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Artists' New Year

1/29/2019

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This week's blog was written by polymer clay artist Laurel Swetnam of Sequels.
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​January inspires many of us take stock of the past year’s accomplishments and challenges, honoring cultural rituals or making resolutions to pursue new goals or do better on old ones. Growing up, my best friend’s German family always invited me to make three wishes for the new year while breaking off a piece of warm Neujahrsbrezel, a delicious sweet pretzel which symbolizes good luck. My husband’s family was a bit more dour. Honoring an Appalachian tradition - think backwoods Kentucky - my father-in-law boiled a pig’s head on New Year’s day, because hog jowl and black-eyed peas keeps you humble for the next year. When we lived in Spain we capped off very late celebrations by stuffing grapes in our mouths - the idea was to chew twelve grapes at once! 
 
Artists seem especially attracted to the idea of new beginnings, perhaps because we’re always searching for inspiration and relishing a reset. My studio partner Kirsten Carpentier invites friends to choose and embellish their word of the year, focusing energy into a single intention.

​One of my favorite bloggers, artist and bookbinder Roz Stendahl, advocates doing a little bit of everything you love on the first day of the year, sort of priming the pump with joyful activities. This year I followed Roz’ advice,  practicing a Bach cello suite I’m learning on classical guitar,  drawing a couple of pears, taking a walk in nearby snowy woods with a couple of happy dogs, and working on some canes for a new bowl class I’m teaching.
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Personally, though, I love most of all to spend part of each new January 1 by diving into color, mixing hues and making Skinner blends, polymer clay gradients which are the basic building blocks of many of my pieces. Mixing colors is a lovely antidote to gray skies, as relaxing as meditation and a functional activity which helps me in my work. Since my polymer clay art is all about color, it’s a great way to get in the groove of new palettes and new designs. Sometimes I check out color trends like the Pantone color predictions for 2019, peruse delicious Design Seeds photos with their composite photos or take a trip though my Palettes Pinterest board. Mostly, though, I just merrily fiddle around. Here’s a pair of blends I made on January 1, 2019.  These colors could be jungle leaves, Carmen Miranda flowers, or eye-popping polka dots.

Stop by Artistic Portland in a few weeks to see what they become! 

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About Making Art

1/21/2019

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This week's blog was written by visual artist Jennie O'Connor.
I first joined Artistic Portland in June over five years ago; it was the first month the co-op initially opened in the Hollywood neighborhood. I was very excited to belong to a group where I could meet like-minded friends and have a brick-and-mortar home for my paintings. I was there a year and then rejoined the store a few months after it moved to the current location on SW Taylor downtown. In total, I’ve been a member a little over 4 years.
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I have been painting and drawing on and off most of my life, but became more serious after I moved from Seattle to Portland 18 years ago. I began by working in watercolor and after several years began to experiment with acrylics and collage. While I loved watercolor, making beautiful hues by mixing water with paint it began to feel a bit tedious, acrylics gave me a kind of freedom that I enjoy. 
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​When in my creative modeI I tend toward messy whether it be in the kitchen, garden or in the studio. I have the most fun when I am slinging paint around, hopefully, getting more of it on the paper or canvas than myself, walls, and floor.

I currently work in a very small studio that I have created in my home, the size of which can be a problem given my tendency to be messy. 
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Inspiration comes to me in various ways, sometimes a reference photo is helpful or a scene out-side my window but most of the time I am simply inspired by the process of adding color, shape and texture to the painting surface.

I like to listen a book on tape, or podcast when painting. I find that it helps to keep my brain busy so that I can be more creative. I actually do like to start out in a somewhat ordered fashion. It’s nice to have cleared my workspace, lay out chosen paint colors, brushes, texture making tools, and perhaps collage papers, etc. However, that often changes rather rapidly when I get inspired in the process and there I am again, messy! 
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When I first started working in acrylics, quite by accident, I was introduced to collage. I put together my very first collage piece which has always been my favorite, it is an abstraction of my brother’s home which sits on the Gulf of Mexico in the Florida Keys. I love the scene, the colors and feeling that I was able to create.

If I could magically be a different artist, I would like to be a sculptor. It would be awesome to play with and mold clay.

When I am not creating art, I can often be found in the kitchen stirring up a stew or some other equally yummy savory dish. 
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NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

1/1/2019

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This week's blog was written by mosaic jewelry artist June Martin of MOTH & TWIG.
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It’s that time of the year again. A brand new shiny year means brand new shiny New Year’s resolutions. A blank slate! I once took a poll of my friends to see who partook in this yearly ritual. To my surprise, not many of friends like to create yearly resolutions. The reasons vary from “I can’t be bothered” to “Why would I set myself up for disappointment if I don’t follow through on my resolutions?” I read somewhere that less than 10% of resolutions are kept by year’s end and there is a failure rate of 25% by the end of January. Yikes! Even though I’m equipped with this information, I still enjoy creating resolutions.
 
This year I thought I would create New Year’s resolutions related to my art. My 2019 mantra is to work smarter, not harder. In order to do this, I need a plan which is where resolutions come into play. Also, by putting my resolutions out there to the world so to speak, perhaps I’ll be more likely to stick to them.
In no particular order…
  • Learn new skills. In addition to being a member of Artistic Portland, I am also a vendor at Portland Saturday Market. I don’t work the market during January and February since it is closed so this is the perfect time to learn/hone skills that I can implement into my mosaic jewelry line. I have been planning for this time off for a while and will be starting on this endeavor in a week, after my studio is re-vamped, which brings me to my next resolution.
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  • Organize my studio and keep it that way! I have already started on this resolution. As I write this blog, my studio looks as though it was involved in a catastrophic event. I have a difficult time creating in chaos so this just won’t do! Christmas was a busy time which is why my studio is in complete disarray. I drew up a scheme of my studio and have a plan so I am on my way to having my dream studio become a reality, with a little help from my trusty husband.
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Hubby hard at work in my studio when we first moved to Portland.
  • Schedule art sessions 4 days a week. I have artist friends who don’t like to schedule time to work on their art because they feel it hampers their creativity. I can understand this, however, since I show at the market weekly, I need to create almost daily. I have found that even if I’m not feeling terribly creative on any given day, once I’m in my studio and faced with all the amazing and fun materials I get to work with, it’s easy to get creative juices flowing.
  • Exercise 3 days a week. Ok, this may not seem related to art, but for me it is. Being fit equals to being more productive and creative. My mind feels clearer and my imagination improves when I incorporate regular exercise into my life. For many years I was an exercise fanatic, partly because I didn’t own a car, so I used my bike to get around. I cycled five days a week to and from my workplace which was a total of 100+ miles per week. I also went to the gym faithfully five days per week. I was ridiculously fit. In those years I was also very active in improvisational theater. My mentor drummed into my head that our bodies are our instruments so staying in shape was important to the art. Though I’m not seeking to duplicate my old regimen, I do need to spend more time exercising. I belong to a gym that has a 93-degree salt water pool. This makes going to the gym easier because the pool has become my treat after a workout. 
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  • Focus on inspirations. For some reason, this has been a little difficult for me. Though I have been creating pieces here and there from my inspirations, I haven’t created entire lines. I want to create a mosaic art jewelry line that is inspired from my many trips to Costa Rica. I will probably call the line “The Colors of Costa Rica.” I envision oranges, reds, vibrant and lush greens, along with a palette of rich and textured neutrals. Exciting!
  • Balance. Life balance has been sorely lacking for me this past year. I feel fortunate (and humbled) that my art was well received over the past year but this was at a cost. Simply put, I’m exhausted (work smarter, not harder!). This is where increasing exercise will be helpful but I also need to make more time for friends and family. I moved up to Portland from the Bay Area to be closer to my son yet I don’t see him nearly enough which is my fault. He’s been asking to work with me in my studio as he wants to learn some of what I do. How great would that be?! 
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My son Evan discovering the torch!
​I created small actionable steps for each resolution to help me get and stay on track as this is the only way I will be able to achieve my goals. It’s all about knowing myself and knowing how I work (play). I’m excited to get started! I love blank slates, especially ones that are 365 days long! Are you an artist? Have you created resolutions? Feel free to share them in the comments section!
 
Happy New Year!
 
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