Musings of an Artful Mind

Aloha, devoted readers, friends, and family.  Please forgive me it has been more than a year since I have blogged!! I know it is a cardinal sin to let your art page go dormant for a month let alone over year but, riding the waves of life can be intense and learning balance is a lifelong exercise.  Thank you for you patience and support. This year through the connectivity of the internet and social media a two yearlong project has bloomed. It is a graphic novel/ art book called UNDER THE HALLO MOON and produced by Visual Elements Press a new small business co-owned by Julianna A.B. Roberts and myself.   Julianna and Carolina of Visual Elements Press Graphic novel /paperback Available at lulu.com http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/under-the-hallomoon/15322664     I also participate in the monthly art jam group called New Moon and our community’s work can be seen here, newmoonart.blogspot.com  It is administered by Phoebe and Steve ,...

Artists are known to be messy. In fact authors go to great lengths to romanticize and glamorize the ‘starving artists struggle’. Today, while getting some supplies for an upcoming show, I wrote on my hand the name of a book I was having a hard time putting down it was Inside the Painter’s Studio by Joe Fig. Basically Fig goes around to various artists and ask them a battery of questions about their studio practices, how and when they dedicated themselves full time to art, how long they've been in their studio, and the process of their work. I just hope the school library or summit has it because I’d love some art literary candy. I have just about finished organizing my studio/ library room. There has been a good amount of workable materials that have surfaced and I’m fighting the urge to bring them all with me to school next week. Needless to say, I am greatly anticipating the Practicum Studio class. I skimmed the syllabus of the class and I already like the assignments, t...

This summer I drew in watercolors during a quick trip out of the city with a fellow art therapy student and published poet Paula. She and I went out east toward the Colombia Gorge and observed the lay of land from a hill top at the Women’s Forum. This impromptu art happening gave me a fresh look making art out in the open, out in nature, away from the consumerism that can be the livelihood or bane of any artist. There we had time to take note of the timeless beauty intrinsic to this Pacific Northwest region. We found ourselves a sunny spot and were fortunate to meet members of the Portland Plein Air Society. They painted painterly landscapes in oils on French easels whilst Paula and I gave it a go with watercolors, sepia ink pens, and charcoal on scrap paper from a print exchange. The paper is Arches watercolor paper and is 4.5” x 20”. A panoramic landscape seemed to be just right for these left over bits of paper. Armed with a big sunhat, a water bottle, and an anxiety free disp...

This image is of a watercolor drawing from my journal during my brief stay in Kauai, Hawaii earlier this year. It's titled chicken and papayas. Many wonderful and exciting things are happening in my artistic life. Some of which have been several months in the making such as getting ready for graduate school! I will be attending Marylhurst University to pursue a degree in M.A Art Therapy Counseling. I’m so excited! I applied for and received a Miller Foundation Art Therapy Scholarship so that has put a bit of wind beneath my wings. Encouragement is always welcome. I’ll be leaving the security of my 9-5 at PAM but I’m ready to take this next step in my professional development. My tenure at the museum these last three years has taught me lessons in patience, flexibility, altruism, and above all always bring the beauty of art into my everyday life. Eventually with parental/ guardian consent I will be posting pictures from my internship with the special patient population in Aloha. ...