lula

oil painting on wood block
approximately 3.5 by 5 inches
$100.

one of quite a few new little portrait blocks i just listed in my shop. these will be available through thursday when i am emptying out my shop for the salem art festival.
and now might be a good time to explain names in the light of this particularly funny little name, that i am oh so fond of, my current naming inspiration has come from the absolutely wonderful social security administration site where you can browse through the most popular names going back to 1880, so fun, well at least i find it fun, might be a sign i need to get out more.

caroline carefully arranges everything she holds dear

oil on birch panel
18 inches square
$2200.

my first larger piece in some time - i love it and can't wait to finish up the next version. the title came first on this one - while listening to a piece on npr about the idea of only having fifty possessions. as someone who is torn by a desire to collect and a desire to simplify and who is utterly fascinated with consumerism and the idea that we are for better or worse identified by our possessions, from the study of ancient cultures through shards of pottery, to the identification of saints in art by their outfits, to my coveting of a totally unnecessary for me iphone, to the fact that my work, my livelihood, a good part of my identity is based on the fact that i create things, possessions are something i can't help but think about what they all mean and how we identify with them. so.. yeah...love the title, couldn't decide between this compostition and another interior version so i'm doing both. and i have a bit of a fever so rambling might be even more incoherent than usual, sorry.

for those who have asked...

maybe for a limited time, maybe for good, i haven't yet decided but at least for now -

custom portraits are back.

it's all a terribly delicate balance

untitled when originally posted now "jack and nora together against the world"
six inches square
oil on wood
$375.

a balance between my love of the color pink and a strong desire for my work not to be dismissed as cute. between time spent teaching francie to blow bubbles and time spent answering emails. between feeling like skipping out on art shows is a missed opportunity or like it's the best business decision i can make.
all in all the summer is just barely here and already feeling like it's going too fast. i'm painting as much as i can (which is a good thing, don't mean that to sound like work, i really wish i didn't require sleep so i could just paint while the family sleeps, if i had a wish that would be it, well maybe world peace or something altruistic but okay if i had a wish just for me it would be that i didn't have to sleep) and doing my best to stay caught up in the little world of my "online presence" but there just isn't enough time and i've decided to drastically trim back on my travel schedule, so i won't be making it to any of the out of oregon shows for the rest of this year, we'll see about next year, i just don't know. and as for the balance between pink and cute and serious and dark while i'm just going to keep trying my hardest to find that strange place in between.

and as for the title on this piece - here's a great place to finally add a little disclaimer i keep meaning to write: for all of you that read this blog in a reader you much of the time don't see the final result. i have a tendency to hit publish then reread and go back and change little things but at least with google reader that i use you just see that first draft so if you see me mispelling things you can always just give me the benefit of the doubt and assume i fixed it or you can check the actual blog to see if i finally got it right and this piece will probably have a title by morning.

*i've titled the piece "jack and nora together against the world"

abigail never cared for the city

six inches square
oil painting on birch panel
sold

another in the abigail series. when i do art shows probably the most commonly asked question (behind "why does no one smile?" and "are these people you know?") is "why the bird-lady?" well here goes... i'm fascinated by imagery that repeats through different times and cultures and birds as well as birds with human qualities and humans with bird qualities are everywhere - from mesopotamia to easter island, greek mythology to swedish fairytales, and so much more, so abigail is the bird lady of my own personal mythology, she's my symbol. i'm planning on a hand colored gocco version of this painting as well.
and those other questions - well i'm working on a little frequently asked questions type of thing and will be putting the answers there as well as the more basic facts "where can i see your work?" "can i get on your mailing list?" that type of thing so if there's anything you've been dying to know do send me an email or leave a comment and i might add it to my list. thanks.
i've updated my shop with a few new little portrait blocks.

lola (again)

oil painting on birch panel
six inches square
$375.

once in an art history class my teacher was discussing degas, she was listing off various reasons for/theories of why he painted so many ballerinas and she ended with maybe he just liked tutus. i love tutus.

you can now see (and purchase) any of my pieces that are in l.a. for the enormous tiny art show.

enormous tiny art - los angeles

helen allows lizards on her hands to ensure good health
5 by 7 inches
met the unfortunate fate of coming between a four year old and a screwdriver

i've sent off five (this was supposed to be the sixth) pieces to the enormous tiny art show in los angeles. wish i could be making it to the opening but if you are in the l.a. area and can make it let me know how it went. here's the details.

lydia

pencil, watercolor and the tiniest bit of acrylic on paper
3.5 by 5 inches
$50.

i was going to write a long post about trying to work with small children about and how i was going to solve this problem by selling reproductions and thus have less work for myself and how i also liked this idea because i really want people to feel they can afford my work but i ordered a few prints and it just doesn't feel right to me in anyway so instead i listed a few drawings for sale to satsify my desire to have more lower priced pieces available (three of which already sold while trying to finish this post, thank you) and i'd love to be able to say that i'll be posting more drawings at regular intervals and that i'd love to finally make a decision about whether or not i prefer doing the large shop updates or just posting work when it's complete and i'd love to know what people think either way about that matter but frances keeps biting my leg and making it rather impossible to concentrate...

jane and catherine

oil painting on birch panel
10 inches square
$800.

clio

oil painting on wood block
$100.

here's clio, one of my little tiny pieces that makes up the big collection of little portrait blocks.

if you are in oregon or anywhere else northwest where you are able to watch OPB on Thursday night at 8:00 pm there will be an episode of Oregon Art Beat devoted to collecting art. I was briefly interviewed by the host KC Cowan last summer and am not sure how much of my interview made the cut but I have been told I was in the commercial so do watch.