OCF Sign Painting crew

Last weekend we enjoyed an insiders view of the Oregon Country Fair as part of the Sign Painting crew. The preparation that goes into this 3 day weekend event is phenomenal! We were just 3 volunteers out of hundreds, working behind the scenes to create this unique festival. We camped for 2 days and were fed some amazing meals while we helped out---there were probably over 300 people just at Saturday's dinner---and the preparation has been going on all spring, & even earlier! A lot of the property is underwater during the winter months, but once the water recedes the work begins to clean up, prune back & repair the fair area and the fields & forests encompassing the acreage. We stayed near the "Cow Palace" which is sign painting headquarters and worked with 3 other painters and one supervisor. Here are some of my favorite pics from last weekend---if you right click on a photo, you can open it larger in another tab or window if you'd like to see it closer.

This was a floral arrangement that caught my eye at the area we had our meals. Love that spiral!

As we were leaving the meal area after breakfast our first morning there, this lovely lady was perched all by herself on this post near the entrance. Eliza was standing nearby, waiting for us, totally unaware of the presence of this beautiful bird. As I walked up I asked Eliza who her friend was, & at that moment she noticed the bird with a startled jolt of surprise!

Working at the Cow Palace:

New booth "address" signs we painted in preparation for new painted numbers. A fairly simple job I volunteered to help with.


Once the backgrounds were dry 3 of us went to work on the list of booth numbers---now that was a challenge! I'm not a letterer (or numberer either!) so my first attempts were pretty lame. The last two I really liked though! Initially I was just lightly penciling in the placement of the numbers with a stabilo pencil then hoping I'd be able to use the paint & brush to make the number "pretty", like one using a calligraphy pen would do. Nope, no luck! After a few poor examples I then started drawing the whole number in with the stabilo pencil which turned out some way better finished pieces!! Amazing how a bit more planning = success! Eliza jumped in to paint a few numbers too.

We took a walk through the abandoned fair grounds where the skeletons of booths were overgrown & waiting to be cleared & cleaned up. After the fair is over the booth owners remove boards that might prevent rain & sunlight from reaching the ground to enable the area to continue to grow during the off season. It's interesting to see everything as a shell of sorts, although everything is still pretty recognizable and artsy!



This little fella was munching a mushroom near where we were painting:

Brad & Eliza re-painting one of the fair signs---

Some of the signs all ready to go, painted by crews earlier this year.


The meal area, and one of the "little" salad bowls!

Meanwhile, back at Cow Palace...

Finishing up a couple of my favorite numbers...

The sign crew for this particular weekend:

The Oregon Country Fair is July 10th, 11th, & 12th, just 13 miles west of Eugene.

GoVenture

An interesting challenge is going on between 2 different artists/bloggers (Kal & Elise) this week where they both create something new each day depending on a theme or word/s they have chosen. Other people have been invited to join along, so with yesterday's theme being Green + Dizzy, I submitted a photograph on Flickr I played around with a little in photoshop, bumping up the greens.

Today's theme is Not My Type, which made me think of this painting I did a couple of years ago:



Though they share similar coloring, I believe they both agree they're not each other's type...

Tomorrow? The word is Pocket---the wheels are turning already...

Happy Father's Day!!

Strawberries!

Mmm, there is nothing better than a fresh picked Oregon strawberry! We have a nice little patch of strawberries growing out in our garden that are really producing a lot this year---we feel so fortunate to be able to go out and just pick some of our own strawberry bounty! It's a terribly short season, and often we completely miss out from being too busy to get to a u-pick garden. I highly recommend growing your own if your climate allows it---truly one of the most terrific taste sensations!

The first picking, a couple of weeks ago:





I think I see another red painting series coming out of this...

Illustration Friday - Unfolding + Poppy # 2

This week's Illustration Friday theme is Unfolding, and happily, it fits the poppy obsession I've had lately. Here's the 2nd one, painted in pastel, on canvas. To see the first one, check out my previous post.

Poppy #1

May 20th the local plein air group headed to Shreiner's Iris Gardens for a morning of painting. They have an outstanding display of flowers---Iris of course, but many, many others too! Lupines, peonies, & my personal favorites: dinner plate sized poppies! After scouting out the best poppies I settled in to paint one in particular. I have my own poppy plant I purchased from Shreiner's several years ago and it was blooming gloriously in our backyard these past 2 weeks also. Since I had so much fun painting their poppy I decided while ours was blooming I'd try to capture some more, resulting in 3 more 12x12" almost finished poppies! I knew I had to work quick since the bloom time was short, and sure enough once the temps rose into the 80's they immediately began to show signs of wear & tear. Photographs just don't do justice to the amazing reds of these particular poppies---they're always a bit too pink & not as rich as the poppies are in real life. Even major photoshopping can't capture the intense color! That was my painting goal---to put that red on canvas. It was really a fun challenge! Here's the first one I painted from Shreiner's poppy: I'll post the other 3 in the next few days.

This was my quick sketch on site at Shreiner's - to see any image closer you can right click & open in another window or tab.


Here's the first layer of pastel:


And the final painting:

Painting, painting, painting!

Today I'd like to show you what I was working on earlier this month for a friend of my brother's. She wanted me to do a painting of her mother as a toddler sitting on her mother's lap (this friend's Grandma's lap). I haven't done any portraits for ages, aside from the occasional random sketch of a stranger while waiting for pizza or something. I decided though to take on this challenge and after agreeing on a price, size, and medium I went to work. We also agreed since it'd been a while, she wasn't obligated to purchase the finished piece unless she loved it! I was okay with that, since I knew I could salvage the canvas & either try to sell it as is or remove the portrait & use it for something else. This way, no pressure for either of us.

The biggest challenge was using the photo she gave me! This is something I swore off ages ago---unless I was able to collect my own image by drawing from life, or shooting my own photo, I'd refuse to do any painting commissions. That's usually part of my inspiration---the composition of light, shadow, color, all directed by me to create the final image. I was open to something new to push my creativity though, and decided to work with what I was given to see if I could succeed with something that made the both of us happy.

First off, here's what the original 3 x 3 1/2" photo looked like:


This is the initial sketch on the 12x12" canvas:


A close-up of the faces with the first layer of pastel:


This is about 3/4 finished---if not almost finished:


Here's the finished painting, after it was checked out & approved by the new owner:


With this painting I've learned to not obsess over exactness & to be satisfied with "close enough". Knowing that my buyer is thrilled and very excited with the finished product makes me happy too!

Next up: a poppy painting marathon...

Inn at Northrup Station

Recently we enjoyed an overnighter at a fun & funky hotel in NW Portland---the Inn at Northrup Station. We were wanting to celebrate Brad's birthday out and about like we did mine at Cannon Beach, but wanted some place unique & different, so it'd be memorable. We started by googling hotels in Portland, and although we found some nice places, nothing stood out. As Brad left to go get ready for bed, I tried one more attempt & googled funky hotels in Portland---that's when I discovered Northrup Station! It was exactly what we were looking for, and after Brad gave his approval we made our reservation.

We arrived an hour earlier than our check in time, but since we found parking right in front and we wanted to explore the neighborhood anyway we parked, then figured we'd see if we could check in already. The kind front desk fella totally accommodated & soon we were moving our things into our 3rd floor room! The place more than lived up to our expectations! We loved the colors and patterns everywhere, the mod decor, the atypical hotel feel. Of course we had the camera working overtime, capturing everything that caught our eyes!


This is actually a model of the Inn at Northrup Station. It's displayed in the lobby and shows how the place is located right on the trolley line.

Below are some photos of our room:





One of the many cool lights---this one in the stairwell. Can you see us?



Across from the lobby was the breakfast room where they served a complimentary continental breakfast each morning.





The check-in desk with the model display next to it:


Brad down the hall to our room:


My shadow and looking west from our little balcony:


The painting in our room---there were quite a few by this same artist throughout the hotel:


This shows the kitchen and office area in our room & Brad.


This is one of the 3 different light globes hanging over the kitchen island - & Brad again! Fused glass was used throughout the hotel, lighting the hallways, the rooms, and in the breakfast sun room too.


Lastly, our door into our room with the Inn's logo.


Truly a memorable mini-vacation for a couple of people that LOVE color & visual stimulation!

Cargo Textures

A week ago, Brad and I were finishing up our overnight escape in Portland by wandering around the NW 23rd area, then the Pearl district where we stumbled upon Cargo. The flying paper banners, lanterns, and streamers blowing outside their front porch in the wind were hard to miss. Stepping inside the giant warehouse store was mind boggling, especially after we discovered the amazing textures on the furniture for sale inside! At first our eyes were assaulted by lots of little odd imported gifty items, but the further into the depths of this color filled store we went, the more amazed we became! Being the texture lover I am, I couldn't resist taking as many close-up photos as I could while we wandered this place. Then we discovered there was an upstairs too!! More texture love to collect! Here are some of my favorite texture pics:

















Loved all that peeling paint revealing colors from times past.

This photo shows one of the areas downstairs where the light shining through the colored glass caught my eye.



Will write next about where we stayed in Portland---talk about fun & funky! Stay tuned!
P.S. visit my website to see some more artsy goodness---especially the jewelry page, soon to be updated with more treats!

New Website + more spring close-ups

Well, if I've been absent, it's only 'cause I was painstakingly remaking all the template pages for my website which hasn't been updated for almost 2 years! That was when my hard drive died, eating everything including my website templates. Once they were all ready to save & upload, it became another week long chore to find a compatible ftp server. Eventually I did, and am so thrilled I'm back in biz with my art website once more! Check it out & let me know what you think. Any suggestions? More changes still to come, but at least now I can change it if I want!!

Meanwhile, I'll leave you with a few more favorite spring photos I took a couple of weeks ago---before this week of non-stop rain...







p.s. These are all straight-out-of-camera images, no photoshop or other enhancements---yet ;)!

Spring Showers bring Spring Flowers!

I've been blown away by our display of spring flowers this year. I always love our front yard in the spring, especially the daffodils that come up every year without any effort needed by me (aside from the initial planting years ago!), but for some reason this year they seem exceptionally abundant! These photos were taken with our new little Olympus 370. No I'm not paid to advertise this gem, but I've sure enjoyed its super-macro abilities!

This is what our backyard looked like during lunch on one of those sunny days we had a couple of weeks ago. I loved how the apple tree branches engulfed the whole yard like a big hug! Truly a winter or early spring view since once the leaves appear the shadow branches disappear.

Our poor trillium, hidden under the apple tree, getting chewed up by nasty slugs I'm guessing. Once I discovered it's tattered appearance I raked all the big maple leaves away from the base, hoping to eliminate hiding places for those slimy pests...

Now I'm in the front yard, visually diving into the glory of the daffodil abundance! Note to self---plant daffodils in the back yard!




This one below has become my computer desktop.




A random plum blossom, greeting the sun!

And last, but not least (in my eyes!) is a single bloom from our Kerria Japonica bush.

Sadly, one of my daughters hates this plant---maybe both---since when it rains it droops into the driveway, making passage difficult, especially if on a bike! Last night, my youngest, on purpose parked the car, right so I'd have to get out, under the soggy Kerria---ha, ha, ha. Too bad my oldest wasn't there to appreciate her efforts! Luckily for me, she moved the car over a bit so I didn't have to get drenched!

A little spring break escape:

We'd been contemplating a little road trip during spring break, sitting around the breakfast table w/our daughter, wondering if & where, when her phone rang. It was a friend of hers, stranded in our town, suddenly without a ride to Arcata CA where she and her roommate were to start back at college the following day! Well, the timing couldn't have been better---we now had a destination, and reason to go somewhere! In 3 hours we were packed & off on a 6 + hour road trip, 3 girls in the back seat, chatting away, our car stuffed, including the girl's Betta Fish, Dynamite! He was tucked between bags behind their heads, in a wine carafe...

We drove through all sorts of weather, spying snow not that far off the freeway, and even driving through some now and then, but mostly enjoyed a pretty nice little 3 day vacation! Here are some pics of our trip:

Off we go!



We're definitely not at home anymore! This shows the town square in Arcata.

On a tour of Humboldt State University, we spied this cool tile mural. It's on a building that used to be an elementary school.


Of course, if you're in Arcata, you have to go across the bay to Eureka and take a peek at this amazing house...



This was across the street!


We even stopped in Trinidad on our way home! Exotic travels! Sadly, it wasn't the Trinidad off the coast of Venezuela, but it was a beach harbor, north of Arcata. Only 231 stairs down...and back up!


Another have-to-do on a trip down to Arcata is to go on a hike in the redwoods---they're stunningly massive, to say the least! Nothing was photoshopped in these photos---those tree trunks are really that much larger than the people!!


Talk about feeling small!!


Then again, maybe it was something in the water.....

Latest obsession

I've been working with beads again, and seeing them all lined up in my studio and the sun streaming through my window inspired me to pull out the camera for a photo shoot!





Ok, break time is over, back to it!

Super macro

I finally read the instructions on our teeny new camera last week, which gave me a few new tips and tricks to try, but so far, my favorite setting is the super macro setting.





Amazing what smaller cameras are capable of. Sure I still love my Canon Digital SLR, but for a little, lightweight, go-everywhere camera, this one is quite stellar!

Post Chocolate Fantasy

Just a glimpse of what was there.

Worthwhile video to watch!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wishing you Love, today & always!

All together now:

Awwwwwwwww......


and 3 weeks later:

Almost 3 weeks ago my parents adopted a mama & baby siamese! They'd been dumped on campus---the mama & her 4 babies---but rescued and now the last baby left & the mama are happily entertaining my folks! Lucky us---we get to go visit and watch them play. The mama is tiny, possibly just a year old herself, so still young and full of spunk. Such fun!

Before Turning 50

Acquire a pair of cowboy boots....
√

Different Perspective

So, I hinted at something different in the below post, and this is what I painted for a show at New Morning Bakery. One of my favorite things they serve is their chocolate cream cheese cupcakes. They threw out a call for artwork to help celebrate their being in business over 25 years, so one afternoon in January, I took a stroll downtown, purchased a cupcake to go, then seeing an open booth, sat for a few minutes organizing some gallery paperwork. While there, I stealthily pulled out my new little olympus camera and shot 2 photos of my cupcake, snug in its to go bag.

Back home, I pulled out a canvas that I'd painted a mediocre landscaped on, sprayed it with an air compressor to blow off any loose pastel, then gave it a quick wash with water. (nice test to see how tough pva spray is on pastel, on canvas!) Then I sketched on my painting. Below is that initial drawing, turned sideways so you can see the previous landscape as it's still portrayed on that washed canvas.

It's a bit hard to see the blue pastel drawing lines on the canvas, but if you right click on the photo you can enlarge it in another window or tab, and see them better.

This next photo shows the painting with the first layer of soft pastel---this time you can kind of see what I'm painting, but a lot of the background is still showing through.
After spraying with pva, I painted another layer with soft pastel, and again sprayed the surface with diluted pva size. Here's a shot of the 2nd layer.

After more layers, time studying it, more painting, more time staring at it, more fiddling, I finished! (It's often a major accomplishment to decide one is truly finished...fiddling with a painting can be an on-going process!)

Close-up of the cupcake.

I enjoyed working on this painting a lot---playing with the colors, trying to stay loose, and letting the pastels create the texture I was hoping for. All in all, I was pretty happy with this one! What do you think? Any suggestions?

Oh, it's painted on 1 1/2" thick 16x20" primed canvas with a black acrylic painted edge. It's for sale, and if you'd like more information, please leave a comment or email me!