New Gallery Opening! :)

Hi All :)

HAPPY FRIDAY :)

I Just wanted to let you all know that there is a new Gallery opening in Lake Oswego, Oregon, TODAY, YAY!!!

"MAISON DES ARTISTES"

I have my Mixed Media Artwork and Photography there on display, so exciting!!! :)

Check out the "FEATURED ARTISTS PAGE" :)

If you are in the area stop by it would be great to see you :)

Have a lovely Weekend!!!! :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

click below to see larger image :)

Artist's Meet and Greet Friday, February 1st, 2013 4pm-9pm 599 A Avenue Lake Oswego, OR  971-302-9856

Please Join Us We will be open for business on Friday, February 1st at 10am. We will be hosting an Artist Meet and Greet from 4pm-9pm and are asking that you join us. Please feel free to invite your friends and family. There will be refreshments and beverages.

"Integrate My Circuits" :)

Happy Saturday Everyone!

I missed Friday Flowers yesterday but they will be back next week I'm not done yet  :)

If you missed last week's FRIDAY FLOWERS you can see the Happy Sunflowers and the "WATCH" Cat HERE :)

I wanted to share with you one of my pieces of Artwork that I have hanging in a local business right now.

(Click on photos to see larger images)

"Integrate My Circuits" (4' x 5')

I love how the spotlights bounce off this piece creating a powerful reflective light from the foils and gold leaf.

Here is the description of this piece that I wrote for my Etsy posting :)

This artwork is a swirl of connectedness. Layers of multi coloured paper, vivid acrylics and electronic components all come together in an ensemble piece.

I love to place everyday objects in my artwork. This time it is electronic components thanks to my Hubby the Engineer. Yes, who would have thought an Engineer and an Artist could be compatible??


The playful movement of the acrylic paint connecting the components, overlapping the many textural papers, brings to mind the connectedness we all need, desire and cherish in our lives and on this planet.


"Integrate My Circuits" starts, like so many of my pieces, first with the strong textural layer of gesso. Next I placed a C.D. in the centre (corny I know!) as they were constantly arriving in the mail a few years ago and I knew I would use it one day, maybe not in the way it was intended! Then the multi layers of coloured paper (symbolic of office?) Next the randomness of the electronic components plus the acrylic paint trying to link it all together.


"Integrate MY Circuits" is created on a 60 x 48 unframed canvas with wrapped sides.


THIS PIECE CONTAINS SHARP OBJECTS.


"Integrate MY Circuits" is an original work of art, it is signed on the front and back, this art piece has not been copied or reproduced in any way.

This was such a fun piece to create, I love working big, I love working with found objects, I love using mixed media and I love finding a way to make the connections in my work.  

I hope you enjoyed this :)

Have a Lovely Weekend :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Art Shows.

Good Morning Everyone! I really hope your week has gotten off to a wonderful start. :)

Well, as Fall quickly approaches so does the build up to Fall Art Shows. I am now in a scurry to get artwork finished, photos printed and packaged and sewing completed.

I know I am not going to get everything done that I had planned but I think I am on track for most.

Here are some canvases prepped and really for some paint and frames waiting for photos :)

On the table piles of packaged photos (still have a lot more to do) and artwork with a background color but no subject as yet!

A print of one of my larger pieces of art, matted, foam core backed and packaged in a clear sleeve, these seem to be a popular and affordable option these days to buying larger original art for a lot of people :)

What to work on next???????

Then I have to decide which larger Original pieces I will finish and can I afford to get them framed? Oh dilemma!

Here is a larger piece I have been working on for a while. It is a  4' x 5' canvas. It has been a long time in the making because our family had to eat all the candy and open all the Christmas Crackers before I had the materials to create this piece. (He! He!) I have had fun making it (also, lots of fun eating the candy etc.) it is still a work in progress maybe it will be ready for a show next Summer?????? 

It took a long time to glue every one of those pieces on to the canvas and yes, I did wash the candy wrappers :) I have a few more spaces to fill in and then a few more layers of paint before I will feel it is finished but I wanted to show you one of my larger pieces in process. The final product could look very different or not depending on the process I decide to go with but that to me is the adventure of art :)

So that is a bit of what I have been up to and will be for the next few weeks, I keep thinking I have it all organised, so fingers crossed it will all come together in the end. :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

HAPPY B. DAY BLOG! :)

My Blog is One, YAY! It has been a whole year of blogging my little heart out. What fun! And like any proud Parent of a One Year Old I want to throw a Big Party. So, on Wednesday I am going to have a very special Giveaway to celebrate and you are all invited :)

So, I wanted to share with you my very first Blog Posting here on Poppy Place Pdx. This was before I knew what direction I was going to take my Blog. It was close to the 10th Anniversary of the Shootings at Columbine and I had worked on this piece of Artwork as a way to try to come to terms with this senseless act but had never shown the work to anyone before then, of course it was my first blog posting and I am not sure anyone really saw it and I definitely didn't get any comments. Here it is in its entirety.


COLUMBINE REMEMBERED.




It is 10 years since the tragedy at Columbine. Lives were changed that day forever. This piece evolved soon after the Columbine massacre. The emotions were overwhelming for me as a mother of teenagers when I heard about this tragedy and out of my need to make sense of the sadness I created this piece. I have never published this artwork before but feel it is timely 10 years on to still remember and hope change has come.

The 3 pieces of paper represent the Father, Son and Holy Spirit forming one body. The paper is rough and uneven representing the ups and downs, trials and tribulations we encounter on our journey through life. The red apple/heart shape has several meanings, the apple reference is for the teacher who died and the heart is for the love and caring he received from those students around him in his last hours. The apple/heart has a band uniform collar which represents the good that can come from team work. The Littleton bow tie represents the community coming together. The 13 teardrops represent the 13 people who were slaughtered. The pool of tears and the drops represent the “Veil of Tears” from the prayer in reference to all the sorrow felt. On the lower edge of the apple/heart is a pool of the blood spilled. On the apple/heart the words Revenge and Violence represent the 2 gunmen. The apple/heart is surrounded by the names of all the victims.

We truly need to raise our children to be caring, tolerant and respectful of others. Bullying should not be tolerated, neither should revenge. It is our responsibility as adults and parents to treat our children with respect and not to ignore them or treat them as property. What these young men did cannot be condoned and I am a little tired of the epidemic of victimstance, but we all have a responsibility to make everyone feel they are a valued member of society and I see all too often a rash of self absorbed one-upmanship. I live in a community not dissimilar to Littleton and I hear from my children about the general atmosphere in the middle and high schools, it is almost encouraged as a writ of passage that the stereotypical behaviours are pursued. I have heard first hand how some of the faculty and support staff speak to these teenagers, it would make me resentful. Teenagers need respect; I cannot emphasize that enough.


Well, that was a year ago, my blog found its way, and thanks to all the wonderful people who read it.

Have a Wonderful Monday!

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

ZAP - Zimbabwe Artists Project.

Last Weekend the Hubby and I went to the opening of an Art Show here in Portland in a beautifully renovated old warehouse Olympic Mills on the East side of the Willamette River to Downtown. There are various businesses in the building and one of them caught my eye as I wondered the halls admiring the "LOVE" show artwork.

ZAP - Zimbabwe Artists Project is one of those grass roots organisations that is very exciting and one I feel excited to support.

ZAP's Mission is to, "celebrate the artistry and accomplishments of Women from rural Weya in Eastern Zimbabwe. Through education, sales of their art in the U.S., and special projects, ZAP helps the Artists become economically self sufficient".

"Women’s income from agriculture is unpredictable and limited. Sales of their art helps women afford food, clothing, school fees, medicines, transport, seeds and fertilizer. Since the market for Weya art in Zimbabwe is extremely limited, sales in the U.S. are critical. ZAP pays much more than any other buyer, delivering cash at the time of purchase, and we provide health care to the artists".

I really love the concept behind this enterprise and I feel as a fellow Female Artist, even though I am not supposed to be buying any artwork at the moment, that I should support my sister artists :)

Here is the beautiful piece of Artwork I purchased :)

Artwork by Charity Manema.

Check out ZAP here and see all the amazing things they are doing, see the artists and more of their beautiful work. :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.