What Took You So Long?

"Muse of Spring"

24 x 18 inches, oil on canvas

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I started this painting back in February, and finished it yesterday. I hadn't worked on it at all in the interim; I guess I was just waiting until the time was right!

 This was painted with a palette of Cad Red, Cad Yellow, Yellow Ocher, Burnt Umber, White, and Black.

I'll be painting at Oregon Art Supply during the Artwalk Friday night from 6-7:30. Come down and see my show, including my newest landscapes from the coast! While you're out and about, check out the artists and live music in Kesey Square. So much going on!

Party Pictures

"Grand Opening Flowers"

12 x 9 inches, oil on canvas

NFS

Last Saturday was the Grand Opening party for The Gallery at the Watershed. As part of the invitation, Amy asked everyone to bring a flower from their garden, and this (after some editing of wilted foliage) was the result:

Obviously, I was not going to tackle this beautiful bunch of blooms with a limited palette. I think it got a little out of control, though....

 Party pictures, please! I can hear you all the way from here.

 (Left to right, top to bottom: my painting peeking out from behind a very cool sculpture by Randy Ortiz, Amy and Robert welcoming their guests, yours truly posing with Amy the gallery owner, and my wall. Really, they call it "Sarah's Wall." Love!)

By the way, if you couldn't make it out last weekend, we're on the artwalk this Friday night - that's tomorrow, for those of us wondering where this week went - and I'll be there! So come say hi. 5:30-8 pm.

Good News Comes Early

 "Calla Lilies on Black"

8 x 6 inches, oil on canvas
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I was lying in bed this morning - before 7 am - just texting with my Gallerist (because that's totally normal), when she dropped the extremely excellent bomb that my scheduled show-slot this year had just become a SOLO show.

This news is especially excellent because the opening is December 13th. 

But just because I have six months to prepare doesn't mean the work doesn't begin today. And it also means that you all need to be opening Orbitz in a new tab and seeing about getting some plane tickets! Oregon in December. Pack your raincoats.

Getting it on Paper

 

"Calla Lilies with Green Apples"

8.5 x 11.5" oil on paper

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I have been enjoying the new oil painting paper by Arches, especially because every time I turn around these days, I'm out of canvases. I'm going to do some experimenting soon with mounting these onto panels, but they'd be great framed under glass, like a watercolor.

And now I'm off to scrounge up something to paint on and head out to the Alpaca farm for another rainy, cold (in fact downright wintry) afternoon of plein air.

The Old In and Out

 "Calla Lilies by the Open Door"

8 x 6 inches, oil on canvas

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 OMG, I couldn't resist. This is exactly what goes through my mind every time I paint a scene that includes both indoor and outdoor elements. No one should ever watch movies, ever, really, right? My apologies aside, what's a blog for if not to expose your mental issues thought process?

Here's my work-in-progress, anyway:

 It's a huge challenge, capturing any subject backlit by a window. The trick is to keep the outside SO much brighter than the inside, but also very neutralized, or dull, colorwise, since it is seen through glass. I almost got there in this painting - I had trouble darkening the gorgeous whites of the lilies sufficiently to really sillouhette them. Can you blame me? I'm still charmed by my results. Charmed, I'm sure.