The Arts Center---Howland Open 2022

So glad to be part of this community event again this year. 

Flight of Fancy: Intersecting Light and Dark

 Flight of Fancy: Intersecting Light and Dark 

Birds, a Book, and Notan 

Corvallis Artists: Brenda Congdon, Joan Linse and Mary McDermott 

Truckenbrod Gallery

 517 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis Oregon

 Every Friday and Saturday from 12-4 PM during February, 2022 

And during The Corvallis Art Walk at 4 PM February 17th, 2022

I'm introducing my children's book illustrated by my friend Brenda Congdon.

A Day with Major Tom, he's one cool cat

Click the link to see the book on Amazon.com

 A Day with Major Tom, he's one cool cat

#ImagineTheFuture

 I am excited to be part of an exhibit in the Benton County Museum.

#ImagineTheFuture        

Jan. 28 – March 5, 2022

At https://imaginethefuture.global/ we are all “invited to paint a picture of the future we need – to really envision it – and delineate the critical steps necessary to get there”. Artists were encouraged to submit art relating to a vision of the future and any theme that feels right: environment, social justice, war and peace, location, community, family, or ___________.

Selected artists include Phil Coleman, Sabra Comins, Genece Cupp, Ramiro Diaz, Jan Dymond, Linda J. Edwards, Brian Egan, Leslie Green, Nancy Helmsworth, Vicki Idema, Karen Kreamer, Mary McDermott, Kate McGee, June Nissinen, Ralf Huber & Asante Riverwind, Judith Sander, Peggy Sharrow and JoAnne Walstad.

On to New Horizons

 Only a few more days to see this special event at The Arts Center. (Ends December 23rd)

On to New Horizons Click to see more about it.

It was an honor and a pleasure to be part of it.

What Will Nature Do?

Environmental Arts and Humanities at Oregon State University had this to say about the exhibit:

OSU Envirnmental Arts and Humanites Blog

 If you are in Corvallis, come see  What Will Nature Do? at the Arts Center in the main gallery until November 13, 2021. Dr. Dominique Bachelet's vision for the show is inspired.  I am honored to be part of this exhibit and accompanying book.

700 SW Madison Avenue, Corvallis Oregon.

Circle Studio

 

Stop by  Circle Studio and find out more about alcohol ink workshops and pet portraiture workshops. There are other workshops available and more being added all the time.

Alcohol Ink and alcohol

No Woman No Cry and Other Portraits

Though this webpage is basically about my artistic journey, I had to take a moment to praise Julia Cameron and her contribution to that journey with her book The Artist's Way. 

I was thrown into an artistic block on January 12, 2018 when my muse, lover, best friend, confidant, and protector died. The pandemic only exacerbated the entire sense of uselessness. I struggled to find artistic purpose and found it only while making small pieces of jewelry I gave away. This was satisfying, but I was unable to go further. 

It was time to do something about this self-inflicted creative block (they all are, frankly). I went online and purchased a used  copy of The Artist's Way published in 1992.  I don't remember having an artistic block in '92, so I don't recall reading the book. However, I am familiar with similar processes to unleash the artist within. I gave workshops for years at my art studio in Asheville, North Carolina and before that in San Diego, California, that focused on this phenomenon. Guiding and allowing students to find their inner artist  and facilitating that journey has always been central to my teaching philosophy. Now it was my problem and I couldn't help myself. I humbly sought guidance.

Cameron's program is simple:

• Write 3 pages every morning about anything (don't look at the pages, just write)
• Go on artist dates with your artist at least once a week (difficult during a global pandemic, but doable)
• Restock the idea bank from the artist dates (allow yourself to make art from these ideas)

I returned from an artist date, went straight to the studio and produced the painting below.  I barely remember painting it. It simply emerged. This is what we as artists seek; that experience when YOU get out of the way and the artist, the creative within emerges. It is not the best painting I've ever done nor my favorite, but it does represent a watershed moment for me as an artist.  I am appreciative of Julia's book and it is never too late to start from scratch. I do it every single day. 

I was listening to Legend: The  Best of Bob Marley and the Wailers on the way home from my artist's date that day. What else could I call it?

My new mantra: It is easier to paint than not to paint.

I also like: Don't give up.

                

                                                                                   No Woman No Cry  

                                                                                   10" x 20" 

                                                                                   Acrylic on canvas

Mysticism in Time of Covid

         My Mysticism in Time of Covid Story

                    

The isolation we’ve experienced through the months of the pandemic often made our encounters with other living beings more meaningful and precious. It is not just in contemplative practice, in the presence of great natural beauty, or in the ‘zone’ of  extreme physical exertion, danger or creativity that enlightenment and awareness can occur. It is the connections we make as living beings on this planet that can facilitate bliss and allow us to experience the peace, love and joy of life during this unprecedented time of plague for our generation.

Bliss in Time of Plague is an expression of such an encounter during the first summer of Covid. The accompanying lavender jade pendant represents cleansing the mind of cluttered thoughts, confusion, and negativity. The Tree of Life wire-wrapped around the stone symbolizes the interconnectedness of all things.  

Peace, joy, and love to you.

Bliss in Time of Plague Shadow Box

6.5" x 6.5" x 1.5"

Made from reclaimed, recycled and repurposed items

 

I took a ceramics class and I'm hooked!

These are the pots I made in ceramics class at Linn Benton Community College (Benton Center)!  

So much fun!
The instructors are fantastic and the volunteer staff is phenomenal! 

I'm going back!

The Ancient Ones

The Ancient Ones is a series of paintings of very old trees that still live among us. The idea grew from my love of trees. Yes, I am a tree nerd-I just can't help myself! 

Moving around the country since the 1980s has seriously destroyed my own personal sense of place. Yet, I know I am not alone. Humans migrate; some by choice and others out of necessity.

The trees in this series remind me that some living things, despite climate change, are still with us in virtually the same place they began life thousands of years ago. I love that idea.

Pando is Latin for 'spreading out' and this 'Trembling Giant' has been doing just that for 80,000 years. Pando is a clonal quaking aspen in Utah, USA and the subject of the first in a series of four paintings. 

Pando 

48" x 60"

Oil on Canvas

Number 3 in the series: The Ancient Ones

Climate change is always on my mind, as it is for many of you. Eco-responsible art-making has been a priority for me for many decades.  The Ancient Ones series continues that tradition while focusing upon essential yet vulnerable living things that will probably still be here long after humans are not.  

Old T or Old Tjikko, a clonal tree that regenerates trunks, branches, and roots over long periods of time, is almost 10,000 years old. Old Tjikko is deceiving. We can see the 300 hundred year old  spruce shooting out of the ground, however, most of Old Tjikko is ancient and underground. Clonal trees are mostly roots underground shooting up those familiar trees we love so much.  Old T is a Norway spruce located in Sweden. 

Old T

48" x 60"

Oil on Canvas

Methuselah is a 5000 year old Bristlecone pine tree in the White Mountains in California. It is the oldest living non-clonal tree in the world. Its actual location is a secret!  What an ancient beauty!

Methuselah

48" x 60"

Oil on Canvas

This piece is my expression of the Comfort Maple in Pelham, Ontario.   The Comfort Maple is just a babe in the woods at only 500 years old.  I chose to paint this sugar maple in fall because of, well, the color of course!

This was an exciting and interesting experiment in paint! I used the process to exorcise my own dis-comfort. Whenever I felt angry, sad, anxious, or generally out of sorts, I would head to the studio and apply color to Comfort. It truly was a cathartic as well as a ‘comforting’ experience to unleash my pain in this manner.  I realize now that many of my expressive pieces are born of my own personal distress and it is truly comforting to expel my demons in this manner. 

The problem with this kind of expression is it may never end. Comfort just may sit in my studio for years as I apply layer after layer of angst in the form of paint as my way to just let shit go! 

Comfort

48" x 60"

Oil on Canvas

% of the profits from the sale of the paintings in this series will go to a non-profit organization working toward reforestation and conservation. 

"Buddha's words: A tree is a wonderous thing that shelters, feeds, and protects all living things. It even offers shade to the axmen who destroy it."  Richard Powers, The Overstory 

Wild Women 2020

Check out the fantastic art in the Wild Women 2020 Show at the River Gallery in Independence Oregon.  The Show is on until February 29th, 2020.

Wild Women 2020

Open link in a new window to view the show.

En Plein Air-Corvallis

En Plein Air on Circle

16" x 20"

Oil on canvas

trying something new

Autumn in New York.

28" x 43"

Oil and acrylic on canvas

Artist residency

Come to the Corvallis Library on October 28, 2019 at 6:30 PM for a presentation and how to apply for an

Artist Residency

in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument 

with the 

Bureau of Land Management  

The Fall

The Fall. 24" x 48". Chalk pastel on repurposed masonite.
The transience of both autumn and 'white male privilege' is expressed in the image and chosen medium in this artwork.

New adventures await in Oregon

The Urban Art Retreat and Studio is closed (pictured).

It has been magical!  

I feel privileged to have been part of a truly fantastic art community in Asheville, North Carolina for 5 years. While there,  I facilitated  a variety of workshops and hosted visiting artists/instructors at my studio, began the Montford Artwalk, and exhibited my work at the Asheville Airport. 

The people who came for workshops at the studio were so wonderful and talented. I feel fortunate to have met them all and had the opportunity to work with them to explore their talent and find their inner artist.

I am now on to new and exciting things in Corvallis, Oregon. The Pacific Northwest is breathtakingly beautiful and inspiring! 

I miss you, Don.

Open your Mind

Open your Mind

Acrylic on canvas. 24 x 30.

Winter Trees and Summer Breeze

Winter Trees

20" x 60"

Acrylic on canvas
$750

As the biggest plants on earth, trees not only provide us with oxygen, store carbon, stabilize the soil, and enrich the world's wildlife, they are absolutely beautiful in all seasons. I just love trees and this is why I live in a temperate rain-forest.  If you get a chance, paint a tree! Better yet, plant one!

Summer Breeze

7"x 9"

Oil on Canvas

$100

Creation, another piece of philosophical kitsch

Creation is 30" x 60" acrylic on canvas.

15 minute painting

I was driving up Brevard Road and noticed this bucolic scene once again.  I came home, took out a 16 x 20 inch canvas and painted it in acrylic. I used, red, white, blue, yellow and three greens; phthalo, olive and light. It took about 15 minutes.  I took a picture with my phone and added a poster edge filter in Photoshop and here you have it.    

Riding the Tiger

Riding the Tiger. Acrylic on Canvas. 30" x 60".

Birds of Paradise Lost

Birds of Paradise Lost

Oil on Canvas 48"x 60"

The Birth of Ideas

Mind Box III: The Birth of Ideas 

14 x 14 x 5. Acrylic paint on repurposed objects; eggshells, shadow box with sketches and ideas for a painting and a string of LED lights.  

Buck Dancing in a Holler to a Banjo Playing Black Bear on the Busk

Buck Dancing in a Holler to a Banjo Playing Black Bear on the Busk 

48 x 60 Oil on Canvas

Sheep and the Willfully Blind

Sheep and the Willfully Blind.  18 x 24. Oil on Canvas.

Guitar Heaven

Guitar Heaven. 14" x 17" Pencil drawing. 

Trying for a little closure after my son, Marty's death. He would have gotten a chuckle out of this one.  

Truth is the Daughter of Time

This painting is based on an old proverb of unknown origin.

Truth is the  Daughter of Time. Oil on Canvas. 48" X 60". 

Family Matters

Family Matters. Oil on Canvas 48" x 36".

The Brothers

The Brothers. Oil on Canvas 36" x 24". 

Subtle Goddess

Subtle Goddess. 48" x 32". Acrylic on Canvas.  $400.

Mind Boxes and Painting Series

Mind Box 1. Found and constructed objects in a box.  The mind box is a visual stream of consciousness tool for a series of  3 paintings inspired by a visit to the Solheimajokull Glacier in Iceland. There are rocks, seeds, human migration paths,  mini prints of paintings I've done and photos I've taken, images of and by my deceased son, a quote by Krishnamurti, images of Snowflake Bentley's photos of snowflakes, a mini skeleton, DNA strand, linoleum block print of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and other items. Although some of the items seem to have nothing to do with glaciers, they connect in my own mind. Click  'read more' to see the rest of the continuing series.

Ice Cave Dream Triptych. Oil on Canvas 16" x 32"

Arcadian Modern

Arcadian Modern. 14"x17" Acrylic on canvas. $300.00. A little nod to Joaquin Torres-Garcia.

How to make a wax resist acrylic painting on cotton cloth

Click 'read more' to see the steps in creating this simple image.

 

Dakota

Dakota. 38" x 26" mixed media.

Release your Inner Artist

"The process of painting springs from interest. The artist is done when that special thing has been said." Robert Henri

Making art is so often about experimenting!  There is no right or wrong way to make art. We  are all artists!
Get out there and make some art. Nature is the premier inspiration and there is no better time to be inspired than in the Fall with brilliant warm colors everywhere you look.

This piece is made from what I believe is a rusted license plate (I found it on the ground)!  Encaustic colors are heat fused to it in layers. I am inspired by walking around Asheville, North Carolina as the season changes. Check  The Urban Art Retreat and Studio for encaustic workshops or en plein air gatherings. I offer them quite frequently.

En Plein Air

En plein air acrylic painting from the Asheville Botanical Gardens. Frame constructed from re-purposed wood.   En plein air painting can be a way to meditate!

J. Krishnamurti says it best:

"Meditation is one of the greatest arts in life, perhaps the greatest, and one cannot possibly learn it from anybody. That is the beauty of it. It has no technique and therefore no authority. When you learn about yourself, watch yourself, watch the way you walk, how you eat, what you say, the gossip, the hate, the jealousy, if you are aware of all that in yourself, without any choice, that is part of meditation. 
So meditation can take place when you are sitting in a bus or walking in the woods full of light and shadows, or listening to the singing of the birds . . .

The meditator is the meditation."

J. Krishnamurti

The free en plein air gatherings at the Asheville Botanical Gardens are 2 hours long and are held once a month when weather permits.  Go to The Urban Art Retreat and Studio to reserve a spot at the next gathering. There will be two more this year.

Color Journaling

Color journaling can be a fun way to relax and enjoy nature and painting.  There is no pressure to perform and there is no wrong way to paint what you see, because your journal is private.  You can use a color journal session to practice painting or drawing moments in time much like Monet or any of the Impressionists. Color journal classes are offered at the Urban Art Retreat and Studio.  To enroll, simply send me an email when you see it offered. Drawing/painting materials and journal are provided.

Class: $30

Materials: $5

Indigo Squall

Indigo Squall. 2015. 

Acrylic on canvas. 36" x 72". $5,000.

Encaustic on tin and oil on board (Studies-Iceland)

Brooklyn Snow Day

Brooklyn Snow Day. 24" x 30". Painted in little over 2 hours in oil on found board in the spirit of the Ashcan School style of painting.

The Ashcan School Movement was an early 20th Century American artistic movement portraying daily life in New York City. Using gestural strokes, the Ashcan artists concentrated on the vitality and energy of the growing city teeming with immigrants and new industry.

Corner Bistro 15" x 15". Acrylic on re-purposed wooden board. Painted from a photo taken by Nick Puglisi. 

Helm of Awe

Ægishjálmur, Helm of Awe or Helm of Terror is an Icelandic magical stave that was used to induce fear or protect against the abuse of power. 

Mini Installation
Mixed Media

The Urban Art Retreat and Studio of Asheville is closed.

The Urban Art Retreat and Studio of Asheville is now closed.

 Offering a variety of Art, Design and Craft workshops.  

100 Goddesses, Saints and Other Heavenly Hosts: Inspirations from Sacred Feminine Mythology

100 Goddesses, Saints and Other Heavenly Hosts: Inspirations from Sacred Feminine Mythology by my 'nom de plume' Zoe Sinclair is now available on Amazon.com and Kindle. The book is also available for free on Kindle Matchbook.

All royalties go to Parkinson's disease research.