find the look I really want since I have been doing this off and on for about 4 years now. I have decided that I am just going to keep painting figures until I get there. I will publish an image of the first goddess as soon as my husband takes the photos. I plan to show the goddess series for my featured show at Parklane Gallery in November. Knowing how I operate though, I could change my mind in October and have to struggle to get a show together for November. I have not had a featured show at Parklane Gallery since December of 2006, and it is about time I did.

Kirkland Art Studio Tour

The Kirkland Art Studio Tour has now come and gone. It was very successful for me and for my host, Phyllis Ray. I spent the weekend in a gazebo in a lovely backyard, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I got to talk to lots of really nice people, who were interested in art, and, as a bonus, sold 14 paintings. Woohoo! The above is one of the paintings that has gone to a new home.

Another bonus of the weekend was that I actually read two art books. I didn't just look at the pictures, which I often do. I read them and took notes and can't wait to try some of the ideas from them.

Trish

Last Tuesday I had coffee with my friend Trish. The reason I mention it here is that it had been about two years since I saw her last. It was great to reconnect with her, and I hope that it won't be another two years before I see her again. Trish is a great artist and successful author as well. Her book on encaustics has opened many doors for her. She is traveling all over the country to do workshops, and is very close to earning her living through her art. That is always something to celebrate, so I wanted to share. Artists that can earn their living through their art are very rare among my acquaintances. Check her out at www.pbsartist.com.

Kirkland Art Studio Tour

Tomorrow and Sunday I will be participating in the Kirkland Art Studio Tour at Phyllis Ray's home. I will be located in the gazebo in her wonderful back yard. I think this is the 5th, maybe 6th year that I have participated in this tour. Although I do not live in Kirkland, I am allowed to participate since I show my work in Kirkland.

If you are interested in visiting me during the tour, you can get the map and artist information for all the participating artists at www.kirklandstudiotour.com.

Here's hoping for lots of visitors, lots of sales and lots of fun.

With an Open Heart

This is one of only a few recent paintings. Mostly I have been working on a piece for awhile and then setting it aside. If I don't finish these paintings, I am soon going to be forced out of my studio. I realized the other day that the reason this is happening is that right now I am only interested in texture. I do wonderful backgrounds that I love, and then I cannot decide what to do with them. I like the background just the way it is! So, the above painting was one of those that I loved the background so much I didn't want to add anything to it. Then I decided I would just put a heart on it, and that lets all the texture show. If you click on the image, you will get a larger image that shows the texture better. Now I must decide what to do with all the other paintings that are "unfinished".

Floral Paintings

I haven't done this type of floral painting in a long time. I did these in a recent Bob Burridge class. It was the same class where I did the landscapes shown in a recent blog. I actually had a great time doing the very loose florals and landscapes. What do you think?

Busy Time

I am going to be busy with shows for the next few months. First I have the Kirkland Art Studio Tour on Mother's Day weekend. I will be setting up in the gazebo at Phyllis Ray's home. Thank you Phyllis. If you want to come by, check the website at www.kirlandstudiotour.com for the details.

Next I have ten paintings showing at the Shoreline City Hall. They will be up from May through July.

In June I have a show at the Art & Cultural Exchange in Astoria, Oregon. My friend Barb Mallon connected me with the folks at this gallery near her home in Long Beach. Thank you Barb. There will be a cross section of my work, leaning a little toward the figurative.

In July I will once again show at Local Color in Pike Place Market. That is always a fun venue for me, and I am really looking forward to it.

I will let you know details for receptions at a later date.

Lisa Lamoreaux

I attended the C Art Gallery show yesterday with Nancy Thompson. Lisa Lamoreaux was who we went to see, but then we found Marissa Motto and a couple other artists that I knew. It is a nice small exhibit space. We had a lot of fun talking with the artists. We also watched Lisa sell three paintings to one customer in the time we were visiting. That girl is on a roll. Her paintings just fly off the wall. Check her out at Creative-Legacy.com. Her work is ethereal and just connects with me.

I bought a ceramic piece by Marissa Motto. It is something new she is doing, and I just love it. It has a matte finish and is less colorful that most of her work. I have several pieces of her other work, but this one is a wall hanging that I can put on my "Artist's Wall".

Landscapes

These are a couple of small landscapes that I painted in a recent Bob Burridge class. I just thought I would post them because they are different than any other work I have posted on this blog. I am off to deliver some paintings to Musings now, so will write more later.

I just learned that the above piece sold at the Arts Council of Snohomish Auction for $1,000. It is always best if your work gets into the live auction, which this piece did. It is interesting that the other piece I painted similar to this one sold at the Seattle Men's Chorus Auction back in September for between $1000 and $1100. In any event I am happy that they have gone to new homes of people who love them.

More Burridge

Yesterday I spent another day painting with Bob Burridge. I painted a lot of abstract landscapes which is something I have not done for years. It was great fun, and I may do more of them.

I was unable to resist the call of Burridge paintings, and I bought two of them. I do not have them yet, or I would post images of them here. No matter how much art I have in my home, I cannot stop buying what I love. Some of the art has to go in a closet, but it always comes out again. I feel so blessed to have so many friends that are artists and I can surround myself with their work.

Burridge Class

I attended a Bob Burridge one-day workshop yesterday. I have been to many of his workshops, but every time I go I learn something new. There is always at least one nugget that I take home with me to apply to my future work. This workshop was about using collage in abstract paintings. Eventually I will post a couple images of my work from the workshop, but it is not truly finished yet. Tomorrow I will have the opportunity to work with Bob once again. We will be working on very loose florals and painting without brushes. Almost every time that I attend a Burridge workshop I end up painting with my fingers! My main motivation for attending Bob's workshops is the lift I get from his enthusiasm for his work. Secondly, it always helps me to loosen up my work. I have never met anyone who loves what he does as much as Bob does. He paints everyday and has for 20 years, and still he loves it. He is a very generous instructor, sharing all that he knows about creating art. Check out his work at www.robertburridge.com.

More New Work

I do not seem to have much to say on my blog lately, but I do have several new paintings.
The top one is 12x12 on canvas. The interesting thing about it is the middle portion. I had put crackle paste on the canvas in the beginning. Then I ended up putting on so many layers of paint that the crackle paste didn't show anymore. So, I chipped off the crackle paste and got that interesting pattern underneath. It doesn't show real well in a photograph, but you should be able to see some of the pattern. This is what experimental painters do!

I like some things about the lower painting, but I am not satisfied with it. So, if any of my readers have suggestions, please let me know. My work is always "a work in progress" if I think I can improve on it.

Textures

This is one of my newer paintings. As you can see, I am into a lot of texture again. This piece is 12x12 and $215.

A Couple of Paintings for Valentine's Day

These are a couple of pieces that I just completed for Valentine's Day. I was the featured artist this month at C'est la Vie in Edmonds. I also have several heart paintings at C'est la Vie in Renton.

New Work

This is the only painting I have painted in the New Year that is not a heart! I have been painting hearts for about two weeks now for C'est la Vie in Edmonds and in Renton. I think I am finished now and can move on to something new. I am not sure what that will be though as I am once again in transition. Sometimes it takes a few days and sometimes weeks, but eventually I start a new series. It may be that it is time to start some larger paintings. I have been working up to it.

Parklane Gallery Juried Show

The Juried Contemporary Art Show will be showing at Parklane Gallery in Kirkland through the end of January. I am not represented in the show, but I helped to organize it. The juror was Lynn Scott, and it is a great show, with many mediums represented. There is even a 67" woman made of vinyl straps and wire! The reception is January 14th from 6-8 p.m. I hope to see you there.

Big Hearted

Over the past six months I have worked off and on with a 36x36 heart painting. I didn't think I would have an opportunity to show it. Then Colleen at C'est la Vie said she loved it and to bring on all my hearts. Not only did someone want to show it, the very next day someone bought it! I am now busily painting hearts, large and small, for both C'est la Vie stores. Above is the painting "Big Hearted". There are a lot of layers and textures that are not obvious from the image. My hearts will be featured at C'est la Vie during Edmonds Art Walk, January 21.