Dust Has Settled

Open Studios is over, I am back to work in an office, and winter is here. Finding time to work in the art studio has been a little hard in between the task of making money, but when I 'do' find myself there, it feels great. It might sound sappy, but after being away from the art studio for a while, returning feels joyous and an overwhelming sureness of "this is what I am supposed to be doing with my life" comes over me. I am continuing my work on the snow series and I started a sketch today that will hopefully turn into a painting.

Open Studios Tour Starts

Open Studios
October 9th & 10th and
October 16th & 17th
10am - 5pm each day

Shyama's Studio
6413 N. Boston
Portland, OR 97217

If you are interested in participating in the whole tour, catalogs and maps are available for purchase online http://www.portlandopenstudios.com, at New Seasons, Art Media, or Powells. I will also have some catalogs at my studio, so if you come there first, you can get info from me.

tenfour Open House

I just dropped off my latest paintings at the tenfour space. I am looking forward to the open house and art show. I hope you will attend! http://tenfouragency.com

Collage Abstract

All of a sudden I decided I wanted to do some abstract paintings (see below). However, I felt conflicted because so much of what I do has been collage. So, what better solution that to marry the two together? I am excited and can't wait to do more!

A New Book

After struggling in the studio all week with muddy paintings that feel overworked, I took the day off. In an effort to get some inspiration and clear my head, I wandered around town looking in stores and enjoying the sun shiny day. I bought a book called "Inside the Painter's Studio" that came out last year. It interviews about 24 working artists asking questions about their studio space, day to day processes and how they got started. It was written by an artist, so the questions are very tangible. Things like "When you are contemplating your work, where do you sit?" or "When did you consider yourself a professional artist?". I have been looking for a book like this for a long time - something real and that can provide practical inspiration. A little something that says "against all odds....keep going...don't give up.....we all struggled too, but we made it and you will too."

Flight Series

New addition to the "Flight" series.

Artsy Studio Shots

I got inspired by old photos of artists in their studios and took some of my own today. If anyone needs em, these can be used for my biography in 100 years.

Officially Day Two

It is officially day two of my "sabbatical" dedicated to art. First day felt productive. Spent the whole day working in the studio laboring over a piece that, in the end, felt over-worked (see cowboy below). About 3pm, I took a break, came inside and started reading and surfing the internet for inspiration. I read about a contemporary artist in London www.chloeearly.com as well as looked up old favorites like Franz Kline. Since my morning painting felt over-worked, I decided to stop trying to control my painting and started two new ones that were completely different and that "I didn't care about". It is obvious that these were inspired by Franz, but none the less I was much happier with them than the painting from the morning. It is probably not fair to compare them because they are so different in style, but.....

Open Studios

I went to the second orientation for Open Studios and learned a lot about how to set up for the event and what to expect. I picked up my signage and marketing materials. Sounds like I can anticipate anywhere from 200-400 people coming to my studio each day. Basically, it seems I will be relying on my event planning experience to pull this thing together. One thing that I was afraid to ask at the orientation but is on my mind is why do they make people buy a catalog and map of the art tour? Wouldn't it be better to just give them away for free? I guess by selling the catalogs the organization can make some money, but I feel like this may affect the event attendance significantly. Maybe I am wrong, but as an newbie, that is how it feels. Regardless, I am on board - full speed ahead!

Open Studios
October 9th & 10th and
October 16th & 17th
10am - 5pm each day
Shyama's Studio
6413 N. Boston
Portland, OR 97217

If you are interested in participating in the whole tour, catalogs and maps are available for purchase online http://www.portlandopenstudios.com, at New Seasons, Art Media, or Powells. I will also have some catalogs at my studio, so if you come there first, you can get info from me.

Ready, Set, Go!

Five days until my "Summer of Art" begins. Today I am trying to get a jump start by painting and brainstorming for that first Monday that I don't have to get up and go to the office. I have been thinking about the theme that I chose for the Sketchbook project which is IN FLIGHT. Since I always do better with an assignment, I thought I would extend that theme into my first set of painting for the season. The piece shown here was originally an abstract painting I did last winter of the ocean, but I really didn't like it, so I started painting over it. Everyone gets mad at me for painting over paintings, but I think this turned out better and now I will be motivated to sell it instead of hiding it in the ugly corner. I bought some old clothes patterns and used the tissue to paste over top of some of the painted areas. I like the transparent effect it created.

January = Winter

The month of January was a freebie. I didn't expect to have time in the studio this winter, but the "ebb and flow" (technical term for neither looking nor finding) of corporate work allowed for it to happen. I must admit, cranking up the heater in the studio each day and working in the cold and rain is not as glorious as summer, but I'm not complaining. Looking at a few of my paintings, I can tell they were created in winter. Look at all that gray and white! I have been experimenting a lot with texture - using a pallet knife and caking it on. It is fun. Hard to control and freeing as a result.