100 Day Project

I decided that since I’m home anyway, this is the year to finally try the 100 Day Project which is exactly what it sounds like-a project that you design/plan and do for 100 days. I’ve seen all sorts of projects-100 days of knitting, haiku writing, collage, paper cuts, origami, painting, song composing, and more. I’ve done 30 day challenges before, but this is three times as long and I’m a little daunted! I decided to do my project based on exercises suggested by Nathan Fowkes in his “How to Paint Landscapes Quickly and Beautifully”. I wanted to make sure I had a variety of different activities to do so I don’t get bored over 100 days, but all of them are similarly themed. To make it manageable all of the paintings will be no larger than 5” x 7” and most of them will be smaller. All of the paintings will be in watercolor and or gouache and the value studies can be in paint or markers in shades of gray.

Painting Exercises:

1. Small color copies of master paintings

2. Gray scale value studies of master paintings

3. Painting the same view outside my studio window at different times of day and weather conditions

4. 20 stroke paintings-a focus on simplicity and what is essential

5. Three colors plus white used to make an abstract composition

The project officially started April 7th, but you can join any time. Maybe it might give you something fun to do to pass the time?

Here are a few of the paintings I’ve done in the first two weeks!

Yes, we had overnight snow in early April. It all melted by mid-morning thank goodness.

I spotted this dramatic lighting between spring storms.

Study of a Maynard Dixon painting

Gouache study of “Capri Stairs” by John Singer Sargent

Gouache studies of contemporary masters

My first attempt at a 20 stroke painting. It is much closer to a 35 stroke painting! This is really tough-both to think strategically and limit brushstrokes AND remember to count!

Sketching at Home

Hi everybody! We’re still doing well here. Friday was my first time leaving the house to go anywhere in two weeks (grocery store run). I’m grateful to be able to get out for a walk or poke around the garden even though the weather has been less than welcoming lately.

Since we’ve been getting snow in the morning pretty regularly I’ve been exploring around the house. This is my reading nook! The colorful throw on the armchair is a kantha quilt made from silk sari scraps that I bought when I was in Kolkata last year.

This is a vignette of part of the house, looking back toward the front door from my spot at the kitchen table. I picked up the bust at an estate sale and she gets decorated pretty regularly. The rainbow colored fabric was purchased back in 2008 when I went to Ecuador.

I’m starting seeds inside for the garden and they are rapidly outgrowing their space in our living room so I’m very excited for the warmer weather predicted for this week!

This is a recently finished commission of Bozarth mansion, known to old school Zag alums as Waikiki. My cousin got married there two years ago and I was utterly obsessed with their walled garden.

This is a fun and silly self portrait of the artist in her studio, creative juices swirling. Yes, when it is cold, I put my bathrobe over all my other clothes. Blankets just fall off and I’m not willing to accept a snuggy yet. Have I mentioned that I’m looking forward to warmer weather?

Best wishes and health to you all!

Staying Home, Making Art

Well, the Stay Home, Stay Healthy order is fully in effect here in Washington. I’ve been sticking to the studio seriously for over a week at this point and everything is well here. I’m taking pleasure in the little things-new seedlings coming up under my grow lights, making Smitten Kitchen’s Puddle Cakes (I love a molten lava style chocolate cake), going for walks weather permitting (I couldn’t feel my face when I got back from my walk today!) and painting. So here’s a bit of what I’ve been up to since the end of February…

A friend posted a photograph of the Monroe Street Bridge on a foggy night and I found it super inspiring. He kindly gave me permission to use it as a basis for painting. The painting below was my first try-4” x 6”, warmer in color with paint colors with more granulation. The painting above is cooler and calmer and 9” x 12”. It is always tricky to keep the energy of a small painting in a large one!

Man, I love the way the paint pigment settles out on the paper. It’s the small things in life!

My last plein air sketch in Spokane for 2020 (so far!). I met a friend at Rocket Bakery on 1st and Cedar at the end of February and drew the Old Public Library (now home to an architect firm) while drinking a strawberry Italian soda with shipped cream.

Now that I’m serious self isolating, I’ve been looking around the house for inspiration as well. This is my kitchen. It is in the center of the house so it doesn’t get any direct sunlight so one winter I lost my mind about how dark the interior of the house was and painted the whole room yellow (Color name: “Bonjour”!). The cabinets are terrible, old laminate things so I spent hours watching ice skating during the Sochi Olympics covering the doors with sunflower themed scrap book paper and sealing it. They’ve held up pretty well so far!

Having more time on my hands means that I’m trying to push myself to try new things that I’ve been putting off-this is a combination of watercolor and watercolor ink. I’m also playing around with acrylic ink and gouache, so more to come!

I hope you are all well during this wild time and that you and your family are healthy. Best wishes from me!

Custer's Spring Arts & Crafts Show

Hi Guys!

In a little over a week, I’ll be at the Custer’s Spring Arts & Crafts show at the Fairgrounds! I’ve been framing many of the watercolors I shared in my last newsletter! And I’ll have prints of the Monroe St Bridge Arch and the Parkade! Hope to see you there!

Dates and Hours:

Friday, Mar. 6, 10am - 8pm

Saturday, Mar. 7, 10am - 6pm

Sunday, Mar. 8, 10am - 4pm

Admission: Adults $7.00 - Good all Weekend!
Kids 12 and under Free!
Acres of Free Parking!

Custer's 43rd Annual Spring Arts & Crafts Show features 300 professional artists and crafters from across the northwest displaying and selling their Fine Art, Hand Crafts and Specialty Foods. With over 78,000 square feet of exhibit space, this is the largest show of its kind in the Inland Northwest!

Discover One of a Kind Jewelry, Hand Thrown Pottery, Fused Glass Work, Wood Turning, Metal Art, Photography, Soaps, Candles, Paintings, Wearable Fiber Art, Mixed Media, Seasonal Decor and so much more!

Specialty foods include Loose Leaf Hand Crafted Teas, Gourmet Chocolate Caramel Apples, Artisan Cheeses, Balsamic Vinegars, Baking Mixes and more. Many of these items will be available to sample!

Enjoy the festive spring atmosphere with participants decorating their displays and selling items for gifts and home decor.

Wintry Scenes

This is a 5” x 7” painting of the Spokane falls when the sun has just gone down below the horizon and the Pavilion is starting to light up. With the lack of color in the landscape at this time of the year, I’m clearly digging on dramatic lighting to bring the color!

8” x 10”, Monroe Street Bridge on a slightly overcast winter day.

3” x 5” painting of the Philanthropy Center. I love the warm stone and orange-red roof on these cold winter days and the gnarled trees planted in the median. I actually did this painting AFTER the larger painting below because I wanted to see if I could do most of it wet in wet and have softer edges for mood rather than focusing on the architecture.

8” x 10” painting, done very deliberately. Which do you like better? This one or the little study?

4” x 6” study based on a photo snapped while waiting for a light one evening.

9” x 12” final. I love the granulation in the dark paint!

I’m painting like mad trying to get ready to hang work at the Rockwood Retirement Center (They have a HUGE wall for me to fill!) and have some new paintings at the Custer’s Spring Show the first weekend of March. Hope you all are well!

Snowed in and loving it

We’ve been snowed in to the point where the pantry is starting to get a bit bare, but I’ve been loving the excuse to hole up and paint in the studio. It’s pretty funny to me that I’m surrounded by white and the theme for this post is definitely GREEN, especially since I’m not sick of the snow yet. I still have a whole bunch of snow paintings to do!

This is a recently finished house portrait that will be a Valentine’s Day gift to a husband who loves fall.

This house portrait was commissioned by a loving daughter as a Christmas present to her parents!

My version of the Madonna and Child Stain Glass Christmas Display that used to hang on the Macy’s Building. I’m glad they managed to get it out of storage this year, but wish that it was a bit more centrally displayed. It ended up on an apartment building near our Lady of Lourdes. I initially tried to capture the color of the brick wall it is hung on, but I didn’t like how it came out (too dark and muddy for these brilliant colors!), so I cut out the stain glass design and I was so amused by the arch shape, I nearly left it like this.

But, a small arch shape is a bit odd and difficult to display (though perhaps I could think about mounting it on a custom wood panel!), so I glued it down onto a sheet that I painted lime green, drawn from the stain glass itself and to emphasis the brilliant and glowing colors of the stain glass.

This month my column in the Spokane Coeur D’Alene Living Magazine is focused on a painting of the Coeur D’Alene Resort on a beautiful summer day.

How are you all doing? Enjoying the snow or bemoaning it? My goal this winter is to go snow shoeing in my yard (We’ve got about 10 acres.) and try painting plein air without freezing my fingers off. We’ll see if I manage to achieve it!

Happy Holidays, Best Wishes from Me!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and all best wishes for you in this holiday season! Here are some of my favorite things to do this time of year.

Admire snow. Preferably in a warm jacket with a warm beverage. Or even better, from inside.

Go to the Davenport and admire their Christmas decorations and hopefully catch some live Christmas music.

Visit Manito Park to see the Gaiser Conservatory Lights. I recommend a week day if you don’t want to wait outside in the cold. Maybe a hot cocoa at Rockwood Bakery to go?

Wheatland Bank does free carriage rides in downtown Spokane for some old fashioned fun. I love seeing horses on the streets of downtown Spokane and hearing the jingling bells as they clop-clop by!

Whatever you’re doing, I hope it is lovely and I’ll see you in the new year! Here’s to another year of adventures! Thanks for coming along with me and for all your kind comments and support. I really appreciate it!

Winter is Here!

Hoo boy guys, we haven’t seen much snow yet, but last night, the high at my house was 15 degrees! As I write this on Sunday afternoon, the furnace keeps kicking on to keep us warm!

Other signs of winter and the holidays? Amaryllis for sale at all the grocery stores! I love these flowers. They are so dramatic. I like to track the unfolding of their blooms in my sketchbooks every year. I’ve got all of mine stashed in a dark closet, trying to prep them to bloom sometime in January and I have high hopes that I’ll get at least a couple of flowers out of them, but it is still hard to resist buying an already blooming plant at the store when I pass by!

I did this demo at my last watercolor class to demonstrate how to make something look further away when we were working on landscape and reflections. More water, less color intensity, and softer edges are key!

Here’s another demo from this class, this time also addressing sky. The sky is typically a darker and redder blue up high and gets lighter and yellower toward the horizon (all the dust and dirt and particles in the air). Clouds are way softer than you think and definitely not just white! The colors from the ground below reflect up into cloud bottoms! For reflections, dark objects usually reflect a little bit lighter than they actually are and light objects a little bit darker! There you go! A quick lesson. Have fun!

Now here are my last two holiday shows of the season (You can always find my stuff at Pottery Place Plus and the From Here Store all year round!):

Urban Art Coop’s Holiday Market which is THIS weekend. They have an paid preview night on Friday where you can meet the artists and get delicious nibbles and are open for free Saturday and Sunday. The show is managed by the co-op so if you want to chat with me in person, your best bet is my next show: BRRZAAR, Saturday December 14th at RiverPark Square Mall! Yes, the MALL. Now this was a great show last year with lots of amazing stuff (I bought a print of a giant marmot rampaging through the Monroe Street Bridge whipping the gondolas over his head.) so you should definitely brave the crowds and come!

Urban Art Co-op 3209 N Monroe St, Spokane, WA 99205

Friday- opening night 6-9pm light food 5.00 suggested donation at the door
Saturday- 10am to 6pm
Sunday- 10am to 4pm

RiverPark Square Mall in downtown Spokane!

Snowy Scenes & Holiday Shows!

My painting of the Woman’s Club was the feature of my column in the Spokane Coeur D’Alene Living Magazine this month. These columns are always such a great excuse to go digging around on the internet for the history of my favorite places and buildings around town.

Snow and historic buildings are still on my mind. This is the Fort Sherman Chapel, also known as “The Little Red Church”. It is the oldest still standing structure in Coeur D’Alene! It has been a church, a school house, and meeting area, and now seems to be a popular wedding venue!

Every year I enjoy sending out Christmas cards, though most years they are more “Happy New Year cards” than Christmas because things get so hectic during the holidays. I love to get snail mail and I know I’m not alone in the burst of excitement when I see an envelope in the mailbox that isn’t a bill or ad. This year I am doing a special postcard for people who have helped my art career along the way so, if you have taken a class with me, backed the Kickstarter, commissioned me, helped me show my work or bought over $100 in prints, cards, calendars, etc, reply to this email with your address and I’ll send you a postcard!

This guy is my most recent finished commission-the Liberty Building! The original is 30” x 22” and getting framed right now to be hung on location, but you can get 11” x 14” prints at my next show-CUSTER’S CHRISTMAS ART AND CRAFT SHOW. It is Nov 22-24th down at the Spokane County Fairgrounds. It is $10 to get in but I know there are some $1 off entrance fee coupons still down at the front desk of Pottery Place Plus if you want to grab one. It’s my first year at this show and I’m hopeful that it will go great.

Liberty Building Painting-Watch my Process

I was comissioned to paint the Liberty Building and just recently finished the commission. It was quite large-22” x 30”, which is a full sheet of Arches Watercolor paper and I wanted to do justice to one of my favorite places in Spokane (The home of both Auntie’s and Pottery Place Plus, makes it dear to my heart).

I started by doing sketches on site, trying to figure out proportions and settle on a size for the commission.

I counted windows and was surprised that there were more on one side than on another!

After I got the ok from the patron, I went to my final drawing and transferred it to the watercolor paper and began inking.

Inking is a slow and deliberate process.

A shot in action as I waited for the sky wash to settle down. I tackled the largest washes in the background and the road since I wanted soft edges between the road and the background.

Next the brickwork!

Working my way down.

Full color!

I had so much fun tackling this great subject in a big way. I can’t wait to visit it in its final home! Right now, it is at the printer, so 11” x 14” prints of this guy will be available soon!

Hope some of you can mak it to the show this weekend! It’s always a good time and supports the historic Woman’s Club!

Fall Love & Art Shows

Siemer’s Farm up at Greenbluff! This was drawn on location, sitting on the ground in the pumpkin field.

The Golden Hour!

Teeny Autumnal Road scene (3” x 5”). I’m loving playing around in this smaller format becuase it lets me experiment with colors and compositions quickly and have a lot of fun.

Another 3” x 5”, this time inspired by sunset on a wet road seen this last year on my drive. This guy will be for sale at the Spokane Art School Holiday Small Works and Ornament show November-December!

I’ll be at the Woman’s Club Holiday show on the second weekend of November. I always look forward to spending time with all the other cool artists. I’ll have a bunch of my calendars! Come get your Christmas presents!

I will also be the Custer Christmas Arts & Crafts Show at the Spokane County Fair Grounds November 22-24th. It is $7 at the door for the whole weekend. This is my first time doing this show and I’m excited to see how it goes!

Autumnal Adventures!

I’m writing to you on rainy Sunday afternoon with a pot of tomato sauce bubbling on the stove and a pan of tomatoes roasting in the oven. We’re well into autumn and I’m still processing the leftovers of summer in the form of many slowly ripening garden tomatoes. I’m a busy bee right now and I have some exciting news I hope to share with you all soon, but in the mean time, here’s a little of what I’ve been up to art-wise in the past two weeks!

This painting is of the University District Pedestrian Bridge over on the East side of town. I had a good view of it while I was waiting to get into the Terrain show at the Jensen-Byrd Building on First Friday, which was a rainy night. I like the contrast of the white arch and the dark foliage and sky.

I also participated in the Monster Drawing Rally benefit for the Spokane Art School this past Friday. Artists work on a painting/drawing for one hour and at the end of the hour, the painting is auctioned off for $50 to benefit the School’s children programs. Last year, I was sweating bullets toward the end so I decided to do even more prep work this time. I went with some happy pumpkins, I’m not much of monster girl!

Autumnal color palette!

The final piece! Mixed media-watercolor, pastels, and gold ink for some extra sparkle!

October is also known as Inktober to many artists. Inktober is an international art challenge founded by Jake Parker where people draw to draw in ink every day for the whole month of October. You can use the official prompts or do whatever you want. Trying to squeeze in some drawing, I drew during this month’s Art Salvage board meeting with the kind indulgence of my fellow board members.

I love drawing people I know and parts of my daily life because when I look back at the sketchbook, it will take me back to this time in my life and the people who surrounded me. So valuable!

Silly robot doodle!

I’m honored to have my work decorating the poster for the Kantorei Choir’s “Grant Us Peace” concert at St. John’s. I feel like the peaceful atmosphere of the painting is such a good fit for the concert’s name!

Small explorations!

I started doing a series of small paintings (5” x 3”) for the Little Spokane River Artist Studio Tour and I’ve really been enjoying it.

Thanks to everyone who braved the snow and cold rain to come to the show by the way! All of us artists really appreciate it! The show went really well and I am hoping to do the show next year.

Had way too much fun painting this little garbage goat! I wasn’t surprised that he got snapped up right away!

Paintings inspired by the landscape around my home. The painting on the bottom left was inspired by photos I took on my drive home. I saw that, pulled over and then walked back to take photos and a very nice lady asked if I was ok and I was like, “”Everything is fine! Just an art emergency!”

The top painting came from photos taken at Lake Crescent near our campground from my trip earlier this summer. The bottom left is the Monroe Street Bridge and the painting on the right is also based on my drive home on an evening with a beautiful sunset.

Fall and spring scenes here. I had a lot of fun playing around with different mat colors to go with paintings.

My feature in the Spokane Coeur D’Alene Living Magazine this month is all about my love for beautiful fall foliage. The year I did this painting the Japanese Gardens stayed open a couple days longer than usual so we could all enjoy the fabulous colors of the leaves. I hope we have a beautiful leave display this year and that the surprise snow earlier this month didn’t put it off!

Sketching at the Spokane County Fair

I always enjoy visiting the Spokane County Fair. I explore all of the animal barns, check out the crafting section (special interest in knitting and quilting), and pop in to marvel at the GIANT pumpkins and towering sunflowers, before wandering off to eat something unhealthy on a stick. No rides for me, but I do enjoy watching them-all flashing lights and color. What is your favorite thing to do at the fair?

I came out of the animal barns to the rear view of the carnival rides. I loved the colorful tent and Ferris wheel and sat down right there to draw!

Amazing Eurasian Eagle Owl.

My September Spokane Coeur D’Alene Living Magazine column using sketches from a visit to the fair two years ago, pigs and a really fun bear ride where people climb into the cavity of the bears and ride around and around and around. No thank you for me, but cute to look at!

My animal sketches for this year at the Spokane County Fair. I forgot my stool so all of these were drawn standing up and color was added from memory while sitting on the bleachers. I always enjoy exploring the animal barns at the fair and the chance for an up close look at the different species. It can be challenging drawing a live subject but I feel like you learn so much more about the animal than you do when you draw from pictures.

GIANT PUMPKINS (that is all.)!

I will be at this show this year at Kay’s art studio! This is my favorite show of the year to visit so I’m so excited to be a part of it. An extra bonus is getting to snoop in the artists’s beautiful gardens and studios as well as ll the fabulous artists.

There I am in the fourth column! I hope to see you there!

Lake Crescent

One of the highlights of this summer was getting to make a quick foray up to the Olympic Peninsula with a dear friend. She was kind enough to share with me one of her treasured places-Lake Crescent. We had quite an adventure getting there (over 10 hours of travel for me) and tent sites can’t be reserved at the camp ground near the lake so when we finally got there after a major road closure, we found that the campground was full. Quick Googling found us another campsite not too far away and we were able to spend the night there and the next day, we woke up and had this view to look forward to. Lake Crescent in all its glory. Worth it!

My friend, Danielle, is an experienced camper. In fact, my first experience camping was when I was 10 years old with her family. While I pretty much never camp (This is the first time in nearly 5 years!), Danielle has carried on the tradition of camping and has picked up all sorts of outdoor skills and supplies. This is a tiny chimney style stove that she used to boil hot water to make us coffee and instant oatmeal one morning. Do you guys go camping?

This was the view from our campsite. I could see why this was Danielle’s favorite campground in the area! Lake Crescent is incredibly clear and I was fascinated by the way the color of the lake changed depending on the depth of the water. I painted this as the light shone through the trees and adorable duck families paddled by. A great memory.

Our campsite was just yards up from the lake front and we had a great view through the trees. We hung Danielle’s hammocks and we had our morning coffee and contemplation in them. I, of course, chugged my coffee and put it down so I could draw. These little stuff sack hammocks sure are fun and I can’t believe how easily you can set them up. I may have to buy one!

Danielle has a camping tradition of playing the ukulele and singing around the campfire after dinner (multi-talented, this friend of mine!). I painted this by the light of the dying campfire, using memory to mix colors. Her face should be much redder due to the fire, but I’m quite pleased with how it came out, especially the contrast between the warmer colors of her face and the cooler ones on her hand and uke where her phone screen light (for reading lyrics) shone up at her. Ah, the magic of camping!

In the grand tradition of National Parks, Lake Crescent has a historic lodge that’s heavy on the dark wood and has a giant fireplace. My favorite spot was the sun porch-windows all the way around with views of the lake and great light. I painted this while enjoying a mojito and it’s a miracle that I didn’t drink my paint water or put my brush in my mojito.

Photo credit: Danielle Curl

More camping adventures with Danielle doing the work and I sketch. 😄😝 I drew her progress from right to left across the pages and she started a fire with flint and tinder, split wood for smaller slivers and built the fire into something to cook our sausages on!

Photo credit: Danielle Curl

This is probably my favorite painting from the trip to Lake Crescent. This is the Devil’s Punchbowl, the deepest part of Lake Crescent. You can see down over 40 ft and that is not at all close to the bottom! It was cold, SO COLD, but also, so beautiful. Danielle lasted longer than me, you can see her swimming in the far right sketchbook page. Freezing to death, I got out of the water and onto a rock to make this painting using water from the lake. It was very windy so I had to clutch my supplies to keep them from blowing into the water, but on the plus side, I dried out quickly for our walk back to the car!

What’s been your favorite trip or adventure this summer?

Fall Art Classes with Megan

Hi Guys!

Here’s a quick update with the classes I’m teaching this fall at the Corbin Art Center and the Spokane Art School!

Garland Sketch Crawl

For students 14 years old and up

$20

Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 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

Intermediate Watercolor

For adults

$120

Thursdays, 5-7 P.M.

September 12, 19, 26 and October 3, 10 & 17, 2019

Intermediate Watercolor Adventures!

Taken one of my classes or dabbled in watercolor before? This class will help you build on previously learned skills such as color mixing, making a wash, working wet in wet to help you capture subjects in an expressive, personal way.

Sign up Here

Daily Sketchbook

For adults

$80

Tuesdays, 5-7 P.M.

September 24 and October 1, 8 & 15, 2019

Want to have more creativity in your life? Learn tips and tricks for incorporating a daily sketchbook habit into your life. We’ll learn to compose on the page; draw from everyday objects and then paint in watercolors.

Sign up here!

And with the Corbin Art Center:

Drawing on Gratitude

10/03-10/24, Thursday

1:30-3:30 PM

$59

Read More Here

Introduction to Watercolor Painting and Beyond!

10/24-11/21, Thursdays

5-7 PM

$62

Read more here!

Recent Paintings!

I’ve been a busy bee, teaching classes, doing shows, and traveling, but I still managed to get into the studio to make some paintings recently!

I spotted this scene back in February while walking around downtown. I just love Garageland’s sign-how could I not paint it after that? And the Budweiser truck adds a great pop of color to a grey late winter’s day (painted in the sweltering heat of summer, imagining a chill in the air!)

I see this door every time I head down 2nd Ave to go to the galleries on Adams St and I just love how ornate it is. I’d love to know the history of this building. I know it is part of a historic district but not much else. Also the address is S 178 1/2 Howard St! 1/2! I do love a good address.

Did this painting of my aunt’s lake house while day dreaming about being back at Priest Lake. Moon rise on a warm summer’s evening.

More attempts to stay cool in the summer time by using my imagination (We don’t have air conditioning!). This is the Woman’s Club, on the lower South Hill. It’s a gorgeous little historic building and every November I do a holiday show there and while I’m trying to hold onto August with all I’ve got, I know that snow and winter is just around the corner.

My latest couple of features in the Spokane Coeur D’Alene Living Magazine! This one is June.

A painting of the North Hill Masonic Center, now a restaurant, that was featured in July’s Spokane CDA Living. You may have noticed that I like doors. This one caught my eye on my regular commute down Garland to teach classes at the Spokane Art School.

Next up: Adventures with a childhood best friend at Lake Crescent!

Arborcrest Art & Glass-This Weekend!~

I’ve been fortunate enough to have two different organizations to make a painting for their advertising and marketing. You have all seen my Kendall Yards Night Market Painting, but I thought I’d show you guys how it turned out when their graphic designer added all the event information to it. I had a lot of fun walking around Kendall Yards and seeing “my poster” up in all the store fronts!

In the studio with the original painting!

In the wild!

Arborcrest Art & Glass is another organization that reached out to me! I’m going to actually be at this show with all my paintings and prints AND my new calendar this Saturday and Sunday. I hope you guys will be able to come by and say hi!

The original painting. I so love the swooping swallows at Arborcrest. I stand close to the edge of the cliff and pretend that I’m soaring over the Spokane Valley with them.

I love how the poster came out! It’s a bit hard to tell in a photo but the designed pulled the yellow background in the bottom half of the poster from the paint I used on the yellow building. In person you can see the slight paint granulation creating texture behind the fonts. I love details like that!

Coming up next: Some of my recent paintings and adventures at Lake Crescent with a friend!

August First Friday

Hi Everyone! I know this is a bit last notice, but I’m the featured artist at Craftsman Cellars in Kendall Yards here in Spokane for the month of August and Friday the 2nd, I’ll be there from 5-9. I’d love for you to join me for a glass of wine and some live music (starts at 6:30) and don’t forget to grab an ice cream cone at Brain Freeze Creamery just down the street! Hope to see you there!

Spokane Summer Heyday!

We’re in the heyday of summer here at the Perkins’s household! I’m trying to make the most of it.

Strawberry picking up at Green Bluff. I picked a total of around 36 lbs in June to eat fresh and to make fruit leather that I treasure in the winter (if it makes it that long!).

Doing some house cleaning and assessing things found in the back of the closet.

Enjoying a rainy summer day, painting some salmon berry leaves photographed in Priest Lake in a sketchbook.

Plenty of Plein Air sketching with my Garland Sketchcrawl classes at the Spokane Art School.

Demonstrating how trick it is to draw the Garland Theater sign at last week’s class, haha!

Playing with a colored pencil with a multi-colored lead (orange, blue, green, yellow) and drawing an interesting intersection of buildings downtown by the Parkade.

Completed this painting last night ask the sun went down behind the trees to the west of a volunteer sunflower in the rocks by the edge of the deck. Did this sitting on my deck, barefoot, listening to cricket buzzing and the sound of the neighbor’s goat. Peak summer joy! What have you been up to this summer?