Mandala Isla @ 5 Days

“Mandala Isla @ 5 Days” 6×8 oil on panel. NFS

Life has been a whirlwind over the last few months and I can admit, I’ve had a vacation from the easel since June. It’s been a stressful time for our family because we have been coming near the end of our Visas here in the USA. We were not sure if we were going to be staying in Portland or having to move back to Canada soon. Although we’ve always known there were never any guarantees to stay, it’s been a very long, often stressful transition to make a home in a new city and country. Despite missing my home country, friends and family often, we did not feel that now was the time to move again. Relief came a couple weeks ago when we got word of our next visa approval, which means we can throw a few more roots into the ground here and let the stress of having to relocate again dissolve away.

So back into the studio. After a long painting breaks in the past, I’ve had a ritual of painting a gift as the first one off the easel. I don’t know, it always just seems like the right way to get back into the swing of things on a positive note, by making someone else’s day. That action makes me happy. Back in May I traveled to Vancouver Island to meet dressage trainer and breeder Jessica Kellner at Island Farm to take photos for new paintings. Her farm was lovely. She was generous enough to let me roam around the property and hang by the schooling ring taking hundreds of frames for future artworks. As a thank you for her hospitality hosting me, I painted her 2017 filly, “Mandala by Revolution, @ 5 days old” 6×8. I did go to two other farms last spring so more good karma paintings to come for a couple of you out there still

As far as other new things, I decided I want to try my hand at three dimensional artwork. I’m taking a ceramics class at the Oregon College of Art and Craft. As of my second session, I’m quite horrible at it. However, I am enjoying being a beginner at something and it’s making me feel better about any and all issues I have at the easel as a result. (haha!) I also met with a local sculptor last weekend who handed off a block of sculpting wax to me to create something with. Ultimately it will be cast as a bronze figure. It’s given me great excuse to pull out all my old Breyer model horses as inspiration.

Working in my backyard studio is still quite lonely 4 years later. Not to mention it’s quite cold and damp from November to April. I’m considering moving to an artist collective off the property. Very early stages of looking around, but feeling this might be the way to go to meet other like minds and get off my home turf a bit more often. Hopefully an update on this soon.