NOLA Journal: Beware of Little Sins

I have more or less finished the journal I was working on while I was in New Orleans visiting Nikki with Stephanie in April. I brought along a journal I had purchased from fellow Portland Art Collective member, Cynthia. It was perfect: a hand sewn fabric cover and filled with lovely heavy watercolor paper. However, Steph, Nik and I were so busy during our seven days in NOLA, that we didn't have much time to work on our journals; we did manage to carve out a couple of nights of messy play. Here's the progression over a couple of evenings:

When I got home, I kept at it -- a few hours here and there until I decided to call it complete (I rarely find I can call a journal complete as I always keep futzing with it).

And then, some close-ups:

Outside the Box: The Opening

I was invited to participate in a group show at People's Art of Portland (you can read more about this and the creation of my pieces by clicking here). Saturday night was the opening.

Several friends popped in to celebrate the opening with us. Thank you Kelly, Joe, David, and Lee!

Here's Steph with her beautiful carved wood pieces:

And here's the two trouble makers.

A few peeks at the show:

The show runs through June 7th, so stop in if you're in downtown Portland. The gallery is located on the third floor of Pioneer Place, 700 S.W. 5th Avenue. It's a cash and carry show, so if you see something you like, you can buy it and take it with you. 8x8 pieces are all priced at $60, larger piece by each artist priced individually.

Art Retreat: A Time Away

Twice a year the Portland Art Collective retreats into the woods of Menucha, a retreat and conference center in the Columbia Gorge east of Portland. This past weekend was our spring time to get away.

Just driving onto the grounds causes me to take a deep breath and relax.

Everyone worked on such a variety of projects.

On Saturday night, Stephanie and I had to clean ourselves up enough to head into downtown Portland for the opening of our show, Outside the Box II. (I'll be doing a separate blog post about the opening and the shennanigans that took place there.)

Three great days of playing, creating, relaxing, and laughing.

A few glimpses of our frivolity - some risque reading, a small fire, interacting, even a poetry slam on Saturday night.

I worked on a variety of projects, all involving paint: a trifecta of mini canvases for a fall show, post cards for a summer swap, and my Fearless Faces -- always my Fearless Faces!