Hello, and I'm glad you're here. My passion is art. I help people discover the joy of a rich creative life, starting now. Whether you're a fellow creator, a collector or new to the world of art, welcome to my wonderful world!
August "Art Backstage" free journal page and art updates
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Hello Reader, It's been a quiet but productive week in the studio. My biggest accomplishment for the week might have been moving my huge 10-drawer steel file cabinet to my actual office. Well, the movers did. Thank you, Skinny Wimp Moving! And my friend Mary! This adventure freed up much-needed floor space in the studio, and in the office. Once I cleaned the mess, I celebrated by taking extra painting time. Yes! I've got some exciting oil paintings from the Grand Canyon on the easel. And more paintings for 'A Day In The Garden' series. And more gouaches coming soon, presented framed but with wax varnish sealer instead of glass: lightweight, easy to hang and care for. This month from my artist sketchbook journal: Click the title to download for your collection: Blue November Sky, Santiam Rest Stop, 2023 Southbound to Eugene from Portland on the I-5, on a beautiful November day. It's only a 2-hour drive, but this day I was so sleepy I was scaring myself. Safety first. I pulled into the Santiam Rest Stop, found a sweet shady spot where the trucks haul in, and car-napped hard. This rest area is almost exactly the halfway point between Eugene and Portland where I-5 crosses over the Santiam River. The Santiam watershed is the heart and homeland of the Santiam band of the Kalapuya. In the 1800's the Kalapuya were forced out by, you guessed it, the US Congress and the military. But that's another story. The river is born from two rivers high in the Cascades, the north Santiam and south Santiam. After their confluence, they flow and fall and tumble as the Santiam River down to the valley floor. I need to spend more painting time up there. It's gorgeous. As it crosses the valley, the Santiam flows north by west, in a slow lazy meander. Finally it joins the Willamette, then the Columbia on down to the sea. Here, just below the confluence of the North and South forks, it crosses beneath the freeway. You can't see the river from the southbound parking area, but you can see the graceful arc of the bridge and the open space in the trees above the river. This day, I woke up to late afternoon sun, bold blue sky and long mysterious shadows. Drawing emergency! I keep a pad and pens in the car for just these emergencies. Warmly, Julia Email: julia@juliaoreilly.com Know someone who might enjoy this newsletter and Art Backstage? Forward this email, or send them this link: https://juliaoreillyart.kit.com/artbackstage And thanks for helping me spread the word! |
Julia O'Reilly Art
Hello, and I'm glad you're here. My passion is art. I help people discover the joy of a rich creative life, starting now. Whether you're a fellow creator, a collector or new to the world of art, welcome to my wonderful world!
Art is so much more than just a picture. With many disturbing challenges in our world right now, it's a relief to come back to art-making. I let it wrap around me. Foremost is the calm that comes from sinking into the act of painting. It empties my mind of everything else. A mental and emotional mini-vacation. Looking at someone else's art works too. I get to experience wonder and awe, maybe joy, maybe shock, maybe transformation. Not all art has to soothe and beautify. Sometimes art is...
April Powers? Spring greetings! It's already April. I missed my March newsletter to you. Sorry. I don't know what happened to March this year. It was here one day, gone the next. I've been deep in studio, in one of those periods where I work and work, with a smattering of finished paintings to show for it. Some paintings simply take more time to make up their minds. I go with the flow, since it rarely works to force completion. It's best to back off, start a new work. Keep moving, stay in the...
Goodbye February, Hello March February is coming to a close. I wish we could see tonight's 6-planet alignment from here in Oregon's Willamette Valley, but it looks like we're overcast. Ah well, March is happening and spring is on the way. It's time to switch from armchair gardening to hands in dirt. And I have painting ideas bursting at the seams, so I'm happily tucking into the studio to nurture them. Someone asked me not long ago if I ever run out of ideas for paintings? Not so far. It's...