Adventures in Portland


Our adventures in Portland continued over the last two days as we were able to explore the city a bit more. On Thursday, we wondered mostly around the Pearl District and other nearby downtown spots. We even went back to Powell's City of Books a couple of times where Dave found a copy of our first book. That's kind of rare since North Light Books stopped printing it, and it's now only available through Amazon print-on-demand.


We did venture into the south east part of the city to partake in some vegan goodness at Herbivore Clothing, Sweetpea Baking Company, and Portobello Vegan Trattoria. Dave's not vegan, but he humors me. We even took a bit of a break at Base Camp Brewing Company for some liquid refreshment and a few games of farkle.


Yesterday we ventured back into downtown to hit up the Portland Art Museum to check out the eclectic collection of art they have there.


An installation by Kenny Scharf was probably the wildest thing there, besides Dave and his goofy faces.


We headed back to the hotel so that we could teach our first class last night for Art and Soul, and we had a good time drawing, doodling, and collaborating with the students for our Journal Stripped Bare class. We're looking forward to teaching our full-day classes today and tomorrow. So far, we are really enjoying our time in the City of Roses.

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.