Inspired by local owls, Hooty is part of the "Imagine" series. Made of driftwood bark, abalone, turkey, cockatiel, and chicken feathers, rib bone (?), and various other shells from the Lopez beach & beyond, Hooty has a sense of humor. I love these meanings associated with the word hoot: 1) she's a hoot - amusing, funny & enjoyable to be around 2) don't give a hoot - lack of concern 3) just plain old hoot - a deep, medium-pitched musical sound. She's certainly got a sense of humor. Just like all the other Imagine found object pieces, she's one of a kind.

Inspired by the baby killdeer that run around the beach the same day they hatch. Precocial! It means hatched or born in an advanced state and able to feed itself and move independently almost immediately. These balls of fluff on wobbly legs that run, get tired and stop, then run again all while barely able to walk are such a joyful sight each spring. Part of the "Imagine" series, Precocial is not intended to look exactly like baby killdeer but her energy is inspired by them for sure. She is made with the following objects I found walking the beach on Lopez Island and around the world and seeking out domesticated feathers from various Lopezians who raise birds. Bull kelp bulb, sea urchin spine, pussy willow, western salsify, chicken feather, driftwood, beach pottery, sand dollar, barnacle, etc.

Title: Poppies People
Original painting. (pastel, sumi ink, gesso).
This painting began as a heap of color I struggled to know what to do with. A group of artists each rotated through the room and made one mark on others' canvas. I then returned to my canvas with a couple more marks that ultimately led me from the clashing colors on the page to this piece!

Title: And Then There Was a Crow. Original painting. Charcoal, soft pastel, gesso.
This painting also began with eyes closed listening to music and, with no plan in mind, began turning into some sort of bird figure with bold swaths of color. I always love the unexpected places these take me to.

Title: Songbird Meadow. Original work. Charcoal and soft pastels. Began this painting with eyes closed listening to the sounds around me. One viewer commented that this painting reminded her of music. I agree.

Title: Primarily Bold
Original Painting. This painting pushed me in the creation process. It asked me to make marks that literally terrified me to try, certain they would ruin the painting if I let myself make them. Then, I had an idea for a mark that I was too afraid to make. So I turned to a fellow artist working in the studio with me and asked her if she'd make just one mark on my painting. She came to my canvas, looked at the painting, picked up the exact color I'd planned to use (without me telling her anything about what I'd been wanting to try) and made the exact mark I had wanted to make. Only she made it bigger and bolder.

Free up your creative expression & help your friends do the same! Experimenting with abstract art has been a wonderful way to free myself from external expectations, trying to make things beautiful and do them the right way, and shutting down my creative impulses out of fear of failure. It's taught me a whole new way of creating and relating to creativity and the visual arts then the traditional "learn a skill and then apply it" approach. In this 6 card set, I share several of my favorite abstract works along with surprising insights that surfaced in the process as I learned to allow my creativity to come through. Perhaps Audre Lorde's words describe the power of this process best: "We have been raised to fear the yes within ourselves..." Or perhaps it's even more simple: Let yourself play. You never know what you'll discover. FREE SHIPPING