Portland, Oregon

It has finally happened. I am in Portland, Oregon. No, I have not seen, "Portlandia" but I just watched this clip. I have yet to order any chicken up here. I am staying in John's Landing and went for a walk to JoLa Cafe and the Willamette River and and found Mt. Hood. O yes.

The rabbit below is a newly added piece of public art at the Sacramento International Airport!  Sacramento just added a whole new terminal, it is amazing. It is modern and full of public art. Hurray for the1% for public art!

From California to Portland, OR. I check out a local cafe in John's Landing and walk to the river.

Last night was the "Come To Your Senses" reception for Portland's First Thursdays. It was a very well attended opening with great food and music. I had a great time discussing the work and meeting new people.

Above, two people checking out the work. My seas shell, coastal work sparked a lot of interest and opened up a lot of different topics we could talk about.

I LOVE Portland!

Oregon margO

 We are gearing up for our first adventure to Portland, Oregon! I have the opportunity to get cozy with the Northwest at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts. Below are the four encaustic paintings that are currently showing at the PCPA until mid March.I am excited to check out Portland and I hope you are as well. I know that the 'robots' have been taking the front stage in the studio for the last year or so however, I am excited to have the minimal and abstract work meet 2012. I will be curious to see what the art scene is like in Portland. I have heard so many great things about Portland and the art scene there. Feburary 2nd from 5 to 9pm I will be at PCPA talking art. Will you?

So to Portland or Bust! I have just received some of my postcards and business cards I created for our journey. Just below are two finished paintings I showed you (in process) last week. Take a gander.

I had a dream last month. I was walking out side a typical suburbia home in California and I saw a huge crack in the driveway. I walked over to check it out. As I saw this deep crack I got down on my hands and knees, peering even further into the cracked driveway which reveal a golden and Godly light to another place. All of a sudden I saw all these little coffee beans on the driveway next to my hands. I looked at them. Right before my eyes all the little tiny coffee beans started morphing into little rhinos. As the coffee beans magically turned into rhinos they ran away into the heavenly light. I woke up and one month later painted my friend rhino with her ever faithful bird by her side.

Expanding

The first post for January and we are already 14 days into the new year. This is the 5th year of blogging! The last few weeks I have been working on expanding the robot series. I am excited for the new life they are starting to live. Go ahead, check them out.

Whalebot 4x12in

This is a portrait of Anne. I met Anne a few weeks ago. When I would walk into her home with her two loyal dogs, I heard the most beautiful music that had every cell in my body dancing. Anne rides her bike every where she goes. So here is a painting I did of her and her...dogbots. 

Here is an 'owlbot'. I have been reading, "The Five Love Languages" by Dr. Chapman, this book discusses about how we all have a "love tank" inside of us. As I was working on this little creature I started to think about its "love tank" as it flies around the redwood forest in Bonny Doon.

These two minis are the smallest paintings I have ever created, that is a quarter picture with the work. Below is the continuation of expanding the robots. Fish, monsters, robots in submarines, it is endless. I am happy that I have the love and patience to develop these robots. Since they are so graphic I am working on adding a lot of depth to the work.

Above is the work living in the Santa Cruz studio. Below are two paintings in process. I have been having dreams with rhinos and seeing rhinos everywhere I go. So, here, I am letting rhino live here.

O love birds! If you are in California, stay cool and for you people who actually are getting snow, stay warm! I am gearing up for a group show I am exhibiting in Portland, OR. I will be there the beginning of Feburary.

Listen Up Students!

Tomorrow will be my last day teaching art in Soquel, CA at the Susun Gallery Art School. I will be finishing up my 2nd week of teaching at this fun little art school in Santa Cruz County. I have defiantly been learning just as much as the kids have. Instead of learning how to make flip books or create a mural, I am learning how to "be an adult".  I am teaching kids from the ages of 3 to 12 in class sizes from 3 kids to 12 kids, so being quick on my toes and flexible is a must all while having fun and helping the class stay focused on the task at hand. I think that this is a wonderful way for me to end my 2011 and begin a new chapter in my ever changing life. Happy New Year to you all!

Swimming Around

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming!

The Learning Experience

December 4th was the 17th Ave Studios Winter Show. This was my first showing experience in this artists collective. I was eager to see what was entailed and how this group operates when working together. I have been a part of different artist collectives for several years. With that said, my experience has been, when putting together a show,  the group of artists work together to create a cohesive look and feel in the space. This would be my first time to experience a group show where everyone receives their own 6ft space and creates whatever they want. So I went with the 'less is more' approach, small pieces for small prices. I was the first artist that had all my work up the night before in the community space. It looked great in the space, in the empty space. That morning and a few hours before the event was open to the public was when the other work came in like a storm. The show opened at 11am and people from Santa Cruz, were, crusin' about looking around seeing friends and eating cookies. After about two hours, I had never felt so invisible in my life. I was ready to go but I stayed the whole time realizing that, in this case that it is not 'less is more' is was 'bigger is better'. In August I had the best selling show with the robots at Cruzio and this was the exact opposite.  Once I realized people were purchasing $25.00 prints and jewelry, that maybe this wasn't the show for me. If I wasn't making any sales, I at least wanted to make an impact with my work, which also didn't seem to happen. The feeling of being invisible was not on my radar and was a new feeling to me, however the feeling of wanting to consume Vodka Crans at a fast rate was pumping through my Irish body. I wanted to have my life size robots come into the show and whisk me away on a boat and feed me plumbs laced with laughter.

I stayed sober another day and chalked it up to experience.