A Flood of Words: Following A Path New & Familiar

I named the green wall at my studio a River of Words with the hope that friends would write quotes, words, or poem fragments that had meaning for them. The wall is gathering words and I wanted to share some of them with you. The first photos are me adding the first word fragments.




Miss Sam of Lil' Gypsy is always game to play along and wrote some of the earliest words alongside of me.



My sis wrote about always having hope.


Hailey, a neighbor girl, wrote some words and drew a heart.


My nephew stopped to pick up some art, so I handed him a pen and asked him to write before he left.


Even my parents visited my studio and wrote some words.





Neighbors Destree and Olivia popped over to leave their marks.




Stephanie K made her contribution when she was down from Portland for a recent play date.


Some of the snippets that were written during last weekend's Open Studio tour in Salem:






Next time you're at the studio, please grab a pen . . .

Paper Stack: An Online Collaboration

Once again, Seth Apter of The Altered Page has invited artists to participate in an online collaborative art event (and if you hop on over to Seth's blog, you'll see a list of the participating artists with links to their blogs). Artists were invited to photograph a stack of their art papers and/or handmade journals and post them on their blogs today. I love my handmade art journals and it was a pleasure to round them up and snap some photos. The above picture is my official Paper Stack for the collaboration and below are shots of the individual journals that make up my Stack.







A final parting shot of my Paper Stack before putting my journals away.

Fearless Faces Take Downtown Portland By Surprise

I have the privilege of being the featured artist at the Central Multnomah County Library Friends of the Library store during the month of September. A special thank you to Lenall for inviting me to hang my art in such a prestigious location!

On Saturday morning, I stopped by the library to see the show. Anticipation of arrival to viewing.





The front display window features one of my BIG Fearless Faces.


The shop. I spy my art across the tops of the racks . . .




The display of my art. Beautiful against the backdrop of the window letting in so much light.






I have 14 different Fearless Faces cards available for sale.



If you're out and about in downtown Portland, stop by and take a look. It's also a fun place to pick up used books, a variety of artful cards, gifts, or hand crafted items.

Visual Artist Studio Tour

I'm participating in the Visual Artist Studio Tour (VAST) sponsored by Artists in Action. The tour takes place on two weekends - the first weekend covers 7 studios in Polk County (September 10 and 11) and the second weekend covers 18 studios in Marion County (September 17 and 18). The cost for both weekends and all 24 studios is only $5 (under 18 free) and entry buttons with maps can be purchased from the Art Department, Bush Barn Art Center, or from any of the artists. The studios will be open 10-4 - just look for the white signs with purple lettering and balloons to help you find the locations on the map. For a complete list of artists, studios, and locations, click here.



If you stop by my studio, you'll get to explore inside and out, observe me working on my Curious Elements, ask me questions about my art, and have the opportunity to purchase art right off the walls and from a table full of Curious Elements.



One of the perks of being in the tour is the opportunity to participate in the artist show at Rountree Art Gallery in downtown Salem. Artists were invited to submit one or two pieces to the show that represent their style. I submitted two pieces, Justify (limestone clay on wood substrate with found objects) and Every Day I Will Give You a Color, acrylic on canvas. Tonight was downtown Salem's First Wednesday event so I slipped in to see my art hanging on the wall (and on a mirror!).



Here I am with Carol, the gallery owner and curator of the show in front of Justify.