Happy Halloween!

Halloween is a wacky holiday that brings out everone's creative side. I love seeing all of the costumed characters that come to our house for treats. I also look forward to carving jack 'o lanterns and smelling that familiar pumpkin scent. This is an illustration I did a few years ago for the Utah Symphony's annual Halloween concert for kids.

Chamber Concert Illustration

This is a recent illustration I did for the Community Concerts at Second season brochure. They perform free chamber music concerts in Baltimore, Maryland showcasing local, national and international artists. Classical music is such an inspiration to me! It was great working with B Creative Group on this project for the second year in a row.

Portrait Commission

This is my gouache painting that is currently on display in the Salt Lake Art Center’s “Not Just Another Pretty Face” exhibition. It’s a new program at the Art Center in which patrons in the community commissioned Utah artists to create works that were unveiled at the Art Center’s annual benefit gala on June 6 and will continue to be on display until July 4, 2009. The program began last winter at a series of nine salon gatherings in private homes where a diverse group of people were introduced to a sampling of work by the 65 participating artists. Many of the artists were then commissioned to create art ranging from portraits and landscapes, to abstract paintings. The culmination is an exhibition of 25 works by 19 artists, commissioned by 18 patrons and representing some of the best contemporary art being created in Utah today. I am proud to have my painting included in the exhibition. I thoroughly enjoyed the process and had a a great time getting to know my patron and portraying her children. I hope to do many other commissions!

Farmers Market

Do you love to go to the local farmers market as much as I do? I was so happy to create the above illustration and design the poster and promotional materials for the Downtown Farmers Market here in Salt Lake City. They kicked off the season with a fundraising opening party Monday night at a local brew pub. The food was a delicious array of local artisanal purveyors--cheeses, meats, breads, greens and more. A big hit was a local distillers sampling of their oat-based vodka and rye whiskey. The market opens this Saturday. We may have to take an umbrella, but hopefully these last two weeks of rain will bring an abundant harvest!

Spring at Last

It is finally beginning to feel like Spring after several snowy days. The pansies and daffodils are blooming and the grass is getting green so this image that I created for a retail store's seasonal party invitation seemed like an appropriate post.

Get Your Goat

Recently we, and some of our "foodie" friends, put together a Goat Fest. A local rancher provided the fresh goat meat and everyone made a delicious offering. The buffet had wonderful salads, green coconut rice, and goat prepared in many ways--Rendang, goat chops with wild mushrooms, and broiled ribs. My husband Mikel made an elegant Moroccan basteeya, sheathed in thin layers of phyllo and dusted with cinnamon and powdered sugar (he is the cook at our house). It is traditionally made with pigeon or chicken but he did it with goat and it was a big hit! I wish I had photos to share but you can read a little more about the feast at my friends blog http://shecraves.typepad.com/my_weblog/feasts-1/. In this morning's New York Times there is an article about dining on goat. Here is the link http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/dining/01goat.html?th&emc=th My painting of "Nymphs with Goat" is one of my series of acrylic on plywood.

At Palmers Gallery

The opening reception went really well with a steady flow of people coming throughout the evening. It has been wonderful to share my art with so many people. I am thankful to everyone who takes the time to go to the gallery to see my exhibit and especially grateful to those who are purchasing the paintings. Here is a photo of me in the gallery and one of the dwindling crowd at the end of the opening. You can see some of the paintings in my exhibition on my website in the "Gouache" section.