Another reason I’ve been waking early is the chickens, or more precisely, the rooster. It seems we have a rooster in the flock and my godson has named him Benny. He is becoming more proficient at crowing, and recently practices throughout the day, beginning at 5 a.m. He’s taking quite a liking to his ladies too, and I’m hoping that signifies that they are reaching the stage when they may start laying. Here is a collage of some of these lovely creatures They are really fun to watch.

I’ve still been making time to paint… Here are a couple of new images.

"New Vista" - Watercolor & Gouache 15x22

"Contented Solitude" Watercolor & Gouache, 11x15 copyright 2010

I’m deciding which new paintings will be framed, which will be entered in juried competitions, which will need more work. My next show will be the Salem Art Fair & Festival, July 16, 17 & 18, 2010. I hope to see many of you there! Mention my blog for a 10% discount My gift to you! Directions, hours and a listing of participating artists are available on their website: http://salemartfair.weebly.com/visit.html

I’m also so excited to be readying one of my paintings for shipping to the Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Exhibition. The juror this year was Judy Morris, whom I respect & admire for her beautiful watercolors. The show runs from September 11 – October 31, 2010 at the Foothills Art Center in Golden, Colorado. If you find yourself in the area, stop in & see the show. It will showcase 80 of the top watercolor entries from across the United States & beyond.

Finally, I’ve been spending lots of time in the garden. The vegetables are up and need daily weeding, and we have finally finished the gate and fence surrounding the patch. I did lots of research online until I found a gate design that I liked, and my husband built a very close replica. Here is a link to the original idea which I found on the site of Kirsch-Korff.com. They have some beautiful gates! And here is the gate we made! We still need to install the arbor above…

Now we are hard at work on the hillside below the vegetable garden. This was originally lawn, but so steep I didn’t like to take the riding mower on it. A few months ago, we had the tractor guys, Bob & John DeNino, move some of the huge boulders from our pastures to the hillside. Last week they came back (now that it is dried out finally) to do some digging.

John & Bob, hard at work

Last night my husband & I took our little tractor and moved some more rocks, digging them in by hand to make steps and a path in the terraces. We have more to do, but here it is in progress:

Almost ready for planting!

It's hard to be patient till it is done!

I have been shopping for plants and have a good stash built up, but still need more This garden is keeping me fit!

Finally I’d like to thank all the new subscribers who have signed up for email updates. I’m sorry it has been so long since my last post! I guess I need to get up earlier!

http://www.harcourtbooks.com/WhistlingSeason/interview.asp

 It was a challenge for me to decide whether to focus my painting on the characters or the setting of rural Montana. There were so many wonderful characters in this book that I had a hard time choosing, and finally decided that the landscape was the one common factor to their experience.  Doig has a great gift and I must borrow words to help me explain how this book made me feel:

Before me lies the edge of the world. I am on my way there running. – from a Papago song

I rarely do landscape, so this was both a challenge and a joy. Montana is a place that I love to visit. I have family there, and my impressions of its vastness are filled with nostalgia as well as the simple, natural beauty that emptiness and space can inspire. I hope my interpretation holds some of that emotion, through my exaggeration of color and my choice to leave any trace of human touch on the landscape out of the painting. Let me know what you think!

Smooth Buttered Plain 12x12"

While I was working in the studio for the first time in a long while, I got a call from the RiverSea Gallery in Astoria. They want to do a solo show of my work in March! (Of this year!) Oh My! That is coming right up, and I will have to work my tail off to get enough quality work completed. Yikes. I guess I needed a deadline.

Finally, I wanted to share some more links of artwork for the 100 Artists show at Mary Lou Zeek. Mary Lou has posted some more on her blog, and here are some other blogs of artists! Check them out! 

http://www.thesteelfork.com/wordpress/100-artists-show-the-honeybee/

http://www.jenworden.com/2010/01/06/january-means/

http://idolatrieartist.xanga.com/719573915/beans/

Anyway, it felt good to get everything cleaned up. Our household has been in a state of transition for over a month… stacking up things to go with our son or daughter for their places, sorting through closets and throwing out stuff that doesn’t fit or has been mis-filed, boxes, dirt, clutter. I hauled three bags of garbage and recycling out of  his room alone. With his desk and dresser gone his room seems so big! And it is nice to finally have my studio back! Of course it was so busy I forgot to get any pictures.

Last night I finished reading The Gathering by Anne Enright.  The writing is simply beautiful and haunting. There is a reason that this book won the Booker Prize. That said, it is disturbing and depressing. I didn’t sleep well. I woke in the wee hours with a fully formed idea for art-making rolling around my head. Trying to go back to sleep just gave me more visual details and got me more interested. I finally got up, went into the studio and sketched out the ideas.

Unfortunately, the idea wasn’t for a painting, but was for the 100 Artists show at Mary Lou Zeek Gallery coming up in February. Yes, I’m already thinking about it! This year’s show will benefit the local Foodshare, and the starting point will be a tin can! I started thinking about the theme ‘nourish and sustain’ yesterday, and I guess I had more thinking to do in the middle of the night! Does this ever happen to you? Even after I wrote things down, I still had more good ideas rolling around my head. Of course, they are gone this morning!

First came the kitten… Luckily she has a new home, but we are hosting her this weekend since her new family went to the beach. She is so cute, and now that I know we aren’t her ‘forever’ home, I can really enjoy her. Even Lola has learned that she’s not so bad!

Those of you who follow my blog or know me well, know we’ve been looking for a new home for over a year. Well, I think we’ve finally found it! We have an accepted offer on a new place, with acreage and a beautiful newer home.

Front of the house

back of the house

I’d better get up to the studio before it gets too hot! I hope you all have a Fabulous Fourth of July! Looking forward to seeing some of you at the Salem Art Fair, July 17, 18, 19 at Bush’s Pasture Park. See the Salem Art Fair website for schedule, map and directions to the park. They have some great entertainment lined up, fun stuff for the kids, food, shade and of course, lots of great art. The biggest art fair in Oregon.

You paint the way you have to in order to give, that’s life itself, and someone will look and say it is the product of knowing, but it has nothing to do with knowing, it has to do with giving.

-Franz Kline

I love the above quote by Franz Kline… for me it is one way to explain the process I go through in painting. I am seeking to give something from myself to the paper, not putting down what I know. Each painting is a discovery.

I have quite a few new images to post tonight… took photos and finally took the time to crop & resize them, etc.  I’m trying to figure out which ones to take to critique tomorrow night (we usually only show 2 images). If you have thoughts on which ones might need further work, I’d love the suggestions. I’m feeling pretty good about most of these, but I’m always open to feedback.

Flower Market, 11x15" Original Watercolor

"Scent" Original Watercolor 15"x11"

"Song" Original Watercolor & Gouache 15"x11"

"Knowing" Original Watercolor & Gouache 22"x15"

I’m feeling the pressure to be in the studio every day for this final week that I have the room to myself. On Friday my daughter will be home from college and I will have to share the room with her There is something about having to navigate around her piles of clothes etc, that keeps me from being so productive.

Working on Door #4

Also, since I lost the post about the Perceptions of the Past exhibit, (see my previous post Here) I thought I’d post an image of my finished work for that. I didn’t like my first painting, so did a second version, which went much more smoothly. The show runs May 20 – June 27 at Rogue Community College’s Firehouse Gallery.  I’m curious about what the curators chose as the other historic photographs for the Oregon Sesquicentennial exhibit. I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone came up with! I really thought mine would be pioneers for some reason…

I am the Basketweaver

I’m hoping to get onto a more regular posting routine, but life is getting complicated recently. Today I am having a needle biopsy done on my breast. After multiple mammograms, an MRI, ultrasounds, etc. they feel that this is the only way to rule out cancer. I am anxious to hear the results, and should know by Wednesday or Thursday.

Also, I’m waiting to hear about an offer we made on a house & acreage between Wilsonville & Sherwood. We may have to wait for some time to hear, and I know there is already another offer on the place, so I’m trying hard not to get my hopes up. We have been looking for a place with more room for so long…. This home needs a lot of remodeling, but the location and property are beautiful.

Just in case we get it, my husband & I took the Tour of Remodeled Homes in the Portland area this weekend. We met some of the builders, designers & architects, which was very interesting. There were some very beautiful remodels, with before pictures in each room. It gave us so many great ideas! Our heads were spinning with ideas for the new place. We also went to an open house yesterday, just in case we need to choose another property. Truth be told, after years of shopping all the possibilities, I think my husband really should have been a real estate agent! He loves to look at homes and property! I think he will go through home-shopping withdrawal if we get the house LOL! I’m keeping every appendage crossed and anxiously awaiting the phone call though! I grew up on a farm & would love to have a little more space around me again. I will keep you posted on all fronts!

Consider this my valentine to you…. a great recommendation for a terrific read. Ignore the subtitle on the cover that says this book is a novel about the Plague… It is a novel about love,  loving one’s neighbors and oneself. I read till probably 2 a.m. to finish it up last night. It was well worth dragging all day today.  I’ve read two other books by Geraldine Brooks: March and People of the Book. All three were excellent. I think this one ties with People of the Book as my favorites.

I was able to catch up on watching some tv shows that I had recorded…. one was Oregon Art Beat. What a nice surprise that I was featured in the calendar section at the end! They gave a nice plug for the 100 artists show at Mary Lou Zeek’s and showed my piece: Goat Girl (KC Cowan rocks)

 We are staying in tonight & playing cards with my sister & her husband… down home, cheap entertainment. If you don’t play pinochle, I highly recommend it. It is easy to learn & lots of fun We plan to feast on a nice steak & some yummy wine too

I hope your day is sweet!

She was beautiful... Even with a Tear

One would think that I wouldn’t have had any trouble staying in a positive frame of mind today. The sun was out, and it felt positively spring-like! My crocus popped their heads up this morning on the east side of the house. Such a wonderful harbinger of the coming warmth.  I took a few minutes this morning to watch ‘The Red Balloon’ on Netflix. I have vivid memories of watching this beautiful film in high school. Our French teacher, Madame Tellvik, thought it would be a good introduction to the life of a french school-boy. The color in this film is a palpable memory, but the ending was a pleasant surprise. I had forgotten how uplifting the message was.

The hard part of the day was dealing with the negative thoughts that creep in… when someone dissappointed me, when things didn’t go my way… when I wished someone had considered how I felt,  I tried very purposefully to remember the end of the movie this morning…. that even when the joy of the red balloon was gone, there was even more joy in store for the hero of the tale. I have been thinking of this mostly because I deal with a few people who are not positive, and it can become annoying, reminding them to keep it in perspective, listening to their constant saga. All I needed was a red balloon, following me

Another bright note was the opening of the 100 artists show at Mary Lou Zeek Gallery. My husband & I had been pouring over the images of the altered books all weekend…. picking our favorites. Last year I was one of the first to bid on a piece… one of my favorite artists, Jed Thomas. I have enjoyed that painting so much…. And I’ve been debating back and forth if I needed a piece from this year’s show. I held off calling until almost 12:30…. but finally gave in. When I found out my favorite (Chris Giffin) was still available, I caved My husband & I decided to give it to each other for Valentine’s Day.

I don’t want anyone to think that I can just go around buying art whenever I feel like it. This is always a significant investment for me. We don’t take annual expensive vacations, etc. While we are not suffering financial hardships, we also still have to prioritize our spending. For me, art is a valuable investment. I feel so lucky to be able to afford it!

I had lots of little errands/busy work to do today. But I also finished my assemblage… or if you will, my found object collage. I used an image of my grandmother from the 20′s, an old brownie camera, an old seed/fertilizer spreader, handkerchief, a light bulb, feathers, lights, bits of slide film and paint. The piece lights up from inside, illuminating a tear in her eye when lit. Also, I added fibers of light inside the bulb which can be switched on seperately. It was difficult to photograph… wish I was better at that.

I dropped off my print rack in Beaverton for the Arts Commission Showcase this weekend…. made flight reservations for the Western Federation of Watercolor Societies show in San Diego coming up in May…. picked up the keys to my husband’s truck (he got the brakes redone)…etc. Lots of running around.

A Closer View... It's hard to see that the light is on

I really enjoyed my book club meeting tonight… great discussion of the book Dirt Music by Tim Winton. Maybe I was a little hard on it…. His writing was beautiful, I just thought the characters were all so flawed. And the male perspective of a male dominated society…. well. I may have a few prejudices about Aussie males, let’s just say.

Several years ago I painted this image from a sketch I did of Satsuko at a Critique group meeting.  I loved her gesture… the strength & confidence packed into such a small package. It is now in the Lake Oswego Foundation of the Arts permanent collection. I just wanted to post it here so those who knew Satsuko would remember her as I do.

“To Sadness” by Pablo Neruda

Sadness, I need

your black wing,

so much sun, so much honey in the topaz,

each ray smiles

 in the meadow

and everything is round light on all sides of me,

everything is an electric bee in the heights.

And so

give me

your black wing,

sister sadness:

I need the sapphire to be

extinguished sometimes and the oblique

mesh of the rain to fall,

the weeping of the earth:

I want

that shattered beam in the estuary,

the vast house in darkness,

and my mother

searching

for paraffin

and filling the lamp

until it gave not light but a sigh.

The night wasn’t born.

The day was sliding

toward its provincial graveyard,

and between the bread and the shadow

I remember

myself

in the window

looking out at what didn’t exist,

what wasn’t happening,

and a black wing of water that came

over that heart which there perhaps

I forgot forever, in the window.

Now I miss

the black light.

Give me your slow blood,

cold

rain,

give me your astonished flight!

Give me back

the key

of the door that was shut

destroyed.

For a moment, for

a short lifetime,

take the light from me and let me

feel myself

lost and miserable,

trembling among the threads

of twilight,

receiving into my soul

the trembling

hands

of

the

rain.

translated by Stephen Mitchell