Art for India

joe kimmel

part of my contribution

lori l.

The annual Rise Up Art for India Painting Party was the happening place to be last Sunday. Rise Up gathered local (and formally local) artists to spend the afternoon at the warehouse filling two huge canvases with designs. This is my second year of participating in this fun event, and while I didn't get to spend quite as much time as I would have liked on the canvas, it was good to catch up with Portland artist and friend Joe Kimmel, as well as Lori, Jo, and a few other art friends.

The canvases will be on display downtown for this Art Hop- and then will be auctioned at the end of the month...

Things that are inspiring me at the moment.

I am still working on getting through this artistic block I have going on, it has eased a bit- I have made progress on the birdhouse, as well as a couple new collages. In order to really get through said block, I am begining to look at it as well-witching time. (and here comes another idea RIGHT now! Hello, IDEA, how are you?)

Needless to say, I am searching for the waters, but also gathering things that I love and am inspired by along the way. Here's a short list.

• Middle Cyclone, by the Lovely and Talented Miss Neko Case. This album just came out last week and I am extremely in love with it. It's an album of love songs and the personification of weather systems. If you don't know Neko, she has this timeless voice that sounds like long stretches of windswept roads. Considered alt-country, she has a slight twang paired with haunting storytelling, quite quirky. Whenever I finally reschedule the art show, I will have this album be the soundtrack.
  
• I went to the movies (thanks to a voucher from the owner of the dogs I walk) last Saturday by myself and saw Coraline in threeD. I am a pretty big fan of Neil Gaiman (the author) as well as the artistry of stop animation. It was such a pretty, witty film (not a kid's movie though!) and the first five minutes showed the Heroine well-witching in Ashland, Oregon, a town slightly south of Bend (three or so hours) where I have spent a little time with good friends that own Bohemia Gallery. I spent the whole movie grinning behind my threeD glasses, when I wasn't reaching out to touch the hummingbirds or scooting down in my seat to avoid the grasp of the villian. If you go see this, be sure to hang around for the credits- they are almost as good as the closing credits for Liminy Snicket- which I thought were highlight of that film.
  
• My PoetHouse community is completely encouraging. I am constantly amazed at the extreme talents that surround me. This past First Friday- the PoHo hosted the latest collaborative show by Joe Kimmel and Company. It was entitled Crystal Dragons, and is thirty-two vibrant paintings, a space man adventure narrative, and a rock show- basically performance art. After the showing, the residents and a friends danced the night away to nineties hip-hop. At the end of this month, Jo Lundberg will be showing her recent work, a series of wittily rendered satirical landscapes that critic these "tough economic times." Jo will be leaving for a four month trip to Peru the first week in April, so the show, along with a karaoke night afterward, will be her going away hurrah.
  
• Central Oregon has been blasted by gale-ish winds the last few days. Yesterday, I had to lean into it as I was walking to the grocery, and it almost blew my scarf away. The beautiful thing about this wind is it is pulling dead leaves and pine needles off of the trees, making way for the buds and new leaves that will shortly be arriving. It's a good metaphor. (goes along with Middle Cyclone quite nicely, convenient.)
  
• Hold on to your hats, mom and dad. Sit down before you read this part. As a ceremonial type of strength gathering, next week when Owl enters basic training, I am getting the tattoo that I have been planning for several years. It is based on the abstract compass shape that is always popping up in my art work. It is a reminder to me that I do always know where I am, and while the direction of my life may be confusing, it is comforting to know that I am where I need to be.
  

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...

One of the Many Joes I know

Joe Kimmel's Studio Space is the corner I used to inhabit at the Evergreen.  He has a show opening Saturday, and the Source let me chat him up for a story...  

Bless this Tiny Alley

Rise Up's New Sign

It has been quiet the last few weeks over in Tin Pan Alley at the Rise Up office/studio... the RU gang has been busy doing "production," shipping out orders and the like, so it's mainly been me and Kelt holding down the fort.   

 

A week of stagnant creativity has lead to a flourish the last two days, however, mainly thanks to The Source.  They keep me busy. This morning I interviewed Maria Roberts (co-founder of Rise Up) for a Local Hero profile, and I am working on a peice about the artwork of Joe Kimmel who is having a show at the Evergreen in November.  These two people are inspiring to me, creatively and otherwise, so I am encouraged to get back to work on my collages.  Therefore-

There is debate going on about her face... hmmmm....

The Lion Tamer is getting closer and closer to completion.  Chicken Little just needs some final ink, and I am about to work on the Owl.  The narratives behind most of the pieces are feeling more resolved, and the craftsmanship, while slow going, is following suit.

Besides the art and the interviews, I am doing some serious yoga.  The Oregon Hatha Yoga Championships are November 23, and though I am not participating in the actual event  (I will be in Connecticut visiting the niece and nephew) I am pretending that I am competing to give myself a little focus and to hang out with pretzel-like people (also inspiring).  This means focusing on five of the twenty-six beginer poses from Bikram's Class, as well as two optional poses.  I am tackling Pigeon and Crow (birds, again, coincidence? perhaps) Practice is four times a week in addition to typical 90 minute classes that I attend five to six times a week in a 105 degree room.  It may sound like torture, but it provides a wonderful counter balance to thirty degree morning walks with the dogs... Namaste.