Bellevue Art Fair

We are home from Bellevue, Washington where we participated for the 27th year in the Bellevue Art Museum Fair. The first year we did the fair Bellevue was a little residential area with one story houses and boutiques. We have watched the town grow up as we ourselves have grown older and changed. One of my loyal patrons came to visit me and it tugged at my heart to see her figure bent and the age on her still beautiful face. We are all growing older, hopefully wiser, assuredly kinder. It has been a trip.

I took photographs in the general vicinity of my booth this year. I seldom get beyond 3 rows in either direction at this fair as it is so busy. I think over 350,000 people attend; my booth space is approximately 18 ft. wide and I think all those people tried to fit in! It was so wonderful to visit with old and new friends. I wish every artist could expose their work to others and hear the kind and encouraging words one hears out in public. When I am alone in my studio my inner critic is merciless and cruel, telling me that my work doesn't matter and falls short of my vision but when others respond favorably and say they feel happy with my work I feel fulfilled and grateful. If we could only see our work as others see it I think we would be more accepting. But every artist I know feels humble and unsure. It seems to go with the territory.

Well, on to the show. I took photos to share again and hopefully to inspire other artists who read my blog. The first is of my long time friend Valerie Willson, painter extrordinaire.

Her technique is much like what Albie Smith does in her gesso/paper classes with lots of brush work added. Valerie's background is in printmaking and she incorporates lots of stamping, monoprinting and stencilling techniques. She has mastered it all and has been chosen many times to make posters to celebrate the art fairs.

This is Sue Zell. Her business is called "Tuffets" and she makes whimsical furniture, ottomans and pillows. I remember her from last year and I love the way she combines fabric, furniture and transfers. She doesn't have a website yet but if you get a chance to attend a fair where she is showing her work you will be very inspired. You can write her at szell41534@aol.com.

Beverly Saito is an award winning ceramic artist. She won the Carol Duke award this year and her ceramic sculptures are a delight. You will be inspired by her use of color, shape and surface design. Please visit her website if you have time.

Gene Flores. Etchings and enhanced prints. John and I had supper at Azteca with Joan and Gene the night before the show. Gene is teaching full time now at Portland Community College and is the Art Director of the art gallery there. I've written about his work and our friendship in the past. I think very highly of Gene's standards and skill. He was born with a pencil in his hand I think and he has worked very hard to pursue his goals.

Liz Collins has been an inspiration to me for years.(her site will be up at the link soon she tells me) Currently she is working with figure distortion and collaged map mosaics. Her atmospheric paintings tell stories of her travels and dreams.

Amanda Blake is a Portland painter and the daughter of an old friend. Her paintings just knock me out. Study the way she portrays the human form and ask yourself what those figures are feeling. She places her elements oh-so-wonderfully. I feel very tender toward Amanda. She has a little one that accompanies her to all the shows (dear woman, however do you do it?). What an amazing and lovely person!

I have more photos to share but I am ready for sleep now. We leave in 2 more days for a show in Idaho. I have paintings to ship and prints to prepare. My show was successful; many paintings placed with the nicest people ever. In these times of upheaval and tragedy I think people need art (music, theatre and all of it) more than ever. It soothes us and renews our faith in mankind.

Here are some magical fairy wings to fly us all to a place where there is no war.

2 Blondes and a Mojito

The blondes are acrylic, collage, galkyd, beeswax, and damar on waterleaf paper. I always polish the beeswax with the palm of my hand after I finish the paintings and I show the new owners how to occasionally buff them up too. It makes the beeswax more transparent although not entirely and really brings out the collage elements partially hidden under the acrylic paint. I've done a number of these small (8x10") faces in the last few days.


Then last night at a family Birthday party I tasted my first Mojita. It was love at first sip. This drink comes from Cuba, probably named by the African sugarcane cutters who toiled there. (Mojo plus ito.) The "ito" ending in Spanish denotes a diminutive so the drink is a little magical spell; how sweet is that? Thus inspired, I painted this little 12x12" canvas. The sides are deep and have a dark background with orange dots.



Tonite we are making Mojitos to enjoy on the deck at sundown. It was a hot day and the work is nearly done. Time for a little magical spell.

Reverse paintings

These little guys are painted on the reverse side of archival acrylic (mylar) sheet. The one of the vase was then placed over a sheet of paste paper that I made which gives it an undertexture that doesn't show up very well in the photo. I was experimenting with drawing slowly and intuitively in waterproof ink directly on the mylar. Then I painted acrylic over the drawing and flipped the mylar. So the colors are very vivid. You need to enlarge this first one to see the paste paper detail. I love a small vase with a sassy attitude.

The second one is of a subject I love; woman cuddling kitty who knows how to get everything in the world out of its smitten owner. Humans are pretty smart but cats really have the inside line on how to get their needs met. I call this one "Catbird Seat". It is a reverse painting on mylar also but with only a white back board.

Have done a couple dozen of these little paintings in the last 2 days. I just sit quietly at my drawing table and put my head down and float away. The ideas come often only after the pen starts moving. The first line suggests the second and so on. It is a free and zany way to work and you always discover things you did not previously know. I dont always work this way but on the little sketches I often do. OK, back to the studio.

Checking In

I've never painted so many paintings in such a short amount of time. And I have been neglecting everything else in my life. Please forgive me for a few more weeks as I love this burst of creativity and the joy it brings me to see the studio filling up with color and new stories. I am only going to post 4 of the images I have completed for Bellevue; I love to show up with new work that no one has seen before. So I am saving the best and will show it here after the show. But after Bellevue I go directly to Coeur d'Alene the following weekend so the posts will be brief until sometime in August.

This is my cellist. I am adding to my little orchestra. I have done the pianist, the violinist and 2 accordianists in addition to this one. Some of them have been street performers but this lady plays in the symphony.

This is about my wish to see fireflies again in this lifetime. I grew up with fireflies in my life when my family drove to Illinois on our car trips to visit the relatives there. It was summer with big family reunion picnics and what I remember best was the home made ice cream and catching fireflies in a bottle while the old folks talked and laughed. It was magic. The hard to see writing in the sky says, "Miracle No. 257".

Cowboy boots. Need I say more? I want a bright red pair to wear everywhere and feel like the FFA Queen. I have never owned a pair. I have cowboy boot envy.

Guess who this is? My rare man, my gentle farmer and husband of 26 1/2 years. He grows the food and I paint the pictures. He is my hero, my rudder, my best friend.

Come see the rest of the new paintings at Bellevue!!

Knee High By the 4th of July

I actually took the garden shots on the 3rd of July but what-the-hey, the corn is reaching for the ceiling in this hot, dry weather. The farmer will harvest garlic today, saving the most primo heads for next year's seed crop. The first shot is the corn patch to show that we have attained the knee high by the 4th of July goal and then some.


The second photo is of the garlic patch. We are huge believers in the healing and health-giving properties of garlic. Plus if you dont use huge amounts you just aren't much of a cook, in my opinion. It is a natural anti-bacterial. I credit my fortunate good health to massive quantities of garlic. It is one of John's favorite things to share with his friends.


While I was out in the garden I had to stop and admire the beautiful flowers on the lowly potato plants. John is growing Yellow Fins and a fingerling variety called Yellow Rose Fin this year. He tries new ones all the time. We love our 'taters.


We are flush with berries. I got a shot of blueberries for the folks that live in other climates and hemispheres to enjoy. Almost everyone around here (Oregon) has their own to admire.


The fruit ladder is still out. I thought it was pretty.


And finally a shot of the peas, doing their best to climb to the moon up in the left corner of the picture. This was taken at dusk. These are sugar peas that climb up a trellis and are best eaten raw. They are sweet and tender, even when overly mature. I like them better than candy. (But not better than Rhubarb Crunch which I made for our guests on the 4th).


I took 88 shots on the 4th of the big party here but this is one of the best of the two grand-puppies looking angelic. Right after I took this they hurled themselves on each other and rolled around the yard playing. It was a terrific party and everyone helped with the work; the handsome grandson oversaw the ice cream making, the ever agreeable son-in-law did the barbeque duties, the women brought various picnic dishes to share and farmer John cut the big, cold watermelon. The sun smiled down on all.