New Paintings In progress! Some days all you do is push paint around. There are days in the studio when it feels like nothing is happening. A brushstroke gets painted over. A color is adjusted by the smallest degree. Hours pass, and the painting doesn't seem much different than when I started. But I've learned that this is part of the work. Not every session brings a breakthrough. Making a painting rarely comes with a roadmap. Most days, I simply show up, pay attention, and trust that the...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
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...
4 months ago • 2 min read
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...
5 months ago • 2 min read
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...
6 months ago • 2 min read
New Beginnings I love beginnings. Of anything. I suppose by definition all beginnings are new, so my heading may be a bit overstated. I love the hope, the feeling of endless possibilities, the expectations of something new to delight and surprise us. We’re through the winter holidays, more or less. I still have to take down my house wreath. Please don’t judge. It’s been a busy winter. And I do like having the pretty colored lights around just a bit longer. But spring is truly around the...
7 months ago • 2 min read
What?! The winter holidays are here again! This year I’m so aware of the circle of a year. It has been a strange year. Not altogether bad. Not altogether good. I feel my world paused in a moment of grace. Maybe because by necessity, I’ve taken time for reflection and rest. Eugene Mayor's Art Show 2026 It's been a busy year, even with time out. As a recent highlight, I was selected for the Eugene Mayor's Art Show. It's a curated juried show that has been part of Eugene's arts scene since at...
9 months ago • 2 min read
November! Made of wet boots and rain And shiny black ravens On chimney smoke lanes ~Tom Waits, "November" But lest we go dark with the moon, there are many comforts in November, besides dreaming of April. All the good winter holidays are still to come! Winter fragrances like pine and cedar and cinnamon and ginger will start to fill the air. Celebrations will happen. Expectations build. New ideas will form. I always think of November as the time for dreaming, for reflection and evaluations....
10 months ago • 2 min read
Two ways to bring more art into your life this fall Online Class -- Master Your Color! I’ve been looking forward to this — my next online painting class is officially open for registration! If you’ve been craving time to paint, to shake off perfectionism, or just to reconnect with your creative side (with a friendly nudge from me), this class might be exactly what you need. We’ll paint live together, explore techniques to loosen up and layer color with confidence, and you’ll have full access...
11 months ago • 1 min read
Greetings of the day! Soon I'll be heading to the upper McKenzie River to paint and draw with a friend and colleague for a few days. It will be a time for much introspection. I haven't been back since the Holiday Farm Fire in 2020, except to drive through as fast as I could. Too heartbreaking. I lived on the McKenzie for over 20 years, and the fire blasted so much of the corridor. Homes, community buildings, the library in Blue River, beautiful old trees, Osprey nests, ferns, eagle nests, -...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read