The show (nearly two months ago) was a great success. We had in attendance 150 people and sold a great portion of the show's pieces. Vikki and I were exhausted, thrilled, and were quick to begin planning our next studio show. I would like to now share some of the works from the show as well as another piece I have been developing. Enjoy. (Click images to see a larger view)





Also, coming soon... I have been in the process of starting my own little line of creative bits: pins, bags, and jewelry of sorts- mostly made of felt and vinyl. What I have so far is fun. I'll post soon.

Come on by - If not for the art, there's wine and cheese.
We're right above Dagny's Coffee on the corner of 20th and Eye St.
studio-seven.blogspot.com

Click on the image - it gets bigger.

First Place, Baby!



Vikki and I represented Studio 7 well during the 47 or so hours chalking the ground. Via Arte was lovely, despite a nice wet rain on Friday night that set us back a few hours. We are now proud winners of first place for our original 12 foot by 12 foot chalked birds. We gladly accepted the prize and promptly hurled ourselves back to our homes for a much deserved and needed rest. Beth Ramone stated that Via Arte was like giving birth - It's quite painful, a big undertaking, but quite worth it. And I say: Yes, Beth - exactly.

In Other news: I'm nearing my 14th hour in the studio readying for the show in 12 days. A couple small ones I'm proud of, some shoes I painting using Vikki's style, and a little progress on the PDX series. Keeping this up, I should have plenty of work completed in less than two weeks. WOO!

Another finished! Oh, the joy in completed work.


You know, my New Year's resolution was to finish my projects (the same New Year's resolution I make every year) and I do believe I'm accomplishing it little by little.

Michael is finished! I spent the weekend working on this piece (and others) and the completion feels RIDICULOUSLY LOVELY. I'm exhausted from some late nights in the studio. My space is a mess. And it will only get more exhausting and messy as I close in on the studio show deadline. We've changed the date a few times, but we're settling on the first Friday in November (Nov. 2nd). Postcards are being made and the task is now to finish a nice body of work to show. With Michael finished I am assured I have it in me to finish another ten or twelve pieces in a month and a half.



I may spend a little more time on the pot and back hand - maybe the ceiling, but for now I'm moving on to a new piece. I bought three more large canvasses and have a slew of smaller ones freshly stretched and gessoed. Get to work, young lady! Get. To. Work.

Mornings in the studio...
This is the third of the new series.



Jon's face has given me grief. The angle is odd. He has a great nose, but I haven't been able to figure out how to make that obvious. Doesn't Jon have a great nose?




...and some progress of this one

I have been knee-deep in paperwork, elbow-deep in school supplies, and ear-deep in what seems to be happy anticipation with a slight air of fear. I begin tomorrow working with my fifth and sixth graders and the last two weeks doesn't seem to have prepared me enough. But I am sure I will get through the first day unscathed.

Last week I began a project I have been holding off for quite some time. I suppose this is the best time to start a new art project - a short two months before our studio show. This is my Portland series: a series of work inspired by the people I encountered in Portland. I've been setting aside photos and jotting down ideas for this series and last week I finally rolled up my sleeves and dove in head first. Here are the beginnings. I have never worked this large successfully, so the size is a challenge in itself. This is charcoal, acrylic, and lots of gesso.

As a kid, you are supposed to be upset when summer is over. There is this great depression that fills your over-worked belly and covers your tanned skin. My chlorinated hair was always the perfect shade of green by August and I knew that meant summer was over. But I was always secretly excited to begin a new year. I would, in my head and aloud, discuss the various scenarios that may play out on the first day of school. I would ultimately either be asked a great question or the teacher would comment on how interesting my name was or see that I was good at something. I would be praised and all the kids would follow. That never happened. I would sit there quietly; the teacher would say my name with a painful normalcy and then mention how the next kid has a name that means warrior in Greek and how cool that is. He'll be her favorite for a while - until he gets too cocky. I won't raise my hand for fear of delivering a wrong answer and the day will go by only to be described as "fine" or "okay" to my parents. Anyway, summer is basically over. I start my new job on Monday and I am away from children for a lovely two weeks at which time I will gain back my love of the little ones and be perfectly ready for them to tear me down again. I do not want to teach small children in my life. I only want to show them painting techniques for very brief stints of time and then leave them to their own devices with no fault of mine.
I can't wait until Christmas break.

After working too hard on the painting for The Californian and having only mediocre satisfaction, I delved back into charcoal. I bought some cheap ($4) canvasses at my new favorite early morning shop (not saying which) and began to try out something new - making sure not to stray too far away from the basics. Those aren't quite ready for their blog debut, but here's something new, still in progress:



And the sweater:

We were sitting at the dinner table. My dad has always intrigued me as to how he is able to consume his meal with such facial hair. Not that his facial hair is normally out of control, but consuming food with facial of any kind seems quite a feat to me. But on this particular night I was distracted more so than other nights. His mustache had grown out unevenly and the hairs on his chin seemed to grasp at my meal. When he talked his mustache danced up and down pausing for a quick break every now and then. So, I offered my services. My hair cutting scissors have been neglected as I have been letting my hair grow long and wild. They sit collecting the usual bits of bathroom dust: tissue fibers, hairspray, toothpaste. They come out about once a month to trim Grandma's locks, but other than that short trip, they remain unused. I do feel bad. But on this night I felt my duty was to pull out the ole' scissor friends and trim up Dad's wavy facial locks. Nobody but my grandma and dad let me near them with the scissors; not since Ashleigh's makeover. So, here is my handy work with the shears:


before


and after





And... the progress on my sweater (and Violet's paw):



I'm rinky-dinking it up with some spacers. I've seen this effect a few times before, but I haven't felt the need or desire to actually seek out how it is done. So, I came up with my own solution. Spacers. We'll see how this develops.

And, just in time for fall, I'm knitting a sweater.

The almost finished piece for the Californian.







Just after I finished this piece and was only mildly happy with myself I delved into the charcoal for a pile of hours. I was reminded that prefer my hands covered in charcoal.

THE BEGINNING. I guess I've been looking for some space to show the work I've been doing. Maybe this will keep me motivated to finish projects. I'm preparing to knit a sweater (ready by Fall) and in the process of various paintings, drawings and sewing projects. So here. Here it is.

The latest project: I was asked to create a piece of art for the Bakersfield Californian. This piece will be featured along with various other young artists the fancy Eye Street section. I'll tell you more later, but here's the beginning...


I've never drawn children successfully. They have different proportions and wierd angles. Their bodies are short and chubby and warped. I think I did pretty well, but the kid still looks a little off.

Another recent piece. This is one of two I entered into a local show. They didn't get in. I'm still minorly bitter, but proud of my pieces.