'Van Dyke Brown' and Portland

I just got back from an art trip to Portland! As per usual, I gave myself a limited amount of supplies to create with. I find that working within boundaries teaches me to use materials I normally wouldn't touch. I picked up a handful of crayons, a black marker and a used notebook at a scavenger store. 

Portland feels brown to me. Not a 'blah' brown but an earthy, warm, inviting brown. Freight trains, brick and campfires. 

No, I didn't see Pussy Riot, it was a figurine in my favorite art show...

Side project

I'm taking a printmaking course right now. New love? I think so! 

Little Bird, lino-cut print on paper, 2014

House Boat

House Boat, Collage on board, 6''x8'', 2014

"The River, she has a mind of her own...",  I heard this a lot when I was visiting my hometown over Christmas.

"Five homes along the river, three or four of them vacation cabins, had been sucked into the river before noon, and many people were waiting to see if a sixth house threatened by the flood also would be lost."
Index Watched, River Took Homes. Everett Herald: Friday, Dec. 26, 1980.

How to survive a flood

The logical next step in my 'flood narrative'...

Maquette of a flotation device made from available resources (near Sultan, WA), 

shotgun shells, string, paper target, dowels, glue, found bird, 2014

I miss the stars

A commission for a dear friend. I finished this a month ago, a lot of loving care went into this piece. The patterns are photocopies of fabric that my Great Grandma used for quilting.

Covering, collage and acrylic on panel, 48'' x 36'', 2013

Dearly Departed

Ascension, collage on paper, 5''x8'', 2013

Higher Thoughts, collage on paper, 5''x8'', 2013

Flood Narrative

The end of November found me opening my studio to the public for the annual event, 'The Eastside Culture Crawl'. I had 500 guests over the weekend! Below are some photos of the show I have been working on for the past year. Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present.... Rivers & Streams. 

Rivers & Streams explores the ambiguous threshold between perception and reality. The pieces are rooted in the artist’s origins, her hometown, family and experiences. The narrative fluidly departs from fact into myth when familiar forms are used in unfamiliar arrangements; mirroring the fragmented yet resilient nature of memory.

The materials worked into the pieces are the remnants of a collective past; objects that have previous histories such as archived photographs, handkerchiefs and scraps of fabric. By compiling and redefining layers of physical history, the works provoke sensory and nostalgic reactions that are shrouded with mystery. 

Floating Mountains

A commission I finished in late October. 

Trust Me

Collage, india ink, graphite, acrylic paint on mylar

18'' x 24''

2013 

Invincible

                                                   

                                             We Thought We Were Invincible

                                             Acrylic, graphite and collage on mylar

                                             48''x36''

                                             2013

Oh Honey

The Peculiar, Quiet Melancholy of Boyhood

plastic figurines, wood glue, canning jars, honey, doilies

2013 

‘Now I experience the same thing again: it is as if vitality had been slowed down, as if it were preparing for a big change.’

Honey is an important substance that includes all the parts necessary to sustain life. It can be used to preserve, and can cleanse and dress wounds, among many other things. Some memories fade into the distance, and others are preserved; seemingly sweetened with time.