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This March I stayed in Paris for the month near the Arc de Triomphe and did many ink and watercolors of the sights. I was able to pack a folding stool in my suitcase, which we tried not to clobber passengers on the Metro which carrying this and art supplies to parks and museums, The best trip was an hour out Paris to Domaine de Chantilly to sketch the chateau and their Museum of the Living Horse with horse dressage demonstrations. March is cold and wet so sketching was a test of how well you can draw with freezing fingers. The painting you see here is an imagined collage of the hundreds of photos I took. The flags were stretched across the trees at our favorite news stand, where the vendor saved us the International Times. Peacocks were every where at a former royal hunting ground, now the Bagatelle Park. The green metal fountains are called Wallace Fountains after the man who put them throughout Paris for the poor after the Commune riots destroyed aqueducts. After my trip to Germany, I've done more imagined collages of sights and photos of these countries--next is a trip to Russia. Still using oil paints on birch panels--you can get so much more detail using this. My goal would be to do for others paintings of collages of their memories of favorite trips.

This Sept. I went on a 10 day trip to Munich, Dresden, and Berlin in Germany. Using the ink and watercolor sketches I did of their museums and buildings, I struggled with how to paint Germany without the cliches. Taking parts of sketches and photos,I tried something new--I painted a collage of these three cities with rococo details, the Reichstag, and even a prezel (ok, a cliche). In between this, painting pet portrait commissions, and finding that using a palette knife for mountains captures their texture. For a gallery show this summer, I did a series of paintings of a friend's gorgeous antique aprons. The outstanding bright colors of pastels is my new art--doing portraits in pastels now as well as oil paint. Having a new studio since May, 2018 with more room is wonderful, and near to downtown Portland, Oregon at 1975 SW First Ave and Lincoln. It's located in my husband's used bookstore, Chaparral Books, and conveniently next to a liquor store and a Plaid Pantry for when painting gets frustrating.
Living on the 22nd floor in the clouds with a view of snow covered Mt. Hood created an abstracted view of Portland and it's iconic mountain without being too repetitive (you have to be careful with the often painted Mt. Hood). The next series of paintings will be of Paris, where I'm staying for a month this March.

The St. Honore Boulangerie here makes the same beautiful religieuse green, pink, and yellow cream puff pastries as seen in the Grand Budapest Hotel movie. Yesterday, I paired this with the spring cherry blossoms on the trees here in Portland to do an oil painting. As soon as it dries I'll get a photo up. Tomorrow, I'll start an oil painting and add two small birds with this pastry, cherries, and some cupcakes.