Unabashed Optimism

They say not to count your chickens before they've hatched. Well, I say you should count them and eat them before they hatch. Some people might call that foolish. I like to think of it as an omelet.

His Favorite Prank

"His favorite prank was to use pebbles to spell out curse words and ominous messages. (Humans are so gullible.)"

You think these animals are really cute with really small brains, but we all know they are secretly plotting to overthrow the human race. Birds are experts at espionage and other covert operations (they are everywhere...).

Why Would You Typecast a Duck?!

If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, do not assume it's a duck. And quit stereotyping ducks!  That is the message of this painting. 

Don't let anyone else tell you what you should and shouldn't like, how you should and shouldn't be. Forget about being cool. Forget about arbitrary rules. We all have to march to the beat of our own brass band. Unless it's your mother talking, in which case you should do exactly what she says. (Okay, that last one was a side note to my son.)

I Love Menial Labor

am finding that these pieces are surprisingly labor intensive. In fact, the painting of the images is really the least of it. I find I spend a lot of time meticulously painting in letters and borders. I actually love to do it. I find it super relaxing. I also find it is best done while listening to embarrassing folk music or old episodes of Law and Order Criminal Intent. The result is that I am now secretly in love with Detective Bobby Goren. He is so weird, but so smart.

Sometimes you win...sometimes you polish a turd



This is not the turd

What was meant to be a small, quick, experiment of a painting turned into a time consuming turd polishing experience.  Perhaps I exaggerate.  It was a painting of a cup.  I was trying out using white washes to create the cup so that the areas of shadow showed through as fabric.  It turned out not to have an interesting enough effect to make up for the boring subject.  Oh well.  After spending WAY too much time trying to figure what I could add to save it from mediocrity, I finally decided I just needed to paint something that would be beautiful to look at.  I do love waxwings.  They already look deceptively like a painting.  So there you have it.  Look, its' a bird.

This is the turd.

Vote Lintzilla the Sheep for (unofficial) Mayor!

This is a painting of my friend's sheep who is currently running for unofficial mayor of Vashon (the sheep that is, not my friend).  Also in the running is a dog and cat pair as well as 2 humans (good luck, humans. You'll need it!).  As I was saying, it might seem ironic to have a sheep in a leadership position, but this gal has the guts to make the tough choices (plus, all voting dollars support Vashon Partners in Education).

Here is another angle of the same painting so that you can see the egg fabric framing the painting on the sides.

It's a Product, It's a Process

"Not that he had a choice, but he always preferred renting.

That way, if anything broke, it wasn't his problem."

I like the idea of adding text that looks like it is going to be inspirational, but instead is absurd and irreverent.

Apparently I am not yet tired of ridiculously cute kitties.  I wish I were being ironic about them, but no such luck.

I have been adjusting my studio space to accommodate the evolution of my artmaking process.  I have often alternated between oil and acrylic paint, but now I am collaging/sewing/gluing/painting fabrics.  This new process has meant new mediums/adhesives (UV protection, archival, acid-free, and so on).  I was collaging fabrics by sewing them together, but I have been experimenting with gluing instead. And then there is the collection of fabrics, growing by the minute.  There has been a great deal of improvisation to this new process (and surprisingly, a lot of drying time with all the layers and mediums).  You can see the process laid out a bit here in these photos.

Three Ring Circus, Part 2

In summertime I have slightly different priorities: family, art, garden.  My garden has taken on new proportions since it has become part of my artmaking plan.  It's the "but how will we feed ourselves" part of the plan.  Note the hill of pumpkin plants in the middle, which is the "but how will we afford to carve jack o'lanterns" part of the plan.

My first day of vacation, I was in a gardening frenzy.  Today, I have been in an art frenzy.  I am aiming for balance but have managed to hit schizophrenia square in the eye.  It all works out as long as I remember that there aint no cure for the summertime blues.

All Press is Good Press (copyright schmopyright)

Here is a sweet little article that came out in the July edition of Island Arts magazine, published by Vashon Allied Arts.

Let Your Medium Match Your Message

Here's what some of my paintings in college were called: one liners.  I like to write on art as a way for telling a story.  Unfortunely, I sometimes dedicate an entire painting to a story that could have been told in a one frame "Far Side" cartoon.  The result is 15 seconds of interest and a chuckle from the viewer.  Well, I hope you have 15 seconds to kill:

Summertime Blues, and Yellows, and Reds

Kickstarting summer vacation with a little Joan Jett.  I had my dad take me to see Joan Jett somewhere in the neighborhood of 8th grade.  If you are wondering what my studio sounds like right now, look no further.  It sounds like 1982.

Three Ring Circus, Part I: Art + Teacher = Art Teacher

Mrs. Whitmore's 2nd Grade Class -- collage quilts

It's been a juggling act of sorts: teaching, art, family.  Unfortunately, I can never seem to keep more than 2 balls in the air at a time, which has left art rolling around somewhere near my feet.  But soon, and hopefully for a long time, I will be combining two of those loves: art and teaching, beginning a new gig as an elementary art teacher.  It will probably take me all summer to sew all of the fabulous smocks I will need to wear and dust off my beret, but I am up for the challenge.