summer scenes

I didn't want this month to end without adding a few more photos here; a somewhat random sampling of the last week or so, mostly at the coast.

A Bald Eagle!...sitting on the beach near Ocean Park, Washington; seeming to wait for the fisherman to throw something its way.

My favorite Oysterville garden; there are different things blooming at each spring and summer visit. This time the garden was full of Foxglove (digitalis purpurea). Those tall stalks of flowers are really striking.

There were a lot of dogs hanging out at the Saturday Market in Ilwaco; I think Charlie took the prize for "coolest canine".

My friend, Cynthia, shopping for felted goods at the Market.

We picked up some fresh salmon for dinner, which Cynthia cooked perfectly. Yum!!

At home, the new sewing machine was given a first run on a quilt project.

I hope you are enjoying this season.

a june give-away

I really love June; the days are so long, and even though it's not quite summer-y yet in the Northwest, you can feel that it's near. A few of my pals have, or are about to have, new grand babies this month. Everything is lush and green from our wet spring. I celebrated my daughter's birthday. Enjoyed time with friends--and some days alone at the beach. Made a few things, and brought home a new sewing machine. A full month it's been, already.

I'm offering up a couple of my pieces at the Portland Art Collective blog this month; a hand-bound blank journal and soldered pendant necklace. Just hop on over to the PAC blog and leave a comment at the June Give-Away post to enter the drawing to have both of these items sent your way.

workshop with Rogene Manas

Art by Rogene Manas

Rogene Manas traveled to Portland from her home in Eugene, Oregon this month to open an exhibit of her work at the Guardino Gallery and teach a 2-day workshop at Collage on Alberta Street. Lucky us! Rogene was featured recently on the OPB program, "Oregon Art Beat" and you can view her segment here.

In class, we learned how to use paper clay to create dimensional artwork that resembles wood carving, a distinctive feature of Rogene's work. Starting with a sketch, I chose an image of a familiar figure in my yard as inspiration, a scrub jay.

After transferring the sketch to rolled-out paper clay, the piece was cut out with an exacto knife and attached to a board. The clay was "carved" while wet with the help of a wooden clay shaping tool.

After allowing the clay parts to air-dry overnight, we returned the next day to paint and finish our pieces. Rogene taught a "dark to light" painting technique, which gives her work a folk art look. Some of us added paper collage to our backgrounds; I used some torn dress pattern tissue.


I was happy with the final result and look forward to doing more with what I learned this weekend...so many possibilities come to mind!

new tricks

I've long admired the soldering projects done by my art friends, and recently took some instruction from one of those multi-talented friends, Jan Harris. Here, Jan is demonstrating how to begin assembling a tiny glass box to hold some teensy-tiny treasures...

My completed ornament, holding a frozen Charlotte doll and little key...all suspended by a chain with soldered charm...which led to more charms and ornaments later on at home...

As you can see, I've gotten a little carried away with my new skills. These pieces will be incorporated into jewelry and ornaments for the PAC holiday show in December.

Jan is an excellent teacher and frequently offers classes at the Collage store on Alberta in Portland. I'd highly recommend taking a workshop with Jan, and visiting this store!

otter bliss

Ahhhhh, it must be summer yet.

I spent some very enjoyable moments watching the sea otters at the Oregon Coast Aquarium over Memorial Day weekend. Really, it doesn't get any cuter than this. Next time you get out to the coast, don't miss the otters and other wonderful creatures at the aquarium in Newport.