Proctor Art Gallery!

I'm super excited to be joining the amazing group of artists who are represented at the Proctor Art Gallery in Tacoma, WA! This is my first experience with a gallery, and I'm thrilled to have been given this opportunity.

The Proctor Art Gallery is a really warm, inviting, and comfortable space - it's not one of those stark white, cold galleries. The artists at the PAG are all incredibly talented and kind people, and their work covers the full spectrum of art media - glass artwork, jewelry, pottery, paintings of all kinds, etc. I'm truly honored to be joining them!

I'll be hanging my paintings in the gallery on January 5 - it's a great way to start the new year. If you're in the area, I hope you can stop by and visit! :)

Here's an article from January 2009 about the opening of the gallery: Tacoma News Tribune

Proctor Art Gallery

3811 N. 26th St.

Tacoma, WA

(253) 759-4238 98407

[web site]

Into the White - SOLD

Into the White
18"x24"

acrylic on canvas

SOLD

My computer is alive again!

For this buffalo painting, I combined my paint with a molding paste instead of acrylic gel - the molding paste has a bit of a fluffier texture to it, which I thought would lend itself well to this snowy scene. I used a toothbrush and palette knives to flick snowflakes onto the canvas (at least half of the paint flicked backwards onto me). It's a rather stark painting, but I like the image of a lone bison trudging through a blizzard. I've often felt like I've been in this same situation...simply putting one foot in front of the other on a journey into the white void, where no outcome seems certain...but still, we persevere.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

-Mary Oliver, from "Wild Geese"

Show in Tacoma, WA

I'm excited to be hanging my art at the Northern Pacific Coffee Company in Tacoma, WA starting on November 30! The NPCC is a great venue with wine, beer, super tasty food, open-mic nights, regular live music, books, etc...sort of a one-stop-shop for the art-inclined crowd. David and Dan in Blackbird Pie have played a number of shows there.

Northern Pacific Coffee Company

401 Garfield St. S.
Tacoma, WA 98444

(253) 537-8338

myspace

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In other news, my computer has been on the fritz lately, making updates sporadic (particularly on my web site). Hopefully the situation will be rectified soon...I wonder if my iTunes music collection may have finally taken a toll on my computer's 8-year-old hard drive (nothing drives me crazier than planned obsolescence!)

The Road Home - SOLD

The Road Home

24"x18"

acrylic on canvas

SOLD

I realized that I haven't given much attention on canvas to Montana's rivers yet...expect more to come!

I should mention, by the way, that I have an overwhelming passion for American Transcendentalist writings (as well as the work of geniuses like Wordsworth and Coleridge, who were hugely influential on the philosophy of the Transcendentalists). I can't get enough of it.

I see what was, and is, and will abide;

Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide;

The Form remains, the Function never dies;

While we, the brave, the mighty, and the wise,

We Men, who in our morn of youth defied

The elements, must vanish;—be it so!

Enough, if something from our hands have power

To live, and act, and serve the future hour;

And if, as toward the silent tomb we go,

Through love, through hope, and faith's transcendent dower,

We feel that we are greater than we know.

-William Wordsworth, "Valedictory Sonnet to the River Duddon"

West End

West End

18"x24"

acrylic on canvas

$305 + $28 shipping (contact)

I've lamented a lot on this blog about the changing face of my hometown...I've never liked change much, especially when it involves farmland and rolling prairie being replaced with apartments and cookie-cutter mansion communities. One of the best parts about growing up in Billings was the rural quality to the city (despite its being the most populated city in Montana)...you could drive for 5 or 10 minutes and wind up amidst farmland and undeveloped fields. You could actually find some solitude in a relatively 'big' city. Piece by piece I'm seeing familiar barns and century-old farmhouses being torn down as the West End of Billings keeps expanding outward.

When we were young we used to walk out in those fields
And run forever in the backyard woods
Now the old trails disappear in neighborhoods
With streets named after what's gone for good

-Storyhill, "Paradise Lost"

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Frosty Morning

Frosty Morning

16"x20"

acrylic on canvas

$195 + $25 shipping (contact)

Autumn certainly hasn't been shy about arriving this year. It's been so windy at times that I've been covering the chicken coop up at night with a tarp (that's right, we have 2 chickens in a home-made coop in our backyard!).

I love Fall. I love the colors and the crispness in the air and getting to put on layers of scarves. I especially love how the smell of leaves on the ground can transport me back in time to days when I would jump into a pile of leaves. When did I stop jumping?

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers;
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

-John Keats, "Ode to Autumn"

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PayPal & Upcoming Show

You can now use PayPal to securely purchase my available art online! PayPal "Add to Cart" buttons have been added with the info for each painting on the blog (these payment buttons have also been added to each painting's individual page at kristinjurist-art.com).

Also, I'll be showing my paintings at Jubilee Farm in Carnation, WA on October 17-18 (Saturday-Sunday). Jubilee has great pumpkin season weekend activities throughout the month of October...you can pick your own pumpkins, take a hayride, eat lunch, enjoy live music, etc. I'll be on the porch of the barn with paintings available for sale.

Jubilee Farm
229 W. Snoqualmie River Rd.

Carnation, WA 98014

(425) 222-4558

[web site]

[map]

Hay Bales - SOLD

Hay Bales

22"x24"

acrylic on canvas

SOLD

This is a familiar scene in Montana.

Happy Beatles Day, everyone! I've been enjoying Beatles RockBand all day. :)

• Giclee prints of this piece are available through Fine Art America.

Web Site

My new web site is online! The URL is http://kristinjurist-art.com

I should have some more paintings posted soon.

Relics

Relics

(detail of large barn)

(detail of small barn)


(detail of farmhouses)

(close-up of texture - grass/weeds in foreground, road in background)

(close-up of texture - road in foreground, weeds & farmhouses in background)

Relics

acrylic on canvas

24"x30"

Available for purchase at Revolution Gallery, Issaquah, WA

Sorry for the barrage of photos - I wanted to make the details and the texture of this painting more apparent (you can click on each picture to view a much larger version of each photo). The paint is really thick in some areas, and even the close-up photos don't quite capture that texture. As you can see, the image wraps around the sides of the canvas.

The large barn featured in this piece is the same barn that I used as a reference for After the Rain (also, Fresh Rain was a quick pastel study in preparation for this painting). These buildings are on the outskirts of Billings, MT and are steadily being approached by shopping centers and apartments as the city continues to expand into neighboring farmland. I really love the half-dead tree in front of the main barn - the farm's buildings, like the tree, are falling apart day by day but are still standing.

I guess I have a penchant for abandoned barns and old rural buildings. They're like time capsules.

On another note, I've been developing a web site for my artwork and will be posting a link to it shortly.

Poppies & Lupine - SOLD

Poppies & Lupine

acrylic on canvas

7"x5"

SOLD

I decided to do a small painting as a break from a larger painting that I've been working on. I'd like to get in the habit of partaking in the "daily painting" movement, so hopefully I'll be producing more of these little pieces.

I provided a photo of the side of the canvas to show the yellow base coat that shows through (as well as how thick the paint is). I liked the rough edges on the side & decided to keep them as is.

One Giant Leap - SOLD

One Giant Leap

acrylic on canvas

20"x16"

SOLD

This painting was a bit of a departure from my normal subject matter. It was a commission that was intended to commemorate the upcoming 40th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11 (July 16, 1969).

I used an acrylic sand-textured gel for the flame plume.

Red Sky & Rimrocks

Red Sky & Rimrocks

acrylic on canvas
16"x20"
$200 + shipping (contact)

I used an acrylic texture gel with a sandy consistency to give this a more rustic texture & I let the background colors peek through a wash in the dark landscape. There's some glare that makes the rimrocks on the left a bit difficult to see.

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Fresh Rain

Fresh Rain

soft pastel on paper

8"x10"

$65 + shipping (contact)

I did this pastel sketch as a study for a larger painting that I'm starting.

In Shadow and Sun

In Shadow and Sun

soft pastel on paper
8"x10"
$60 + shipping (contact)

I love dandelions - they're so bright and cheerful and have a bad rap as weeds.

Solitary Aspen - SOLD

Solitary Aspen

acrylic on canvas

11"x14"

SOLD

There have been a lot of life-changing occurrences lately that have produced this accidental hiatus from painting, but I'm hoping to get back into the rhythm of painting often again.

I saw this beautiful aspen in Montana - its top half brightly illuminated by the sun and the bottom half in shadow.

Illuminated Poppies

Illuminated Poppies

oil pastel on paper

10"x8" matted to 14"x11" frame

$75 + shipping (contact)

This one is up at the Staggering Ox now to replace a sold piece. I love the way light shines through poppy petals.

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Wild Roses

Wild Roses
oil pastel on paper
8"x10" matted to 11"x14" frame
$80 + shipping (contact)

I love wild roses - they are my favorite flower and have such a wonderful scent. My mother always loved them too, and they just naturally sprang up all over our yard with the native flowers & seeds my mother planted.

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Staggering Ox show

My paintings will be featured at the Staggering Ox cafe in Billings beginning February 3rd and will be hung for a few months. You should stop by to see the art & enjoy a tasty sandwich! Staggering Ox has a great rustic-style gallery setup, and I'm excited to have my work featured there.

Staggering Ox
2829 King Ave. West, Suite D
Billings, MT 59102
(406) 294-6969
web site

Wildflowers - SOLD

Wildflowers

oil pastel on paper

10"x8" matted to 14"x11" frame

SOLD at $75

Here's an oil pastel of some poppies and purple lupine.

Two of Us

Two of Us

graphite on paper

not for sale

This is my mother & I taking a nap together when I was a few days old.

Expect updates on the blog to be sporadic at best for awhile. I'll return to regular painting/posting at some point and will continue to welcome e-mails in the interim.

"You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead." (The Beatles: Two of Us)

Aqua show in the paper

There was a brief mention of my paintings in an article about Aqua Studio & Salon in the 1/30/09 edition of the Billings Gazette. The article also has a photo showing the art hall at Aqua.

My show at Aqua is done now, but it was a wonderful experience and I'm glad I had the opportunity to hang my paintings there.

After the Rain

After the Rain

acrylic on canvas

16"x20"

NFS

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. I've been pretty busy and have put painting on the backburner, but I'm finally finishing up some paintings I'd been working on sporadically.


This is an abandoned barn on what used to be the outskirts of Billings (new shopping centers and apartments are cropping up all around and replacing formerly pastoral landscapes). I'm really drawn to old barns for some reason. I like relics from the past.


I primarily used a palette knife on this one and added some details with brushes. I showed my mother the photo I was working from, and she suggested adding some purple wildflowers, which I'm really happy with.
I listened to a lot of Phil Collins while I painted this. I especially love "In the Air Tonight."