People's Choice Twofer!

Yamhill County  24x24  pastel     People's Choice winner at OSA Fall Juried Show '13

 I was very honored to be awarded the People's Choice award at the Fall Juried Show at the Oregon Society of Artists Gallery in Portland, OR.


 I also was awarded the People's Choice award at the Hillsboro Plein Air event last week.  Along with a lovely ribbon, I won a beautiful Guerilla pochade box and gift certificate.

Thank you to the People!

Hello Autumn  11x14  plein air pastel    available at the Walters Cultural Center Gallery in Hillsboro OR thru October 2013

Umpqua Plein Air 2013- Best of Show!

First Look   6"x6" plein air pastel  Best of Show- Umpqua Plein Air 2013

This was my third year participating in Umpqua Plein Air, put on by the Umpqua Art Association in Roseburg, OR.  As in previous years, the plein air event was wonderfully organized, with all the information spelled out ahead of time.  The actual schedule of events was different from previous years...this year, the quick draw was held for two hours on the afternoon of the first day.  

I arrived in Roseburg about an hour before the event began, so I had a chance to check in to my favorite little place to stay in Roseburg, the Rose City Motel.  It is the cleanest and most comfortable motel I've ever stayed in, and at about $50 per night, it is a real bargain.  The rooms look like they are straight out of Country Living magazine circa 1983.  I was in the garden room, and the bed was as comfortable as my own at home.  

The quick draw was held in the park outside the Umpqua Art Association gallery.  My painting was nothing to write home about.  It happens.  Plein air painting is hard!  

Quick draw entry- photo shot in the back of my car, complete with reflections on the glass and poor color choices.  It started off a pretty nice painting, but I killed it somewhere along the way.  Oh well.

There was a catered dinner in the park after the quick draw, followed by a nice talk from the show juror Brenda Boylan, who spoke on the Good, Bad and Ugly in regards to painting plein air. 

The next day dawned partially cloudy, with a high chance of thunder showers.  I had signed up to paint at the Norris Blueberry Farm about ten miles NW of Roseburg.  The farm was awesome.  I wandered around for about a half hour, taking lots of photos and trying to decide where to set up my painting gear. Once I got near the pond (complete with two swans), I knew my search for a painting place was over.  It was absolutely amazing. The swans begged to be painted- beautiful white feathers, exotic black lined eyes and beaks, and then those weird legs that looked like their flesh colored tights were falling down.  They spent over an hour preening themselves on a little island just off shore from where I set up my easel, and I was very tempted to paint them, but I just couldn't once I started to really soak in the territorial views.  

I couldn't decide which view to paint, so I started two paintings- one looking north, and one looking east. I could see both directions from my easel. Because of the chance of rain, I set up my big Eddie Bauer beach umbrella from Costco.  It's huge, it's beige, and it works.  

I am a fair weather girl, and I just don't paint outside when it's anything but dry and pleasant. That is, up until now.  This was a timed event, and I had until 4 pm to produce something for the show.  I was pretty excited about the sky show that was going on, and the constantly changing state of the light on the landscape.  A pretty major storm was moving into the northwest, and it was fascinating to be a witness to the subtle and not so subtle changes.   

I chose to do a 6x6 and a 12x12 painting for the competition.  I hoped that at least one of them would turn out ok.  I never know if my idea is going to pan out, especially with the added stress of being in a timed competition.  Painting outdoors is challenging under the best of conditions.  I settled on my compositions, sketched them in, and using thin oil paint, completed both underpaintings.  It was feeling pretty humid outside, so I did a little blotting onto the underpaintings to try to get them to dry faster.  I didn't want to put much pastel onto the surface before the Gamsol was dry, as it melts the pastel onto the surface, and gives a darker look to the light colors.

photo- the view to the north, Norris Blueberry Farm

The 6x6 almost painted itself.  As soon as I noticed the sun lighting up the edge of the treeline, I was interested.  Then I noticed the trees that were a bit further back, and that I could see through the trunks to the fields behind.  That was it. I was totally besotted with the scene.  I love it when that happens!

The 12x12 scene was almost as easy to choose.  The view up the valley was spectacular, especially with the storm clouds piling up against the mountains to the east.  Purple and blue. Delicious!

I had not really planned for inclement weather.  I had a fleece zipup, but I had neglected to bring long pants or real shoes.  I was fresh from Hood River, and it had been around 90 degrees there.  If not for that Eddie Bauer umbrella, I would have been up the proverbial creek.

As the storm blew in, it got colder.  The wind started blowing.   And then it started raining.  Hard.  I saw other artists make a run for cover, and I thought about packing it up, but then I realized that I was dry under my umbrella. My easel, cart, pastel box- everything stayed totally dry.  I was chilly, but dry.  I figured I may as well stay put and finish my painting.

I was amazed when, in the middle the pouring rain, there was a tiny break in the clouds behind me and a brilliant ray of sun lit up the trees I was painting.  It lasted about 45 seconds, and was absolute magic.  I've never seen anything like it.  Probably because I NEVER paint outside when it is raining. It was fun adding the bright gold sunlight to the back of the field in my painting, and made coming up with the title much easier!

Sunbreak   12x12 plein air pastel    N Equall

I had no problem finishing both paintings before 2:30, and was even graced with a break in the rain, allowing me to pack up and get back to my car without getting soaked.  I backed into an open shed, and got both paintings framed without incident, and then safely turned in at the art center.

I was totally surprised and thrilled to be awarded best of show for my little 6x6 painting First Look.  The paintings from the plein air event will be on display at the Hallie Ford Gallery at the Umpqua Valley Art Association in Roseburg through October.

I'm looking at these cloudy skies a little differently now, and actually had another opportunity to paint an approaching storm a couple of weeks later at the Hillsboro Plein Air event. More on that next time...

Intermission- between Hood River and Roseburg

Yamhill County  24x24 pastel  N Equall

September has been my art vortex of craziness.  The saga continues...

Cluck  12x12  pastel - Note there are weird reflections in the glass- I will replace this image as soon as I get the painting back...I forgot to take the photo before framing, and figured awful was better than nothing! OSA Gallery

PNPA was finished, and I had one day in Portland before I had to be in Roseburg (175 miles south of Portland).  I was afraid that we were going to run out of food for our diabetic dog while I was out of town, so I cooked up a batch of chicken, vegetables and barley, did five loads of laundry, straightened up the house,  framed two pastels for the OSA Fall Juried show, dropped them off at the gallery, and repacked for the three day plein air competition in Roseburg.

Crow Family Portraits IV  pastel   N Equall
Artreach Gallery thru 9/29/13

I was already committed to participate with the Westside Artist Guild in a group show at the Artreach Gallery in downtown Portland in a show titled Five O'clock Shadows.  I decided to use only bird paintings for that show, so before I had left for Hood River,  I packed and delivered ten 8x8 pastel bird portraits , and three 12x12 crow portraits for my friend and artist Patty Gifford to deliver to the gallery for me.  That show will be up thru September 29.

Next time...Umpqua Plein Air 2013!

Pacific Northwest Plein Air 2013

All I Ever Wanted  6x6  plein air pastel  N Equall

This past month has been bananas!  Like the rest of my crazy life, everything happens at once, and September has been no exception.  I participated in three plein air competitions,  had 15 paintings in two group shows, and have been preparing for the Fall Home and Garden Show at the expo here in Portland, OR which will set up Oct 2.

May Days  6x6  plein air pastel  N Equall

At the end of August,  I went to the Columbia River gorge to participate in Northwest Plein Air 2013, a juried plein air event put on by the Columbia Art Gallery in Hood River, OR.  A juried event is one where the artists submit an application with examples of their work and the organizers choose who they want to participate, in this case 35 artists.  This was my third year participating in this event.   I rented a great one room cabin in White Salmon, WA using www.airbnb.com.  It was just across the Columbia river from Hood River,and served as a peaceful home base during the five day paintout.  For this event, each artist could submit up to five paintings at the end of the five days of painting, all done in plein air, meaning they were all painted outdoors in the open air, and had to be painted within the past year.  

Fluorescence  11x14 plein air pastel

I was a bit nervous about the weather.  It had been stormy during the week before the event, and the hard rain actually woke me up the night before the event started.  I was pleasantly surprised on the first day when the alarm went off at 6 and the sky was bright pink with no clouds in sight.  It ended up being hot and sunny during the days of the paintout.  I brought two finished plein air paintings with me, one painted in May across the gully from the Tom McCall Nature area in Rowena, and one painted at Wild Rain Lavender Farm in Yamhill.  I painted and framed three new paintings during the paintout- two painted at The Gorge White House, and one painting of the view looking east down the gorge from the AniChe Winery in Underwood, WA.

Painting is normally a solitary endeavor, although I do attend a weekly open studio at Oregon Society of Artists, and oftentimes paint outdoors with another artist or two.  Attending plein air competitions is the complete opposite- lots of people painting similar subjects in the same real estate.  I love getting to know the other artists, but it can really mess with my mind to see other artists doing spectacular things when I either haven't started, don't have a clue as what I'm going to do, or don't like what is happening on my easel.

Inevitable  11x14  plein air pastel  

Then there is the problem of where to paint.  The gorge and surrounding areas are stunning, but deciding exactly where to paint can be a real problem.   The organizers had suggested painting locations every day, and they were all terrific.  I have to find some type of connection, inspiration or emotion with the landscape if I hope to come up with a painting that pleases me.  That little piece of the puzzle can be elusive. It's always such a relief when an idea for a painting  floats up to the surface like the answer on a Crazy 8 ball.

 I struggled a bit, but finally came up with three paintings that I wasn't embarrassed to let people see.   I spent my last day at a nice quiet park with a boat launch on the Washington side of the river where I touched up and framed my finished paintings.  I really wished I had found that park earlier in the weekend, because it had a beautiful brushy wetland area with the gorge as its backdrop.  Next year.  

The Sunny Side   12x12 plein air pastel

As Labor Day weekend came to a close, I turned my paintings and cabin keys in a day early, and drove back to Portland to spend an extra night at home to do laundry, regroup and repack the car before driving to Roseburg, OR to participate in Umpqua Plein Air 2013.  

The Plein Air Northwest show at the Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River, OR will be up thru September 29.  

Fresh Off the Easel- new paintings

Fresh off the easel!

May Days   6x6  plein air pastel  

Out to Pasture   2.5x3   plein air pastel

Untamed  12x12  plein air pastel  

Crow Family Portraits VI    12x12  pastel     N Equall

not yet titled    16x20  plein air pastel   N Equall

not yet titled   6x6   plein air pastel

not yet titled   18x24   plein air pastel  

The Mighty Bushtit   24x24   pastel

Summer Plein Air Fun

As usual, the seasons are flying by.  It's already midsummer.  My yard is filled with a variety of fledgling birds, all screaming for food.  The phlox and bee balm is blooming and the lawn is going brown. My feet are tanned from hours of standing in at my easel attempting to paint just a speck of the beauty and magic that we call summer in Oregon.

I just finished two weeks of painting area lavender farms for the Yamhill Lavender Festival Plein Air Art Show and Sale.  The show this year was gorgeous, with work from 50 artists.  The actual festival is over now (it's always the second weekend in July), but a selection of  paintings will be on display at Currents Gallery in McMinnville and the Coldwell Banker Office in Newburg.  I have two paintings from the festival at Currents.  They will be on display through August. McMinnville has a nice artwalk the 3rd Saturday of the month 5pm-9pm.  Stop by this Saturday evening for a glass of wine and take a look!

The Sunny Side  12x12 plein air pastel    N Equall     Currents Gallery- McMinnville OR
 Excellent award at Yamhill Lavender Festival

Wild Imaginings   20x20  plein air pastel   N Equall    Currents Gallery- McMinnville OR

New Year, New Paintings Part 2

W S Jay I  pastel  6x6

W S Jay II  pastel  8x10

W S Jay III  pastel  8x10

Songs of Love  pastel  8x10

Commonwealth Goose  pastel  8x8

Amused  8x8  pastel
available at Currents Gallery  McMinnville Or

New Year, New Paintings

I have been having a blast painting the local crows.  They're loud, clever, and endlessly fascinating to watch.  I just love their rictal bristles(those whiskery, eyelash looking feathers between their eye and beak).

I will have these paintings, along with much more at the Spring Home and Garden Show next week (February 20-24) at the Expo Center in Portland, OR.  I'll be set up in the Artisan Village, along with some of my Oregon Society of Artist buddies.  I will be spending my time painting during the show, so I'll have my own little studio area set up.  This is my second year at the show- it should be great!  Click on the following for a discount coupon into the show...Click here for $2 off coupon to the Spring Home and Garden Show!

Crow Family Portraits I  pastel  12x12  N Equall

Crow Family Portraits II  pastel  12x12  N Equall

Crow Family Portraits III  pastel  12x12 N Equall

Crow Family Portraits IV  pastel  12x12 N Equall

Art in the Burbs- This Weekend!

Misunderstood   8x10 pastel

I am proud to be participating in this weekend's Art in the Burbs in Tigard Oregon.  This is a juried show, which means that all of the participating artists were chosen based on their work.  I've visited this show many times over the years, and was always impressed with the variety and quality of the work there.  This will be my first time participating in this show.

I will be bringing my newest goose painting "The King of Empire Lakes", along with some other bird paintings and landscapes. I will be bringing a bin of sale priced original paintings that have been hanging around for a while, and a few prints.   I have greeting cards available for the first time too!

The King of Empire Lakes    16x16 pastel plein air

Art in the Burbs is held at the Alberta Rider Elementary School in Tigard, and runs Friday evening through Sunday.  I hope you can make it!

What A Summer!

I've been busy these past few months!  Keeping the blog updated took a backseat to my crazy life.  Now that the pace has slightly slowed, I'm here to report on what has kept me occupied since July.

I participated in four plein air events, several juried shows, went on two trips to the Oregon coast, took a driving trip to Missoula Montana, and welcomed a beautiful new granddaughter into our family.  Every time I thought that things would slow down, something else would pop up.    

Wild Dreams    pastel  12x12  First Place- Yamhill Lavender Festival-  sold

In July, I participated in the Yamhill Lavender Festival Plein Air Art Show, and was awarded first place.    What a wonderful surprise! Every winter I look forward to the end of June and the two weeks preceding the festival when we create paintings at local participating lavender farms.  The festival and plein air show are the second weekend in July at Beulah Park in Yamhill, OR.  

In August I was accepted into the Pacific Northwest Plein Air event in Hood River, OR.  This is a juried competition, which means that artists submit an application packet along with images of past plein air paintings, and a jury picks who they want to participate.  This was my second year as a participant.  The paint out took place in the Columbia River Gorge for five days around Labor Day.  Each artist submitted up to five plein air paintings (they had to be painted outdoors, not in a studio).  I stayed near Parkdale during the paintout in a cute little room that I found on AirBnB.com  I had a total blast painting from dawn to dusk every day, and was thrilled to sell three paintings during the show at the Columbia Gallery in Hood River, Oregon.

Invigorated 11x14 pastel plein air    -sold

Taking the High Road 16x20 pastel plein air    -sold

A Fresh Start 12x12 pastel plein air    - sold

Aglow  11x14 pastel plein air

Wild Daydreams   11x14 pastel plein air

sketching in my paintings during Umpqua Plein Air

In September I went to Roseburg Oregon to participate in the Umpqua Plein Air competition.  This was a timed plein air event.  Artists checked in at 7:30 am and had until 2:30 to paint, frame and submit up to three paintings.  There was an hour and a half break, then the quick draw started in downtown Roseburg.  We had two hours to paint a cityscape.  It was a real challenge for me- a person who doesn't usually paint urban settings.  I need to do that more often. I earned an award of distinction for my painting "Along the Way".   I also participated in the Hillsboro Oregon Plein Air event where I submitted paintings in all three categories- landscape, cityscape, and figurative quick draw.  Both shows are up through October.  In Roseburg, the plein air show is at the Umpqua Valley Art Association and the Hillsboro plein air show is at the Glenn and Viola Walters Cultural Center.

I was also in the Oregon Society of Artists  Fall Juried Show in September.  I entered two paintings.  My piece "On the Job" won second place.

On the Job  11x14 pastel 

Mystify  14x24  pastel

I Believe

A friend emailed a link of this video to me today, and I had to share it.

Bob Ross had it all figured out.

Painting really does bring a lot of good thoughts to my heart.  I'm going to go paint now.


Joy of Painting Video

Accepted: Pacific Northwest Plein Air 2012

I am excited to announce that I was accepted  again to be part of the Pacific NW Plein Air event in Hood River.  This is a plein air painting event, which means that all art in the competition has been painted outdoors rather than in a studio.  The paint out starts August 31, and all paintings must be submitted by September 4.  The opening reception is Friday September 7 at the Columbia Art Gallery in Hood River, OR. 


 This is a juried competition, which means that all the artists participating submitted an application and examples of their plein air work, and a panel of judges decided which artists would participate.  It is a huge honor to be chosen as part of this event, especially considering the high caliber of artists participating.

Investing In Gold  11x14 pastel  2011 PNWPA   sold

Last year was my first time participating in the event.  I made the mistake of driving back and forth rather than staying in Hood River for the paint out.  I'm not going to make that mistake again!  I like to paint during the late afternoon and evening, so that's what I'm going to do.  Morning light is lovely too, but I'm not really a morning person.  I'd like to have some plein air work done ahead of time in case the painting I produce during the paint out aren't up to my standards.  I'm going to have fun, stay relaxed, and just paint for the joy of it.  

Haven  8x10 pastel  2011 PNWPA   sold

I love the Columbia River Gorge, and I'm excited to have a reason to spend more time up there to paint!  Paul and I lived in Hood River in the mid-80's, and it's fun to drive around and marvel at how the town has changed from logging town to the thriving tourist destination it has become.  Hood River is unique in that it is perched between the hot dry east and the temperate western part of the state.  It's right in between Mt Adams to the north and Mt Hood to the south, the Columbia River runs along its northern border.  The views are magnificent, and the wind is legendary.   I can hardly wait to find more magic there!

How the Yamhill Lavender Festival Changed My Life

I started participating in the Lavender Festival Plein Air Art Show in 2008.  I had been plein air painting for several years,and no one but my painting buddies and family ever saw anything I did.  When I read a flyer for the festival plein air paint out and show, I knew it was something I wanted to do.  For a small fee I'd have access to about twenty five lavender farms for the two week period before the art show.  My friend Mary and I dared each other to enter at least one painting into the show.  I had never framed any of my paintings before.  

I furiously painted during the two weeks.  I think I visited about ten farms that first year, and had a terrible time framing the one painting that I entered into the show, but I did it.  It was scary and exciting to put my work out there.  My painting hung for the two day show, and then I brought it home. 

A Wild Debut 20x20 pastel
2008 Yamhill Lavender Festival entry

The following February I got a phone call that my painting from the lavender festival had been chosen for the poster and catalog promoting the festival for 2009.    I didn't even know that was a possibility.  I was so honored.  I had to provide an artist's statement and photo for the catalog, so I learned how to put one of those together.  It took me a whole afternoon of agonizing to put two paragraphs together.    That summer, I felt like a minor celebrity when a lavender farm owner recognized me from the catalog and insisted that she must introduce me to her employees and customers.  She thanked me profusely for coming to her farm to paint and kept my complimentary glass of lemonade full while I was there.  

In 2009, after the two day art show in Yamhill, the remaining unsold artwork was split up between several galleries in McMinnville and Newberg and displayed through August.  This was an amazing opportunity for artists like me who were completely inexperienced and had never dreamed of being in a gallery.  I received an honorable mention that year from the festival, plus sold several paintings at the festival and at the gallery.   I was painting because I loved it, but the recognition and sales made me even more determined to become a better painter, improve my skills, and make marketing my paintings a reality instead of a daydream.

In the years since, I've continued to look forward every year to the Lavender Festival.  I have a special feeling for Wild Rain farm in Yamhill, the site of my first year's painting, and make a point to go back there every year to paint.  I spent four glorious days painting there this year.   I don't know what it is, but there is something that just feels right when I'm there and it makes me so happy to be there and to paint there with Laura and her cats and dogs and lavender and the droning of the bees.  It's like being inside of a wonderful summer poem.

I am so honored to have won this year's first place award for my painting  Wild Dreams, which I painted at Wild Rain Farm as part of this year's festival.  I am especially proud because it was painted with love at a place I hold so dear.  

I was able to go back for one more visit on Monday of this week, and got two paintings in.  The lavender is scheduled to be harvested tomorrow, and the poppies will be tilled under.  I'm already looking forward to next summer.

Wild Dreams   12x12 pastel  sold

Accepted: Art in the Burbs!

I was very excited to receive an acceptance to Art in the Burbs 2012.  Yippee!

The sale takes place Friday October 19- Sunday October 21 2012 at Alberta Rider Elementary School in Tigard.

Click here to visit Art in the Burbs website

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