Silk Screening Workshops

I've been having so much fun teaching! I'm always rejuvenated after a class, especially when everyone leaves happy. Printmaking altogether is a magical medium, so when you can "burn" a screen and make a tee within hours... well what can I say? It's just magic! Here are some pictures from the last three or four workshops:

I'm back....I think

It has been months since I've posted anything. The whole reason I started this blog was to keep track of my creative events. Needless to say, in the event of losing my mother, my creativity has been lost. I've been gathering my thoughts, feeling this loss and living with a completely new perspective. I'm slowly gathering the sticks and piecing it all back together. I wanted to write about this because it's important. I've learned our society doesn't know how to deal with death, and most individuals are very uncomfortable talking about it. For months I felt I didn't want to tell anyone I had experienced this tragic event. In the back of my mind I was fighting with myself..."I'm not doing anything! I'm not making anything! I have nothing to show for!" I was struggling with societies expectations. When we lose someone, we have to feel it in silence. Most importantly, we have to acknowledge the great loss in order to heal the best we can.

Oregon Art Beat

On October 9th, OPB aired a segment on the craft community of Portland. Here's my fifteen minutes of fame!

Art Beat Video

for mom

Posted here used to be a mixed tape I made through a company no longer in business called MIXWIT. They were so great and I miss their service! It was a great way to express myself without writing.

My Mother

Veronica Anne Vrvilo McCauley
Born June 2, 1956
Died October 3, 2008

I will never be the same without you

The Peace of Wild Things
By Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
In fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
i go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

The Netherlands

I feel quite lucky I was able to escape Portland for a while and actually use my passport. Destination Amsterdam was my getaway. It was amazing to be surrounded by so much history and art. The architecture, canals and the Van Gogh museum were my absolute favorite! All I did was explore and gain new ideas for future projects. Here are some of my favorite photos:

Last Days Of Summer

It's been almost two months since my last disclosure. Where have the days gone? It's easy to forget about time when our days have been as beautiful as these last two. It was a fantastic weekend for the Portland Art Open. I finally made a trip to Milepost 5 where twenty artists were represented. It was an interesting building that's been converted into condos for working artists. There were two artists I really found interesting: Alisha Wessler and Nancy Fasciani. I enjoyed Alisha's illustrations. Her line work and detail is admirable. Some of her drawings were literally etched into blocks of wood, so naturally, being the printmaker I am, I geeked out over the wood blocks! I love how she transformed her work into sculpture.
Abstract painter and collage artist, Nancy Fasciani showed off some beautiful prints. Her work is very subtle and quiet. She tells soft stories with monotone shapes. After my visit to Milepost 5 I headed off to the studio to work on my own stories....