The 'Mini Me' project is coming along quite well! My goal is to have 50 available in time for the Gorge Artist Open Studio Tour this coming April. (http://www.gorgeartists.org/home) I'm well on my way there too! So far I have 19 Minis Finished and ready for sale with 8 others in the works that should be done soon! Check out what I have so far: 

for more 'Mini Me' photos check out the album at www.facebook.com/NWbySE

I've also been working steadily on a piece for the Preview Show for GAOS that will be at The Dalles Art Center for the month of March. Its been a bit slow going for the last week and a half. I pinched my sciatic nerve and couldn't walk for a few days and then just as I was getting better Dixie-Mae got sick! We are both doing better now and back hard at work :) I wasn't planning on sharing photos of 'Flight II' before it goes up at The Dalles Art Center but I just can't help myself! Here's a peek:

 

'Flight II' is an evolved version of a piece I did in 2012 that I really enjoyed making, that also started my use of line and geometric shape with raptors. Since then I've began to use a lot more curvilinear lines in my compositions and I was curious to see these subtle differences side by side in essentially the same composition. It feels really good to go back to my roots

.

   I finished the under painting (shown above) last night and I'm hoping to have all the shapes painting in by the end of the day today. My goal is to have it ready to drop off by Saturday February 22, just a few days from now! Maybe I won't be able to contain the enthusiasm for 'Flight II' and post a preview here... we'll just have to wait and see!

 As always, checkout my Facebook page for more regular updates. 

www.facebook.com/NWbySE

www.nwbysefineart.com

For infomation about purchasing works or to inquire about an appointment,

 please contact me at:

nwbysefineart@gmail.com

Over the past week I've been trying to get my projects in order. For March I'm working on a submission for the Woodburn Art Center themed 'Tulips and other Bulbs' right now I'm still working on sketches for it. Also, my sister is finally having me make some art for her home! Yay! Sketching that one out too. In the meantime I have to keep my hands busy and so I'm making Minis! These are 5x5" pieces on wood that allow me to experiment with background colors and pairing them with a complementary varnish color. To start off I made some Mini Dog Walkers in black and white.

 Above is a shot of my workbench- complete with ear protection and coffee!

To the left are the Mini Dog Walkers before painting and varnishing. I think that I'll do a few of these mini pieces with plain wood grain and colored varnish too, just to change things up a bit. I'm sanding down some Accidental Paintings later today that are also mini sized. Super excited about those since only folks that have been to my studio have seen them thus far! Treats!
Below are the first minis! Hope you enjoy!

 As always, checkout my Facebook page for more regular updates. 

www.facebook.com/NWbySE

www.nwbysefineart.com

For infomation about purchasing works or to inquire about an appointment,

 please contact me at:

nwbysefineart@gmail.com

Things are finally calming down around here! The past three months have been super exciting and full of new (and old) projects! November was excellent! I had work up at North Shore Cafe in White Salmon and had a hugely successful raffle and even a few sales!  Unfortunately, my camera was broken at that time so I was unable to get any pictures. In early December I was fortunate enough to assist in some small ways with the relocation of Solstice Woodfire Pizza. 

Below is the sign for the hostess stand I did for them:

This is a shot of how it looked prior to painting in the black area. This was all done with a router and then painted in! No wood burning involved at all. 

In addition to making the sign for the hostess stand I was also asked to put some work up in Solstice for their first quarter- so my work will be up there through mid-February! I've really enjoyed getting to know the folks that own and work as Solstice. Its been a great experience all around. 

I also finished up a piece I had been working on for some time in order to have it at Solstice too. This is a shot after I finished painting it but before it was varnished. 

 The final piece just sings to my soul. There was nothing else to call it but 'Jubilation' of everything I have done recently I really think that I like this to most. What a great feeling at the end of the day. When I make good work it reminds me of why I make art. Not every piece can bee as deeply satisfying. I am continually thankful for all the support of my friends and family.

Since working with North Shore and Solstice I have finally finished up work on the large commission I began work on this pas August. I'm dedicating my next blog entry to chronicling that piece. So there's more to come!  Check back next week. Cheers!

*For more information about Solstice please visit them at (http://solsticewoodfirecafe.com/ and at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Solstice-Wood-Fire-Cafe-Bar/100597711940?ref=mf).
Also, please support my friends at North Shore Cafe (http://northshorecafe.weebly.com/ and at https://www.facebook.com/pages/North-Shore-Cafe/344663625574736)

Howdy! Its time for another 'Whats up Wednesday!' Yay! Sorry I've missed some posts but I've been super busy with life etc. So I'll just give you the eye candy!

Concept drawing and primed panel for another piece in my flora/fauna series- this time with elements from my abstract/gestural work. :)

 This is the first layer of yellow washes that will give the work depth.

Studio shot! There sure is a lot going on right now!

 This shot shows some magnets I'm working on for the holidays (the small squares) I'm using them for testing different ideas and color combos on a smaller scale. Sometimes the tests are really cool! I'll share them as they progress.

 Finally! I finished all the color testing for the big panel piece I'm working on. I also got the wood for it and began the carving process! Yay! I'll have more to show of that next week (I hope!)

Here I am painting in some final spots on the rays in the lower portion of the panel before varnishing.

The lower part of the panel. I really like the colors combo on the far left at the very bottom. Which one do you like the most?

While varnish testing I also had enough of one of the colors left over to finish up the vertical pink/green one. It looks even better in person. I wasn't sure about it at first but it quickly becoming one of my favorites.

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to look at my work. For daily updates visit me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NWbySE. Also checkout my online gallery through the Northwest by Southeast Fine Art website at www.nwbysefineart.com

Cheers!

Its Wednesday again! Today I am thankful for so many things. At the top of my mind is how thankful I am for The Smartest Artist Blog and what I think of as 'Whats Up Wednesdays.' This past week I've been cracking away at a project- it doesn't look like much yet, (but frequently things don't in the beginning and when they 8do sometimes they don't live up to the hype in my head.) The project is a comission for a local client here in White Salmon, Washington. His home features a lot of olive greens and maroons. I'm currently working on a model of he piece that what finished will measure 24" by 96".

I've been updating my facbook page (www.facebook.com/NWbySE) with photos of this project from the beginning- if you haven't been following along heres a quick recap:

This is the drawing I'm working from. 

 

Color testing to find the perfect maroon. 

My work station for the project in my studio. 

The model is 1/2 scale and is to color test varnishes and color schemes.

I just finished drawing in the lines for my geometric shapes and have started painting them white before painting the shapes in. This will allow me to fine tune the color pallet I'll be working with on the larger piece. It would be awful to get the full scale work done and fine that the under painting doesn't jive with the varnish. My goal is that by next week I'll have the full scale piece assembled and ready to paint! Which shouldn't be too hard since I'll have some extra hands in the studio, my fantastic mother is coming to visit! I'll be sure to feature her in my post next week. Until then- happy painting! 

Once again it is Wednesday and I am stoked to update what I've been doing this week! I've had quite the week outside of art! Somehow amidst moving into a new apartment, taking my dog to the vet, and finally going kayaking again I got some work done in the studio!

I know its super faint but there's a bird in there, I promise! I got this one mounted and primed. I also got a bunch of work done on the Mt. Baker model. My biggest accomplishment this week was applying for the Gorge Artists Open Studio Tour! http://gorgeartists.org./ Finding the time to edit my images and get everything together while in the process of moving was quite the feat!  I also got my website up with its own domain name, I am now on the interwebs as http://nwbysefineart.com! Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers!

Howdy! Its Wednesday, and in the spirit of my friends over at The Smartest Artist (http://thesmartestartist.blogspot.com) I'm going to start participating in the Artist Studio Day every week! (Okay, we'll see about EVERY week.)

This week I've been working on wrapping up some projects and starting some new ones. This morning I finished routing out three pieces and after lunch I'm going to mount and prime them! Yay! Here's a shot of the carnage so far:

Earlier in the week I finished up a green mandala type piece:

I on Monday I played around with some oil transfer drawing- just to spice things up a bit! 

Thanks for stopping by and remember to check out my facebook page for more (daily?) updates!