Flowers and vegetables and a winner: Penny Sorenson!

"Pink Tulips" / 9x12 / pastel

Congratulations to Penny Sorenson of Anchorage, Alaska, winner of the June Drawing for a Painting! She will receive a $70 credit toward purchase of my artwork. Thanks for playing, Penny! And remember, folks--you can't win if you don't play, and playing is soooo easy! All you have to do is sign up to follow this blog.

"Red and Yellow Tulips" / 9x12 / pastel

Today's featured paintings emerged from a recent studio clean-up. As I mentioned in a previous post, I like to paint but am not so fond of the steps that follow: photographing and cataloging the artwork; putting it into its protective cover; listing it in the Daily Paintworks gallery; etc. Fortunately, my darling husband helps me with all these tasks. But he can't get started until I "sign off" on the paintings and often it takes me a while to decide if they're really done or not. During my recent cleanup I ended up concluding that the tulips were great the way they were. I added a few more strokes to the artichokes and garlic and can now release them, too. Yay! Progress! Only a few dozen more to go through...

"Artichokes at the Market" / 9x11 / pastel

"Garlic at the Market" / 8x10 / pastel

Blue Skies Ahead!

Blue Sky / 7x17 /pastel

Yay! It stopped raining! Last evening there was the most beautiful sunset available from my front porch--much like the one in this painting.

Glass of Beer and a sale

"Glass of Beer" / 12x9 / pastel

I like to paint. Finish one painting, start another one. Keep repeating until there are so many paintings I have to sort through them and have a sale!

"Ball Jars" / SOLD

"Cows in the Shade" / 4x6 / pastel & sumi ink

"Light Through the Tree" / 8x6 / pastel & sumi ink

"After the Storm" / 4.5 x 6 / pastel

"Lavender Shadows" / pastel

City of Roses

"Old City of Roses Motel Sign on Interstate Ave." pastel 8.25x11.25

Portland is known as The City of Roses and every year there's a Rose Festival. In honor of this year's event, here are a few paintings of scenes within short walking distance from my home in North Portland's historic Kenton neighborhood. The day I decided to paint the roses in my neighborhood it was overcast and looked like rain so I zipped around in my car, parked on side streets and dashed here and there taking photos. Back at home, I made some prints from my computer and voila! here are the results. Featured are two versions of "The Old City of Roses Motel Sign" at the intersection of Interstate Ave. and Fenwick St. I had fun figuring out how to paint a chain link fence! I know which one I like prefer and why; what about you? The third painting is of the tiny Kenton Neighborhood Rose Garden on Interstate Ave. and McClellan St. Have to admit, I jazzed it up a bit with more blooming roses than it actually had. Dang, I wish the weather would improve so I can get outside to paint! Souls heartier than I have been going to Sauvie Island and I can't wait to join them. When the sun comes back out! Yes, I am a fair weather painter. Important reminder: I'm having a "Drawing for a Painting" this month! You have to be signed up as a follower of this blog to have your name entered!

"Old City of Roses Motel Sign on Interstate and McClellan" pastel

"Kenton Rose Garden on Interstate and McClellan" pastel

"Roses in a Blue Vase" and Drawing for a Painting!

"Roses in a Blue Vase", pastel, 11.5x8

photo reference for my painting

This blog has two main purposes: (1) keep me accountable for being productive; and (2) sell my art. To sell my art I have to get people to look at it. Some will look and say "Meh." Others will look and say, "Hmm, interesting but I don't see anything I like." And some will look and say, "I love it and want to enjoy it in my home!" The common denominator is looking. So, in an effort to get more people to look, I want to increase subscriptions to this blog AND increase my number of "Followers." I'm no blog expert by any means, but apparently these are separate things. If someone signs up to receive an email notice when I post to my blog that's great but I don't know who those people are. (There has to be some way of knowing and if you know how, please tell me.)  On the other hand, if someone signs up to "follow" my blog I can see their icon and name (unless they sign up to follow privately in which case, once again, I wouldn't know who they are.) So.... to increase my list of followers I'm having another "Drawing for a Painting." On June 30 I'll put the names of my followers into a hat (or other container) and my grandson will pull one out. That lucky person will get a $70 credit toward purchasing my art. Since some of my smaller works sell for $35 to $50, the winner will end up with at least one painting. And here's an additional bonus: For every new follower you send me, I'll your name in the hat an additional time. (Please be fair and only send people who actually like art and will look at my blog!) Just be sure to let me know who you sent so I can give you credit. Note: I really like followers who are fellow artists who can help mentor me in my practice.

Brenda Boylan and Pastel Punch artists Debbie, Sue, Diane, me, Marilyn and Nancy

My goals for the month of June: (1) produce 15 new paintings; (2) find three exhibits to participate in this summer and produce the art required; (3) go outside and paint "en plein air" at least four times; and (4) create four new blog posts.

"Roses in a Blue Vase" was produced at Brenda Boylan's Pastel Punch workshop last month. It was a really good experience and I met some very nice artists.

Recent work (nothing else to say!)

White Cow Amber Field, pastel, 9.25x5 in

Surfer, pastel, 4.25x6.5 in

Vase and Shadow, pastel, 9.5x6 in

Color Blocks and the Rothko and Frame exhibits at PAM

My painting "Playing With Rothko"

Last month I saw two outstanding exhibits that couldn't have been more different at the Portland Art Museum.  Painter Mark Rothko (1903-1970) received his early art education at Portland's Museum Art School. His distinctive stacked blocks of "floating, saturated color and transcendent calm" are minimalist and all about color relationships. Many of the paintings seem to hum with a deep spirituality. (His work inspired the construction of the Rothko Chapel in Houston, which I had the good fortune to visit a couple years ago.) Upstairs at PAM was an exhibit of  John Frame's work that, in contrast to Rothko's, was sculptural, detailed, and imbued with deep and confusing meanings. I found Rothko's work direct, accessible and calming while Frame's work seemed complicated and left me feeling unsettled, even though I did like being challenged by it. Dinner at Higgins Restaurant just a couple blocks away from PAM was the perfect ending to a perfect afternoon and you can bet the conversation was lively!

"White Center" by Mark Rothko

When I got home I decided to play around with Rothko's style ("Playing With Rothko"). Pastelist Jala Pfaff has done a series of pastel paintings in a stacked color block style reminiscent of his work; here's an example.She's very prolific, as you can see from the photo of her studio!

"Untitled 183" by Jala Pfaff

Jala Pfaff's studio