They say practice makes perfect, right? Last year’s #100littleartworks project brought me not only a love of watercolors but also to the appreciation for daily creativity, even on the busiest of days. At the end of last year, I began to cultivate the habit of creating everyday, usually in the morning over my second cup of coffee. And so #watercolorsandcoffee was begun!
Ordering more moleskin sketchbooks today! Follow along on Instagram under the hashtag #watercolorsandcoffee!
Images by me.
It’s that time of year for reflecting on the past twelve months. 2016 had it’s troubles for sure, but it was my most creatively productive year yet– a trend I plan to continue into the next!
acrylic paintings completed 64
I began the year working furiously toward completing work for LATITUDE, my first solo show at Art & Light Gallery. The show was a smashing success, which proved to be a huge blessing and a bit of a stumbling block– I had to get over a bit of the “sophomore slump” after LATITUDE. I dove nearly straight away into a new series, VENTERS, a quiet, coastal inspired series. Looking back over VENTERS, I can see myself searching for where I wanted to go with that group of work and the shift that took place over those months. We spent the summer in Edmonds, WA, just a mile from Puget Sound, which took the initial inspiration of the Oregon & California coast and morphed it into the more quiet peace of the Salish Sea.
While working on VENTERS, I began a series of tiny, monochromatic paintings, SCINTILLA. These baby paintings began as a creative exercise to fill the minutes while waiting for paint to dry. But I’ve grown addicted to making them! I was thrilled when they were accepted by Elliott Fouts Gallery for their Small Gems show, which is still up through January 5th!
We spent the Fall living on a small lake in Western Washington, which added fuel to my newest series, ECHOES. Before we left Edmonds, I’d already had the idea of exploring water reflections in my next body of work and it seemed like fate that we ended up living on a lake! We’ve since moved on to Tacoma, but I’m ending 2016 very focused on pouring out all the inspiration I found at the lake during those months.
watercolor paintings completed 110+
A big surprise for me in 2016 was the result of a 100 day painting project. I participated in the #the100dayproject on Instagram and it led to discovering a love for watercolor painting. I began the project with a few small acrylic paintings, but as we were moving the next week, I decided to move to watercolors for their easy accessibility and clean up. And a love affair was born! A goal for 2017 will be to create larger watercolors on paper and experiment with different substrates. I’m not sure I’ll ever give up acrylics but I do love the softness and gracefulness I’ve found with this new medium.
As an artist, I often find myself taking my work too seriously, so I made strides this year toward making time for creative play. #the100dayproject kicked this off, but after I finished the 100 days, I found myself searching for other avenues, specifically ways to combine painting and natural elements, resulting in #foragescapes and #encirclings.
#foragescapes
#encirclings
I couldn’t write a review of my year as an artist without mentioning time spent in the wild. Mr. F and I spent a lot of time hiking and camping the North Cascades over the summer, as well as walking down to the Puget Sound countless times while we were in Edmonds. We hiked in the Olympics, Mount Rainier, the Columbia River Gorge, and Goat Rocks Wilderness among so many others. Each place we go enters my subconsciousness and I see them emerging from my brush, uncontrollably.
While 2016 ended with a feeling of uncertainty of the future for so many of us, we forge ahead. I’m excited to be back in the studio post-Christmas holiday working on a commission for a Florida designer and finishing four ECHOES paintings on panel, planning for the next and ordering supplies.
I have my goals for the next year and after seeing such growth last year, I’m beyond excited for what 2017 has in store. I wish the same for you!
One goal will be getting back to sharing in this space more often! Hope to see you more frequently in the new year!
31 of 100, watercolor on vellum, 6×6
This holiday season has been such a blur! The Mr. is down with a cold, so we’ll be laying low these next few days and I must say, I can’t wait to just be quiet and still.
I wish you all peace and love this holiday!
Happy Christmas!
If you’re following along with me on Instagram, you may have seen a new series of tiny paintings I’ve been creating, SCINTILLA.
These 4″ square works on deep cradled wood panel began as an exercise to fill the time while larger paintings dried. I always find myself falling in love with the earliest stage of a painting– the stage in which I paint in a monochromatic palette to work out basic light, contrast, and composition. So I thought these little pieces would be the perfect avenue to explore those monochromes as finished work.
Beginning with one color, then adding white and grey for light and contrast, the compositions emerge intuitively. I try not to begin with a set idea in mind, but instead allow a trace of a landscape to emerge slowly.
The first eight of the SCINTILLA paintings are currently hanging at Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento as part of their Small Gems show! Check out the EFG website for pricing and contact information for the gallery.
I’m looking forward to creating more in this series after I get settled into my new studio in Tacoma. Oh yeah, did I not mention we’re headed to Tacoma for the next six months? 🙂
I’ll check in again once we get settled! Meanwhile, check out the SCINTILLA series and all the other Small Gems on the EFG website!
I admit, I get a bit jealous when I see artists participating in a fabulous residency in a beautiful place. I’ve applied for a few myself, knowing that with my still limited professional artist experience, gaining a spot in one is a long shot.
But as I was unpacking in our new temporary lakeside home in Washington, it occurred to me– I am in a new “residency” every 3-6 months! Every new place brings with it new experiences and new inspirations, so why not treat each one as my own independent residency?
This place especially, has my creative juices flowing thanks to the beautiful little lake on which we sit. Not to mention the trees, the rocks, the sky.. There is so much to take in!
While I’m here “in residence” on Offut Lake, I’ll be working on a new series, ECHOES, inspired by reflections in water. This idea was already germinating at the end of the VENTERS series and when I began to see how the reflections in the lake change throughout the day, I knew I had found my muse.
Image by me.
Each season, in each place, has its own palette and I find that each informs my work, wherever I happen to be. We’ve spent our spring and summer on the Puget Sound where I’ve been soaking up the way the water glistens, the seagulls call, the foghorns sound.
While here, in addition to the #100littleartworks project, I’ve been painting my VENTERS coastal series. Initially inspired by the wildness of the Oregon Coast and my memories of the beaches and marshes of North Florida, I wanted these paintings to have the palette and reflective transparency of sea glass and sunsets.
top image found here; bottom image by me
As I do for each series, I put together a Pinterest board for my palette inspiration, printing and referencing these images as I worked in the studio.
painting knocking on heaven’s door, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 40x30x1.5
right image found here
painting how she moves, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 15x19x.75
bottom image found here
painting make me an angel, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 30x40x1.5
left image found here
As I look back on the completed series, I see the way the work and the palette shifted the longer we were here on the Sound. I’m looking forward to finding my way through the Fall and the changes it may bring in my palette and my way of seeing.
PS– I’m shipping the last of the VENTERS paintings out to Art & Light Gallery very soon! Then onto the next!
I was introduced to Speakarts through my fellow Art & Light artist, Eva Magill-Oliver, as she is one of four artists partnering with Speakarts to combine great sound with great art to create a beautiful way to listen to music.
eva’s work on a WAF Speakarts speaker
via
These wireless speakers are based on a Danish design, with the front fabric cover attached with magnets so that the cover art can be changed out as you wish! Beautifully brilliant.
I’m excited to announce that I am one of four finalists for the fifth and final Speakarts artist partner!
the four finalists! 1 | inge flinte, 2 | me!! 3 | jasmine leigh, 4 | andre miller
The final artist partner will be chosen via popular vote on Instagram beginning now through Sunday, July 24th. I would love if you would click over to @speakarts on Instagram here and vote for #2! I would be so excited to see my work as a vehicle for bringing beauty and music into people’s homes! Thanks, friends!
Summer is the season for slowing down. For taking time. While I’ve been working in the studio a lot over these last few months, this summer has also been about renewal. As often as we can, whether it is a long walk down to the beach or a secluded hike or a weekend of camping, we are cultivating a habit of intentional quiet time.
As we approached the shore of Richmond Beach a few days ago, we happened upon an amazing installation of more than 30 cairns stacked along and in the water’s edge. We marveled at the time and patience it must have taken to create each of those sculptures, knowing that they are temporal. Creating art feels much the same– I work long and hard at painting, only to one day ship it off, where it will hopefully, go on to live a life completely apart from me. My time with my work is fleeting. But the hours spent creating it are the best kind of quiet meditation.
Image by me.
I’ve never been an early riser. So catching the sun rise over the Atlantic when I lived in Florida didn’t happen often. But being on the West Coast, sunsets have become my happy place. At least three evenings a week, the Mr. and I walk the mile and a half from our apartment then down (and back up, ugh!) 188 steps to Richmond Beach on Puget Sound. Many Friday evenings we take a bottle of wine and end the week watching the colors slowly shift over the Sound. It is an incredibly peaceful and lovely way to begin the weekend.
Last night’s display was so incredible that Instagrammers all over the Seattle area were posting their sunset views. We were all taking in and experiencing the same collective beauty but each from our own unique perspective. What a gift of a communal yet individual experience!
These magical sunset views are informing my new work in the VENTERS series– not always literally, but in the way the light becomes soft and dreamy, how the sun melts into the horizon, the way the colors morph and move one into another.
See the current VENTERS paintings on my website here. The newer paintings are even softer and more dreamy, if you can believe it! Can’t wait to show you.
Image by me.
One of the big advantages to our current traveling lifestyle is how many amazing places we are able to see. These adventures are a huge source of inspiration for me as an artist. But seeing so many incredible sights can also lead to a bit of inspiration overload and lead my artsy brain in all sorts of different directions!
With each new location, each new season, comes a whole new set of inspirations! So how does one artist handle so many different sources of inspiration?
For me, I keep my eyes open and take special notice of what inspires me, not just once, but on a continual basis. It’s easy to find one spark, but the trick is finding what will continue to spark over and over and over. Look not for the firecracker, but the forest fire– the spark that leaps and creates more sparks, more fire.
I make note but I don’t necessarily pursue those sparks right away. My sketchbook is full of idea scribbles, some pretty well developed, others simply notes on colors and forms. I also have a folder on my phone where I dump those quick sparks when I don’t have my sketchbook handy. Then, there is my favorite inspiration keeper– Pinterest! I have at least half a dozen boards where I hoard visual inspirations from subject matter to color palettes. I keep them private so they are for my eyes only until I decide I am ready to share them with the world.
I commit myself to what I’m especially inspired by at the moment and concentrate on exploring that inspirational idea fully. Each inspiration exploration becomes a series of work to be revisited again and again as I continue to find new ways to express that initial spark.
Once I feel like I’m done exploring a certain subject for a while, I’m ready to move on to another idea. But how to decide? Sometimes it takes some exploration in the studio to see what is moving me creatively or it could be as simple as how excited about an idea I am! The most exciting prospect wins!
At the moment, I’m exploring beachy and coastal inspiration in my VENTERS series– it is proving to be perfect for the coming summer on Puget Sound!
All images by me.