Corn & Tomatoes

The summer harvest of corn and tomatoes has arrived! This image was inspired by the sweet corn grown by local farmers and the vine-ripe tomatoes that are at their best during this season. It's Tuesday and I love getting my weekly email recipe from master cook and recipe guru Tori Ritchie. Here is a link to her website for a delicious recipe, "Smoky Corn-Tomato Relish" that makes great use of August's bounty. And, you can also sign up for her Tuesday Recipe emails. Thanks for sharing Tori!

This image is available as a limited edition fine art print. Please contact me if you'd like one.

In The News

My art was recently featured on the cover of the Art section of a local newspaper. What a pleasant surprise! The gouache painting shown was a portrait commission I did for the Salt Lake Art Center's exhibition "Not Just Another Pretty Face". The patron was inspired by one of my paintings of natural elements so the portrait portrays the elements of fire and air which are based on the couple's individual astrological signs. The Salt Lake Art Center invited artists to participate in the commission process by holding art salons last winter where artists and potential patrons of contemporary art could meet. I thoroughly enjoyed creating the gouache painting "Fire & Air" for my patron and look forward to accepting other commissions. Please contact me if you'd like to commission a painting. The exhibit has been on display since June 5 and will be ending this weekend on July 24, 2010.

Spring Awakening

And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.
~ Percy Bysshe Shelley, "The Sensitive Plant"

The crocus have blossomed, the daffodils are in bud, tulips are blooming and it is a blustery grey day. Today it feels right for a lyrical quote by an English Romantic poet to accompany my painting "Faith", acrylic on plywood.

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.

Feeling Buzzed

Spring has arrived and I was excited to see a few honey bees buzzing around the crocus blooms in our front yard. I use honey every day and truly appreciate the people who keep our honey bees healthy and safe. This image was originally inspired by a sketch I did after a visit to our local Farmers Market. I find it amazing that a small creature like the honey bee has such power in nature. Almost everything that grows needs pollination and thanks to the honey bee we not only can sweeten our tea but eat a crisp apple in the shade of a tree. Do you want to help save the honey bees and beekeepers in the U.S.? In the U.K. you can help save the honey bees by adopting a hive. Why doesn't somebody do that here?

Showing My Feminine Side

I was recently interviewed about my thoughts on being a "woman artist". It was interesting to think about and consider the questions put forth by Jay Heuman the Curator of Education at the Salt Lake Art Center. Since this month is the 30th anniversary of National Women’s History Month, it is the perfect opportunity to contemplate the contribution of woman artists throughout time. A random few of my favorites are Georgia O'Keeffe, Tamara de Lempicka, Sonia Delaunay, Vanessa Bell, illustrators Jody Hewgill, and Anita Kunz, and book artist Julie Chen. You can read the article in the Artists of Utah ezine "15 Bytes".
Above is my gouache painting "Lute" 30 x 22 1/2 inches.

Wolf Moon

This image was inspired by this past weekend's full moon. The Native Americans called January's full moon the "Wolf Moon" because hungry wolves would howl longingly outside their villages at night. My illustration, while originally inspired by this, ended up becoming the beginning of a narrative idea of a relationship between a girl and a wolf. I am now working on other sketches to see how the story unfolds.