Sticks, Stones, and Paper Stew Blog

Texture and Paint

Currently, my normal studio space is swamped with tools, boxes, washer & dryer, more tools, tile, and extra stuff making it extremely difficult to get anything done. All part of remodeling woes! I almost can’t remember the downstairs bathroom being a functioning finished space. Slowly, it’s coming together. Below are a couple of shots of the progress.

After several false starts, we finally got the texture mix correct and the walls received a good coating.

And then a uniform paint color! Yippee!!!

Washer and dryer moved back in after 3 weeks. Finally I can do laundry at home again. Next up are the tub walls and then the tile floor.

Once the bathroom is completed, I might be able to reclaim my studio space. Maybe by January I can get my space back. 🙂

Portland Quickie

Portland!!!

On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to join my art friends in Portland for a little gallery hopping and a girl’s night out. We stayed at a condo joint-owned by two of the friends. They have a spectacular view of the Steel Bridge on the Willamette River.

Our main mission was to visit Waterstone Gallery where our friend Susan Johnson was having her final show. Susan is retiring after many many years in this great space. On our walk there, we passed by 3 or 4 of these cool sculptures. They are solar powered and have a great glow. Very reminiscent of carnivorous plants.

For some reason I never pulled out the camera at any of the gallery locations. Horrible of me! Susan’s show was fabulous. We also had the opportunity to see Rick Bartow’s work at the Froelick Gallery. Rick happened to be dropping off 3 large canvases while we were there. It was great to hear him talk about these new works. We also went to Blue Sky gallery. I really enjoyed the photographs by David Nadel of the burned forests in Northern Montana. Please click on all 3 gallery names to see the current shows.

Jamison Square was beautifully lit and had a great Christmas tree in the center. I really enjoyed all the small trees with white lights. It was a beautiful view looking out from our dinner location.

Our trip back to the condo took us by the train station. It was so empty and cold! By morning, the temp was down to 19 F ( -7 C). Did I mention we’re experiencing a bit of chilly weather? Snow expected on Friday….

Sunrise through the Steel Bridge on the Willamette River.

After a leisurely breakfast, we wondered over to Oblation Paper…. Oh, what a happy place filled with so many cards, ribbons, letterpress, paper and more paper!

There are several water towers perched above buildings in the Pearl District. These caught my eye since I didn’t grow up with them, nor do we have them where I live now.

That’s all for now. Getting ready for the weather shift tomorrow (how much snow will really fall in our area?). The dogs all survived a night without me. Maybe I should leave more often!

Stuffing with family

Thanksgiving is a time for family. We spent the afternoon with my oldest brother, his girlfriend, her son’s family, and one of the nephews.

Hanging out with my oldest nephew. Is he really 29?

The baby wasn’t ready to hang out with me yet (clinging to grandma), but by the end of the evening, we were good buddies.

Goodies created by the hardworking food team

One of the main cooks! The extraordinary Tiffany!

The turkey was nice and tender but the gravy had a few issues…. I don’t think spreadable gravy will catch on big bro!

Slogging & Release!

Another one bites the dust! That’s the problem with artwork, sometimes it just doesn’t survive critters or husband. The Oregon Rain vessel took a nose dive off the windowsill thanks to overly barkey dogs yesterday. Dave went to open the window to yell at them and the vase jumped. Maybe it’s a good thing. It helped clear a bit more space out of an overly crowded room. It was a piece from my university days and did happen to be part of a show at the River Gallery. Oh well. Nothing I can do about it now except let it go. It’s been 14 days since I’ve done a stitch of art. My time devoted to Eugene has increased which is ok. The more I can get done for the estate, the faster it can get off my hands! Over the past several months, I’ve discovered multi-tasking between the estate world vs. art world don’t mix well in my brain. I’ve become inefficient in both. So, now my artwork needs to rest while I wrap up other important issues. Insurance and taxes have been dealt with and coordinating repairs needs to start. The basement is almost fully devoid of crud. After many trips to the dumpster, plus two full truckloads to the local recycling center, we have rid ourselves of hundreds of pounds of fasteners(nails, screws, etc), electrical bits, plumbing, tools…. Who knew how much stuff one man could accumulate related to building? My message to people out there with giant garages/sheds/ homes stuffed with items: clean it out so your children don’t have to do it after you die! Trust me, your children won’t appreciate slogging through all your crap. Lighten your load and conscience! Your footprint on this earth doesn’t have to be so heavy. 🙂

There are hints of progress on moving all the rentals out of my hands. Oh yes, we actually have an offer on one (a horrible offer, but we will see where negotiations can lead) AND my sister is making ground on taking over ownership of the others. There really is a light at the end of the tunnel! Yesterday amid massive downpours, I traipsed around Eugene with my sister in tow to acquire new carpeting for one of the rentals. My goal is to have it on the market again by December. Maybe we’ll be able to tempt a student or someone during the holiday break.

Today, a Golden Crowned Kinglet decided to take a plunge into our sliding glass door. The morning temp was rather low (low 30’s) so I scooped him up and brought him in for a 20 min rest indoors. After keeping him in an enclosed box for that length of time and in a quiet room, he had perked up enough to release. It always surprises me how small some of the wild birds are. This guy was tiny!

Since he was bright eyed, I placed him in the fly through feeder to gather himself. I checked him after 3 min and he was gone! Hooray!

Red Hood

Today is my birthday and I decided to do something for ME! No estate items, bills, worrying about stuff that needs to be accomplished. It’s my day and I spent it working on a charcoal drawing I’ve wanted to do for years. Oh yes, it does involve a dog. Back in 2007, I took a trip to Amsterdam and Scotland with Dave and my father. Quite the epic journey & I won’t go into detail. While on the ferry from Oban to Mull (west coast of Scotland), we met a fabulous family (with their spaniel) heading to the island for holiday. It was late October, very grey, and windy. Their youngest child was sitting on one of those plastic molded deck chairs with her sweet dog buddy. I managed to snap a picture.

Today, I ran across the image and decided it was time do something about it. The start of the drawing is a bit clunky, but I think you can get the idea of where I’m heading. Dog head needs to increase in size before really starting in plus the child’s head is still needing work. My friend Rosie always complains about drawing the alien heads of children. She is so spot on with how difficult it is! I’ve not come close to attempting one for years. Up til now, I’ve chosen not to do much with human figures, but that might be changing. I really want to accomplish some sort of series of dog/people interactions. Prints and charcoal are probably going to be the medium choice. We will see where this leads.

What did I use? A full sheet of Rives BFK plus vine and compressed charcoal.

Unpacking

Sunday night I packed everything up from Judith’s studio and headed home. This last weekend was a mixed bag, a super busy Saturday but Sunday was a bit slower (ultra slow in sales). We had a great time talking with lots of people. I have to admit, chatting to people about my work is difficult. I’ve spent many years selling other peoples art, but never my own. Hopefully it becomes easier with time.

The home studio is now a mess and it will take some time to reorganize what’s returned. I’m also trying to figure out what direction I should now head towards. Will it be more printmaking or continuing to explore the lighted world? Time will tell.

I want to send out a big thanks to all the friends and new friends who stopped by for a visit and to those who purchased some of my work. Both weekends were so much fun and I’m looking forward to 2014! Oh, and the Pod lamps will be making an appearance on ETSY soon.

Above are a couple of shots from Sunday. I wanted to give those who didn’t make it out a chance to see the lighted corner. It worked quite well for all the lamps & pumpkin too!

Pumpkin Carving

Life is just flying by and I can’t believe the week is almost over. Wednesday we had Round#2 of preview tours for the open studio event. Incredible weather and a fabulous group of artists, I couldn’t have asked for a better night out. If you don’t get the opportunity to see me this weekend, have no fear cause I’ll be back for 2014!

Dave is off on another adventure involving a 20 ft. U-Haul, car in tow, and a bunch of furniture. Add in some crazy weather and no idea where he’s going (well, the end destination is Chicago but there are an awful lot of roads to choose to get there!). Apparently the corridor from Texas to Illinois and east are receiving loads weather. I’m so thankful we live in a boring section of the country!

I finally bit the bullet and started work on an official website. Domain purchased etc…. photos slowly uploading, trying to figure out how I really want it all displayed. Today I didn’t have as much time to work on it, nor on Friday. Maybe next week things might be up and running in a tentative state. I’ll keep you posted.

For Halloween night, I stayed home and pulled out my Niji carving set. The dogs really don’t do well with kiddos coming to the door, so I shut down all the lights to keep things calm. So with wine in hand, I tried my hand at carving a pumpkin with intention of popping in a 7 watt fluorescent bulb. What I ended up with was a dog. It’s based on a print titled “Blue Ball”. I’ve not yet figured out how to color the ball blue, but I still have a day before taking it along to Open Studio. My real hankering was to do a Douglas Squirrel. Glad I chose a familiar image. Working a curved surface is a bit different than a flat block. Maybe next year I can break down and give a different critter a try!

The pumpkin is safe in the fridge to keep it fresh for the weekend.

Happy Halloween and Dia de los Muertos!

Oh, I wish I was in Oaxaca right now…

🙂

First Frost

I couldn’t resist pulling out the camera and taking a couple of shots of this beautiful morning.

Long shadows

Yellow Cottonwood

Blueberry leaves

I think I’m procrastinating heading down to Eugene. Maybe I can find something else to do before hitting the road! 😉

Open Studio!

Come see us! Sage Studio belongs to my friend Judith Sander. She graciously opens her doors to the public once a year during the Philomath Open Studio Tour and invites two artists to participate. Jerri Bartholomew (center) is an incredible glass artist who blends her scientific background and love of nature into her work. Judith’s collage work are stories of their own featuring strong women and various pets in their lives. She layers incredible color and texture into each work. Then there is me standing to the left. I feel so fortunate to be part of this group.

Here are a few shots of the studio before we opened the doors.

A very full and diverse mixed media studio!

Craziness!

Holy Cow! Tomorrow, Wednesday, is set up day at Judith’s studio for the big weekends. Dave is off in Seattle for a week long training and I’m home with the hounds from hell. Last night the dogs and I were out on a gloriously warm walk with my girlfriend and were attacked by a black lab running loose. Not even my best “Doggie Daycare” screams could keep the lab away. Reggie lost a clump of fur, Zeek wasn’t touched, but Moby ended up with several punctures from where the dog grabbed his front leg. I couldn’t tell he was bit until we got home and was carefully examined (until it was too much and he tried to bite me). I filed a report with the police and will see what happens today.

What’s happening in the studio? Packing! Walls and drawers are systematically being emptied.

Boxes of framed prints are getting ready to move.

Pods are accumulating. Five are finished for the studio sale.

This trio of hand colored prints from my forest series hasn’t ever been outside the studio. Well, at least in this format! The three prints are hanging inside a hemlock frame. You’ll just have to come see it during the Philomath Open Studio Tour!