It’s been a busy week here at the Choate Den. Let’s do a recap and see if I can present a lesson. (Spoiler: I actually do!)
Strada September Challenge
As mentioned over the last few weeks, I participated in the Strada Challenge. And this year, I finished!
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- Day 1 – chickadee
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- Day 2 – dandelions and rock
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- Day 3 – reader
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- Day 4 – golden retriever partner
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- Day 5 – Yaquina Bay tidal flats
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- Day 6 – bird bath
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- Day 7 – Let them eat coffee cake
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- Day 8 – Boiler Bay view
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- Day 9 – Cabana waves
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- Day 10 – Beach hill flora
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- Day 11 – Anouk watching birds
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- Day 12 – Morning doves on the patio
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- Day 13 – Stellar’s Jay
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- Day 14 – Red osier dogwood study
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- Day 15 – Gray ocean
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- Day 16 – Blue ocean
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- Day 17 – crow studies
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- Day 18 – beach
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- Day 19 – beach
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- Day 20 – coastal birds study
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- Day 21 – calm ocean
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- Day 22 – rock eddy in waves
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- Day 23 – joy
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- Day 24 – hydrangea
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- Day 25 – Tillamook bay
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- Day 26 – the next project
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- Day 27 – gray ocean
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- Day 28 – on Siletz Bay
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- Day 29 – on Tillamook Bay
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- Day 30 – flotsum
Coastal Plein Air
As I documented last week (okay, the second post last week) I have been working towards getting three of my paintings and two of Sandra Pearce‘s paintings down to Florence the Florence Regional Arts Alliance for their Coastal Plein Air Event. Friday, I took the day off to do just that, and ended up being very glad I did. The drive was lovely, but I was stunned to learn that I had won a prize for “Yaquina Rocks”! It’s called the Creativity Award and I think it might be a people’s choice award. Those are always fun because you feel like it’s your peers! Even more impressively, Sandra got FIRST PLACE for her painting of Yaquina Lighthouse. Way to go, Sandra!!!!
In case you were wondering, these are the three paintings that eventually had the combination of frame-ability (i.e. I had frames that fit them) and quality.
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- Ona Sentries
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- “Yaquina Rocks”
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- “Yaquina Waves”
Word and Image
Saturday evening, I zoomed into the opening of the Hoffman Center for the Arts in Manzanita Word & Image opening. I was really impressed with the lovely, thought-provoking poetry and stunning artwork. I felt so honored to be a part of it!
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- Page 1: The painting poet Lauren Mallett wrong a new poem about.
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- No Dumping: The painting I created in response to Lauren’s poem, Drains to River.
I’ll purchase my copy of the book when I go down to view the show (unsure of the date on that.) In case you are interested, this is the link to purchase a book. Honestly, the poetry alone is worth it. The art is gorgeous. The typesetting and layout stunning.
Westminster Festival of Fine Art
I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it again. If it wasn’t for the last minute, nothing would get done. This next week I’ll be juggling my paperwork for pieces I’ll present to the Westminster Festival of Fine Art. I haven’t done this show before, and when I lived in Keizer, it seemed like a good idea. Now it feels a little more challenging. Here’s the event flyer in case you are interested in attending.
Watercolor Society of Oregon
And now my attention turns toward the Fall Convention of the Watercolor Society of Oregon. While I did not get into the exhibition, I still look forward to seeing the exhibit and all my friends. This year, I am trying my hand at teaching. I’m a breakout leader for a session called “Exploring Value Studies in Liquid Charcoal.” I’m more than a little nervous! While pre-reservations have passed, I happen to know a lot of the sessions this year have room for walk-ins. If you are an artist in any medium, consider attending. Show up at the Salem Convention Center between 8-9am and see what you can get into. Each breakout session is only $15!
With that, I will also report that yesterday was my last day as the webmaster for WSO. After eleven years, I’m handing it over to someone else. Specifically, a very competent individual named Dan who is currently amoung my favorite people in the world.
As I took a large hand in helping with this Fall Convention, by next Sunday I will be done volunteering with WSO. Not forever, but at least for a few years. I need a big break.
Wound-ier and Wind-i-er
Note: To properly understand this title, “wound” is not a cut or bruise. It’s in reference to yarn that has been wound into a ball. Similarly, “wind” isn’t the whooshing of air; it’s the action of winding a crank.
One of the things I wish I could change about myself, at least to some degree, is my type A tendencies when under stress. My obsessive tendencies came to a head on Tuesday evening when I went bonkers because I could not find mats and frames that fit the images I wished to take down to Florence. Specifically, I wanted to find a way to frame up “Between the Wind”.
But no matter where I looked, I could find a mat and frame that matched the piece. Everything was too small or too big. The result was me getting wind-i-er and wound-i-er to the point that I wasn’t able to do much more than nap that evening. Wednesday was not good as a result. I ended up crying at work and frankly I’m not too excited about the repercussions next week. Sigh.
A trip to Goodwill did not offer up any alternatives, so I ended up taking a different painting. As it turns out, I ended up taking Yaquina Rocks. Ironic? Oh, yeah.
When Sandra texted me yesterday to report the prize situation, she said she thought the other painting she had delivered was stronger. Clearly, neither of us is any judge of our own work!
The lesson of this little story should be something along the lines of “it’ll be okay” or “everything works out.” I’ll try to remember that… but I need to go stress out about the Westminster paperwork.