give me your hand -me -downs (i'll make my own)

Way back in November, seems like ages ago now, the resident artists at the PoetHouse did a twenty-four hour lock down before First Friday.  I had been listening to Andrew Bird quite a bit, and his lyrics about a "life sized paper doll"  kept rolling through my head.  I didn't have the materials to make it life sized, but I did have an idea of the costumes I wanted her to wear, and a box of old wrapping paper that my mom had been saving for years and years.

Top Reasons why I have been absent from blogging lately

The following (art related) events transpired since August 8th:

Cause and Effect: a show by Lori LaBissonaire.
The Alley Jam:  a benefit for the Cancer Society and Division Street Skate Park
Co-creating two more large canvas's for Humpday Hash at the new Century Center
First Annual Artists on A Boat wonder cruise (aka the only time I got up to one of the lakes this summer)
Rise Up's Art for India painting Party
Showing my work at Tart for the Under the Cover's Tom Petty Project
PoetHouse Patron Dinner
Planning a large mural for the stage at the Bend Roots Festival

AND coming up:

Saturday:  Jo Lundberg's show titled Four Letter Words (which is gonna be fabulous)
Friday and Sunday- two important yoga events- Bikram Yoga Bend's Summers End Party and Yogis Unite- the biggest outdoor yoga event in Bend History

AND
Tonight I will be prowling, or more like scampering the catwalk at Rise Up's Annual Fashion Show sporting this wonderful creation by the wonderful Miss Sarah Mikolowsky.  Let's just cross our fingers that my walking skills are right on.

making a cappuccino at Lone Pine

art+ bike Love

The PoetHouse was happening on Friday as the CycloCross Championships rode into town.  I spent Thursday night with my arms elbow deep in christmas tree branches, constructing an old fashioned bike...
I tried to channel Andy Goldsworthy, but I'm pretty certain he would have disapproved of my methods (while I used floral wire, Mr. Goldsworthy uses, well nothing but spit and thorns to make his masterpieces).

from top to bottom, left to right:

Gena Goodman Campbell's installation and view of the gallery.  Sean Anderson- "where we all began" (it glows in the dark).  Gena's " If I just Spread my Wings."  Jo Lundberg's Handlebar Series.  My installation: "it's not easy being green."  My painting "map my ride."

Alicia's installation called "dream cycle"  (made from clear tape!)  another painting of mine, Lori's installation (made from bike parts) and Tom Monson's painting.

Person, Tree, House

Drawing by Sarah M.

Sculpture by Sarah M.

Kera T. and Lori L.

Oil on Photograph by Jo L.

Oil on Photo by Jo L.

Staging Cyr's Person Tree House Photo

September's First Friday at the PoetHouse consisted of a themed show by the residents. Back in May, Tom Monson led us through a little exercise used by psychologists to analyze clients. They are given the task to draw three things- a person, a tree, and a house- in a short period of time with a crayon. We did this as a group, and answered questions about our drawings. Then we were given a few months to reinterpret our drawing as a piece of art work.

The results were interesting and reflected each of us. Sarah M. created a soft sculpture. Kera Tucker covered a piece of wood in paint and then etched out her images. Jo Lundberg painted on top of photographs. Cyr staged a shoot out near Tumalo State Park. I collaged of course.

And Then...

The end of summer approaches rapidly, and life has been one big blur.
A good blur.



Here is a list of what's happening.

• Day 22 of a bikram yoga challenge. I am planning on every day until:
• Army Owl arrives in Central Oregon on the 28th of September.
• Going to see Band of Horses tomorrow in Eugene with PoHo friends.
• Sending my Apple to the Doctor. Obviously the axiom doesn't apply here.
• Finishing art for Person, Tree, House- First Friday's theme, and then-
• Moving art from the hospital on Thursday to have a solo show hosted by Lone Pine Coffee Roasters, which will be hopping as well on First Friday.
• Floating Bonnie Rait and Taj Mahal this weekend.
• Training beginning for the Seattle Half Marathon in November.
• Photo shoots with Miss Cyr and Jo before Cyr's show September 18th (gonna be stinking amazing).
• Art for India Rise Up painting party comes around again on the 26th.

Second Best

Nolan (the intern), Miss Jo Lundberg (bend's best Filipino artist, tied for best Norwegian artist), Jean Hubbard (husband of PoHo instigator Sarah Hubbard), myself (tied for best Norwegian artist), Mike Martinez (Best Street Performer- actual award), Sean "Some Pig" Anderson (PoHo instigator) and Collette Anderson (the woman behind the man)

The PoetHouse received almost top honors last week in the Source's Best of Bend popularity contest.  The category- Best Art Gallery.  We were the runners up, which I am incredibly pleased about, considering we are 1. Non Profit.  2. Been Around for a Little over a Year.  While it was debated in our little community of artists about how prestigious being second best is, we will proudly hang our blue ribbon and certificate on the wall, and aim for first best next year.

"if everyone ate flowers"

And suddenly, there is a whole series of new collages waiting for me to build them.  After spending a week lakeside in Minnesota with my family, the muse decided that I have had enough R and R.  It is time to work.

I read quite a bit by the lake: the Little Prince, Ladders to Fire, and just finished Life of Pi when I got home.  It was a passage in Ladders to Fire that opened the gates.  One of the characters, Djuna, describes how her brother went crazy when the second world war began.  He started eating flowers, believing that "if everyone ate flowers, peace would come to the world."  

And then there was the Newport Folk Festival.  NPR has amazing coverage, downloadable podcasts of live sets by Neko Case, Iron and Wine, Gillian Welch, The Avett Brothers.  Listening to the live sets of songs that have been my background music for the last several years, with accents on different verses and nuanced choruses, brings a brand new perspective to the simplest things, it's like looking through Cyr's photos and seeing how she composes photos with a different eye.  

It seems like everyone is in the studio, which is another encouraging sign.  Tom Monson hangs a solo show on Friday.  Jo has begun a new painting as well.  The PoetHouse at its best.  

heArt of yoga

There has been quite a bit of synchronicity in my life lately.  Shortly after Center Yoga of Redmond (whose first official class was last Saturday morning, very enjoyable) commissioned me to create paintings for their walls, Kat Seltzer of the Mandala Yoga Center (which shares the tbd loft with PoetHouse and hosted the firewalking clinic I attended a week ago- more on that later) announced that the theme for the First Friday Art Walk exhibit in May would be based on Yoga.  It is titled the HeArt of Yoga, and the paintings I created for Tricia Ashley at Center will be on display.  When Tricia and I talked about what kind of art she wanted, she gave me free rein.  I wanted to create paintings based on some of her favorite poses, as well as a couple of mine. 

The largest painting (dimensions 4x3 feet) is based on Vrksasana, or Tree Pose.  While it is a quiet and still pose, it is very energetic in that you are balancing on one leg.  This pose is to me, is about being both grounded, rooted, and also stretching upward with a sense of lightness.  Often, it is practiced with the hands in prayer at hearts center, a shape that I found repeated in the painting's patterns.  The greens were an obvious choice for the palette  (this photo doesn't quiet capture them as vibrantly as they are in person) with highlights of orange, sapphire, and russet alluding to sun, water, and earth. 

Dandayamana-Dhanurasana (Standing Bow) is one of the most elegant of poses.  Another balancing pose, it is essentially a backbend on one leg.  The paisley leaves in this piece echo the directions the limbs are stretching in this pose.  The flowers in the design are abstracted from Center Yoga's logo, which came from a Indian Woodblock used for printing on fabric.  Again the palette echos the balance between determined energy and focused stillness.

Lotus Pose, or Padmasana, is perhaps the most recognizable pose there is.  Cross-legged on the floor, this is the pose one typically sees Buddha statues resting in.  I incorporated an abstracted version of the actual Lotus flower, with my signature compass in the lower left corner.  Need to know what direction to go? Sit in lotus for a few minutes in meditation.  You may not get an answer but your body will feel calm.  This painting is probably twenty by twenty inches.

It is uncanny that the poses I find both the most enjoyable and most challenging are named after birds: Crow, Peacock (which I can't even approach yet),  and Pigeon.  I especially love Eka Pada Rajakapotasana or One-Legged King Pigeon.  The body back bends into a compact almost triangular shape, which seemed perfectly matched to my often used  bird pattern.  This time, I filled the pattern with warm yellows, golds, and reds.  The canvas size on this one is about 3.5 by 2.5 feet. 

This final piece is one that I have been working on for several months.  It encompasses the idea of Ahimsa, or nonviolence.  The black, white, and grey interconnected shapes echo my belief that action and reaction are tangled and connected. 

  My painting process is incredibly different than my way of approaching collage: both are intuitive, but it seems like painting comes a little bit more from the ether for me, and less from a storybook that is being written.  It is slightly mysterious... but also completely natural.

All in all, completing this series was both meditative and joyful.  Like the aims of my yoga practice.

The Sparrow Chair Continues.

The Sparrow Chair is coming along nicely....  Yesterday it looked like that.

And now it looks like this:

Kelty is a good studio apprentice.

I thought I would also add some photos of my fellow artists- Lori and Tom hard at work.

I am also very pleased that my friends Old Man and Boot (Ryan and James) are back from their adventuring in Mexico.  They climbed some Very Very Tall Volcanoes. I'm talking like 17K feet plus.  I am glad to have them back, because they cook for me.  Last night, they made tortas and showed me photos of the trip.  

I'm a lucky, lucky girl to be surrounded by such creative and wonderful friends. Especially considering the Owl left Connecticut this morning for Basic Training in Fort Knox, Kentucky.  

Officially a soldier, I'm officially a military wife: I got my military ID yesterday.  Never thought that would happen, did you?

Just an Update.

Hoorah! I finished the Coffee wall, and will post pictures as soon as I can. And now- the real fun begins!

Next thursday, Mountain Custom Framing will be having their grand reopening Champagne Shindig and I am one of the featured artists.

Then on the 27th- Lisa (Mountain owner and my bud) and I will be Opening a one week show at the PoetHouse of our recent endeavors. More update on that soon...

In the mix with all that is the first chapter of Joe Kimmel and Companie's Crystal Dragons project ( a sci-fi/fantasy painting plus music plus narrative endeavor that is going to be super cool). Also- I will be moving my studio space out of the RiseUp offices into the actual PoetHouse- as RiseUp is currently shifting directions. So, Lots and Lots of Art. Lots and Lots of Shifting Landscapes, and hopefully a day or two up on the mountain using free lift tickets from this fall.

I also have been collecting video to compose into an art piece. We shall see where that goes.
Just frivolousness, really...

Fetish

The PoetHouse resident artists decided to contemplate the dictionary definition of fetish for our February First Friday. It's not what you think.

Kera Tucker "sunset"

Jo Lundberg "Community Chest"

Laura Linnert " day of the dead"

Cyr-

The PoHo Ladies- A work of art in themselves.- Kera, Cyr, Jo, Lori

Sean Anderson " mmmmmmm" (this piece also smells like coffee)

"She found the Lions Did not Speak her Language"

Jefferson Johnson- "untitled' (on cookware)

Tom Monson- "unquestioning reverence, respect or devotion"

J. Parnell- "Seven Deadly Sins"