Plein Air Painting by bike

 My husband and I were visiting Hood River several years ago and we stopped off in The Dalles, a town nearby.  As we wandered the downtown area we saw a shop that was an unusual hybrid of an art store and a resale shop.

As we poked around I stumbled across a Gurrilla Pochade box for $20 and everything was 25% off, making it $15.  I had long admired the clever design and quality of the Gurrilla boxes, but was unwilling to pay the hefty $300 asking price.  I couldn’t pass it up and was quickly the proud owner of this beauty.

Fast forward a few years, and while I’d used the box on a table on numerous ocassions I felt I really needed the tripod to give me more flexibility with my location.  I tried a thrift store tripod that was very unstable with the heavy box, and when the tripod finally broke completely I was relived to throw it in the garbage.  My husband wanted to buy me a genuine Gurrilla tripod, but the the cost of $260 was again more than I wanted to spend.  I told him that I would reach out to the members of PAPI my local Plein Air painters group to see if anyone had one.  Again, fate was on my side when a member, Salt, reached out and said she had two and would be willing to sell me one for less than half price.  Her husband delivered the tripod, explained its features, and made sure it fit my box.  They even included a nice padded case.

The last hurdle I faced was how was I going to carry this contraption on my bike, which I often ride to go paint.  We tried the box on the rear rack, but it didn’t feel safe.  I tried several of my husband's old climbing packs, but none of them held it properly.  We were out in Meridian and decided to stop by Sierra Trading Post, an outdoor discount store where we found a pack that fit it perfectly for $15 on clearance.  I strapped the rack and a stool to the rear rack with ski straps, put my new pack on my back, and rode comfortably to Hyde Park today for an afternoon of painting.

I guess the moral of the story is patience.  I could have ordered the whole lot years ago and been done with it, but I enjoy the hunt, and have a theme of reusing materials in my art, which includes my art supplies.  With a bit of patience, I was able to cobble together the whole setup for a fraction of what it would have cost new, and I had the satisfaction of knowing that I was sticking to my goal of reuse and recycle, even when it takes a few years.

Artist in Residence

 This past summer I was chosen as one of 3 artists for an artist in residence program at Tallac Historic Site. I worked out of a 100 year old artist cabin on the shore of South Lake Tahoe for two whole months. I had lots of inspiration for plein air painting and photography. It was fun interacting with the many visitors from all over the world as well as dressing up for the 1920's special events like the Gatsby and The Speakeasy. I hope to be back again in 2024! 

Arizona Painting

 

I like to say we are mud season visitors and not Winter Visitors to Arizona as we generally go down Nov. - Dec and then come back north to ski and fat bike when the real snowbirds head south. We camp in our small RV which is a Jayco Hummingbird, and mountain bike and hike and I try to paint everyday. Here are a few of my paintings done at camp. Some are oil and some are acrylic. 

June 2022 Showings

 

June

Starting with Art and Roses in Boise on June 5th. (my first time juried into this one!)

I will then be hanging a one-person show at the Garden City Public Library June 7th and it will be up until July 19th. 

June 9th I will be the guest artist for one night at the Greenbelt Market  from 6-8 in the heart of the Surel Mitchell Live Work area of Garden City on the Greenbelt. Hope to see you!!

Oil and cold wax

I took an oil and cold wax workshop with Stacy Phillips back in September and started quite a few works on paper and board. I’m loving this new to me medium  I’ve sold one, have more in the works and will be showing them all together at Art And Roses in Boise ID June 5, 2022

 

Ice Dying

It's been almost a year since my last post and things are starting to get back to "normal."  I rather embraced staying home and looking after my health and creating in my studio without outside obligations. But also fun to get back out and this summer things kicked off with an in person art retreat ice dying fabric. Thanks so much to our host, Marianne!

The crews all here! Let the fun begin!

Working with caustic materials and powdered dyes 

pour ice on top of the fabric in a pan or rack for the melted ice to drip through, then sprinkle the powdered dye on top

then let all the ice melt and work it's magic

checking if it's ready

aft3er 24 hours they are ready to wash

Success, out of the washer and ready to wear!

Boise Weekly Cover Art

Artist Statement: Thank goodness for simple pleasures.

One of my found object pieces was chosen for the week of July 4th cover. Originally it was submitted for a bike scavenger hunt the paper was sponsoring but the event was cancelled as mostly everything has been this spring/summer. The title is "Ride On" and is comprised of a wood panel painted red, a piece of corrugated tin with a wooden shape of the US that I decorated with tape and paint, brads and a paper cut out of of Idaho. Surrounding the shape is a bike chain ring with silver beads. I've had 2 people contact me since the cover to offer to donate odds and ends to me. Thank you.

The longest one month show ever

These are just a few of the mixed media pieces that were accepted into a one month show at St. Al's for the Month of March 2020. Then Covid 19 hit. Needless to say they don't want me in the hospital and I don't want to go in if I don't have to so... the show must go on....