Art Cruiser It's always fun walking or riding a bike on the same street you drive over each day...you see things a bit differently. We find the time to look up and down and see things up close and personal! We can discover architecture, beautiful gardens, chalk drawings on a sidewalk or a mosaic wall, all the same things that whiz by us when driving in a car. Try it...and enjoy the last days of summer.   Fall Nesting At our home, Fall brings us inside with restful times by the fireplace.  I also find myself rearranging the art andrediscovering the stories of each piece. Could this be Art nesting? I find myself recalling little bits about the art and I savorthe depth of knowing "the story or history". This makeseach piece special and I never grow tired of this yearlyprocess.  It's like being reacquainted with old friends. Do you know your art? or it's "Art History"? Being in my business, it's important for me to know aboutmy artists and their processes.     When visiting artists or going to gallery shows, I find myself looking at a piece of art and knowing that I can't walk awaywithout wanting to know more. I love the "arts history".    For me, it's important to know the who, what, when, where and why of each piece of art. Knowing this gives a much deepermeaning to all the pieces that hang on my walls...it's not just apainting with layers of color, it contains layers of content. Take a peek at my walls The art that hangs at my home has an "art history" that means so much more than "matching the decor". Knowing about the artist and their process engages me to fall in love with each piece again and again. This is a door from our Door Show by Jed Thomas. I'm greeted each day by this larger than life artwork when walking into my kitchen.  I can remember the first time I saw it. A special painting by Anna McGruder, a meaningful interpretation from a black and white photo of my mother and sister. I can't get enough of the talented Bill Skrips and his unique wooden sculptures, they hang in multiple locations throughout house. I met Bill while visiting in Philadelphia and to this day consider him a dear friend.   One of my favorite ceramic sculptures is by Marlene Miller. I was told that this piece resembled Marlene's aunt who slaughtered chickens. This piece is always a conversation starter.    Emily Stuart's found object sculpture adds color and texture to our wall. The red foundry piece was given to Emily as her starting point when making this piece that was in our "Industrial Objects" show.    One of our first art purchases was this piece by Claudia Cave. I still love it to this day and have remained good friends with this talented lady.   On our table and on our walls are the cheerful ceramic artworks by Kim Murton.  The first time she brought artwork to the gallery, her son cried and didn't want her to leave them with me.  He's now in high school. Time passes.      Studio Time Kri Kri Studio (Kristin Nelson) Visiting a potter's studio always makes my heart race a few beats faster than usual.  I can smell the clay and the dampness of the unfinished pots on the shelves, I find myself coveting the colorful glazes and then picking up each pot for examination. I'm in a time warp.   I remember my studio days.   I peek into the kilns and pick up each piece to look at the construction...are the walls even, would this be a good drinking cup? Thirty years of living and breathing in my ceramic studio and being away from clay for 10 more years, walking into Kristin's studio flooded my memory. It felt like it was just yesterday.  Thank you Kristin. Kristin's studio is situated in an old house in Seattle. The studio was perfect.  Tables full of ware Stacked shevles Colorful glazes Loaded kilns Wide open space for working Little details that make this home a working studio. Meet Katherine Mead a seamless walk from her home to her studio. With her roots in an architectural background, Katherine works with graphic blocks of color, collages and layers of mostly found paper and materials. She is recycling in it's highest form. Katherine's mid-century home simplistic and well thought out Katherine's artwork The studio window for staging artwork Katherine's studio Materials are well organized From the outside looking in Click on our website to see wonderful art, we will  be more than happy to show off these talented people.     I'm looking forward to seeing you soon. xox

PDX and stuff to do

Tonight was the True Private Wealth Advisors Portland office Open House and I must say..artwork transforms a space.  (We all know that!)
It started with my taking photos of the location (see last blog post), to dropping images into photoshop.   Then finally hanging the actual artwork on the blank walls...it felt good seeing it all come together.

Sue-Del McCulloch's painting was the shining star...everyone loved it.

ok, ok...the view was pretty spectacular too!

After the open house, I walked around seeing the many art happenings throughout NW Portland...

From tall buildings to lettering in a window and signage...it was a visual walk for me.

I spent time stopping into galleries to see the people I admire. 

Matthew Dennison at the Froelick Gallery.

Annie Meyers Gallery opening...

Waterstone Gallery and Scott Johnson (don't miss this show!)  

You never know who or what you might see in PDX!  

Interesting sights!

My last stop was in the Pearl...Stephanie Brockway was showing her wooden wares...fun work and a perfect night to walk around.