A Day in Wonderland

We spent yesterday afternoon in the Gorge hiking up to Angel's Rest view point, a three sided vista allowing an all encompassing view of the Gorge and beyond. It was a 4.6 mile round trip hike, moderate in difficultly and breathtaking in beauty. Because of a 1991 wildfire, the hike guides you through several varying patches of forest separated by open areas offering expansive views of the Gorge as you ascend to the top. My favorite part of hiking in the Gorge is the light. It creeps through the dense forest and delicately paints itself on new leaves, moss covered branches and rocky formations. It is is truly a magical place and only about 35 minutes from our home!

Studio visit

Welcome to my studio! This is a place where I spend most of my time. I am a member of Switchyard Studios, which is in Southeast Portland, quite close to the river. There are about 30 artists renting space on one floor of a warehouse. The floor above is home to a recording studio and below us is a ceramics distributor. Oh, I cannot forget the man who makes chicken coups on one of the floors above us, as well. The building is also situation right next to train tracks. So, I hear my fair share of train horns, rooster crowing and hip hop artists getting down! Its quite entertaining. The other day I sat in my studio working on a canvas necklace while listening to this really talented female vocalists record a song with a solid drummer, bass, piano, and sax. It can also be quiet and peaceful at times.


Here are some of the bracelets I described in my first blog post. Ah, it seems like only yesterday, I was a novice at all this. These bracelets are made from scrap fabric, macrame, stones, buttons, leather and shells. I will be posting them to Etsy and my website very soon.


I have also been painting a bit. Man, not nearly as much as I used to. But, I feel like my focus on jewelry has been a means of shedding some of the "what to do and not to do" lessons of art school. I often wonder what my paintings would look like if I had not attended and graduated from Art School. I am allowing myself the room to be creative in any means I see progressive at the time. I enjoy having these two creative outlets and I feel like they inform each other.

I have been working on this painting for months. Different ideas and images have soaked into like a sponge of information. The Swifts, my inner SE industrial neighborhood, my tiny macrame knots...

And here is some advice, check out the work of Todd Kelly. He is a Brooklyn based artist. I really like his work. www.toddkellyart.com. I won't describe it, just go see for yourself.

everything you imagine is real

In addition to being an artist, I am preschool teacher.
My kids are hilarious! They are also true. These kids respond to other people and things they see with such genuine feeling. They are inspiring. The other day, I was making sandcastles with one of my students. She watched with such focus as I filled a bucket with sand, packed it down and then turned it over to reveal - A Sandcastle! Her response, "Oh!! It's beautiful!!!!!" Pure joy! This same little girl is the smallest in our class, but attempts to drive the largest of toy tractors when we play in the gym. She's got such might, such conviction to be independent. We wash hands in the bathroom before snack and if I ever turn the faucet on for her, she turns it right off and then on again. She can do it! Inspiring.


Watching my students explore, learn and stand up for themselves makes me think, if they can do it, why can't we all accomplish what we want? What's stopping any one of us from creating that picture we have in our minds? I'd like to thank my preschool classes for giving me strength.

I think they have all the answers. Its like that Picasso quote that I love so much.
"It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child".
Here's another one, "Everything you can imagine is real".
It's too bad he treated woman so poorly.

Here's a secret. When I paint canvases for my canvas jewelry collection, I imagine a child painting. I imagine how they move the paint across their paper, sometimes slowly, sometimes quick. I image them paying more attention to the colors swirling together in one tiny area, than if the piece has a nice composition overall. If you have not already, take a good long look at the painting of a child. It is of a world which most of us have forgotten.

I am contemplating the start of a series of paintings. I want to somehow take my many years experience watching kids paint and draw, and create a tribute to them. A tribute the truth of children. Hmmmm...

Next time you share an experience with a preschool aged child, remember that they may have all the secrets. Or, at least they will make you laugh, maybe thats the real secret.