Impasse. Oil on canvas, 36" x 48", 2010.
I am pleased to announce an exhibit of my new paintings, along with the work of Doug Parry and Tracy Boyd. Please join us to celebrate the opening at
212 ALASKAN WAY S. SEATTLE, WA 98104
(Between S Washington & S Main – entrance under the Viaduct)
Reception First Thursday, August 5th, 6-9 pm.
Live music by Andie Francouer and Adam Hunter
Gallery hours are 9-5 weekdays and by appointment on weekends.
I’ve been working like crazy this spring and summer to finish some new paintings for my show in August. Today I had the incomparable pleasure of finishing up my last major piece before the show, and being satisfied with it.
Standpipe (detail)
I wouldn’t even have been sure I could tackle it effectively six months ago. Studying with Charles Emerson at Gage Academy last term helped immensely. He is one of those treasures who not only has deep knowledge and understanding, but is able to explain clearly and with apparently equal enthusiasm to beginning and advanced students alike.
It’s very fashionable for cyclists to come out of retirement these days; everyone is doing it. However, I don’t think you can call my hiatus from the sport retirement, since that takes a real career to have retired from. Lance can retire. Jennie Reed can retire. Me, I just stopped racing my bike two years ago.
And if it wasn’t a retirement, then it’s not a comeback. I just started racing again. I have a little more time now that I’m out of school, and the new women racers I’ve been working with on my team are infectiously enthusiastic, so why not get back on the velodrome and find out if it’s still as fun as I remember?
Whatever you call my non-comeback, you have to call it FUN! It’s great to be back.
It turns out that some of the speed is still there, and canny riding makes up for some of the rest. I was still able to play my preferred role of heat-turner-upper and doer-of-the-unexpected.
Last Friday was a terrific night of racing: strong field, some great moves, and even good weather for a change. Hear that? The gal is BACK!
Yesterday was a good day; I put the finishing touches on two paintings.
This is a detail from “Sanctuary:”
2010 RAMROD souvenir jersey. I reprised the heartbeat theme from the popular jersey of 1997 at the request of Redmond Cycling Club and the RAMROD committee. Some of you might even remember the old one. By the way, the darker gold curve at the bottom is the ride’s elevation profile.
1997 happens to be the first year I ever rode the Ride Around Mt. Rainier in One Day myself. I still have that year’s jersey, which featured a day-glo yellow box on a blue ground. The yellow is still day-glo on the front, but has faded to a soft whitish lemon on the back, which bore the brunt of the sun on many rides.
If you were fortunate enough to get entry into this year’s RAMROD, I hope you also get the jersey to remember it by. May your jersey fade to tatters long before your memories of the ride, and may you wear it in good health. Rubber side down.
Three of my small oil studies will be in the show “Art in Agriculture,” at the Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River Oregon, May 7-30. The amazing variety and color in the farmers’ markets last fall inspired a variety of quick studies of fruit. I tried to finish each painting in one or two sittings, so the models were still fresh enough to eat afterward.
I watched the movie “Aliens” last night, but really this has nothing to do with that.
I recently shipped a small, delicate sculpture called Predatory Lending to a purchaser in the next state. Packing it was an adventure.
One small predator, one sturdy box.
Packing materials. A cradle is already built in the bottom of the box.
Predator snuggled all tight in its bed.
I really shouldn’t have watched Aliens last night, because “bed” rhymes with “dead.” Anyway, the packing material will hold it down.
Some final bracing to guard against crushing. The final box weighs less than 3 lbs. Ship it!
Predatory Lending, balsa, graphite, coins. 8.25 x 5.5 x 11 inches, 2008. Private collection.
I’m still inspired by (and trying to process) everything I saw on a recent visit to New York City.
It was the classic whirlwind tour: museums, galleries, the city itself, seeing friends, an art school open house.
Highlights include the Metropolitan Museum (twice. My 5th visit and I’m still discovering entire new wings???), MOMA (Marina Abramović in performance, Tim Burton retrospective, all of modern art laid out for digestion), Whitney Biennial, Antony Gormley sculptures scattered like sentinals around Madison Park, a Susan Hauptman exhibit at the Forum, visiting the New York Academy of Art, discovering the Highline trail, buskers, jazz saxophone floating up the airshaft to our hotel window (total noir), piano & strings in the mezzanine bar at the Met, and street vendor hotdogs.
Finally finished my OCD painting! Yes, I painted a brick wall. On canvas. Because.
Two of my paintings have been selected for the exhibition “Unclad, the fine art of the figure” at Gallery by the Bay in Stanwood WA. The show opens Saturday, March 13 with an all-day party and live music.
On March 6th and 7th (noon to noon) the gallery is hosting a pre-show event: a 24-hour life drawing marathon to benefit the American Cancer Society.
March 13-28, 2010
Gallery by the Bay
Stanwood, WA