I'm Back

 

 
  I haven't been able to add anything here for awhile - extra time seems harder and harder to find. Spent a lot of time working on my drawings, and now have a grand total of six completed. I'm hoping to keep plugging away at them, in hopes of a show in 2014. It will take me at least that long to get enough pieces done!  I've also spent a fair amount of time working on jewelry, at times making more folded bottle cap pieces. Sometimes I'm in the mood for my other line that includes vintage faux pearls, beads, maybe a found object or two; old dominoes, for example. I sometimes wish I could narrow down and focus on just one thing, but as a Gemini I find that impossible. Whichever art form I leave out tends to burst forth again later, unwilling to be relegated to the back burner. I guess I'm fated to a perpetual struggle as to time allocation. Maybe it's like that for all of us.

I'm happy to report that I have now added a new gallery to my roster: Redux Gallery, on East Burnside @ 8th. It's an awesome shop, full of interesting art, jewelry, and sundry other things. A lot of the work contains recycled materials. They're starting out with a small collection of my folded bottle cap jewelry; go check it out. I also took a small batch of new work to Guardino Gallery (NE Alberta @ 30th).

As for Mercy Corps, I don't qualify for their grant program, but I have signed up for their small business class, starting this coming Tuesday. I'm excited and a little nervous, and hopeful that it will enable me to broaden my audience, increase my sales, and lead, one happy day, to self-employment. Wish me luck!


 

Back After A Long Absence

It's been a difficult winter for me, so had to take a longer-than-usual break. The holiday retail job, the cold, the flu, the DHEA imbalance - I'm just now getting to feel up to normal activity levels. But I'm back! Been revamping my approach to jewelry; acquired some new tools to make flattening and folding bottle caps easier, came up with some more sophisticated ways to put them together, and am  working on ideas to bring together the caps, the beads & pearls, and the found objects into a more unified body of work. Other plans for spring include signing up for an Individual Development Account, which will involve saving up for a matching grant and taking a much-needed business class. I'm planning on this making my endeavors more professional and eventually living that artist dream to make it be my full-time job. I'll keep you posted.

Time once again for the annual Buckman Art Show & Sell. I'll be there with my jewelry, this year featuring some new bottle cap pieces that incorporate brass rivets. It's a new technique I've just learned, and I'm having a lot of fun with it. I'm looking forward to seeing you there!

The Latest

I'm happy to announce that Portland's Cannibals Gallery now carries my work. They have a small selection of my bottle cap and button jewelry, as well as five of my collages (shown above, "O Lonesome Me".) It's a wonderful place featuring art using mostly recycled materials, by local artists. Also, coming up in December, I will have work in Guardino Gallery's annual Little Things show. A number of artists are invited to show works no larger than 7" in any dimension; and it's cash and carry, so you can buy affordable art for gifts and take it with you on the spot. Shown above, a bib necklace of bottle caps and buttons, and another piece featuring several unusual found objects. I'll post exact dates for Little Things Soon.

What I'm Doing

Finally completed another oil pastel, this one of a long-lost friend who had some magic about her. Now in the delicious position of dreaming about what the next one will be. Stay tuned.

Spending a lot of time on jewelry lately. Making a lot of these cap-on-cap earrings, which can be quite affordable as the materials cost is next to nothing. This style has found a good home at Mag Big, a local shop on SE Hawthorne that features Portland designers and artists. The owner Cassie has a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and works hard to promote her artists. My husband will also have his cards and other pieces in there very soon; and I'll be showing her other types of work of my own as well. It's a lovely shop - if you have a chance, check it out. Support our local artists and entrepeneurs!

Spring Is Here

Aaaah. Nothing says spring like the crisp, clean scent of freshly washed bottle caps drying on the windowsill.

It's My Life

Finally, I was able to steal a little time and go back, literally, to the drawing board. This one had languished, not quite done, throughout the retail holiday season that makes up my day job, and the period of rest & recovery that makes up the early part of my new year. This piece turned out to be one of those where I'd reached a sticking point anyway, unsure how to complete it; and when I came back to it months later, it took only one short session to resolve the difficulties. That happens to me often. Guess I should embrace it as part of my process.

The break gave me some time to think about art & where it is for me, what subjects get me going. A few years ago, I returned to drawing after a break of some years, spurred by a gallery owner who'd seen some of my older drawings. She'd seen self-portraits, which I'd never intended to show, and requested that I do some still life pieces in a similar style. I did a few small ones, and liked them. Even sold a couple. I still like them, but as I mentioned in a previous post, I needed a big change to be able to come up with a direction that has more resonance for me. That's when I went back to the subject matter that I find most compelling: events and people and images from my own past. This is what I know, what fascinates me, the only subject matter that - well - matters to me. When I try to cast about for other subject matter I get bored easily; try to force it; don't feel attached or energized. I hope the new work will strike a more universal chord with viewers by virtue of my passion in making it, but I don't have any particular expectations. This is work I do because I must, because my feelings about it are so strong. If the focus on my own life seems self-centered or egotistical, so be it. I'm my subject and I'm sticking to it.