Falling Snow

Falling Snow

acrylic on canvas

24" x 24" x 1.5"

Available for purchase from Freshwater Studio & Gallery, Dillon, MT

I've been in a wintry mood lately - that is to say, I've been aching for peaceful, snowy days that make the world a lot quieter and hot chocolate all the more delicious.

Since it's mostly just a rainy mess out here, I found a lot of my atmospheric inspiration from reading a poem by Joanna Klink called "Porch In Snow." It helped to put me in the right mindset for this painting. Originally featured in Klink's amazing book of poetry called Circadian, I first came upon "Porch In Snow" in an absolutely outstanding anthology called Montana Women Writers: A Geography of the Heart (seriously...this is an amazing book. I highly recommend it). Klink is a professor of graduate creative writing at the University of Montana-Missoula.

I just want to share a few lines here to give you an idea of how lovely it is...but you should read the full version via Google Books' preview of Montana Women Writers here. I hate to excerpt from poetry, since the poetry gets so mangled as a result...it's especially hard to share a brief excerpt of Klink's poetry, since every line is so darn good.

"There you are, snow filling the air,

in the midst of silence [...]

Winter, there is no prayer but this,

to hold fast in the time of few choices.

An animal moves through the backyards, its eyes

precise and lit, the premise of everything I believe"

-Joanna Klink, excerpted from "Porch In Snow", from Circadian (Penguin: 2007)

Isn't that just stunning? I hope you'll check out Klink's work and find as much inspiration in her poetry as I have.

Crossing the Yellowstone - RIP

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Crossing the Yellowstone
acrylic on canvas
24" x 36" x 1.5"
RIP - This painting was destroyed by its shipping carrier, UPS, en route to a gallery.


I tried loosening up a bit more for this painting...I wanted to focus on the colors and give a more surreal impression to the landscape.

FYI, Proctor Art Gallery (Tacoma, WA) will be having a lot of events throughout the month of October...it's "Arts Crush" month in Tacoma.


Fair river! in thy bright, clear flow
Of crystal, wandering water,
Thou art an emblem of the glow
Of beauty—the unhidden heart—
The playful maziness of art
In old Alberto's daughter
-Edgar Allen Poe, from "To the River"

Morning Stroll - SOLD

Morning Stroll
acrylic on canvas
12" x 12" x 1.5"
sold

In preparation for an upcoming show at Jubilee Biodynamic Farm in Carnation, WA, I've been trying my hand at painting farm animals. I thought I'd start with this little family of chickens.

I have a soft spot in my heart for chickens. We keep 4 hens in our backyard, and besides the delicious fresh eggs they provide, they also make surprisingly great pets. We've handled them since they were chicks, so they're incredibly tame and like to follow us around the yard when we let them out of their enclosure. David & I have even recently started a blog about our chickens, since we've been getting a surprising number of emails with questions about raising an urban flock.

Anyway, more farm animals - as well as a lot of new bison paintings - will be up shortly.