Magical Wonderland

Oh my. I love being blown away by a little shop or an antique store and blown away I was on Friday when Steph and I set out for a day of junking. Justin and Burks in no way qualifies as junking, but amazing vintage it is. The store itself was fabulous and after chatting with Justin for a bit, he invited us up to his loft. His LOFT, located above his shop, where the rooms are set up in amazing displays and everything is available for sale. Justin lives in some private quarters off of the display area, but it was so beautiful and inviting, we felt like we were in someone's home. The first shots are of the store, then the magical wonderland of his loft. The shop is located at 8317 S.E. 13th in the Sellwood district. Definitely worth a visit. For another perspective on J&B, take a peek at Steph's blog post, YES.






The loft!











And finally, a glimpse of Justin himself!


Seek the Unique

Steph recently discovered a fun new store, Seek the Unique, located at 931 S.E. 6th. Oh, how it was filled with delightful finds.








A happy lady at the end of the day.

Crude Things and More

I was going through my photos of my recent workshop with Jesse Reno and realized I hadn't shared a final batch of studio glimpses. Most of these are of dolls from Lana's collection and you can see more of her creations at her website, Crude Things. As many of you know, I'm a big fan of creepy dolls, so you can imagine how over the moon I was when I saw these!

aRt HaNdS

I love the simple beauty of painterly hands - whether incidentally or because you are using them to paint with. This is a series of photos of my hands from my recent class with Jesse Reno, where we almost exclusively used our hands as our paintbrushes (using non-toxic paint, of course). A friend suggested I do a new series of cards featuring my painted hands - I plan to do it!

Color and Emotion

Final day of my five-day workshop with Jesse Reno. Over 40 hours of creating art. Tired, but happy. Studio views from our last day together.














My workspace at the end of the fifth day. Getting ready to pack things up.


The long journey from a background that I loved, to images that I didn't love.




With the art intervention I wrote about yesterday, I covered over the entire background and started over and my piece morphed into Don't Be Afraid. Not sure what the creature is, some strange combination of a seahorse/bird/man with a wing and a wheel.




Finished. Untitled at this point.


Finished. Freedom.


Jesse signed my visual journal in his unique way.



It was a magical week of making art, sitting at the feet of Jesse (literally and figuratively), meeting new artists, and challenging myself.