2022

Happy Holidays!

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Wishing you all the best, now and in the new year! Thank you so much for all your support!

2022 has been a wild ride here filled with many firsts: my first full year in my newly built studio (thank you to everyone who celebrated with me at my Open Studio in August!), first artist residency (at the Hive), first time getting a painting in a Northwest Watercolor Society Show, first time having my paintings turned into public art (Four utility box wraps-one in Spokane and three in SeaTac) as well as a return to more familiar things such as a busy art festival season. It’s been wonderful to get to see your faces and talk in person again. I have missed that! New ventures such as teaching a flower painting class at Barn & Blossom, a local nursery on the South Hill and doing a sketchcrawl with the Center for Children’s Book Arts from their location to Riverfront Park kept me fresh. It is always a delight to initiate people into the joy that is making art. I also tried to take some time off from work and spent a bit of time on the shores of various lakes with family and friends culminating in an epic road trip with a childhood friend to Glacier National Park. All those lakes are frozen over now or at least on their way to it and my breath hangs in the air like mist as I walk to my studio. Ice gilds the frozen ground and tan, dried grass pokes out from beneath crusty snow piles. The days are getting shorter and shorter as the night lengths. When I step out of my studio at the end of the day, I see the moon rising through the branches of the trees, a silver disk, shining in the deep, indigo sky, lighting my path. The night is hushed, snow glittering like the stars above. All is calm, all is bright, somehow even in the darkness, as I head homeward. Wishing you peace and joy in both dark and day to light your way.

Little Spokane River Studio Tour 9/24/22 & Sketch Adventures!

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Thank you to everyone who came out to my Open Studio last month. it was a fabulous day and it was so great to see you all and show you my studio! I am so grateful for all of you.!

I’ve been a busy bee and teaching a lot of classes. This painting was completed during my first class with the Children’s Center for Book Arts. A group of children and adults walked from the Center down to the park, sketching along the way.

We stopped to sketch on one of the bridges!

A marker, pen and colored pencil sketch on top of a pre-painted page made as a demo for the my Spokane Art School Sketchcrawl class.

And the big news! I’ll be at the Little Spokane River Artist Studio Tour this upcoming Saturday. I’ll be at Collista Kreb’s Studio-#1 on the list, which also happens to be the furthest north-so come visit me first and work your way back south!

Hope you are all doing well during this transition from summer into fall! May your homegrown tomatoes be many and the smoke stay light!

Painting in Glacier National Park

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I just returned from a fabulous trip to Glacier National Park. It was my first time visiting and I was totally blown away by the towering mountains, multitude of waterfalls, and the terrifying narrowness of the Going to the Sun Road, haha! I went with a dear friend who also happens to be an excellent photographer so you scroll down to see some photos of me in action, trying to capture the grandeur of the park in some small way!

Wild Goose Island Viewpoint

Avalanche Lake-reached after almost 7 miles of hiking (We had to park far from the trail head thanks to crowds). This high alpine lake was surrounded by mountains with waterfalls cascading down them. It was gorgeous and the water was incredibly refreshing after our hot, sweaty hike.

Me, painting at Avalanche Lake.

Ideal plein air painting conditions!

A close up painting of a waterfall on the much quieter eastern side of the park.

Action shot of me painting the waterfall above taken by my friend! Lots of chatting with other hikers about painting-it was fun!

On our last day in the park it was well over 90 degrees and very crowded so rather than hiking very long distances just to get to the trail heads, we did a little exploring and then spent the afternoon at McDonald Lake, swimming and painting.

The hills across from us were scarred with burned out trees from a fire. Many of the plants have grown back but the silvery dead trees are still standing.

I try to sketch whenever I get the opportunity-here’s the front of the little shop where we got our dinner. I’ll add paint later.

This was dinner on another night! I asked for a normal sized double scoop of ice cream and instead I got this delicious monstrosity! It took me a while to get through it, but I did it!

Now that I’m back from Montana, I’m doubling down on getting ready for my Open Studio! I can’t wait for you guys to come visit! Please share this invite with all your friends. I think its going to be a great time and guess what! I’ve rented a 24” x 24” tent so we’ll have shade! Very exciting!

Stay cool my friends and see you soon!

Summer is Here & the Painting is HOT

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Hello Everyone!

Manito Art Festival and Bazaar both went amazingly well despite some turbulent spring weather. Thank you to everyone who came out, whether it was to chat or to buy. It was so great to see you all!

I’ve finally settled on a date and I would like to invite you all to my Open Studio, Saturday August 27th. You’ll be able to finally see in person the studio you watched get built via my updates here, all decorated and busting with creativity. We can deep dive in my flat files, explore my sketchbooks and unframed work and hopefully have plenty of time to chat! I’ll have my booth up so you can buy originals, prints, cards, books and, hopefully, calendars, if something strikes your fancy! There will be delicious nibbles (bruschetta made from homegrown tomatoes anyone?) and all of my students (and anyone else who wants to!) are invited to bring their painting supplies to sketch in my garden and surrounding yard (I live on 10 acres!). I’m hoping that this will be a big art party. I’ve felt very supported and loved by my community (you guys!) these past two or so years so this is my thank you to you all and an opportunity for my dear friends to meet! You’ll get a formal invite email toward the end of July and please do RSVP-it’ll let me know how much prosecco to buy, haha!

This is a recently completed house portrait commission was an absolute delight to make-the light in particular, is glorious and I’ve always had a soft spot for yellow houses. Someday, I will live in a yellow house.

This piece, inspired by the view from a patron’s office, is going to be on display with other work by From Here artists in the display classes near baggage claim at the Spokane Airport. If you’re doing some traveling this summer-take a peek! And tell me where you’re going so I can live vicariously through you!

This painting is hanging at the Liberty Gallery (2nd floor of Auntie’s by the elevators) for a show all about Riverfront Park. Stop by and check out the other artwork inspired by our magnificent park!

I’ll be showing artwork at Dry Fly Distillery for the whole month of July. It’s a really neat location. I especially like being able to see all the distilling equipment through their big windows.

Wishing you all the best and hope to see you at my Open Studio!

June Happenings!

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Despite all the rain and cold weather, summer is definitely underway with two art festivals in June. I’ll be at the Manito Art Festival June 11th 10-8, followed by Bazaar in downtown Spokane which takes place across from River Park Square on Saturday June 18th, also 10-8. I’d love to see you, so come on by!

June 18th, 10-8 in downtown Spokane!

Last Tuesday we had our first Garland Sketchcrawl of the season and the sun finally came out for us! Want to sketch Garland with me? Your next chance is June 8th 5-7. To see what other classes I have planned for the summer, check out my Events Page.

I’ve been having fun in the studio revisiting my April trip to the Skagit Valley for the Tulip Festival.

The color and diversity of the tulips blew me away!

I’ve also been revisiting sketchbooks from various other summer trips and reveling in the memories, especially of trips to the coast. I bet most of you know where this is!

This magical moment actually happened. All that was needed was for me to click the shutter on my phone camera and then try to make a painting that lived up to it.

I spent some time at Ecola State Park which had gorgeous views. When I was there, I did some painting on location but had to retreat occasionally to the car to wait out the rain. Ah, the Oregon Coast.

Now for some additional exciting news! I promised you all that once I was done with the studio, I’d have an Open Studio Day so you could all come and visit! I haven’t forgotten! We’re adding a little deck to the front of the studio to make the footing better and shoveling snow in the winter easier, but we should be done soon and I’m hoping to do a celebratory party in August-drinks, nibbles, art and fabulous company (aka YOU!). I’ll keep you posted as soon as we have a date!

See you soon!

Megan

April Showers bring May Adventures!

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I’ve been luxuriating in my studio this past month and planning my summer adventures! Here’s a bit of what I’ve been up to!

A Riverfront Park painting based on a sketch made a year ago sitting on the grass. See below! It’s been too cold for painting outside lately still. I heard on the news that it was the coldest April since 2010!

This was made using watercolor and markers, whipped out between errands.

I’ve been diving into my giant archive of inspiration photos. I took a picture of this rose arbor down in Gearhart, OR two years ago. The shadow really caught my eye.

This is a Japanese Anemone that I photographed in the perennial garden at Manito last fall. I added some luscious colored pencils on top of the watercolors which was fun.

This painting was a demo for a Paint & Sip class at the Northwest Museum of Art and Culture last week. It was super fun to loosen up and paint big, bold, and expressively and my students were a delight!

I’ve been meaning to do stickers for ages and I’m finally getting around to it. Here’s my first design and my 2nd is below.

I showed this design to my mom and she didn’t know where it was from. She’s been coming to Spokane for almost 40 years to visit her sisters who live on the South Hill. Do you know where I got the inspiration for this sticker?

All of my May classes have sold out and my other classes are filling fast. I’ve added some new one-day sketching classes with Barn & Blossom in July and the Center for Children’s Book Arts (soon to open in mid-May) in August. If you’re hoping to take a class with me this summer, hop on over to my Events Page on my website and see what I’m up to. I’d love to paint with you!

Take a Class with Me!

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Hi everyone! I’ve got a bunch of classes coming up this spring and I’d love to paint with you. I’ve got a whole range of subjects-skies to flowers to Spokane scenes so hopefully there’s something in here that will appeal to you.

Paint and Sip

Thursday, April 21, 2022, 5:45 - 7:45 pm

Location: Northwest Museum of Art and Culture

Cost: $18 members, $20 non-members

Class Limit: 20

Location: Museum Art Studio

Explore your inner artist in this watercolor painting workshop led by Spokane artist Megan Perkins best known for her whimsical painting of Spokane city landmarks. Megan will pick a landmark for you to paint which we will share with you by email before the workshop date. A complimentary glass of wine (21 and over) or bottle of water is included.

Sign up here!


Painting Big Skies

Saturday, April 30, 2022, 10 am - 4 pm

Location: Northwest Museum of Art and Culture

Cost: $40 members, $45 non-members

Class Limit: 20

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 more neutral backdrop with a focus on being expressive and allowing the medium of watercolor to do its magic.

There will be a break for lunch. Bring your own and grab lunch at one of the neighborhood spots!


Sign up here!

Learn to Paint Flowers in Watercolor

5/3/22-5/24/22, Tuesdays, 6-8 PM

Location: Corbin Art Center

Love flowers? Learn how to draw and paint them in watercolor. We’ll break down flowers into basic shapes, paint individual “portraits” of flowers and then zoom out to depict blooming plants as groups, such as a full flowerpot or garden bed. We’ll discuss painting buds, blooms and leaves as well. Please bring your own photos or pictures to paint from.

Sign up HERE!

Garland Sketchcrawl

Location: Spokane Art School

For adult students

$20 for each workshop

Wednesday, June 8 2022,

5 – 7 p.m.

 

Come sketch the fabulous landmarks of the Garland neighborhood with me. Learn to sketch on location and add color with watercolors, colored pencils or markers (your choice). Urban sketching is an art adventure!

Sign up HERE


Garland Sketchcrawl repeats on July 13th, 9-11 am and August 17th, 9-11 am. if you can’t make it to the session in June!

January Painting

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I spent the month of January getting back into the groove of painting in the studio after the busyness of the holiday season. I’m going to be showing paintings at Bellwether Brewing in March so I pushed hard to get some new paintings done. I think I’m at the point that I can start framing and assess whether I need to make a few more-they have BIG walls at Bellwether!

This painting is of Palouse Falls and is inspired by a sketched painted on location made last spring. Yes, there really was a rainbow!

The first time I painted this scene I was leading a paint along on Zoom with the students of Mukogawa University and it came out well enough that I wanted to do a more polished version.

I have been asked to paint the Glover Mansion a couple times and I thought this would be a good opportunity to finally do so. It seems like a lot of people have fond memories of weddings at the Mansion. I still remember being blown away by the ceiling murals when I visited during a First Friday Event several years ago.

Watching the old White Elephant Building get demolished made me really sad, so this painting is a celebration of its fabulous murals of parading elephants. I will miss seeing them whenever I drive down Division.

I visited the Duncan Gardens during the height of the blooming season and while the flower designs are gorgeous every year, whoever planned the planting for last year really hit it out of the park for me. That color! I’ve painted the Duncan Gardens a couple times so it was a fun challenge to pick a new point of view.

This little marmot is bringing home his Christmas tree! I like to have a new Christmas card every year to send people and I like to work on them when there is still snow on the ground-much easier to get in the mood than in the baking summer heat or even the fall and it gives me something to festive to think about even when the lights and decorations are all packed away. I’m not sure this is the final card-I have another marmot design, as well as a couple other thoughts, but it was fun to paint!