Guardino Gallery Show

I have been working on small pieces for this show. I have some work that already would fit the size requirments, but I am making all new work. I want the sizes to be the same. I am trying to maintain a similar look to what I got into the show with, but also allow myself to develope those ideas just a little bit more.

Also, the Portland Environmental Services gave me permission to use their poster as part of my "30" show. Now, that it is all planned out, I just need to get the panels and start making.

Lecture Possibility

Yesterday, Storm Tharp came into Art Media and I asking him if he had ever lectured at PSU and if he would be intersted in that. He is one of my favorite local artists and his work would be really interesting to hear him talk about. He said that he would be nervous, but would enjoy the experience. So, I told him that I would try and make it happen but that it wouldn't be until the following year. He was recently written up as an emerging artist from Modern Painters, has been in numerous shows in the area and would be an incredible asset to our program. Just saying....

Gorge Sold!

I sold my "Labor Day in the Gorge" painting today! I am sad that it is gone, but the couple that bought it seem really great. I feel as if this piece was a real stepping stone for me. I need to sort what I learned with it and use that in new work.

native plant inspiration

Recently, I was asked to participate in a fundraiser/art sale. It consists of 30 Portland artists making 30 paintings in 30 days. That is a daunting task on top of which I am trying to create my graduate body of work and work for the "Little Things" show at the Guardino Gallery. Some of my friends will also be in the show, so I decided to go for it. What scared me, was not wanting to make work that would "sell." One of the reasons why I am going to grad school is to try and break free from that idea. How then, do I use this opportunity to do something a little more "academic."
During our dinner for Jean-Marie, I was joking with some of the other MFAs about a Native Plants poster that happened to be on the table. Then, an idea ran at me. I could recreate this poster, but on these panels. Using, the codes for each plant, I could make up a new system to paint them. I am thinking maybe a basic line drawing of the plant as a base and then paint the image using similar colors. An example would be maybe the background color for "shade" plants to be blue or something that needs wet soil to have shine on part of the image. This would give me rules to follow and thus make it easier to create all of these pieces.
I would then make a key for each so that the person getting the piece would know a little bit more about this plant and its care.

Seattle Trip

On Friday, the MFA students went to Seattle. It was a concentrated day full of visiting the new sculpture garden, museums, galleries and Harrell Fletcher's Come Together event at The Henry.
I enjoyed the Richard Serra piece. I had seen some of his work in NY, but I enjoyed it being in an outside environment rather than a gallery. I also was really excited to see Mark Dion's installation. He was one of my favorite lecturers from my undergrad at the Maine College of Art. Maybe I also liked that I have been interested in plant imagery and this piece had some similar aspects to projects I have done myself. For a show in Portland, Maine, I potted and labeled common weeds to give them more importance and to try explain their value rather than their unfavorable identity. He also labeled "weeds" and these were actually then locked up in a museum.
I also was really intersted in seeing first hand Patricia Piccinini's work at Frye. She is one of my favorite contemporary artists. I enjoyed how awkward and terrified I felt around these creatures. After awhile, I started to feel comfortable with them and it makes me wonder how I can use some of these ideas of fear and safety with my own work.

Artwork at Vino Paradiso

For the month of September, my paintings are at Vino Paradiso with my best friend Michelle Ramin.
417 NW 10th ave.

Introducing My Work

I used these images to show my recent work. The first image is "Hidden Agenda." It is oil on canvas and is 24"x36". The second one is "Desperate." It is watercolor and gouache on paper. It is 18"x24". The final image is "Labor Day in the Gorge." It is watercolor and gouache on paper. It is a diptych and is 22"x60."