Julia Randall

Lick Line is a series of drawings by Julia Randall that depict many familiar shapes made by the mouth and tongue. It's hard to believe that these juicy illustrations were captured with colored pencil alone.

Irina Troitskaya

I've been working on a lot of different projects lately, which I hope to share with you very soon. While researching and scouring the internet for inspiration, I came across Irina Troitskaya's matreshkas. I love her style of illustration and how it translates to the three dimensional wooden figures.

Art on Alberta

Recently I joined the PR Team at Art on Alberta, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the Alberta Art District's distinct cultural identity through art and educational activities. For those of you in Portland, Art on Alberta will be hosting their annual meeting, on February 17th from 6:30-8:30PM at the Acadian Ballroom, 1829 NE Alberta Street. This will be the kick off for Art on Alberta's Art Hop. It is open to the public and I encourage anyone who is interested in volunteering, being a vendor or just seeking more information, to attend. You can find more details about the annual meeting here. http://artonalberta.org/

Milton Wilson {1923-2004}

Over the weekend I went to the Portland Art Museum and discovered a real treasure—Milton Wilson. I had never seen any of his work, or even heard of him. His abstract paintings are so amazing that they stopped me in my tracks on the way to the Impressionist wing. They are truly something to take the time to look at. The colors are rich and layered with huge brush strokes, line work, hollow shapes over drips—endless textures.

#1016, 1963, Oil on canvas 63 " x 44 "


Untitled, 1969, Oil on canvas, 83" x 68"

After researching more on Wilson, I found out that he was born and raised here in Portland, Oregon. Following his death in 2004, Maldon, Wilson's daughter and the executor of his will, planned to auction off his entire collection of paintings with no minimum reserve to help pay off outstanding debts. (Watch the video from Oregon Live for more details here.) It is sad that these works will lose value due to the declining worth of his estate. Fortunately the Portland Art Museum treasures Wilson's work as much as I do and keeps some of his paintings hung on a rotating basis.

One of Wilson's works at the Portland Art Museum.

Unfortunately I couldn't find a photo of my favorite Wilson painting, currently on exhibit. You'll just have to take a trip to the museum and see it for yourself.

Jennifer Hill {Places I Have Never Been}

I can't blog about my east coast visit without mentioning little miss Jen Hill of JHill Design. Jen is yet another fellow Mass Art alum, my old college roommate (God bless her), and one of my most cherished friends. Every time Peter and I go to Boston we stay with Jen and Dave (her fiance whom she affectionately calls "Sasso"). Dave is another long time friend and worthy of an entire year of blog entries.

At their house, I'm always poking around checking out all of their new art on the walls, of coarse previewing Jen's latest prints, and undoubtedly listening to Sasso's new adventures in Rock Band at Harmonix.

Lucky for me I got the new JHill wall calendar for Christmas. Thanks Jen! Check it out below.



This is the pattern that Jen created for my beloved Portland, Oregon. If you'd like to read her blog post about Portland, click here.


Also, check out JHill's new blog Sacrebeu!

Cut Paper Paintings

Kelechi Ekechi is a Boston based artist who's originally from Nigeria. Her cut paper paintings are colorful, organic and captivating. Over the past year she has expanded her work of "African Masks Reinterpreted" and branched out into a series of floral mixed media prints, all of which I love.

I went to visit Kelechi while I was in Boston in December. When I wasn't looking, she slipped these three small prints into my camera bag. She's so sweet! Thanks Kelechi.

If you want to find out more about Kelechi or inquire about her prints, send me a note and I will forward you her can contact info.

Humphrey Street Studios Visit: Part 3

Photo courtesy of PRC Boston's flickr site.

Joe Wheelwright is one of the owners of Humphrey Street Studios. Before Peter started the renovation there he apprenticed for Joe as a sculpture student while still attending Mass Art.

During our visit to Boston we popped in on Joe, working away in his studio. His space looks like a small warehouse with an office and a loft gallery. Everything about the shop is larger than life - gigantic stone carvings, enormous, towering tree men and other oddities. Check out some of his amazing work below.Photo credit: Mark Wilson

Humphrey Street Studios Visit: Part 1

Years ago when I lived in Boston, while attending Mass Art, my boyfriend Peter embarked on a daunting project to turn an old dry cleaning factory into artist studio spaces. This being a dream of his, he leapt at the chance, knowing full well that it would be an immense task to fulfill.

Here is Peter, back in 2001, disassembling the old boiler to make room for more studio space.

This was quite the undertaking.
Here he is, filling in the floor where the same boiler used to stand.

We later moved to a loft in Upham's Corner in Dorchester so that we could be closer to the factory, which by that time also housed Peter's sculpture studio. After years of working late nights and innumerable weekends, Humphrey Street Studios was completed and ready for tenants. Today it still stands tall and remains to be occupied by many of our dearest artist friends. This is Humphrey Street Studios today.

This is the view looking into the courtyard from the back lot.

This is Janet Lomartire's studio, the same space that used to house the old boiler.

J.J., as we call her, is a sign painter and guilder who works with her husband Gneal Widett (one of the owners of Humphrey Street); he designs and carves the signs. Unfortunately we missed both of them during our visit back. I would have loved to show you the real after shot of the interior. Janet did an amazing job decorating the space. It's one of my favorite studios.

Complete Skate Auction

Tonight is the last night to bid on one of a kind skate decks created for the Complete Skate charity auction. I will be at Design Within Reach from 5:30-8:30 defending my bids from the Nov. 15th opening party. If you want to see current bids you can catch them on Ebay here.

There are some amazing decks by Timothy Karpinski, Amy Ruppel, Jill Bliss, Emily Katz, Zach Johnsen, Harvest Henderson and Blair Saxon-Hill; just to name a few.

Design Within Reach
1200 NW Everett, Portland, OR
5:30-8:30 p.m.
Bidding ends at 8:00 p.m.

Manufratured

I went to the Museum of Contemporary Craft last week to see the newest exhibition entitled, Manufractured: The Conspicuous Transformation of Everyday Objects. Some of the work there was really interesting and unexpected.

The digital prints and wig by Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir are amazing! I just love the details in the twists and braids. I've had long hair for most of my life, so I can't help but appreciate the work that must have gone into these pieces.Harriete Estel Berman's Alice in Wonderland-esque tea cups are also some of my favorites. They are made from old cookie tins, vintage tea tins and an array of other graphically rich containers. I am always interested to see what kinds of recycled materials people are attracted to and what they are capable of doing with those materials.This piece by Devorah Sperber was totally unexpected. When I was walking around the gallery I didn't even see the glass globe that I was supposed to look through. I was too busy staring at the color gradients in the hanging spindles of thread mounted to the wall. It added a whole new dimension to the piece when I realized that it was a Campbell Soup can in disguise.

I've been meaning to write something about the fascination people have with collections of things. This group of lipsticks by Livia Marin is no exception, it is totally mesmerizing.

If you haven't seen this show yet, you have until January 4, 2009 to check it out. I'll leave the dress sewn out of facial peels as a surprise!

Viterbo

As I mentioned before, in the summer of 2000, I attended an art  program at L'Accademia de Belle Arte di Lorenzo da Viterbo. The trip impacted my life immensely and later fueled my degree project at Mass Art. The program is still available through the Montserat College of Art. I highly recommend it to any artist; students and adults alike.

Out of curiosity I wanted to see if my old instructors are still working there. I was pleased to see that they are. You can check out links to bios and work from Caroline Bagenal (more here) and Judith Brassard Brown. I also studied with Charles Boyer, who teaches a journal writing class in Viterbo. Fred Lynch, another instructor through the program, has set up a blog for his students here. It is so amazing to see drawings of so many places in Viterbo that I sat and drew at myself.

It's funny, my sister, Destiny, and I were talking the other day about the subtle power that lies within drawing. Recently she came about an old sketch book and began flipping through it. She described how every image brought her back to that moment in which she drew that particular piece. She described the way her legs were crossed, how she felt emotionally, what the wind felt like on her skin, what she was thinking as she drew, and so on. It got me thinking about my own art and how I felt while making it. It's amazing that, while looking at other's works from Viterbo, I can still remember my experiences while creating my own art there. It is truly remarkable that rekindling those feelings of empowerment and joy are inspiration enough to keep us all creating something new.

I did this quick study while I was sitting in a piazza in Viterbo. I remember tracing the outlines of the arches over and over again, adding more warmth as the sun peaked in from the hills. It was a beautiful day and I could hear the sound of running water from a near by fountain. There was a grandmother and child holding hands, a couple walking arm in arm, and myself sitting on the cobblestone walkway. I took it all in and let out a sigh of contentment. 

It's amazing that, eight years later, I can still recall all of that just by looking at this sketch.

Nikki De Saint Phalle

I can tell already that the last post is going to turn into an all out Italian tangent! Just roll with it. 

The research I'm doing is bringing up so many memories from my last trip to Italy in 2000. Since I'm feeling that my return is far over due, writing will have to suffice for the time being.

Let's talk about Niki De Saint Phalle, shall we? 

She is amazing! Her sculptures are so magical. Her use of color illustrates a woman after my own heart. My memories of walking around her Tarot Garden are charged with wonder. I didn't know where to go or what to explore first. I must admit that my first impression wasn't one of interest. I was consumed with the Renaissance then and I wasn't really sure what to think of her outlandish, childlike sculptures. But the more I walked around and  read the poetry in her work, felt the mosaics and let myself be consumed by her world; the more I submitted and fell in love.

Like most works of art of  this scale, photos will just not do it justice. However, here are some pictures I took while I was there.

Justice & Death

The Emperor & The High Priestess

The Empress

The Empress (detail)

Nikki lived alone inside the Empress, what she nick-named the "Sphinx, while finishing the garden. You can view interior photos of The Empress here. In her book  The Tarot Garden, she writes, " This garden was made with difficulties, love, wild enthusiasm, obsession and most of all faith. Nothing could have stopped me. As in all fairy tales before finding the treasure, I met on my path, dragons, sorcerers, magicians and the angel of temperance."

Pattern on Pattern

During the past few weeks I have been looking for inspiration for a family cookbook that I'm working on. My maternal grandfather was originally from Sardinia and though my grandmother was born in New York City, her family also came from the island. Having been to Italy twice, I am very familiar with the beautiful floral textiles and wallpapers that adorn most homes there, as they did in my grandparent's house in the Bronx. I knew, in my search for ideas that I would have to incorporate old time Italian patterns. I came across these photo spreads from the December 2007  issue of Italian Vogue, shot by Steven Meisel. I am in love with these photos!!!