Metamorposis 6

The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) recently held it's annual fundraiser which was an elegant and fantastically successful event. My acrylic painting above, from my new "Metamorphosis" series, was among the art sold in the art auction.

All of the invited artists created work that was 12 x 12 inches and signed their name on the back so that the patrons would purchase art without knowing who the artist was--meaning that they would be guided by their aesthetic reaction to the art rather than look for a famous name. Since this painting was from my new series that hasn't had much public exposure it was exciting for me--and I was pleasantly surprised by who ultimately purchase it.
"Metamorphosis 6", acrylic on board, 12 x 12 inches

The Holidays are Blossoming

The holidays are in full bloom at TriFecTa, a wonderful shop where they create beautiful floral arrangements and have lots of unique and stylish gifts. Above is the illustration I created for their annual Holiday Open House starting with festivities tonight and throughout the weekend. They wanted to feature their cozy space and their charming "shop dog" Sam and I was happy to oblige. Let the Holiday Season begin!

Enjoy an Artful Meal at Caffe Niche

Hungry for an aesthetic experience...or just plain old hungry? Treat yourself to a delicious meal at Caffe Niche surrounded by my art throughout the month of June!

The paintings on display are works from three recent and ongoing series. The gouache pieces are based on my interest in allegory, symbolic representations of nature, women, and colorful themes. The watercolor and oil paintings are expressions of my love affair with pottery vases and the exuberant feelings I get from flowers. The acrylic on plywood paintings allow me to paint intuitively and spontaneously brushing and scraping paint, leaving the grain of the wood revealed to express a raw emotional quality in contrast to the calm and peaceful figures. At the heart of my art—besides my love for lyrical line—is a pursuit of harmony in color interaction and balance of shape and form. I hope my art offers you feelings of serenity, contentment, and a sense of discovery.

June Art Display

Sixteen pieces of my art will be hanging at a local restaurant for the month of June. I overcame some pre-show angst by pulling out the artwork and leaning it around the floor of my studio so I could see it all together. Some new pieces and some from past series all looked nice together and it was good to see a body of work sitting there. Usually I work on one or two paintings at a time or I'll refine my sketches during a period of days, doing all the drawing and compositions when that is flowing. Then the color work is painted one or two pieces at a time. When a painting is finished I may live with it for a bit, move on to the next piece, or put it safely away in the flat file drawer until I have a batch of art to be photographed. I always have pieces hanging in my studio but it still feels good to see a big group of paintings ready to go on display and share with the public. I'm excited!

Violin as Visual Art

Isn't it great when you get to benefit something you love by doing something you love? Classical music inspires me and I love violins — the way they sound and their sculptural form (you may have noticed that they frequently show up in my artwork). So when I was one of 24 artists invited to paint a violin to be auctioned to raise money for the Utah Symphony I said “Yes!” They gave me a violin that was no longer good for making music. I sanded it, painted it white with gesso and began my creative brainstorming. I wanted to create something colorful, cheerful, and harmonious with the shape of the violin.

My idea came to me out of the studio so I sketched it on the back of an envelope, then at the studio I refined my sketch and made some color studies. I did the drawing actual size and transfered it onto the violin.

It was a little challenging painting on an object that has no flat surfaces.
I covered the instrument with birds, flowers, vine leaves and even insects on the sides, so I decided to call my violin “Summertime".

The violins were on display in various galleries and at Abravanel Hall before each symphony concert starting in December and ending at the Utah Symphony Guild’s fundraising auction event called “Heart Strings” that culminated on Valentine’s Day. All of the proceeds from the auction benefit the Utah Symphony and its outreach programs. I heard the event was a big success and raised lots of money...that's music to my ears.

Beautiful Blend in Animation

I recently saw an inspiring and beautiful performance by the award-winning animator Miwa Matreyek at the Salt Lake Art Center’s “New Frontier” exhibition in conjunction with the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Miwa performs behind a large screen where her own shadow silhouette beautifully combines and interacts live with the projected animation of her wonderfully illustrated environment. You can see excerpts from the performance “Myth and Infrastructure” on vimeo and learn more about this fascinating artist on her website. I particularly loved the part where she becomes an island with fish swimming around her, and a camp is set up on her back, and birds swoop down to capture fish out of the sea. I found it enchanting and wanted to share it here with you.

“New Frontier” is an intriguing exhibition that runs until March 25 highlighting multimedia work that pushes the boundaries of storytelling and the moving image where film, art and new technologies converge.

A Healthy Contribution

My gouache painting “Blue Birds” above will be featured in a fund-raising auction tomorrow night benefiting the children of Nepal in support of the non-profit Nepal Cleft & Burn Center. The theme of this painting is one I continue to explore, with the flying birds expressing liberation, freedom and a letting go of something inside, intertwined with the figure of a woman. This medical center is part of a larger health care complex in Kathmandu and was organized by a group of U.S.-based Tibetan rug importers, including the Tibet Rug Company for whom I created several rug designs in the past. It is a pleasure to be a part of this event for such a worthy cause. It is being held in a beautiful rug gallery, Foothill Oriental Rugs in Salt Lake City, and I am especially excited to hear the live sitar music.