Kayo Show with Chelsea

The show at Kayo Gallery was great, thank you to everyone who was able to come by and be with me and Chelsea. And thank you to Shilo for inviting us to show our work.

 'Only if it Has Smocking'

18x24"
I went through a phase in which I would only wear dresses or shirts with smocking. My poor mother.

 'Handmade 1974'

20x20"
My mom knitted this when she had 3 little girls under 3. I was the third.

'Halloween 1978-1984'

16x20"
My alter ego for most of my childhood was an Indian princess. Every Halloween from preschool to 5th grade I wore the same costume. I loooooved it. I would also don this costume when doing yard work or bathing in the sun (we have pictures to prove it).

Upcoming Show!!!

I am doing an invitational show next month at Kayo Gallery in Salt Lake City, and I have just finished all the paintings, 10 in all. My sister, Chelsea James, and I are each doing 10 paintings inspired by 'Childhood Memories'. It has been delightful reminiscing about my childhood as I have conceptualized and painted this series. I have remembered new things that I haven't thought of in 30 years. I will post the rest after the show opens October 19th.

 'Foothill Boulevard'

12x16"
This was our old stomping ground.... Foothill Village.

 'Lulu's Disneyland'

12x16"
My great aunt was one of the first seamstresses at Disneyland. It was beyond cool. She was tight with Walt. We would stay at her house and she would take us to Disneyland. It is still so nostalgic to me, my kids are completely sick of hearing me talk about it.

'Pile in the White Wagon'

16x16"
Memories of our great white wagon.

 "Old Scissors"

24x24"
We loved this old horse. They just don't make toys like this anymore. Probably because it is about the most dangerous toy we had. If you have ever ridden on one, close your eyes and imagine the sound....Scissors?

"Stop and Go, 5 cents each"

18x24"
As kids, we would sleep over at my Grandma's house all the time. She loves soda pop, and would let us take her empty bottles to the 'Stop-n-go' to return for 5 cents and use the money to buy candy. Best Grandma ever!

Perfume Commission

 Last year I had 3 big shows within 6 months, which is against my policy to have 6 months BETWEEN shows. It was hard. It was great. And I couldn't possibly say "no" to 3 really important opportunities. Needless to say, my house was feeling the neglect. And we ate a lot of take out and pizza. So, I hired 2 great ladies to deep clean my house a few times a month so that I could focus on painting and not feel the pressure of falling behind on the house...It was the best gift I have ever given myself. The coincidental part is, that one of the ladies, Elisa, has a well known artist mother who has recently retired (in her 80's). Elisa really likes my work and bought 2 paintings after just a few months of cleaning. These are commissions for her (trading now) because she collects perfume bottles. It was really fun to do and I think I would love to do more of these. And thank you Elisa for my very clean house. I will trade paintings for you ANYTIME!

300 Plates Show

 Art Access Gallery

Salt Lake City

May 17th, 6-9 pm

This is a GREAT fundraiser show. I am honored to be a part of it.

Trade for a Friend

My friend Emily King did a beautiful paper cut for me of my family in return for this painting of a vintage dress. I am always so flattered when a friend wants a painting of mine. I hope she loves it forever.... And thanks for your beautiful piece, Emily!

Group Show

Wally Workman had a group show with the theme of 'After Dark'.

This is 12x24", titled 'Going Out'. I haven't painted shoes for a long time, but it was nice to revisit it.

New Ones

I'm embarrassed that I have not posted since August. But I have a few new paintings. I did have a group show in Iowa in November (I miss you land of corn) that I sent paintings to, and I have finished a few for my gallery in park city. I

also did a painting of my dad for Christmas (oops I forgot to photo). Hopefully he won't just put it in a drawer, and I will see it again to photograph it.

I did a painting for a friend that did some b

eautiful paper cuts for me (suspenseful, but I will post both in the future). And I even had time to do some Christmas shopping online (Fife Christmas brought to you entirely by Amazon).

So now to my New Year's resolutions, that include getting myself out of my "painter's block" by trying something entirely new....still in process, and the jury (myself) is still deciding if it is working. And being stricter about my production...no more staring out the window or reading art magazines waiting for inspiration to stri

ke, I'm going to just start painting.

I have a few small shows coming up this year

and a commission that may take me in a new direction, as well.

So, without being any more cryptic and vague, here are some new images. The first 2 are 12x12" (above), then 20x20" and the final 3 are 8x10". I know, nothing earth-shattering, but hopefully sellable!

ps...I have been doing a lot of quilting and I have discovered Pinterest....uh oh, hope for the best.

Wally Workman Show 2011

I am really proud of this show. You never really know how it is going to come off until you see it in person, hanging on the walls of the gallery. They did a beautiful job hanging all the paintings. Thank you Wally and Rachel for a really nice show! Oh, and we of course had a fantastic time in Austin. Lots of good food, good pool time and some shopping.

Handmade in the USA

30 x 40"

In My Own Skin

30 x 40"

Grandma's Chair

24 x 24"

Vintage Eames

30 x 40"

Fresh Start II

16 x 20"

Renaissance Form

18 x 24"

Mama Boots

15 x 30"

Checked Satin

18 x 24"

Eve's Coat

16 x 20"

Something Old, Something New

15 x 30"

One Month Left!

This is a sneak peak of my show at Wally Workman Gallery in Austin, Texas this June. I need about 15 paintings and I think I have 10. So I have now set up a station in my bedroom as well as my studio so I can paint around the clock (kind of) until May 20th when I have to stop painting and start framing, etc. It's definitely crunch time.

I have decided to base my show around a color story. So it is titled 'Black and White'. It has been interesting to work this way because I have never done a show around a color concept. I don't want them all black and white, so some of them are brown, or a neutral, but they read black and white. I am doing mainly still life with a few figures and I am very excited. Thank you Wally!

New Dress for Wally Workman

This is one of my favorite dresses I have done. I found this dress on ebay for a steal. When I got it, it came with this little handwritten note and I realized it was a vintage, hand-sewn dress from the 60's. What a find. Shadow #1 also wore this to school for 60's day with her little Tom's. It was so cute.

Show Paintings

'Family Portrait'

24 x 36"

'Contented'

30 x 48"

'Cowboy Boots'

11 x 14"

SOLD

'Different Time'

11 x 14"

'Pink Suede Flowers'

11 x 14"

Show Paintings

'Vintage Style'

24 x 36"

'Uniform'

12 x 12

'Dark Satin'

12 x 12"

'Watchful Eye'

12 x 12"

'Vintage Pink'

12 x 12"

SOLD

Show Paintings

'Many Hats; Mother'

SOLD

'Many Hats; Sister'

16 x 16"

'Many Hats; Daughter'

16 x 16"

'Many Hats; Wife'

16 x 16"

'A Place to Draw From'

30 x 30"