Seattle Under Attack! The Monster of South Lake Union

A couple of weeks ago, I went down to Gasworks Park and painted the view of downtown from there:

It was a very peaceful, beautiful day. Until that pesky sea monster decided to come out again!

While this is actually a freshwater lake, I happen to know that this is a very smart sea monster. It came in through the Ballard Locks.



Acrylic on Canvas
22" x 28"
$450

Fremont Solstice Parade

On June 22, 2013 several friends gathered to paint ourselves and ride bikes through Fremont, as is tradition for the start of the Fremont Solstice Parade. My friend Alex Garland was there and took tons of great photos, though we missed each other in the swarms of people. 

While there was an "official" painting party in Fremont before the start of the race, we hosted a smaller event at my house where my friends and I could paint each other in a smaller, quieter setting while we soothed our anxious our nerves. 

The paintings turned out great! There are some incredibly creative people here in Seattle. In our group alone, we had several themes: me, as my art; a shark; Rosie the Riveter; and a peacock:

I went as my own art. I covered myself in blue paint, and then I asked my friends to paint me as their interpretations of my art. This is the result: 

One of my friends asked me to paint him as the earth and sky with a big sun across the shoulder:

Inspired by my Jellyfish painting, one of my friends added a great jellyfish to my leg: 

One of the highlights of the day for me was meeting the artist Henry. I love this man's work, and it was really inspiring to meet him.

Dinos de los Muertos

A couple of weeks ago, I bought some paper mache dinosaurs at a local artist supply shop and started painting them. I am calling the series "Dinos de los Muertos". These are the first dinos I have done, and I am pretty satisfied with the effect. I want to make enough of these to be able to sell them at the next Punk Rock Flea Market in December. 

Now Showing at Makeda Coffee!

I just installed my paintings at Makeda Coffee in Greenwood the other day. What a warm, inviting space! I love the layout, and the overall vibe is just wonderful. I hope you all can come in and check it out, it will be up for the next month.

Also, I will be at the coffee shop for the next Greenwood Art Walk on Friday, June 14th. There will be beer and wine available, and tons of art! Come stop by, say hello, and check out the great local art and shops in the area!

Snail and Grasshopper

I just finished this painting last week... I feel like this photo does not do it justice, but it gives the idea. I found this photograph in a National Geographic Magazine from 2007 and could not resist painting it. I love how both creatures are just chilling out, like they're having a deep conversation on the leaves.

More than one person has said that this piece reminds them of an illustration from a children's book, which I think is really cool.


9" x 12"
acrylic on canvas

Early art from 1996

I took my first drawing classes at Grossmont Community College in Spring 1996. I have always drawn and painted, but I started to feel like I wanted to learn more about perspective and channeling creativity in a more advanced way than just doing it on my own. Doing art on your own is wonderful, and a vital way to explore your inner workings, but sometimes being challenged by someone A.) who exists outside our realm of previous existence and B.) is experienced / accomplished in the field that you want to study, is a powerful way learn and grow as an artist / human. Also, sometimes being challenged to explore life outside of your own comfort zone is the best way to grow as a human. I knew that my personal experiences fresh out of high school were incredibly limited by the culture and environment in which I grew up, and I needed to expand outside of that.  Taking art classes was one way of challenging myself to expand and push my own experiences. 

In 1996, I was fresh out of high school and eager to soak up as much knowledge about the world as I could. That, and I wanted to balance out my class load of general education courses with something fun and creative. So I decided to take a drawing class to learn more about perspective and improve my basic drawing skills. 

So, fast-forward to the present. I had left all of my art at my dad's house. He recently did a huge purge and got rid of many, many of our old items at the house. My brother had the foresight to save my art folder and brought it to his house for me. These are a few of the pieces he saved for me. 

Leaves

pen and ink on paper

24" x 20"

 Untitled

chalk and charcoal on paper

20" x 24" 

Skeleton

pen and ink on paper

24" x 20"

Phinney Art Walk -- The Big One!

Image via
 

Next weekend -- May 10 and 11, 2013 will be The Big One! Art Walk in Greenwood! What is The Big One? According to the ArtUp PhinneyWood website:

“The Big One” is big because of the history behind it, the fact that it spans 2-days, and it simply has the largest number of participants with 80 venues spanning from 87th & Greenwood Ave to 59th & Phinney Ave N.

 

The full list of participating artists and venues is available here. I'm #45 on the list, at A la Mode Pies. It's a super cute little pie shop, and I bought myself a piece of the most amazing pie when I stopped by last week. I'm really excited about being involved in this Art Walk, and super excited about PIE!

The event will be held on Friday, May 10th, from 6 - 9 pm, and Saturday, May 11th, from 12 - 5 pm. I should be there most of the time, but I might step out to check out some of the other artists on Saturday afternoon. I'll be nearby though! Hope to see you there!