Both of these little paintings are now available in my Etsy shop for $130 each. 

I just finished a small group of slightly larger portraits and will those be drying for a couple of weeks (I'll share those in my next newsletter).  Next, I have to work on a small project for an upcoming group show of sorts with the idea of temporary and permanence.  A challenging project, to say the least!

These two new little portraits are now in my Etsy shop.  I hope you stop in when you have a moment.  I hope to be back soon with a couple more to add as well.  Just need to varnish and photograph and they will be ready to go.

A little note on the gentleman's name in "Most handsome".  A friend of mine used that nickname for her son when he was a baby (and she probably still does) and the moment I saw this mustached man developing that name just stuck for me.

These paintings can now be found at Sebastian Foster.  Some of these I have shared before and some are new.  The gallery now has a physical location in addition to being online, so if you don't see one of these on the site and are interested, you might e-mail to find out if it is still available.  And if you live in the Austin, Texas, area I recommend stopping in.  There are some wonderful artists represented there.

Wow, it has been awhile since I last posted here.  I've been keeping up with my studio blog and did not realize just how long this one had gone without an update.  Here are a couple new portraits available in my shop (if you click on the image, it will take you to that painting's page for more information):

And these three paintings have journeyed up to a group show in Seattle:

They are part of a show at the Flying Apron Bakery along with five other artists through the end of June.  Find out more about the show here.  Hope you can stop in if you are in the area, plus the bakery sounds really yummy.

I have three new little portraits in my shop and a few more coming.  These are (from left to right) "Ruthie" 5 x 7 inches, "Edgar" 4 x 4 inches, and "Waiting" 3 x 5 inches.  All oil and acrylic on wood panels. 

Last night was the reception for the Parks for People show at Salem Art Association in Salem, Oregon along with a few other wonderful exhibits.  I managed to take a few photos in the Parks for People exhibit despite the large crowd.  So please excuse the often crooked and oddly cropped photos, but I wanted to share the great pieces in this show.

Above on the right is my own painting.  On the left is a really interesting piece by Jennifer Gimzewski.

A favorite artist and friend Bonnie Hull in front of her piece.  After having me pose in front of my own painting for her, I had to have her do the same.

And lo!  I discovered a painting in the exhibit by another favorite artist of mine, Amanda Blake.  A lovely surprise.

Here is Amanda's painting again next to one by Ann Altman.

These two paintings by Nancy Eng.

Both Ross Sutherland (on the left) and Catherine Alexander (on the right) created pieces based on what I would call an iconic photograph of Edith Schryver and Elizabeth Lord (I couldn't find websites for them).

And finally this wonderful painting by John Van Dreal who also gave a very inspiring lecture prior to the reception discussing his work and processes.  Fascinating.

If you are in the area, I recommend you see this show plus the others at the Salem Art Association.  The show will be up until the end of April.

Show Date: March 11th - April 30th
Location: Salem Art Association at Bush Barn Art Center 600 Mission St SE, Salem, Oregon
Opening reception: Friday, March 11th, 6:30 to 7:30pm (Artist Lecture by John Van Dreal, one of the featured artists, will be from 5:30-6:30pm.)

Celebrating  Elizabeth Lord and Edith Schryver, this exhibit is an invitational show in which artists were given a photograph of either one or both of these important, early landscape architects (their work began in 1929) or a couple other women involved in the work.  Each artist was asked to interpret the photograph in whatever way they wanted. 

I'm so excited to be a part of this show.  Above is my submission which is based on a 1953 photograph of Edith Schryver.  If you click on the photograph of the painting it will take you to the main page for it and you can click on it there to see a larger version.  Here are a few detail shots:

I have seen a few other pieces for the show and they are amazing.  I hope if you live in the area you will be able to stop in.  The show will be open starting this Friday for 2 months so there is plenty of time.

Over the years I've started (and given up on) a lot of journals.  And I have found over time that what works best for me is to have more than one going at the same time.  One for thoughts, one for sketches, one for cutting and pasting and doodling, etc.  In the past, I tried to keep to just one journal but I found that as my ideas for what I wanted to do with it changed then I wanted a new journal.  So I would abandon the old to start a new.  Now that I have released myself from the restriction of just one I continue to accumulate reasons (excuses) for new ones.  And some will get no use for awhile and then I'll pick them back up again as my interests shift.  Because I tend to get carried away with an idea for awhile I set some things aside while I obsess.  But you know what?  I always seem to come back to things.  So keeping a journal for a specific purpose seems to work because I know if eventually I tire of it, I'll come back to it later.

I have been thinking about the journals (especially as I've just added two new ones) and blogs.  I realized that this blog has turned into me just showing my new work and talking about shows.   Which is fine but I miss having a format for talking about studio work and inspiration.  For whatever reason, I don't feel like this is the place to do that.  I guess it feels more formal here?  And then I realized why not have more than one blog?  I already have another one for reading, I don't see why I couldn't have one for studio/inspirations.  Mostly this is for my own "journaling" but perhaps some people would be interested in studio stuff and could visit that blog and maybe some people are only interesting in seeing my finished work and could just stick with this blog.  Or both.  Whatever.

So that's what I'm going to do.  For now anyway.  And the nice part is I'm just going to use my old blog space so it is just easy peasy to get it going.  You can visit this new/old blog right here.

A few new little portraits are now in my Etsy shop.  Several more still to come over the next few weeks and probably long after (though perhaps not quite at this rate, phew!).  From left to right (all are oil and acrylic on wood panel): "Hermione" 5x7 inches, "Marya" 3x5 inches, and "Oh" 6x6 inches.

Today I am off to buy some art supplies and then I will have some precious time to sit with some tea, sketch, and read.  Have a great day!

The first painting is "More than she might seem" Oil and acrylic on 6x8 inch panel.  The second is "She put all her eggs in one basket" Oil and acrylic on 8x10 inch panel.  Both are now available in my Etsy shop.  These paintings were just for fun, to take a break from the usual, and to play with some materials.  I tried layering thick acrylic medium in some areas while keeping other areas for oil. 

I have some more Little Portraits coming soon, perhaps over the weekend.  I also hope to have a newsletter out very soon.  I'm trying out more new things as inspired and can't wait to share.  It feels like I often am just finishing something and am ready to try something new, something different.