Post Sabbatical

I AM BACK!!!

Yes, I gave myself permission to take a year off from painting. Funny, when I have used the word "sabbatical" in my explanation of "why I am not painting," I never looked the word up. In the definition it says "a period of paid leave." That did not happen! Needless to say, I have been enjoying life and that is payment in itself, right?!

At Breakfast Club, inspired by my two creative friends, Don and Linda, endeavors at publishing their written art, I began to paint. Not only that, I signed up for a class at South Puget Sound Community College: Intro to Welding and Creative Metalwork.

I am excited by the unknown possibilities of creativity from this day forward. Is it the quiet before the storm? Maybe the seed germinating ready to sprout? I feel the energy and it feels great!

This collage painting was brewing in my mind after spending time at Gleneden Beach, Oregon. Hiking down to the beach with my good friend Elaine and our doggies, this vista presented itself. I wanted to capture the beauty and delight I felt upon experiencing the view. I needed to give it more personality than just the typical gorgeous view; thus, the watercolor collage painting evolved.

Joanne Osband
Watercolor Collage

Seagull or Penguin?

Before Thanksgiving my friend, Elaine, and I spent a few days at Rockaway Beach on the Oregon Coast. It was stormy at times, but we managed to get in a couple of beach walks despite the weather.

I enjoyed watching the huge waves and was delighted by our frequent visitor we named, Arthur. I think he wanted to come inside out of the storm.


For additional entertainment, we decided to visit some of the thrift shops in the small beach towns nearby. My unique purchase was this metal sculpture; at first sight I thought penguin. He became our table center piece. Arthur would join us at the table (we pushed it next to the window), and it became clear to me that the sculpture was a seagull.

What do you think? Seagull or Penguin?


Elaine asked me if I found this metal sculpture at a thrift store in Olympia, where we live, would I have bought it? Probably not!

Or.......maybe as a humorous gift for a friend or relative?

Mini Art Show

I enjoy entering the annual miniature art show in Cannon Beach, Oregon. For one, it is a fabulous place to visit and many people visit the gallery. Two, because the art is small, they can be boxed and sent by mail.

When I first learned of this annual show, I talked two of my artist friends into the challenge of doing miniature art and entering the show. At that time we added the adventure of traveling down to Cannon Beach and spending the day. One time we even spent the night at the youth hostel in Seaside. I have many fond memories!

For two dimensional art the size limit for the miniature art show is 6" X 6," not framed. Because I was on a roll with painting images of Peru, I continued with the subject matter on two 3" X 5" stretched canvases.

This year there was no entry fee and you could submit eight pieces of art. I did, and that is when I got really creative. As I was looking at the stack of Sunday Sketches, I thought there were sections of the paintings that would really make great mini paintings. Out came the scissors!

These are the mini paintings that were submitted:

Aspen
watercolor & ink
5" X 5"
Stargazer
watercolor & ink
5" X 5"
Foxglove
watercolor & ink
5" X 5"

Even though these paintings look the same size, they are smaller.

Hellebore
watercolor & ink
3" X 3"
Lupines
watercolor & ink
3" X 3"

The oil paintings on canvas did not photograph well and I forgot to photograph the pastel of the fall hillside in New England. Thus, eight paintings were sent to the 25th Annual Miniature Art Show in Cannon Beach.

I found out today that ONE of the eight paintings was accepted.

Which one???

I will delay my gratification until later this month when I visit the area to view the art show.

Stay tuned.......

More Oil Paintings From Peru

Yes, I am glowing in the feeling of accomplishment having completed the 30 Day Art Challenge.

Since I am on a painting frenzy, I decided to do a couple of paintings for the Cannon Beach Gallery's Annual Miniature Art Show. I love this beautiful spot on the Oregon Coast. The size of my paints are going from 8" by 10" to 4" by 5." Believe it or not they still take several hours to paint! I think I will continue with the Peru subject matter. I need to have them finished by Saturday to mail in time for the jury process next week.

Here are more of the paintings for the 30 Day Art Challenge which will be displayed in Seattle at the Tashiro Kapalan Art Lofts in December.

This painting is of Gabbie who was our fabulous guide. Having ground up in Peru and the Sacred Valley, she knew all the lore and history as well as great adventures tourists do not know about. In this painting she is showing us how to do the coca leaf ceremony to Pachamama (Mother Earth).


I loved seeing the llamas freely roaming around Machu Picchu. Besides, they are fun to paint!

Sunday Sketches

Planning ahead! I did my sketch during the week.

I spent the full weekend baby-sitting my fourteen month old grandson, Haeden. Need I say, I was BUSY!?!?!

Tried the paint first then draw technique once again. My garden patch of purple lupines are in full bloom. These are one of my favorite flowers because they remind me of the wild ones growing along the Metolious River in Oregon where I lived for many years.

Here is stage one....


And the final.....



Posted this evening. Grandma is retiring for the night!

To Crop or Not To Crop

Cropping is one way to transform an image for emphasis.

When I first began to create watercolor collage paintings, I chose the areas of previous watercolor paintings that I liked. In other words, I cropped a portion of the painting. Having done several paintings of the same subject, I had several paintings and areas to choose from. Then, I recreated a painting using my favorite croppings. Thus, the birth of watercolor collage painting!

Recently, I have cropped the encaustic paintings I created while at a painting & yoga workshop in the Berkshires into miniatures, and entered them in the Miniature Art Show in Cannon Beach, Oregon.

Now, I am toying with how to crop another pastel painting done in the Berkshires. I am not happy with painting as a whole, but I do like aspects of the pastel painting which might make smaller individual paintings.
Let me explain.......

Here is the original pastel painting:



The cropping I like with the three trees as the subject.



Then, I am intrigued by the cropping of the light on the hillside....



Are they "keepers"? What are your feelings?

Miniatures

The Cannon Beach Gallery in Oregon, a program of the non-profit Cannon Beach Arts Association, is calling for original art submissions for its annual All Juried Miniatures Show this November.

Two of my fellow artists, Judi Colwell and Ellen Miffit, and I have started a tradition to enter this show. It began as a challenge last year because none of us have done miniature paintings before. For one thing, Miniatures are easy to mail, and, two, what fun it would be to take a field trip together to visit Cannon Beach to pick up our art if they were accepted. Need I say, we had a FABULOUS adventure together to Cannon Beach, and my painting sold!

As I looked at my most recent art from a trip to the East Coast, I realized that I liked certain areas of my paintings better than others. What if I cut up the painting into miniature paintings?

Here are two of my entries for the Miniature Show in Cannon Beach taken from an encaustic painting I did at a painting & yoga workshop in the Berkshires:


New England Fall Colors #1


New England Fall Colors #2

China Design Now

Today, I was reading the Portland Art Museum Magazine with my art therapy client. October 10th through January the exhibit, "China Design Now," will be the featured exhibit at the Oregon Art Museum in Portland.

China Design Now explores the recent explosion of critically compelling design and architecture projects created in China, contextualizing the impact of rapid economic development on these projects in the country’s major cities. This immersive, multi-sensory exhibition captures a dynamic phase in China, as it opens up to global influences and responds to the hopes and dreams of its new urban middle class.

Representing three swiftly expanding cities — Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen — the exhibition features the work of Chinese and international designers focused on architecture, fashion and graphic design, film, photography, product and furniture design, youth culture, and digital media. Visitors journey south to north along China’s east coast, exploring graphic design and visual culture in China’s manufacturing capital, Shenzhen, fashion and lifestyle in Shanghai, and architecture in Beijing, home of the 2008 Olympic stadium.

Sounds like an exhibit not to miss!