I am honored by the recent flattering interview in the blog The Solipsistic Me.  I hadn’t thought of my work in terms of social justice before the interview, but Michael Hulshof-Schmidt points out that is a significant aspect of my passion about sustainability, the environment, and the size of our collective footprint.

Michael is one of the kindest, most perceptive gentlemen I have ever met.  Yet he also has the courage to tell it as he sees it, and hold people accountable.  If you haven’t read his challenging blog yet, you should check it out.

I have work in two shows which open in October.

In Spokane, my mixed-media piece Spill was chosen for the exhibition “Need|Want: Matters of Priority” at the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture (MAC).  The project is a collaboration between the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture and Terrain, a grassroots, non-profit organization seeking to connect generations of artists with each other and to promote the arts in the community at large.

Need|Want: Matters of Priority
October 15, 2011 – January 7, 2012
Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture
2316 W. First Avenue
Spokane, WA 99201

BeGin! opening party:
Friday, Oct. 14, 6-9 pm

Spill, oil and acrylic on canvas with mixed media, 77 in x 28 in x 8 in.

And in Seattle, the Phinney Center Gallery is showing work by the winners of the annual Northwest Fine Arts Competition. Jurors Gary Faigin, Sarah Dillon and Jayme Yahr selected my painting Intersection for inclusion.  The other featured artists are John Armstrong, Susan Aurand, John Bolivar, Matt Calcavecchia, Tina Carter, Karen Hackenberg, Aron Hart, Tyler Kimball, Paula Maratea Fuld, Michael Medrano, Nia Michaels, Joseph Pentheroudakis, Todd Smith, Jan Viney and Suze Woolf.

Intersection, oil on canvas, 18 in x 30 in.

Northwest Fine Arts Competition
October 5 – 28, 2011
Phinney Center Gallery
6532 Phinney Avenue N.
Seattle, WA 98103

Opening Reception:
Friday, Oct. 14, 7-9 pm

I was recently in Spokane to deliver work to a show at the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture.  More on the show soon, but the trip was rewarding in itself.  The entire museum is between shows, and curator Val Wahl very generously gave me a glance at the backstage work going on to change the galleries around after a major exhibit.

I have spent the better part of the past year immersed in solitary concentration on painting.  For me, that is not just intense, but very internally focused.  So it was a welcome change to lengthen my gaze and be reminded that people beyond the studio also dedicate their lives to art.  Seeing that passion and care was incredibly heart warming.

Rather than make the five-hour return trip on the same day, I stayed overnight and took extensive photos in Eastern Washington.

Not only is it a different season from my recent wetlands paintings, but the climate, vegetation, and light are all so different from Seattle’s that they yield a completely changed palette to work with.  On my winding backroads return, I stumbled across the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge. I spent a very productive morning there, making observations and photos which will probably turn into future work.