Tidbits from the Studio

The turn of the weather into soft grays and cooler days means that I've finally been here again. Working. Playing.

And it's oh so nice.

Today is the last official day of summer and I'm ready - bring on the FALL!

Cultivation and Release Opening

Cultivation and Release opened last night to a large crowd and many friends. I'm exhausted but satisfied! Below are some gallery views of the show. Enjoy!

Cultivation and Release

Cultivation and Release Solo show!
Opening tonite 5pm to 9pm
Core Gallery

"All Sixes and Nines"
Acrylic, carvings and Oil on wood
48" x 48"
2012

Studio Sneaky Peeks

 Sneaky sneak peek!  

Look - see? Those flowers that caught my eye at the Market today were totally a business purchase. Honest.

 And the cackling crows are emerging...

Signed, Sealed & Delivered

"Bo" - Mixed Media on Panel Pet Portrait

Finished! I can go public with this pet portrait now since it was gift that was given and joyfully opened yesterday. My favorite thing about the holidays is gift giving. I love figuring out just the right gift for a friend to light up their face. This particular portrait was a blast to do for that very reason since the recipient had mentioned wanting to commission me to paint Bo some time ago. Didn't hurt that the canine in question happens to be so wonderfully photogenic!

I had so much fun playing with bright colored highlights for Bo's under-painting. Who knew a fluffy white fella could sport such a rainbow? Purples, blues, reds and yellows - a full spectrum of awesome I must say.

Holiday warmth and cheer,
Sae

Artings

Siu Lung - Custom Pet Portriat

 The last couple of days have been chocked full busy with artings! Both of the making kind, and of the taking care of business kind. I finished a fantastic portrait of this cute little fella above and he turned out SO well that I had no choice but to get "going" with updating my website and listing my portrait availability in my etsy shop.

After all the computer work was sorted out I pretty much moved my studio outside for the day. Panels, paint and even the Dremel. Four hours went by like 40 minutes. So blissed out!
Top secret little studio tidbit - but that red string tied to my pencil? Tis how I make my swoops and swirls. Sketch pencil and compass all in one.

And chickens. Yes. Chickens. Why? Because I really want them. Someday. For now my friend Jenna's will have to do.

Choosing Paths

Last week I finished a darling portrait honoring a wonderful cat. Loki was a fairly famous cat in the Ballard area during his time I hear. My dear friend Kirsten commissioned me to paint his portrait for her beau Matthew, who had recently lost this companion of close to two decades.
Loki's portrait was a challenge and an honor. I'm so glad that I've found a way to use my skill with capturing an animal's personality to help bring joy to folks.

The success of this piece also came at a time when I've been thinking through whether I was going to proceed with taking on this full-time art "job" or not. It is such a scary thing to leap whole-hearted into supporting yourself. So scary that I've yet to fully do it. This whole summer - all my travel and road-tripping has been about trying to think through and prepare for what I want my future to be:
To be solely responsible for my finances through art - to always be in pursuit of using my art to make money...
OR
To seek out reliable but flexible employment so I can keep the freedom to only paint for myself.

These questions have haunted me for a long time. Part of what I'm realizing though is that I no longer want to paint just for myself. It is SO immensely satisfying when someone else loves and cherishes my work. It may very well be the whole point of why I feel so compelled to make this work.

It is such a big endeavor though. How does one even start to "market" oneself? I need a business plan and a back up plan. I need notes and lists and contacts. I need some luck.

To top it off with extra irony from the Universe: The day after all this was churning in my head from a strong job interview, as I was seriously considering taking on full time employment again, I sold a painting. Greenwood Common had been sitting up at NW Fine Woodworking for two months and was slated to be picked up within the next week. When randomly, it sold. How's that for adding to the mix?
Boy oh boyo.

Ocean, Tides & Flora

Andy and my Mom, exploring tidepools

The days last week were swiftly filled by my annual family vacation to the Oregon coast.  We lucked out with some of the most gorgeous, ideal weather. It was the kind of week not often repeated so close to the Pacific. All of us took advantage of this blessing by spending the majority of our time out on the beach.

My photographer Dad at Spouting Horn, Cape Perpetua

Ancient Sitka Spruce towering above

Bear tracks on the beach

View from our temporary beach cabin homestead

Crown Point overlooking the Columbia River

I capped off vacation by taking a little artist retreat on my own. I traveled up the Columbia River gorge to Corbet, OR where I enjoyed the treat of a two day painting workshop with Flora Bowley. Creative play in a spectacular garden setting with some truly lovely souls.

Flora herself is a wonderfully open teacher fully sharing her techniques and tricks she has learned over the years. She combines technique with a playful painting philosophy I found quite refreshing.

Layering colors, texture and bold mark-making - canvas in progress

The end results for me were a pair of canvases that to me seem so completely in Flora's style but also speak from my own voice. I had a TON of fun.

I'm already experimenting with ways to bring some of this colorful looseness into my own paintings on wood. Stay tuned for some playful & bold wood-staining!

Call and Response

"Call and Response #1"

Funny thing can happen when you line up several commitments one after the next. You can overbook yourself.
Yes - overbook. Did I admit it out-loud? I think I did.
Here is a little artist life lesson story so hopefully you won't repeat my mistake:

I've had the honor of being invited to exhibit in several shows recently. It is truly flattering and a wonderful sense of "being on the right path" when you no longer have to put yourself out there and submit to a gallery. Huzzah, right? Recently, I got so caught up with that nice feeling that I neglected to fully check my calendar dates.

I had my big solo show booked for April, then in May I followed that up with another solo show for Ballard Art walk along with two group shows. I knew I would have plenty of fresh work from the April show to spread out to the following May exhibitions. Perfect!

"Call and Response # 2"

 And then I was invited to show again for Pioneer Square Art walk in June. I mentally calculated my Spring show schedule and said "Sure! I'm available for June." And thus committed to the show.

What I neglected to realize was that the Ballard show does not come down until mid-June. And I needed to deliver pieces to the NW Fine Woodworking show by June 1st.

I realized this grave error approximately 14 days ago.

So - the "Call" was set and I had no choice but to drop everything else and get back in the studio to "Respond". What came out are three brand new works that deepens my exploration with wood carving. I also continued a theme I had started to play with during the "Birds and the Bones". Looking a source verses product. At our environment and resources and how we use them. The life force and then the by product from that life force. Getting rather hippy-dippy but the results sure are nice.

Sometimes it's worth it to push yourself beyond your comfort zone and forge ahead. Things usually have a way of working out.

"Call and Response # 3"

VSC Week Two

 Two weeks can go by so incredibly quickly! 

A summary in images - above is my studio building on the right, and the red mill building on the left is where I've been eating 3 meals a day with an amazing group of artists and writers.

 Been watching snow fall out my studio window which I covered with rolls of piano player paper.

 For my work trade her I've been super lucky to be assigned the task of organizing the studio center's Literary library. One side effect though has been to loose track of time in lines of poetry. Yummy!

 And painting? Fantastic. I'm working on combining my line work with art nouveau border ideas.

The camera on my phone is sufficient for a lot, but artwork isn't the best. You can get an idea of what I'm up to though. Both of these pieces are about 30" x 40" on tea stained canvas.

 Still working on the border for these guys but they are far too fun not to share. I wonder just how many goats end up wandering around with chickens hitching a ride...

 And on a whim I had packed in my old oil pastels from childhood and I'm so glad I did - I've been having fun doing intuitive color play. Pure energy and emotion because I've had a LOT of that going on.

Being here has allowed me to clarify so much. From this clarity I've been able to make a really huge decision that has been pending for far too long. Feels fantastic!

Happy soaring energy is bouncing around here in spades. Spades I tell you.

In Progress and the Epic Shipping of a Studio

 I'm feeling very much "in progress" these days. If you harken to the analogy of "having pots on the stove" and moving something "to the back burner"... well I think I need to add another stove cuz I'm all out of burners!

I've got 10 brand new pieces in the works which will involve a delicious combination of wood stained northwest Botanical, watercolor cut outs and beeswax. I can't wait to share them... but until them here are some sneak peeks in progress:

Also in the works are the preparations for 2 other last minute show additions. One will be a group show in Pioneer Square that will include some of my pieces from "The Birds and the Bones". 

The other will be:

The Belltown Holiday Gift Show

 November 15th - December 23rd 

I'll be contributing an assortment of small works such as my aquarium pieces and a clearance sale of some Rekoj hand painted clothing. Should be fun!

And now, at least for a few days, preparations for my residency at the Vermont Studio Center have been shifted to the "back burner" because this very afternoon I shipped off an extremely precious box. A box containing all of my most favorite studio supplies. Sifting through my paints, inks and brushes turned out to be more difficult than I ever would have imagined. Trying to par my studio down to one little box for the post? What was I thinking - wanting to leave on a residency? Goodness. 

All part and parcel of the journey I suppose...

And a 28 pound shipping bill. But hey! I had to get my snow boots over there too!

Okay... I probably sent off more than I needed but what's that the Girl Scouts say? 

Always be mega overly prepared? Yeah...

These Sounds of Silence Are

My residency at the Vermont Studio Center is now only mere weeks away. In between now and then there will be a group show opening at City Hall, figuring out how to pack and ship supplies for a month away, finishing 10 5x5 paintings plus 2 commissions.

Okay... deep breath...

AND I've thrown a trip to the Grand Canyon into the mix to visit my dear friend Katie.

Shake, stir, repeat.

No wonder artists are viewed as daffy.
***
In other news I've added some hand drawn illustration buttons to this blog - whatcha think? 

Loving every second,
Sara

Snail Tales from the Studio

"Greenwood Common"
Oil & Acrylic

Finished! This little garden snail friend makes piece number two working with wood-stained line work. I love love love how this one came out. It is on a small cupboard door with a green acrylic wood stain that contrasts against the oak quite nicely methinks.

This is part of a mini series along with the seagull piece  for a group show at Seattle City Hall this winter. The theme is "The Visual and Varied Facets of Seattle". I chose to feature three incredibly common but under-noticed Seattle "nuisance" creatures... me being the creature lover that I am. Can you guess what the third will be? Here's a hint: It's another feathered friend in the works!

I'm still deeply enthralled with working with wood stains and it is swiftly becoming apparent that it will be the focus of my upcoming show for Ballard Art Walk in October. (Dear me that is coming up with a quickness!)
But with the amount of artwork that has been spilling out of the studio lately I'm already contemplating switching things up to try out some more works on paper. Paper being about a gazillion times easier to store than giant paintings on wood...

Instead of "Do what you love and the money will follow" I'm currently thinking the more appropriate saying is "Do what you love and what you love will take over your living room."
But that's just me.