Skunk vs Mink

Few things can make me as happy as driving home with a trunk full of borrowed taxidermy.  You can imagine how ecstatic I am to have these beauties to study and work from for a whole week. It's all thanks to a golden tip I received from two fellow artists about a local loan program for educators.  I'll take them to the studio tomorrow and see what my Wednesday class thinks.   They'll probably be revolted.   Just goes to show what a peach Beata is, letting me keep them on the dinner table overnight.

SMFA Reception

While the rest of the nation has been getting so much snow, the streets of Portland are unseasonably clear.  Accordingly, last Friday's art walk was unseasonably well-attended for February.  The opening reception at Susan Maasch Fine Arts had a steady stream of people all night and it looked like the town was still in full swing at closing.  Thanks to all my friends, students, and colleagues who stopped by to show their support. 

Grounds

I've been preparing new canvases this week for paintings that can travel to Poland later this summer. Right now, I'm imagining removing them from the stretchers when finished, and restretching them once there, so I'll need a flexible ground.  For the archivists out there, I'm using one coat of Golden GAC 100 to seal the linen, lightly sanding the surface after that dries to promote better adhesion between layers, followed by some Golden acrylic gesso, another light sanding, and then one final layer of acrylic gesso.  For the winter series, I liked to start on a ground that was slightly blue, and I've altered it further here with magenta.  It's not riveting, but it's relaxing and a bit exciting imagining all the new paintings to follow. 

Sightings Continued: Arabica

Another place I've been asked about lately is Arabica.  Yes, I do have two paintings up there as well this month, featured in partnership with Susan Maasch Fine Art.  (Which makes three venues if you've been counting this month.) Unlike my conceptual exhibition through the window of Otto's, you can actually see two paintings from the "Night Fictions" series that didn't make it into the solo show on Congress street.   (Four venues, if you count conceptual exhibtions.)  Like Ottos, Arabica gets an immense amount of Portland traffic and is a hub of town activity. Arabica is open on Monday and Tuesday, so you can check out the preview on the off days that you are not camping out in SMFA proper.