3/26/16 - 4/2/16 Last week to see "Disrupted!"

This is the last week to see my show. Someone whose opinion I really value said "this is different from what I am usually seeing in paintings - I'm glad I came by. Very refreshing." A reminder that it is at Gallery 114, 1100 NW Glisan between 11th and 12th across from Blick's. We're open Thursday - Sunday from noon - 6:00 p.m. I'll be personally hosting the last day, next Saturday.

The Member's Pop Up Show is also up, with work by members Richard Boswell, Linda Tross, Heather McGeachy and Jeff Leake.

Sailboat and Osprey, study for "What If?"

Sailboat and Osprey, study for "What If?"

3/22/16 "Flight of the Wild Swan" finds new home

I am so thrilled that "Flight of the Wild Swan" has found a new home. It was painted upon return from a trip to Ireland, where I was mesmerized by the whiteness of swan feathers against the dark waters. I did a series of 9 swan paintings - this was the largest at 30"x40". I found the fortress of Kinsale was one of our most important stops on the trip, even amongst the host of beautiful, inspiring and compelling places we visited. The site of the last stand of the Irish against English rule, the clan chiefs were beaten solidly and fled the country with Ireland, the clans never to rise again. The leadership's exodus was known as the "flight of the wild geese." I have Irish heritage, and the entire trip, especially Kinsale, was very poignant for me.

3/20/16 Guest comments on "Disrupted"

Here is a comment from a guest to the gallery for my show - I felt so honored. It is a gift beyond words when the work resonates so deeply. There are many reasons to paint, but one of them for me is the hope that a painting will speak to someone and bring up thoughts and feelings that are uniquely their own. The show is there until April 2nd, Thursday - Sunday from noon - 6 at Gallery 114 on NW 11th and Glisan, right across from Blick's. I hope you will come and see it/experience it too.

3/4/16 The Morning After - No Regrets At All!

The morning after the show! I was too tired to post yesterday, but it was a huge turnout for First Thursday. Thanks to Everyone who came. My favorite part was all the opportunities to talk with people (whom I often had not met before) about the work. People were interested in the materials and the process, and also very engaged with the thoughts that came up, such as the response of women to their life situations (was Diana's reaction to Actaeon seeing her nude justified, for example), the parallel of painting to dreaming, and the animal nature of claw-footed bathtubs. So fun!

If you weren't able to make it, the show is up through April 2, and Gallery 114 is open from noon-6 p.m. Thursday - Sunday. I have some specific times I'll be at the gallery (Friday, 3/18, 3-6; Saturday 3/12, noon - 6; Saturday 4/2, noon-6). April 2nd is take down day, so if you are coming that day, please come before 5, or the show will probably be in the process of coming down.

2/26/16 Keepin On Keepin On

These preparation days never seem to go as planned! I had planned a full day in the studio yesterday with no interruptions, but instead had help come forward to assist with getting supports and framing done. Of course, I said yes! But no painting until after dinner. Here's an earlier image for the show.

2016 Diana and Actaeon study.jpg

1/9/16 Picking up after the holidays!

Literally. Spent a good portion of today putting my studio back together from the flurry of making Christmas gifts, finishing up (at least for the moment) a big painting that was on the wall, and getting the new music situation in order. Disrupting the studio in any way always means a day of resettling. Wish it wasn't needed, but it's hard to move forward when you can literally hardly move in the space!

11/30/15 Comparisons

As of today, I have drawn twice as many daily drawings as I did by the end of December last year. With only 12 more drawings, I will have drawn a daily drawing for half of the year. This has become an incredibly important part of my practice, and also of transitioning out of my current work into the next step of making art my primary work. These drawings have mostly been small little musings and doodlings, and I am grateful that these small things stand in the balance with a weight and significance all their own. You can see my posts on the Facebook page for A Drawing a Day.

10/24/15 Jessica Jackson Hutchins "Confessions" →

Just got back from seeing Jessica Jackson Hutchins’ exhibit at The Lumber Room on NW 9th, and the Cooley Gallery at Reed College (yes, two venues). The Lumber Room show knocked my socks off. Plus, it is in the Lumber Room, which showed off her pieces with all the gravitas and sheer beauty of the space itself. This portion of the exhibit has been collected by owner Sarah Miller Miegs over the past 20 years, resulting in a certain sensibility and palate that gives the grouping a noticeably cohesive sense. I was struck by the emotional depth and resonance here, especially in the sculptures; robust and chewy at some points (Two Hearts), at other times poignant ("Stylite" and "Whole Mess of Tears")  and surprisingly delicate and maternal in "Rope Stanza."

The Cooley gallery pieces were brought together from Hutchins’ galleries in New York and London. They are individually wonderful to look at ("Watches," 'Bored to Death" and "Third Eye" especially), but for me, when everything in the exhibit was taken together, they weren't as compelling a fit as the show on the west side of town – just had a more visceral response to the pieces at the Lumber Room.

The exception was the group of small works in Reed's academic library next to the gallery; these elevated the entire show to new heights. These objects – constructed around beer bottles, beer cartons and pills – seemed to be the stage for the title of the show. Encased in glass, much like archeologically recovered artifacts and surrounded by books such as “The Confessions of St. Augustine,” these pieces were at the heart of the exhibit. "Darkness," "Daily Pills," "Lowlands," "Couple" and "Candy Dish" were well worth the extended time needed to really look at them. As if wrested from burial grounds, they embodied shards of old memories, fragments of ancient states of mind and body offered up out of the muck for some sort of preservation, contemplation, perhaps absolution and maybe, just maybe, redemption.

Go if you can - open until November 8th. The Lumber Room has more limited hours. Portland is fortunate to have this artist here, yet it may be hard to see Hutchins' work unless you are in New York, London, or at her recent show in Rome.

10/22/15 Women & art →

I appreciate this article. My appreciation comes from my own framework of being a female artist., although not a street artist – the perspective on this was very engaging. Likewise the enormous art works.

It also led me to question – does my world view encompass enough sensitivity to gender and its implications?  Am I listening enough to and for the stories of  people that aren't the same as I am, and exploring ideas that are not the same as my own? Have I taken enough initiative to form a broad and inclusive base of understanding? An unendingly mysterious and energizing search. An interesting and engaging article.

http://hyperallergic.com/188992/why-arent-women-street-artists-just-street-artists/