Woodinville Garden Tour Poster Competition Winner!

Dancing Branches 18" x 26"

I am so very honored to have my painting "Dancing Branches" selected for the 2012 Woodinville Garden Tour poster! The Woodinville Garden Tour will take place Saturday, July 21st. I know the poster competition was tough, and I am thrilled to have my work chosen!

Posters should be appearing soon in garden centers around the area. I believe that the Woodinville Garden Club will be selling the posters at each of the gardens on the tour on July 21st. Raffle tickets will also be for sale so that you can win the original painting!

I've personally done the Woodinville Garden Tour a number of times in years past, and this is truly one of the most impressive garden tours in the Seattle area! If you would like to know more about the Woodinville Garden Tour, click here.

6th Grade African Masks

It's been a while since I posted. I have some great new spring flower watercolors that I will be sharing with you as soon as the sun comes out again and I can photograph them. Stay tuned!

This past week I was lucky enough to teach a couple more art lessons to the 6th graders at my son's elementary school. We made African masks! All the kids were given the same compressed paper mask base, but all the designs were so original and imaginative!

Don't you just love what the kids did with the grasses and accessories? They really did some amazing work! I think there must be some internal connection we all make to the human face that brings out our inspiration and creativity. The kids made over 60 masks and all of them were so very cool!

A big THANK YOU again to all the wonderful parent art docents who came in to help out with the project!

Trillium Posters for Sale!

Susie Egan at Cottage Lake Gardens has just made the Trillium Tour posters available for sale on her website for $10 plus shipping! Click here for info on ordering a Trillium Poster!

Quirkz of Art

I am so pleased to announce that I now have my watercolors available at Quirkz of Art! Quirkz of Art is a fun new shop right on the main road in Fall City, Washington. In in addition to artwork by local artists, they also feature artsy refinished furniture, jewelry, and garden art. (They sort of remind me of a "Fireworks" store, but with more furniture.)

Quirkz of Art is having a "Spotlight On Art" event this coming Saturday, February 11 from 10:00am to 7:00pm. I'll be one of their featured artists! I'll have a bunch of my paintings there, some prints, plus my new sets of spring flower notecards. From 4:30 on, there will be wine tasting, too!

Please stop by and say hello!

Trillium Tours Poster

I've just finished a painting for Susie Egan of Cottage Lake Gardens! This painting will be featured on posters advertising her upcoming Trillium Tours in April and May.

Susie's Trillium Tours are legendary! Cottage Lake Gardens currently includes 45 of the 47 species of trilliums in the world! The lovely garden also features an amazing variety of breathtaking wildflowers and Northwest native plants. Cottage Lake Gardens also holds incredible plant sales that feature trilliums, natives and many hard-to-find plants at incredible prices.

Watch for Susie Egan at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show next week! She'll be one of the featured speakers on Sunday! Click here for details.

Auction to Benefit Homeless Women

Avalance Lilies  14" x 19"

Have you ever been hiking on Mt. Rainier at the higher altitudes right after the snow has melted away? The avalanche lilies cover the meadows like a carpet of living spring snow - like so much abundant hope after the long brutal winter! They are so beautiful it takes your breath away!

On February 16th, Sophia's Way is holding a dinner and auction at the Harbor Club in Bellevue. My painting, "Avalance Lilies" will be available as part of the auction. Tickets are selling out fast! Click here for more info on the auction.

It has been so COLD this week! Imagine what it would be like without a warm place to sleep! The Sophia's Way provides the ONLY overnight shelter for single homeless women on the Eastside. They do a wonderful job helping women in crisis and helping them transition into long-term housing. The Sophia's Way is making a huge difference in the lives of many women right here in our community. Click here to learn more about The Sophia Way and please support them!

History, Art and England

Photo of Bath Abbey, England

Happy New Year!

I've just returned from a wonderful two weeks in England with my family. We spent time in London, York, and Bath and had Christmas with my sister-in-law and her family in beautiful North Yorkshire. I wish I had taken a whole year to see the same things, and that I had been able to study and paint each thing as I saw it. Instead, my head and my camera are packed full of images. I'm hoping I can spend time with all this new material back in my studio.

You can't travel very far in England without bumping into a museum or historical treasure of some kind, full of paintings and sculpture and architecture and design beyond your wildest imaginings. It has been such a great encouragement to me to be reminded how, throughout the centuries, people have invested hugely in ART and that we continue to place enormous value on the contributions artists have made throughout time.

As an American, I am really missing out. Without the benefit of a thousand years of history under my nose, it's so easy to forget the part I play in the larger continuum of things. It's easy to forget that what I create in my lifetime can have an impact on others for hundreds of years. My New Year's resolution is to try my best to make art that has meaning, and that lasts. And to remember that I am part of a history much bigger than my little corner in space and time.