A visit to the country...

and to see my friend/artist Ruth Armitage.

The day couldn't have been nicer for this drive...the air was fresh and the sky was shockingly blue.

Visiting Ruth in her studio and seeing her recent work.

Below are a few new works by Ruth...rich abstracts.

I love Ruth's studio set up where she does some teaching.

Her tools of the trade...paints, brushes and some assemblage materials.

We then headed outside after a tasty lunch...off to see the barn animals.

chickens...goats...sheep...oh my.

Of course I LOVED seeing Lola...she was our guide.

Thanks Ruth for a wonderful afternoon visiting your studio and beautiful home.

Our fabulous trip to Salvation Mountain

No...this wasn't a religious trip for us, we wanted to see this amazing mountain.

We also wanted to visit our son who is setting up an infrastructure to keep this location as a destination for those interested in true folk art at its best.


We were able to see Leonard Knights 28 years of work and his creation of this environment; inside, outside, on all the trucks and cars, no surface was untouched...a must see for all artists!

I will be posting photos soon!

Chris Bibby

We recently took a drive to Portland to visit artist Chris Bibby.

We loved seeing his set up which is in his garage but set back from his house with this planted bamboo to shield him from the street.

He hangs finished and unfinished work on the walls.

He first creates these small works to get an idea of color and composition.

more small works plus my feet!

Tools of his trade...many paint brushes!

and paints.

and of course nourishment.  

Thanks Chris for letting us into your studio!  

It's an artful neighborhood

that I live in and here's proof.  

A greenhouse made from recycled windows.

A close up view...

an amazing garden.

with beautiful color out front.

Mini road trip to Portland

Our trip to Portland was aimed at visiting a couple of our favorite artists...Marcy Baker and Anna Magruder.

Marcy's studio is tucked in the basement of her beautiful Sellwood home.  Here she explains her layering techniques...lovely work.

Sources of inspiration

Beautiful work.

Tools of her trade.

Thanks Marcy for allowing me to visit (Meg too although she slept in the car the whole time).

Anna Magruder's new studio space is in the upstairs of a house where Linus Pauling (click here) lived...pretty cool space!

Busy working on commissions, Anna shows us the latest.  So much to see!

Anna explains her recent commission...layering the concepts together.  What an amazing job of listening to the clients, their likes and ideas coming together into a fabulous painting.  This one is still in progress but well underway of being spectacular!

I love looking at collections in these studios...little bits and pieces of inspiration.

Anna takes an old photograph of the parents when they were young and first married.  Love this.

Beginning with an old photo and arranging the subjects..changing the tree location, adding color and removing shadows.  

Meg enjoyed our visit.

Thanks Anna...I can't wait to see the finished pieces!