2023

Off the WaitList, Into BRRRZAAR!

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Yes! Terrain decided to expand Brrrzaar to an extra room at River Park Square so I am off the waitlist and going to be at Brrzaar 10-8 THIS SATURDAY! Here’s the trick though-I and about 10 other artists are all going to be tucked away in the Kress Gallery. That name may sound familiar and that’s because it is the room just past the food court next to the bathroom on the 3rd floor so we’re definitely a bit out of the way. Still, I’m staying positive-people always need to use the bathroom so there should be steady traffic! This will be my last holiday show (FOR REAL this time!) of the year so if you’re looking to get puzzles, prints, calendars or art directly from me, now is the time! See you Saturday!

I’ve also been busy working on paintings for my group show “Listening for an Echo” at the Terrain Gallery-the theme is farming and rural subjects. Above is a just finished barn interior. Below is a study of a neighbor’s corral at sunset.

Put Friday, January 5th at the Terrain Gallery on your calendar to come see this show-there will be two painters (myself and Karen Mobley) and two photographers who I have only recently met: Abigail Evans and Pam Deutschman. I can’t wait to see what the other women have made!

Thankful For You!

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Thank you to all of you on the other end of this email, cheering me on! You mean so much to me-it is still so amazing that so many people like my work and I’ve met so many wonderful people on this art journey that I am glad to have in my life so thank you!

Wishing you and yours all the best this holiday season!

Happy Turkey Day!

I'm in TWO magazines!

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I’m extra literary this winter! First off, I have a painting featured in the current Art Chowder magazine in an article by Tom Quinn about the history of travelers documenting their adventures in watercolors.

My piece is the one in the lower right corner-a painting of the Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica!

Trending Northwest is a fancy new Pacific Northwest featured magazine and I am lucky to have gotten a multi-page article about my work, inspiration, and upcoming adventures!

Reading the title of this article, I wonder if I should add “Creative Visionary” to my business card! Makes me sound so fancy!

Thank you to Melissa and the whole crew at TNW for the fabulous article!

Read the whole article online for free HERE! There will be even more photos!

I don’t have any more holiday shows on the calendar for the rest of the year so I would like to invite you guys to check out my online shop HERE where you can get puzzles, calendars, prints (including my painting of Sunset Hill in the dark and snow-seen below) and a selection of small nocturne paintings. You’re also welcome to make an appointment to come out to my studio to do a little shopping! I’d love to show you what I’ve been working on!

You can also find my work at the From Here store in River Park Square and at Pottery Place Plus in the same building as Auntie’s Bookstore (also an excellent place to do some shopping!).

8” x 10” painting of the Govan School House in Central WA

Inspired by a grain elevator I spotted outside of Pullman.

“All the Way Home”-prints available in my shop and at From Here. This painting will be my Christmas card this year! If I’ve sent you a card in the past and you’d like to get one this year and you’ve moved, please send me an updated address!

Safe travels if you’re traveling in the upcoming holiday week. Spokane will be there at the bottom of the road to welcome you home when you return.

Art & Maple Leaves

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Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to pop in and update you all on my various upcoming on on-going shows as well as show you a couple photos from my recent adventure to Seattle to see the Hokusai Exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum!

I’m excited to be at this show on SATURDAY ONLY at the HIVE (Emphasis added to hopefully prevent confusion!). I’ll have puzzles, Christmas cards, and calendars! I just heard back that I got waitlisted for my usual December show (Brrzaar). They had so many people apply that they could only accept 36% of the artists to the show, so if you’d like to come visit me at a show before the end of the year, this is it! However, you can always make an appointment to come out to my studio any time for a little shopping adventure! These are always very fun because I often also show my sketchbooks and works in progress if people are interested.

This show opened in October and is still running through December 9th. It’s a fabulous show in a historic building on Washington with a view directly onto the elevated train tracks.

This is one of my pieces in this show.

This and the two other night sky pieces below are all 3” x 5” paintings that I framed up and took to the Spokane Art School for their Holiday Small Works show. The Art School will also have a show (Yuletide) happening during the weekend of the my show at the Hive and is just 5 minutes away so I highly recommend visiting both shows!

I made a very fast visit over to Seattle to celebrate my and my mom’s birthday with my folks and to see the Hokusai exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum. I am a huge Hokusai fan (I have the Great Wave off of Kanagawa printed on my phone case.) and the exhibit was FABULOUS.

Silk painting of a beautiful lady at the exhibit, which contained both many works by Hokusai and by his students, contemporaries, and the people who were inspired by his work.

With the glass over the prints, taking a decent photo was hard, but here is a beautiful planter that I would very much like in blue!

Continuing the theme-this is the Kubota Garden in the south end of Seattle-a 20 acre walking garden. I enjoyed its multiple ponds, great tree shaping and many stone lanterns, but I have to admit-I think our Japanese Garden has a better fall foliage display and is much prettier (though much smaller also, I must admit).

Did have fun with the amazing curving branches of the many trees-there might be some paintings coming inspired by my trip!

I’ve been delivering calendars to customers and I just wanted to pop this flip through of it into this email because I think this is my best calendar yet! If you can’t make it to the Hive on the 4th, just reach out to me and I can get you set up! We gotta get organized for next year! :)

You can buy it on my website HERE!

Happy Fall, y’all!

Fall into the Arts !

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October is Arts Month in Spokane and there is so much going on! I’m in two shows! I’ll be at Terrain’s Artist Preview Night (ticketed, the free event is on Friday) and at the Gonzaga Urban Art Center (on Washington, parking in the back) for the Watercolor Invitational Opening 4-7 on Friday! Where are you guys going for First Friday? There are so many good shows-I’m making a list so I can visit through the rest of the month!

I have one piece in this giant show-something unusual for me-see below!

This is Dr Ph Martin’s watercolors with collage and inspired by the little greenhouse my in-laws have that my father-in-law has turned into a tool shed. Walking by it at night is fun!

Have you been to the Gonzaga Urban Arts Center? It is really cool! An old brick building on Washington, it over looks the elevated train track so you’re eye level with the trains-really neat!

This is one of the five paintings I will have at the GUAC show.

Thank you to everyone who came out to see me at the Little Spokane River Artist Studio Tour! It was so great to see you all and share the many starry night paintings I made!

Govan Schoolhouse

Finally, I have just two more art classes on my schedule, both in October, before I go on my winter break. I’ll start teaching classes again in early spring in 2024.

Next Monday, my Landmarks Accordion Book class at the Corbin Art Center starts. It is the first time I’ve offered this class. If you’d like to join, but are worried about your drawing skills, I’ll have templates to help with drawing the architecture as seen above!

For more information on what I’m up to, check out my Events page.

2024 Spokane Calendar & Little Spokane Show & Free Urban Sketching!

in ,

Hello everyone!

I’ve had a few new people sign up for this newsletter so I wanted to pop in to update you all about upcoming things! Make sure to read all the way down to the bottom details about a free fun adventure!

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First off I have my 2024 calendar in stock in my online shop-you can buy it here and at the From Here store in River Park Square in down town Spokane starting on Thursday the 21st. I had previously said I would be taking pre-orders at the Little Spokane River Artist Studio tour on September 30th, but the rules concerning what reproductions have been clarified to me and it turns out I will not be able to do that so if you’d like a calendar please buy one through my website and we can arrange local pick up! I’ll also have them with me at 33 Artists on November 4th if you’d like to buy directly from me in person!

Here’s a video flip through of the calendar!

The Little Spokane River Artist Studio tour is happening on September 30th. I’ll be at Collista’s studio. I’ll have a bunch of new paintings with me including a special series of mini-paintings inspired by the night sky out on the Palouse. Scroll down to get a sneak peek. These little guys (3” x 5”-5”x 7”) will be a great way to get a piece of original art at a great price!

Steptoe Stars

Govan Schoolhouse Stars

I also had a great time teaching urban sketching at the Northwest Museum and Culture recently. We painted the white mansion at the end of the block. Thanks to all of my lovely students!

If you would like to take a class with me, check out my events page for upcoming classes!

Finally the thing you scrolled down all the way to the bottom for! All of you are invited to come sketch in Riverfront Park with me on Saturday the 23rd 4-5:30. We’ll meet at the Rotary Fountain. There won’t be any instruction, nor supplies provided but I thought it would be fun to gather as a last hurrah of the plein air season! Hope to see you there!

Good bye August, hello September!

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It’s been a busy summer here-so I’m squeaking this in under the wire for the month! I’ve got a couple secret projects I’m working on that I have to keep under my hat, but here are some paintings that I can share that I’ve finished recently.

I’ve been working on a series of paintings all about the joy of getting in a canoe or kayak on the amazing lakes in the area.

Send me all your lake recs-small and big! I don’t have a kayak of my own, but I’ll figure out a way to get on the water.

This painting has been on my to do list for a long time. The way the light hit this hill on my way back from Pullman to Spokane really caught my eye!

This painting was inspired by a photo taken by a delightful art patron of mine-the view down Riverside!

I’m really thrilled with this painting-its going to be my Christmas card for this year. If you commission a painting from me or buy a large original work, you also get a Christmas card from me for that year. Just sayin’! :)

And if you need an opportunity to buy some of my art-I’ll be at the Little Spokane River Artist Studio tour at Collista’s studio (the furthest north). I’ll have all original work only, but I will be taking pre-orders for my 2024 calendar with a sample that you can flip through.

This painting is hanging at Terra Blanca Winery for this month as part of the preview show for the Little Spokane River Artist Studio tour. Stop on by if you want to get an idea of what kind of art will be at the show!

CLASSES

So I just finished my Painting Watercolor Flowers class at the Spokane Art School and it was great! If you’d like to take classes with me for the fall, check out my events page-HERE. My last plein air class of the year is in Browne’s Addition on the 9th of September-we’ll be sketching the historic houses near the NW Museum of Art and Culture. I’ll have a Paint & Sip with them in October and I have two classes coming up at the Corbin Art Center, both new classes and something a little different from my usual-I hope you’ll join me in drawing and painting a “favorite spot” or making an accordion book of Spokane landmarks. See you out there!

Painting the PNW-Out Standing in Her Field

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Hi Guys!

The title of this newsletter is taken from a joke-How do you tell if a farmer is good at his job? He’s outstanding in his field!

Well-this isn’t my field, but I sure had a good time standing out in the field at Slavin Natural Area, just south of the south hill.

The glowing light was incredible!

Most of my plein air (French for painting outside basically-fancy!) kit. I had a little REI stool and I carry all of this in a small Osprey backpack plus sunscreen, water for me, bug spray and an extra layer.

Painting the pond

Had a lot of fun with the texture of the grass in the foreground.

Gorgeous long shadows in the evening-what a great time to paint!

If you’d like to paint with me-I’ve got two classes in July for painting in Spokane Parks.

One on the 12th which you can sign up for here at Riverfront Park and another on the 26th at Manito Park that is through the Corbin Art Center and you can sign up for that here. All skill levels welcome-instructions will be personalized for students. I hope you can join me! If you’re interested in what I have going on in August, check out the Events section of my website.

This is my last art festival of the summer on July 30th at the Wonder Building 11-5. I’d love to see you guys and say hi! Thank you to everyone who came out to see me at Manito Art Festival and Bazaar-both shows were great!

Here’s a recently finished painting inspired by a kayaking trip with a friend to Horseshoe Lake. Did you know there are multiple lakes with that name in our area? Thank goodness we carpooled so we didn’t end up at different lakes!

This painting is inspired by a patron who shared this photo with me-a view straight down Riverside.

Happy 4th everyone! Have a lovely and safe weekend!

Jumping June-Art Festivals, Classes & a Throwback!

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June is a busy month! I have two art shows right in a row-First the Manito Park Art Festival on Saturday June 10th and then Bazaar in downtown Spokane on Main on the 17th. I’ll be bringing my puzzles and several new paintings and I’d love to see you!

This is the view of the Pavilion as seen with my back to the Pavilion Art Space. My art is on display at the Pavilion Art Space until August. Right now there are two framed paintings and 3 framed sketchbooks (unusual for me!). I’m hoping to add sketches from my students once my Riverfront Park sketch crawl classes start happening. I really enjoyed having my sketchbooks up on the wall. I’d like to do an exhibit of my sketchbooks someday. Is that something you guys would be interested in?

I have painted the Rockwood Boulevard Towers before, but someone asked me to do a winter version as well so here it is-just in time for the Manito Art Festival!

I’ve taught at the Corbin Art Center for 10 years which I was shocked to realize recently. It is also the 125th anniversary of the Corbin House’s construction-so I guess, the house is probably even more shocked about how fast the time has gone than I am! Have you ever taken a class at Corbin?

This painting is at Craftsman Cellars for the Little Spokane River Artist Studio Tour Preview Show this month if you want a peek at what the artists will be at LSRAST this September.

Now for a fun throwback! My mom sent me this photo recently-its me in our hotel room in Hawaii. I think I’m around 12-13.

This is me in 2017 sketching in the UK, photo also taken by my mom. Clearly not much has changed! I still love to travel and to make art!

One last thing!

I’ve got sketchcrawl classes at Riverfront Park and Manito Park coming up in July and August. If you’d like to sign up for one of them here’s the link to my shop!

I was also thinking it’d be nice to do a sketching class in June. Email me back if you’re interested and let me know if weekday or weekend would be better and I’ll bang together a class sign up link to send out. We’d be aiming for either morning or evening so we don’t fry in the heat!

Hope to see you soon!

My April Adventures!

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I’ve been busy in April enjoying working on various creative projects that don’t have anything to do with my work, such as messing around with making yard art and turning a giant cardboard roll into a huge pencil. It’s been fun to work with my creativity in a different way-3D!

In other new, I’m a big reader and the highlight of April for me was a gathering with my book club in Quincy. We have members in Seattle, Portland and Deer Park so Quincy was the closest we could get to the mid-point. On my trip to the Airbnb I stopped off at the Feathers-a basalt column ridge that is just 10 minutes off of 1-90 and is very popular with rock climbers.

I was able to just walk up to this cool formation and watch the rock climbers working on scaling them.

I was absolutely charmed by the gap between two of the “Feathers” and the sliver of sunlight field beyond it. When I stepped through, I discovered that I had parked in an unofficial parking lot as I looked out over multiple tents pitched around a larger paved spot. Children ran around laughing and voices floated down from the climbers up above my head.

Our Airbnb was one of these modernist houses on the Cave B Winery complex. I’d highly recommend it. The location is stunning and you can walk to the lip of the gorge (as well as the Gorge Amphitheater venue!)

This shows you the view of the Columbia.

Some of the group wanted to do some wine tasting, so I sketched as we sat on the lawn.

Yellow bells and the below columbia variation of the arrowleaf balsamroot that I see in the Spokane area were both in bloom, but the major flush of spring growth is probably happening right around now.

So cheery!

We walked part of the Upper Ancient Lakes Trailhead and this is the view of Frenchman’s Coulee from the top of a cliff. You can just see the waterfall in the distance, descending the fatherest cliff on the right. New goal-returning to hike out closer to the waterfall some day!

I continued my drive west and stopped at the University of Washington to catch the tail end of the cherry blossom bloom at the quad. There was a lot of rain and wind on my way over the pass and you can the cherry blossom petals fallen like pink snow on the ground.

I was lucky that there was a break in the weather so I was able to squeeze in a sketch in around an hour. I had my hood up and cinched against the wind for most of it. Thank goodness for gortex!

Even past their prime, the trees are just stunning!

Further progress on the sketch!

The cherry blossoms got into everything!

Final sketch!

Finally-if you’re planning to go out and about for First Friday (the 5th)-I’ll be hanging out at the new Spokane Art School location on 2nd with my fellow teachers for the faculty art show. I’d love to see you!

Take a Class with Me!

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Hi Everyone!

I have quite a few classes planned for this spring and summer! This email covers just spring classes, but if you are interested in taking an urban sketching class with me this summer, go to my website to the Events section and I have all of my current classes scheduled through August listed there.The spring catalog for the Corbin Art Center classes will get posted soon, so if it isn’t up when you look, please check back!

I hope to paint with you in these upcoming months!

Paint and Sip

Northwest Museum of Art and Culture

Thursday, March 16, 2023

5:45-7:45 pm

 $18 members, $20 non-members 

Explore your inner artist in this watercolor painting workshop led by Spokane artist Megan Perkins, best known for her whimsical paintings of Spokane city landmarks. Along with a reference image, a complimentary glass of wine (21+) or a bottle of water is included. 

*Art supplies NOT provided, please see recommended supply list in confirmation email.*

If you have any questions about this program, please contact Amanda Gardner at 509.363.5357 or amanda.gardner@northwestmuseum.org.

SIGN UP HERE!

Sketchbook Habit

Corbin Art Center

April 10th, 24th, (We SKIP the 17th!), May 1st and 8th, 5:30-7:30

Experience the joy of playing in your sketchbook. In this class we will explore techniques such as notan, blind contour, hatching, color blocking, and more as a route to making work that improves our skills while embracing fun and defeating the inner critique. The goal is to learn ways to make art in small bits of time regularly so that you can make art every day. Please note, you WILL be expected to work in your sketchbook between class sessions. How can you develop a habit without practice? :) (smiley face can be omitted if desired)

You can register for this class at the Corbin Art Center.

Window Swap

Corbin Art Center

April 21st 1-3 pm
This is a 1 session, 2 hour class for all skill levels. 14 year old and up. 

Interested in warming up for plein air (drawing/painting outside) season? In this class, we will use the website “Window Swap” as our inspiration. People from all around the world submit video clips of the view from their window. Travel the world from your chair! Students will learn how to simplify a scene, draw accurately and interpret a video into a sketch. Class can be followed up with the urban sketching/plein air classes that will be offered in the summer.  

Register with the Corbin Art Center.

Big Sky

Spokane Art School

For students 14 years old and up

$72

Thursdays, April 27, May 4 & 11, 2023

5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

 

Skies have a huge impact on a painting, sometimes taking up a large amount of the paper, and dramatically affecting the mood and atmosphere of the work. The sky should be considered carefully when planning a painting. In this class, led by Spokane artist Megan Perkins, students will tackle painting the sky – with clouds, mist, full of color, or as a neutral backdrop with a focus on being expressive and allowing the medium of watercolor to do its magic.

Sign up HERE

Creating Mood in a Landscape


Saturday, April 29, 2023

10 am - 4 pm

 $45 members, $50 non-members 

Learn how time of day, color, lighting, and composition all work together to create mood in a landscape, whether that is happy and bright, dramatic, or tranquil. Students will learn from local teaching artist Megan Perkins to complete multiple studies using techniques to alter mood while using the same reference image, then you will complete a final painting based on your favorite study. Please bring a reference picture to work from. 

If you have any questions about this program, please contact Amanda Gardner at 509.363.5357 or amanda.gardner@northwestmuseum.org.

SIGN UP HERE!

Sketch Out at Riverfront Park

Corbin Art Center

May 31st 1-3 pm at Riverfront Park.  

Want to try your hand at drawing from life? Come join us at Riverfront Park! In this class you will learn how to capture the energy of the park and the beautiful scenery in your sketchbook! Megan Perkins will show her urban sketching kit and demo how she tackles painting on location before helping students make their own piece of art drawing on the inspiration of Riverfront Park. Students have the option of displaying their work alongside Megan’s at the Pavilion Art Space in Riverfront Park. If that is desired, please bring loose leaf paper or a sketchbook where the pages can be torn out for your sketching surface.

We will meet at the Numerica Ice Skate Ribbon.

Students have the option of displaying their work alongside Megan’s at the Pavilion Art Space in Riverfront Park. If that is desired, please bring loose leaf paper or a sketchbook where the pages can be torn out for your sketching surface.

Sign up with the Corbin Art Center.

Please check out my Events Page if you would like to see my summer classes and get those dates on your calendar!

February Fumblings

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Anyone else a bit confused that we’re almost to the end of February? How did that happen? I’m not sure. The snow is off the ground in most of Spokane, but out here in Deer Park, we still have a stubborn foot or so of crusty snow on all unplowed surfaces, but there is a regular dripping sound of thaw and I’ve been watching the cedar waxwings have a riot in our ash trees, eating the red, weather-worn berries, and swooping about in a mini-murmuration. The flowing, rhythmic motion is utterly fascinating. If you’d like an extraordinary example of murmuration, google- starling flock murmuration. It is incredible. I saw a huge flock doing this over the streets over Rome well over a decade ago (it was my first time seeing this phenomenon) and I’ve never forgotten it.

Speaking of birds-here’s another beloved favorite-the noble (and adorable) quail! Male quail will perch up high to keep watch over the ladies and babies. What gentlemen!

More birds! This is a painting from my Mythology/Geology series that I spoke about at the Hive. Thank you to everyone who came to the talk-it was a great success and I loved talking with you all.

This painting in particular is inspired by the rock outcroppings you find in sparse ponderosa pine forests (Seen most often by me in the Dishman Hills, but also in the Bowl and Pitcher Area) and the Sunburst Light at the Fox Theater, whose large Art Deco panels reminded me of basalt columns. I’m pleased to say that this piece already has a new home on the walls of a dedicated nature and Fox Theater lover!

Here’s some studies of turkeys from my sketchbook. Turkeys may look mostly black/grey (especially females) but there’s actually quite a bit of color there if you look.

Doing a small study of the whole scene to figure out placement of the figures.

Another sketchbook study from the large train painting I had on display during my talk at the Hive. This painting was inspired by seeing a train racing along on the tracks as I was driving home around sunset. To me, it seemed like the train was pulling evening along behind it.

As for this, I was cleaning my flat files to accommodate a newly acquired set (a lucky find that my husband spotted for me), when I found this painting I did years ago tucked in a drawer in a pile of collages! It seemed to fit well with the series I am working on now and I was delighted to rediscover it and wanted to share it with you.

Spring classes have all been submitted and I’m waiting for the catalog to go online for the Corbin Art Center and Parks and Rec. I’ve listed all of my classes under the event tab on my website and my next email to you all will be my whole spring selection of classes. There’s been a lot of requests for urban sketching/plein air painting so that is on the docket for late spring/summer and I hope you’ll be able to come paint with me!

January Happenings

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Hello Everyone! I’ve been taking it slow going into the new year, helped along by a persistent head cold. It must be going around as almost everyone I know seems to have been or is sick. Tis the season for it I suppose, but I hope that you are healthy and well!

In other news, I recently learned that Boot’s Bakery has to relocate due to difficulties with their landlord. Luckily they’ve found a new place to land and are even staying in the same neighborhood! They are moving into the Saranac Commons just across the street. I’m so happy that we won’t be losing them, but I am sad that my painting of their iconic blue storefront will no longer be accurate. Alison, the owner, bought the original painting and for many years, it hung at Boot’s. Wherever it hangs now, I hope it brings her many happy memories.

I’ve been painting Spokane landmarks since 2017 and it has been interesting to see stalwart businesses change location, close or remodel. The city is in a constant state of flux! I wonder what the next 10 years will bring? Who will be the new beloved icons? How many of the old will hold on, close or change? I’ll be there with my paintbrush in hand!

Bye old Boot’s!

My presentation at the Hive about my latest series focusing on the mythology, geology, history and tall tales of the Inland Northwest is coming up on the 28th. The painting above is part of the series-a black tailed jackrabbit in front of the Sam Hill Stonehenge on the Gorge. I'm excited to show you my inspiration for the new series, some of the paintings I've finished for it, and to record any family stories, regional myths or tall tales that you might have to share. Click here to see the Facebook event page with all the details.

The Spokane Journal of Business got in touch and licensed my painting “Huntington Park Spring” to be the cover for their Book of Lists for this year. Friends have been sending me photos of it in the wild. This was sent to me by the lovely Karol! Thank you for that! It is always fun to get photos and messages from people saying they’ve seen my art as they go about their business around town.

And if you are feeling a bit disorganized or would like to own 12 mini-prints of my paintings to decorate your office with, there are still a few calendars looking for a home at the From Here store in the downtown mall!

Classes

Finally, if you’re looking for classes, they will start popping up in March with a Paint and Sip at the Northwest Museum of Art and Culture. I’m planning my classes with the Spokane Art School and Corbin Art Center as I write this- so if you have a request for a subject (Skies, Flowers, Water, Architecture, Urban Sketching, Plein Air, Sketchbook habit or whatever!), give me a shout and I can get that on the schedule. I hope to be painting with you in the upcoming months!