OCTOBER 15, 2015  September is always a busy month for artists and art lovers in Jackson Hole.  I participated in the annual Quick Draw on the town square – 30 artists create a piece from start to finish in 90 minutes, (it was 39 degrees at the start), surrounded by hundreds of onlookers, and the works are auctioned off immediately afterwards under a block-long tent with a rowdy art buying crowd in attendance and lively auctioneers.  Painting in front of hundreds doesn’t bother me, but introducing myself and my painting with a microphone on stage scares the bejeezus out of me.  I stayed cool, and my painting was sold with lots of bidders vying.

At the end of September I held my annual Splash and Pour Weekend Workshop at the gorgeous Turpin Meadow Ranch in the north east corner of Jackson Hole.  It was quintessential autumn splendor – the colors were at their peak and were inspiring to all of us participating.  From Portland OR to Cambridge, MA all coasts were represented.  From “never held a brush”, to professional watercolorist, we all had a blast – including me.  The exchange of conversation, information, questions, explorations, and “aha” moments were so delightful.  A wonderful bonus were the amenities at the Ranch.  We never missed a meal because all were 5 star delicious.  Hats off to all staff for making us feel most comfortable.

I learned last week that my painting, “Raven’s Spring” which had been accepted into the 52nd annual national juried Sumi-e Society of America (SSA) exhibit (hanging for the month of October in Mobile AL) received an award.  I am honored and humbled – my thanks to Shozo Sato, the juror and judge, for bestowing the award, and the Blue Heron chapter of the SSA for sponsoring that particular award.

Some of you have followed my evolution from traditional sumi-e to something more personal.  Some may think I have “drifted away”, but what has happened is that I have absorbed information from so many varied artists through workshops around the country and my own experimentations, and stirred it all up in my own stewpot to create my own “thumbprint” or style.  It doesn’t resemble sumi-e much anymore – no black ink, no individual brushstrokes, no rice paper, but I cannot and will not abandon the essence of asian art that I have absorbed over the years.  I don’t brand it as “Asian” in style, but people get a puzzled (or dreamy?) look on their face and declare that it has some “sort of Asian flavor”.  For that I am glad.

This leads me back to my painting “Raven’s Spring”:  Understandably the eligibility rules for the SSA exhibit require the predominant element to be ink and brushwork on a base such as rice paper and including the shikishi boards that I now use exclusively.  The raven IS painted with sumi (Japanese word for Ink), which a friend acquired for me in Japan.  It has blue iridescence suspended in the ink, which allowed the feathers to shine with the natural iridescence so many bird feathers have.  Though I seldom use ink any longer, I pulled it out to deliberately paint a piece that I hoped would be accepted into this show.

These are the only pieces that I have of any of my own childhood artwork.  First one was a Christmas card to my parents when I was perhaps 8 years old. I guess I was destined to be a landscape artist!

And the second one is drawn on the back of arithmetic (addition) homework.  Since my little brother is 7 years younger than I am, this was drawn when I was about 7.  I like how pretty I look, with a southern belle type dress (where did that come, in rural Pennsylvania ??) and curly hair.  And the “turtule” has four feet – a budding wildlife artist then.  Ha!

Last weekend the annual Plein Air Festival was held at the National Museum of Wildlife Art here in Jackson Hole,.  Conditions were beautiful, but a bit challenging – the sun was bright and the wind was brisk, which dried my puddles of paint to the extent that I changed directions,expectations, and previous planning as the painting progressed.  A bug even tried to do the backstroke on my surface, but since my nature and my style is spontaneous, I was pleased with the final result.  4 hours from start to finish, and it sold at the auction following the “paint out”.

Rising Moon over the Refuge:

April 23, 2015  I was just asked how I came up with the concept of a layered painting and my honest answer was, “I have no idea!”.  Except that I had the various sizes of shikishi boards in the studio and was just playing around.  My intention was to convey the feeling of motion.  It is not one of my more traditional paintings, but now and again I have to push that envelope.  I am certain there will be more layered paintings coming from my studio.

This is the bottom layer of the painting.  (I added more cranes after I took this photo):

This is the initial background painting on the vertical shikishi strips:

Removing the paint in order to add the black silhouettes of the sandhill cranes:

Closeup of the strips near the base painting to show context and size relationship:

Finished painting with the vertical shikishi strips in place, permanently attached to the base painting:

Friday evening, March 6 beginning at 4 pm, I will be giving a painting demonstration during cocktail hour at Turpin Meadow Ranch. Come ski the day, and stay for dinner! I will be demonstrating and chatting during cocktail hour and would love to have you join me. I have a special prize for the first person at the event who can identify where on the ski trail the view is in the painting I will demonstrating. Turpin Meadow Ranch is a wonderful guest ranch in the north east end of Jackson Hole. They have wonderful groomed Nordic ski trails, cozy cabins and main lodge. They are open to the public for gourmet dining, lunch and dinner, as well as the bar in front of the fireplace. Call 307-543-2000 for directions (and to inquire about rates for day ski pass, lodging, or dining. Watching me paint is FREE! ) Their website is http://turpinmeadowranch.com/teton-adventures/white-season/