The JFJ Invade Portland


After nearly 9 hours on a plane (we flew to San Diego first, and then to Portland) we arrived in Oregon. We headed into downtown Portland for an early dinner, and the we hit up Powell's Bookstore where we found a copy of our second book.


We're very excited to teach our three classes at Art and Soul this week!


Portland Bound


Tomorrow we fly to Portland, OR for Art and Soul. It will be our first time teaching at this art retreat, and we are very excited to expand our teaching circle. This will be my first time in Portland, and I am thrilled to be able to spend a little time in this city.

There's just something that seems to pull me to Portland, though I have never set foot there. Perhaps it's Portland's reputation as a hipster and art mecca - a place that prides itself on being weird. Perhaps it's all of the vegetarian and vegan places to eat and drink. Perhaps it's the coffee and craft beer. Perhaps it's the proximity of mountains and outdoor adventures. I have it in the back of my mind that I might like to live in Portland. There's just a lot about Portland that seems to gel with my personality and my interests, and I am excited to visit.

But what should we see while we're there? Let us know in the comments.

(The above image was taken from www.travelportland.com.)

More Small Work


I've been working on some smaller pieces over the last few days as well as larger pieces in the studio. I can easily sit in front of the tv and work on these 4x6 inch pieces on paper. With the face above, I began by creating a watercolor texture background, and I drew the face with black and white acrylic paint markers.


It was a similar process for the radiating designs, but I began with backgrounds that were started with watercolor and watercolor pencil. I really like how these small works turned out, and I am looking forward to trying them larger.


Showing Up


"Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work." - Chuck Close

I have been making a concerted effort to show up more lately. Since January, I have been finding the time and the motivation to create more work and to share it more often here on the blog and through various social media outlets. I have made the decision that I am not going to hold back any longer. If I want to be a thriving artist, I need to make art - period. I need to live the life now, and not allow so many things to get in the way pulling me from my art.

To that end, I have been making it into the studio more often, and I have been working on small pieces quite a but in the evening as I watch tv. I have been finding little ways to stay engaged in my art, and not allow too many things to interfere. It does mean that I've occasionally let the vacuuming go, and I have sacrificed a little but time with my wife and my animals. But it is important to me to continue to build the momentum and to allow the making and the creating to flow. It is important to me to consistently show up!

Making Progress


I spent a couple of hours in the studio on this warm February day working more on pieces. I started earlier in the week. I added a layer or two to several of them, and my favorite so far is the small painting pictured above. This 4x6 inch piece has a certain glow - a certain richness about it, and I am really loving the deep ruby color. I'm not certain what I'll do with these paintings or how far I'll go with them. I may leave them fairly simple and more abstract. But then again I may paint something on top. I just don't know.


Work in Progress


I spent a couple of hours last night beginning some new pieces in the studio using Golden High Flow acrylic to build up layers of color and textures. I built most of the cradles a couple of weeks ago, which I shared in this post. Then I spent a couple of days applying gesso to the cradles (see below), and finally began painting yesterday.

I've been exploring a lot with experimental watercolor techniques lately on small papers, and I wanted to achieve similar effects and textures with acrylic. The thin High Flow acrylic is a perfect for creating layers in a similar fashion as the watercolor.

I plan on building up more layers of paint to create more intense color and richer texture, and once the color is down, I may paint some of my radiating designs or faces. After I finish these, I'll have to kick it into gear to make more for the studio tour.