A year ending with great firsts

This has been quite a year of firsts...after entering a contest in Artist's Magazine, TWO of my encaustic works were selected to be published in an art book entitled Incite 2: The Best of Mixed Media, published by F&W Books, to be sold everywhere and also by North Light Bookshop. The works chosen were some of my favorites, 'Memory Garden' and 'Keeper of Secrets,' and the opportunity to be published has been a very exciting one. From the book opportunity arose another great chance for exposure; a reduced ad rate in SW ART Magazine's December issue, which is normally very expensive; I went ahead and went for it, publishing a full ad with my contact info and 'Keeper of Secrets' as the image run in the ad.

On the mural front, I painted a 15 foot mural entirely on aluminum/polycore panels, which took about three months but came out great. This prevented many trips to Portland (Tigard) and although a little clumsy at times, was a manageable project in my garage.

Last but not least, I checked out the local chapter of SCBWI, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and found the local chapter to be a great resource for breaking into the world of publishing. I met a few writers, as well as Sue Ford, the local chapter head of this society and an internationally published author. I was so excited to meet all these folks, and thought I would positively keel over when Sue said that 'Keeper' could be a cover! With Christmas approaching and lots of time to work on creative projects, I am brainstorming new paintings, and ways to branch out my portfolio to contain children's art/art geared towards children's books. I am also creating a portrait of my daughter with Gingko leaves, there is a whole story behind the Gingko, it's strength and fickleness, and I think it will make a good story. I am so grateful to all of my peers and family, and proud of my friends who have also had a great year of firsts in their art careers.

Ogden Wall results in drama

The Ogden Elementary School Mural was originally intended to be designed featuring local landmarks such as the Burnt Bridge Creek railroad trestle and the Walking Bridge over the creek. Different animals found in the area were also featured. In May and June 2014 I outlined the design on the wall of Davis Landscaping's donated storage building at the intersection of SR500 and Fourth Plain/Andresen Road after priming the surface of the building, which took a few days. I used paint pens to outline where the student helpers would be painting, with the help of student painter Ben Houston. As I had to leave town, I did not get a chance to paint with the students, and the teacher in charge, Carol Patrick, took it upon herself to not only go ahead and paint over some of my design, (there was a little girl waving from the railroad trestle side of the image on right; which the teacher felt was promoting unsafe behavior) but to entirely finish the project without giving me or anyone involved credit; even further aggrandizing her ego by calling the local news while I was out of town and broadcasting what a generous act they had participated in. Never in all of my years as an artist have I been treated so shabbily and with such disrespect; I truly feel sorry for her students who look up this backstabbing egomaniac. The finished product was not what would have resulted had I been involved, but I still feel it should be posted as I put a lot of work into designing if not painting it, and it has indeed worked in its original intent to deter graffiti artists from the area. Thank you to Davis Landscaping for your support!

Anyways, on to bigger better things!

Progress and new lines!

The last few weeks have been revealing the design and elements behind this project, and with assistant Ben H. lending a hand, we are not going full steam ahead on this project. Next will be to paint the highest regions that are extremely difficult and dangerous for students to reach, and to get the mural ready to paint for the Ogden students. The Montana paint markers I utilized for the outlining are working GREAT, and Rodda paint has been terrific, donating paint and even delivering it to our mural site! Thanks guys!!

Progress continues

Here's a shot of the outlining that my great assistant and I managed to do in 5 or so hours...amazing what a little help can do! So grateful for this experience...

The writing's on the wall....

After two goes at designing the Ogden Project mural, we have a winner: a 100-foot panorama featuring two architectural elements: The 87th St walking bridge and a boy fishing off of the bridge at left, the Burnt Bridge Creek trestle at right, and in between a running stream, with trees, mountains, and wildlife such as an eagle soaring overhead, mallards flapping down below, raccoons and otters mid meal, salmon jumping from the stream, coyotes, and a big Great Blue Heron to boot. This ambitious, realism-based design was chosen by the fifth grade class at Ogden, and now the process of getting it on the wall begins!How appropriate is it that the eagle appears to be soaring over the chainlink fence? Hoping these flimsy signs will soften the hearts of would be taggers who keep muddling my primer!C'mon guys, do it (or don't do it) for the kids!

Graffiti School...Can Control, Icons in the Street and other stuff

Today I want to start posting some of my art inspirations, and as I am studying mural techniques and the history of graffiti, I would like to start with innovator/street artist Krink. Some of his work with drips and how we he made his beginnings in San Francisco, New York and the Hawaii gallery scene can be see here...

Also, I have found many tips and tricks for CAN CONTROL, and am sending myself back to aerosol school. Paint reviews for Liquitex pro spraypaint and the awesome line of Montana products soon to come. Here is a cool Liquitex paint marker video...

Ogden School Mural Project...Fresh Paint for Vancouver 'Hood

Well, this awesome little project fell into my lap, thanks to the nice folks at The Clark County Mural Society. An amazingly energetic teacher and her fifth grade class have been studying the effect of publicly made mural art as a graffiti deterrent. Studies in other cities such as Washington D.C., Inner city Los Angeles and metro areas in Canada have shown the effect of large scale public art to be a positive one, positively impacting communities that are hard struck by poverty, reduced property values, and unemployment. These are shots of the proposed paint site; the building is approximately 10' x 100' and all patchwork with paint to cover 'tags'. A local family owned business owns the building, and graciously donated it to the mural's creation, which is highly visible on a busy freeway in Vancouver.

This is the beginning, I got an order in for a paint donation from Sherwin Williams and I do believe the design process is underway. The theme for the mural is awaiting input from the school's students, who have done various projects in their studies pertaining to local water quality of Burnt Bridge Creek, studies of green/ecologically sound ways to have an outdoor classroom and recycling methods and improvements to name a few. These kids are going to make a fantastic impact, and feel their hand at work at beautifying their environment, which is what it's all about. More soon! Here's the next stage that I did today, almost completely rolled out with primer. I have a bit more to cake on, and would love to start with a nice smooth thick coat. The sun was shining and it was PERFECT painting weather!

Don't let the sun-blindness induced smirk fool you; I couldn't be more excited about this project!