"Free Range II", acrylic on canvas w/ museum-wrapped sides, 12 x 12

For our February show at Tumalo Art Co. in Bend, Oregon all of the artists in the collective painted things they are passionate about. As an exercise, because I hadn’t painted much since finishing my latest very large painting, “Into the Mystic” for the show at Black Butte Ranch, I wanted to do something different, which for me is often a still life. One of the Tumalo Art Co. artists, Danae Bennett Miller, (who I am having a show with in April!) raises chickens with her son on their ranch. They bring eggs from their (very) free-range hens to our First Friday Gallery Walk openings every month which are eagerly snatched up. They have absolutely beautiful colors—delicate tans, browns and blues…sometimes with speckles. As I was getting ready to make our traditional Christmas breakfast dish I found I couldn’t crack these two eggs. So I put them in a little dish and placed them on the vintage tablecloth to take some photos. The resulting tiny still life presented the perfect challenge for painting something I’m passionate about. In this case—pattern and color…

My show of acrylic and soft pastel paintings, featuring Central Oregon landscapes and fish in their natural environment will open at Black Butte Ranch Lodge, near Sisters, Oregon January 19, with a wine tasting from 5-7pm. The show will continue through February. It’s an expansive space and I’m putting lots of larger pieces up, including my newest painting, “Into the Mystic”, inspired by an August day at the Metolius River.

I have been showing the process of this painting from the first few marks to finished piece on facebook….so, friend me on facebook to see that album….

"Into the Mystic", 4' x 5' acrylic on canvas w/ museum wrapped painted 2.5" sides

Every year at Tumalo Art Co. in Bend, Oregon the artists create hand-made, fine art ornaments. This photo shows two of mine, one of a mountain scene on a tiny canvas and the other of a native fish on a large, clear bulb. The steelhead used as a model was from a photo of my husband right after he caught it. The colors are beautiful! I painted four, a brook trout, rainbow trout, brown trout and this steelhead.

"Blossomland", 48 x 36 Acrylic on canvas

I just recently completed this large painting on canvas for Silver Cross Hospital in Illinois through American Art Resources in Houston, Texas. I originally connected with AAR when they sent out a call for art for Sacred Heart/RiverBend Hospital in Springfield, Oregon, my hometown. So, it was great to be called upon for this new commission.

"Late Winter Aspen" Progression

Sometimes it’s interesting to see the progression of a painting. I build-up color, continuing to layer until a painting feels finished. The initial painting session, for me, is just about getting something on the canvas. Once I’ve leaped that hurdle I am compelled to keep going. “Just begin” is my mantra as I drag my unwilling body into the studio and work to overcome inertia. I always prime my canvases with the complimentary color to what I think will be the predominating color of the final piece. Since I paint nature that color is often in the green and blue range, so my under-painting is red or orange. Though most of this color is covered up, twinkles of it show through in the final that give the art life.

“Late Winter Aspen” is a 40 x 30 acrylic that is in my September show at Tumalo Art Co. in Bend, Oregon. It is also a great painting for a large space—residential or corporate—and will be offered as a giclee limited edition reproduction.