Happy Independence Day

I had a fun night at the Oregon Garden listening to music viewing flowers and seeing a early fire works show on the 3rd, tonight I'm going to the town of Independence they put on a great party. Happy 4th everyone!

Art Date

My friend Rob the photographer took me and my sister Becky (that has the same camera as I do) out for a fun lesson. We drove around the Silverton area and enjoyed the beauty of the day.

Here we played with the TV "time value" to make the tires blur.

Rob shows how to get into your art!

The lesson continues in a beautiful poppy field.

One back lit poppy in a field of purple.

My attention deficit kicked in when I saw this horse.

We ask the land owner permission to camp out on his lawn and wait for the light to change so we could get some shots of this cool tree with the tracks leading to it. I have a lot to learn and I had a ton of trouble with this lesson.

So if all else fails make it into a black and white. It was a great day and I got out of the house/studio and felt like I was creating art, can't beat that!

Wedding

The wedding was really very nice the weather could not have been better and the guests are always the best part with exception of the Bride and Groom. So my art projects for the past few weeks have been the table decorations, little nests with pear flavored jelly beans about five in the nest and a small bag of then with a note from the B&G to say thanks, the wedding cake that collapsed an hour into the party no matter it tasted so good and the flowers. I did not do a thing the next day and then just played all weekend with my new camera. I will post some of them later this week. The cake and Bride and Groom photos are courtesy of my friend Rob Andersen photographer.

My sister Becky made the birds for the top of the cake.

They are such a wonderful couple and at this moment are enjoying a cruse to Alaska.

New Camera

It was my birthday last Thursday and my wonderful husband gave me this magnificent camera. He knows how much I love to take nature photos and after my film camera became obsolete I did not use some nice long lens I owned, so he bought one that is compatible with them. I’m back to having fun and hopefully I will have better shots for you.

My daughter is getting married this Thursday this is a picture of them touring the grounds where they will be married.

This little monster came to my garden with all her relations and they are having a feast on nasturtiums, cosmos, and a lovely anemone, I will just have to plant ones they don’t like as much.
I will be back to art after the wedding, see you then.

Art in Oregon

One of my all time favorite places to go is Mossy Creek Pottery on the Oregon coast. I try to stop in with every trip to the beach, I buy a bowl or like last time I bought this wonderful raven. It is meant to sit on a 4x4 post, there is a hole in the clay on the back side so it can be secured safe and sound.This piece was made by Jay Stewart, I fell in love with all of his birds as soon as I saw them.

They have “over 40 of the finest potters from the Northwest working in porcelain, stoneware and raku. There is a wide array of both functional and decorative pieces, including, dinnerware, serving pieces, lamps, platters and vases.”

The owners Susan and Dan not only create art with clay and glass they have created a coastal garden hidden under a canopy of trees decorated with bits of their colorful pieces very much worth the stop to look at.

Inspirations

Many artists are inspired by nature and I’m no exception I can’t go a day without the thought of some aspect of it. I do have my favorites, birding being one of them, I have had the privilege to be able to bird watch in more than 15 countries but as the saying goes “there’s no place like home” and I think Oregon has one of the best and diverse bird populations I have seen, now pair that with some of our exotic flowers and an artist only has to step outside to have enough experiences to fill their creative palette.

We worked very hard this weekend on the remodel and I watched the birds try to grab a seed between our trips in and out with sheetrock and lumber, they even scolded us about it. I did escape to mow a bit of the lawn for a break and spotted my first garden snake of the season, it was a yellow racer small but very fast.

This morning was so gorgeous I had to take some time to visit my garden (without gloves to weed) the Calla Lilies with their soft silky spirals posed for pictures, they sent my mind to think of painting and sculptures with curving lines, of Diego Rivera’s Nude with Calla Lilies. I then spotted a Cedar Waxwing in a rhododendron and was off chasing birds.

Look hard and you can see the Cedar Waxwing with his lovely crest, he has a yellow tip on his tail and the most beautiful warm tan body , his call is constant and high pitched, I watched them feeding on the red hot pokers along with Goldfinches and a very angry Hummer he thinks the back garden is for him alone.

Here is a better picture of a Evening Grosbeak

The Goldfinch's decorate the garden with bright spots of yellow

Robin loves her baths. A little nuthatch just flew into the house and tried to fly out of a closed kitchen window, I had to cup his very little body in my hands to free him what a feeling.

My Favorite Five

My Favorite Five, on April 10 I posted my favorite five assemblage objects (click here to see them). Now I would like to show you my favorite five tools.
I own many tools and love each one, but these five are tools I would not like to live without and when they break I will replace them.

This is a 10” compound miter saw, I have cut 4x4s, old picture frames, books, spindles, ½ x 6 boards to make book covers and many other items. It’s not hard to use and in less than an hour with someone to show you the basics you could be cutting with the best of them. The prices start around $80.00 at Harbor Freight not bad if you are using it for light work but if the family is rebuilding a house I would get a better quality one.

This is a small 2/3 hp drill press also about $80.00 from Harbor Freight. It weighs about 50lbs and is very very easy to use. You can drill an 1/16" hole or a ½” hole and you can drill through just about anything. I have drilled copper sheets, tin type photos, croquet balls, pool balls, books, even glass. I don’t think you need any lessons to use this tool but it never hurts.

This little gem is just called a two hole punch, I bought it from Linda and Opie O’Brien a few years ago and when I see another I will snap it up, I use it that much.

This vise has a vacuum bottom and is only $15.00 at Harbor Freight. It really sticks to a smooth surface, so much so that I can saw a silver knife handle off with a coping saw. It also works when your soldering and its hotter than heck you won't burn your fingers off.

I know this is really two tools but they go together, this little 4” anvil is easy to pack and strong enough to take anything. One of the best ways to use it is to make your own rivets, here’s how. Use the two hole punch to put a hole in two pieces of metal, then put a penny nail through the metal pieces turn it over on your anvil and with flush cut wire cutters snip the nail about 1/16" above the metal. Now use your hammer and carefully bash the cut nail till it flares out and makes a rivet, that’s it.

Weekend Art Date

The best kind of art dates are when they last for three days. My art group Portland Art Collective has just returned from our spring retreat at Menucha Retreat and Conference Center. We all know how good it feels when we are with a kindred spirit now imagine it with 14 all in one room creating and laughing.

I spent most of my time this weekend listening and laughing. And that is an understatement we all laughed so much we held our cheeks and gasp for air. I'm happy to say silly prevailed.

I worked on a paper cut based on the sculpture "Going to Town with an Umbrella. Click here to see the sculpture. Each time I do one of these I learn something new in this case just how relaxing it is for me to cut on a predetermined line being able to listen to every little thing around me.

The Grosbeaks moved into the garden while I was away. This is an Evening Grosbeak, they are about the size of a Robin with a parrot like beak and lovely color brighter than in this photo.

Recharging

This is a find from the bins and a project I'm working on. It is one of two assemblage projects that are larger than what I normally do. I can't wait to show you more.

The weather is so very gorgeous not very much art is being made but I am thinking about it. I spent the long weekend with family on the Oregon coast. Nothing better than sand castles, kids and dogs.

Winnie the Newfoundland wants to stay close to George.

Boy that water is soooooo cold!

Art Date

I have a young artist staying with me for a week he is an excellent story teller and illustrator. His main focus is currently with the sea and most any sea creature, monsters, whales and merpeople. This Memorial weekend we are going to the Oregon Coast Aquarium where I’m sure he will gain inspiration for many more stories and paintings.

I some times forget how freeing it is to see a child's drawing. The eyes are my favorite in this piece.

The mermaid and man are meant to be puppets so they are colored on the back with as much detail as the front. I think I will help him laminate them as they will be used in many up coming stories.

Seven Day Challenge- Day 7

Well here we are the last day and I had fun with the challenge, it made me drag out some tools and materials I haven’t used for awhile. It spawned ideas for assemblage works, jewelry and some other projects. It reminded me how rewarding and fun it is to sit down make an item, finish it, photograph it and walk away “priceless”.

Here is the collection, I made some others that worked and I made some that did not work but over all I'm happy with them.

Now it is time to clean up. Gads how fast a mess can over take a bench. See that little anvil that is what was left to work on 4"x4" from a 6'x5' table. No worries to me that is a sign of a rewarding week.

Seven Day Challenge- Day 6

I just love old wood letters!!! They are almost one inch thick so very carefully I used my huge chop saw (and that is a no joke-CAREFULLY) cut the blocks at the same time in half so now they are 3/8 inch thick.

The little curlicue on the top left is copper wire that was melted with a Mapp gas torch to form the little balls on top. The wings are made from an old tobacco tin and an assortment of items make up the chain to hold the glasses.

One more to go and I have NO ideas, must be the sunshine. The Oregon coast was fantastic yesterday.

Seven Day Challenge- Day 5

I’m happy with the looks of these a little bit of art with a very practical purpose. I reduced two of my paper cuts and used one very old post card (copy right free) to put under glass and solder around. Each piece has a lovely colorful backing and pin. I really enjoy the little things and this time it is what the silver circle says #1 The Elephant “IMAGINE” #2 Going to town on a pogo stick “DISCIPLINE” #3 The lady with binoculars “FOCUS” they fit so well.

I'm going to pick one to wear today and drive to the coast to enjoy the sun.

Seven Day Challenge- Day 4

This is an acrylic disk I bought from a bead store it was intended to use the cutout towards the top as an earring or necklace? I added jump rings, a small charm and a pin on the back.

You win a few…… and well some designs just don’t work out. The small piece of glass is to small to stay in place or upright so it rolls down exposing the pin not very attractive. I will learn as I go.

The acrylic disk comes in several colors and are easy and fun to use. I also think they can be worn with different outfits. I'm going to try some more soldering today and make it work, you can see it tomorrow.