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Sometimes it Takes a Great Sky

10/25/2021

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Sometimes it Takes a Great Sky
​"Sometimes it Takes a Great Sky" - acrylic on cradled wood panel, 30 x 40 x 1.5.  Ready to hang.  Available here and at Artfinder.


Sometimes it takes

a great sky
to find that

first, bright
and indescribable
wedge of freedom
in your own heart.

Sometimes with
the bones of the black
sticks left when the fire
has gone out

someone has written
something new
in the ashes of your life.

You are not leaving.
Even as the light fades quickly now,
you are arriving.” 
― David Whyte
The gorge follows me into the studio, grabs my hands and begs them to paint her.  There are great skies there over the Columbia River...big skies, dramatic skies.  Skies that reach deeply into the water and pull me down to its reflective depths.  

We recently followed the light up Beacon Rock as the sun was setting - even as the light fades quickly now, you are arriving.  In that fading light, which raced down the cliff walls nearly faster than we could race up the rock, in that softly illuminated sky, my senses reeled for a moment - overwhelmed by the grandeur of that place, that day, my life, the bright...wedge of freedom in my own heart.  Whyte's words reached into my depths just as the light penetrated the river.  Oh.

About the art:  inspired by a photograph I took in the gorge, this piece was loosely drawn with chunky charcoal, then blended into a monochromatic compositional map by adding water and titanium white.  Using only the colors from an exquisite fantasy painting created by my partner (a color palette shift and a challenge for me) and using a rubber wedge, squeegee, large paintbrush and a spray bottle, the requisite 80 million layers were added.  Linework created using stabilo woody pencils (my favorites).  The bulk of this piece was created during Portland Open Studios, with finishing layers after several days of pondering and sneaking up on the piece to see what worked and what did not.
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Enter A Wood

10/20/2021

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"Enter a Wood" - acrylic on plywood, 28 x 56 x .75.  Ready to hang.  Available here and at Artfinder.

To enter a wood is to pass into a different world in which we ourselves are transformed. - ROGER DEAKIN, Wildwood: A Journey Through Trees.

​I've been transformed by the wood.  

Into and out of and through the forest, thoroughly and profoundly transformed by the trees.  A world far away and yet close to home.  Maybe the wood is also home now.

There is a sweet irony in this piece - painted on plywood, utilizing the wood texture from a planed tree to create....wood texture in trees.  It makes me grin. :).   Furthermore, it was painted entirely with a squeegee, rubber wedge and a spray bottle.  Embracing the play in art.

The bulk of this painting was created during the two weekends of Portland Open Studios, generally while wearing a dress (which also makes me grin!). I am expanding my wardrobe from paint pajamas to paint dresses - next up, paint formal wear!

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Enter A Wood

A huge THANK YOU to all who came out for Portland Open Studios! I was overwhelmed and so touched by the heartfelt connections, positive comments and encouragement...and also by the number of paintings which found homes, connected with collectors and brought smiles and joy.  Holy macaroons!  An amazing event! 

La Maison Magnifique du Malarkey is now open by appointment - send an email and let me know when you'd like to stop by. Wonder Mike will be there to greet you!  
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Smiled at Each Threshold and Held Nothing Hostage

10/12/2021

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"Smiled at Each Threshold and Held Nothing Hostage" - acrylic on cradled wood panel, 18 x 18 x 1.5.  Ready to hang.  Available here and at Artfinder.

​...knowing that you smiled at each threshold and held nothing hostage. - SARAH BLONDIN

The muse has me back in the burn forest.  Something about those stark verticals against the popping colors of undergrowth, sunsets, mists and roiling clouds...and the ever present influence of Brian Rutenburg, whose pieces have a soothing composition of "saddle, vee and border snake" (my description - it helps me remember the basics), 

A wise, heart-centered friend recently introduced me to the work of Sarah Blondin, whose mediations on Insight Timer have these delicious phrases dancing in my head...including the above quote, which so perfectly captures the philosophy of letting go, letting flow, being present - and holding nothing hostage.
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Smiled at Each Threshold and Held Nothing Hostage
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work in process - acrylic on plywood

After moving into the new studio and house in July, I am truly up and running now!  The studio was open to the public this weekend (and will be again next weekend, if you're in town).  The feedback on both the space and my work was so positive and uplifting!  An infusion of positivity and further confirmation that this, this is the right place for me.  

Thank you to everyone who came out to view the space and the art!  I am honored and so grateful. :)

Portland Open Studios - 85 artists fling their doors open to the public and show you the magic behind the curtain!  Second weekend Oct 16-17.  Go to wwww.portlandopenstudios.com for tour information and maps.  Malarkey Central is studio number 56 on the map.
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Portland Open Studios

10/7/2021

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Portland Open Studios: October 9, 10, 16, 17 from 10 am - 5 pm.  La Maison Magnifique du Malarkey is studio # 56 on the tour map at www.portlandopenstudios.com.
There is a flurry of activity here at Malarkey Central!

Paintings emerge from boxes and bins and find their homes on the walls, on the floor, on shelves, in corners.  Some of them want to hang from the ceiling, but I put my foot down on that one. :)

Labels find their way on things.  The glass wall of my studio staircase becomes a whiteboard - paint markers and glass!  OH MY!  I think about tidying...but this is a studio.  There is no room for tidying here.
​
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It isn't my habit to hang my own art on the studio walls.  In the past, it caused me to endlessly fuss with, critique and frown at the work and was a distraction from creating new things.  But maybe the work was just waiting for this space?  Because here in the new studio I am finding myself giddy over the mass of things that have sprouted from my heart, mind and hands.  Whoa.

In two days, the doors will open and people will wander into the studio.  Years of creative work - the insides of me displayed on the outside - am I nervous?  Maybe a little.  Mostly just thrilled that I am here, in this place, doing this.
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Here's the blue wild, where
tiny dreamers ride beasts, speak
​ birdsong, hold the moon.

(by poet Mary W. Cox)
​


​Art prints available on request
  • Home
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  • BLOG
  • Exhibits
    • The Downside of Lycanthropy
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    • NUDGE - SHOVE
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