Art is Personal

I have been working on an interior design project. My friends Nancy and Mike have moved from Boulder to Seattle. They have rented a house and have hired me to help them make it a home. At this point, the furniture is chosen and situated. The rugs, pillows and accessories are carefully placed. All that remains is the art. Nancy really (really) wanted to create art. Though Nancy is a highly creative, beautiful dancer/choreographer the visual arts are still fairly uncharted territory for her.
We began with a trip to the art store where we purchased two canvases. In this case they were 30"x40" each. Then we hit three different paint stores. The goal was to see what was available in the mis-tinted section. It was fantastic, when, at the first store we found 5 different gallons of paint with colors that would work for us. At $3 each it was truly a steal. We rounded out our color palette by having 2 more colors mixed in the quart size. With seven colors, I felt we were ready to procede.
After laying the canvases on a drop cloth, I had Nancy do several quick sketches for me. These were no-thought-initial-reaction drawings. I gave her a word and she drew. I chose words that I knew were important for Nancy and Mike and their home. "Calm.... happy.... life..... growth... love.... celebration... connection.... " She drew and drew and drew.
I took her simple drawings and painted them (much larger) onto the canvases as an outline in the darkest color we had, which happened to be a blue.
It was then her turn to fill in the outlines, very much like in a coloring book. I gave a little direction in color placement, blending and balance, but mostly it was Nancy and her unbridled willingness.
While the paintings dried, I painted a white rectangle on the dining room wall to frame our bold art piece.I think it turned out beautifully. What I loved most about it was Nancy's reaction. She was almost beside herself with how much fun she had had and how lovely the painting is. "That was such a high. It's so beautiful." she told me (again and again and again).
This piece of art is very personal. Not only did she play a part in creating it, but it holds hopes and dreams and ideals in her own expression. Art is personal.
Be good,

Scott

Light Up My Life

Last summer I was walking down Queen Anne Avenue on my way to getting a haircut. I passed by a shop I had not noticed before, a lamp shop. I felt a pull to go inside. I kept walking.

I kept walking but I couldn't stop thinking about the shop and my draw to it. The window was full of unique, beautiful and creative lamp bases and shades. I appreciated the immaculate artistry but couldn't understand why I was so attracted to the place. I decided that once I had a fresh new haircut I would stop in on my way back.

I came to the shop, admired the window display and, well, kept walking. I caught myself and turned around and entered the store.

I met the owner/artist Kathi Mullaney. I introduced myself and explained that I felt pulled into her shop. She was kind and gracious. I told her that I was an artist also and we shared stories of living as artists. I loved meeting her looking at her lamps. I left her with one of my business cards. I felt bad that I had questioned my initial attraction. It was such a gift to meet her.

I think by the time I got home she had sent an email saying she had visited my website, loved my work and wondered if I would be interested in painting a lamp base for her. I went back the next day to get the wooden base, my blank canvas. What to paint, what to paint?

There had been a delay in finishing the base as the wood had been seeping sap. I let it sit in the sun for several weeks giving it a slow drying. I am trusting that it is done seeping now and have once again started painting. Here is a sneak look at what I am doing. I am excited to see it done but even more excited to see what kind of shade Kathi will design for it. Stay tuned to see the finished lamp.

Oh, yeah, check out Kathi's website. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. www.kathleenmullaney.com

Be good,
Scott

Season of Color

This morning as I was writing, or supposed to be writing, I found myself staring at the table by the window. The Christmas cactus happens to have bloomed at Halloween and the glass pumpkins I bring out every fall. I love the little squirrel-candle-holder as he is a reflection of the food-gathering-squirrels outside. The combination of colors is so vibrant, so beautiful and I wanted to share them with you. Surprisingly, (I didn't plan this) it is a study in the secondary colors: purple, orange and green. Okay, that sounds a little art-nerdy, but I am a little art-nerdy sometimes.

I hope you are surrounded by color (primary, secondary, tertiary....) especially as we embrace fall and enter winter.

Be good,
Scott

They're both...

I invite you to take a little time to do this creative exercise. For each pair of words write down as many things in common as you possibly can. You can even do it with someone.
There are no wrong answers. Have fun.

summer service
tshirt cloud
five luxury
happy squirrel
hat thermos

I would love to see what you came up with.
Be good,
Scott

Happy Halloween

For the last 15 Halloweens I have gone to Fernwood Elementary School to carve pumpkins in Mr. Martorelli's classroom

The first year, I had all of the kids bring their pumpkins in. We covered the floor with newspaper and jumped into gutting the 19 orange jack-o-lantern's to be.

We only had to do that once. The mess, the smell, the chaos. It was all enough to truly make Halloween scary.

Since then it is a prerequisite to have only clean pumpkins brought into school. The mess, the smell and the chaos can stay at home.

Every year I carve between 18 and 22 pumpkins. (over 15 years that's about 300). This year it was 19.

I spent the entire day carving. Each student was invited up individually and we had a brief conversation about what kind of pumpkin they wanted. That first year after struggling through Pokemon characters, super heroes and family pets, I decided that naming a feeling was much more effective than giving me specifics. Now the options are goofy, funny, cute, scary, very scary and really, really scary.

It was as fun and exhausting as ever. I love that it is my Halloween tradition. In a way, it is my version of going trick or treating. I get to create goofy, funny, cute, scary, very scary and really, really scary, after all. Happy Halloween.

Be good,
Scott

With and Without

I call this painting "With and Without". Enough said.

Be good,
Scott

Somewhere Over a Rainbow

Cathy, The Pastor of my church left to move to Montana.

When I was presented with the opportunity to create a festive yet meaningful setting for the Godspeed service I began by asking Cathy "Which of the past settings have you liked?" There had been many over the years. She recalled the large floral arrangements that another church member creates. She also mentioned some banners I had painted and several large creations - from fabric rivers to greenery jungles. Then, as if it were a footnote *"I like rainbows" she casually threw out to me.
I knew then that a large (it needed to make a statement) rainbow of some kind needed to fill the space. I initially thought I would paint a rainbow on a fabric banner. It was a fine idea, but I wanted something that wouldn't completely hide the beautiful stained-glass window at the front of the church. I also wanted something that would have more interest. So, I put it into the mix of 'things waiting for inspiration'.
I'm not sure when it hit me, I think when I was running one day. I would create a ribbon rainbow. By using various shades and sizes of ribbon I would hang them from red to orange to yellow to green to blue to purple.
The final banner ended up being about 7 feet wide by 16 feet tall. The ribbons hang over a pole and are taped to stay in place. The part of the ribbons that hang in front I cut in a large arch to represent the bow. It had a much greater impact than even I had imagined. It did end up being festive and meaningful.