Palermo in gouache

If I were to ever put one of my pieces on public display, this would be the one. Well, actually that's exactly what I did when my college (SOU, go raiders!) had a call for student artists. Even though I attend virtually, they did accept my piece for display somewhere in the university. It will hang for a year there with my name on a little plaque, and I am quite tickled! 

I own an old Vespa currently, although it doesn't run. It doesn't go faster than 25 miles per hour, and it's loud. In Sicily, these mopeds are everywhere, and I tried capturing that nostalgia in this painting. Sicily is known for it's oranges (I think it is, right?), so how fun would it be to buy a bushel of oranges on your old moped in the old streets of Palermo?

Painted with gouache on canvas, this will eventually be displayed in my own with love and pride.

Earth and Sky shawl

This shawl sets the record for being the longest knitted project I have ever done. That's mostly because I became bored with it and let it sit in a box for a couple of years. One of my resolutions this year was to finish it, and that finally happened. My intent was to make this very large, but I ended up making it the medium size. The pattern was a freebie by Stephen West, and I used plain old sock yarn by Brown Sheep. This goes really well with my favorite Patagonia denim shirt, I almost feel like a cowgirl when I wear them together, but I'm definitely not one!

Burrowing Owl in watercolor

When I think of owls, I imagine the Burrowing Owl. With it's intense yellow eyes and glare, you can just feel it's power. One of my favorite bird paintings, watercolor on paper.

Wool Satchel

After knitting so many Icelandic sweaters, I had a lot of scrap Icelandic yarn to use up. I love making my own purses and bags, as I find manufactured bags a little dull. This is a pretty good size satchel crocheted with colors that remind me of the Northwest. The patch is a design by Cada Johnson, a designer living here in Oregon. Her artwork has always fascinated me, I love her captures of nature and this patch is one of my favorites. I made the bag large so that once I washed and dried it, it would become 'felted'. While it did shrink some, I still feel it's a bit large. That's okay though, better to be slightly large than too small! I even sewed a small pocket inside. This satchel is crocheted entirely with Alafoss yarn, a company in Iceland that has a very cool store outside of Reykjavik. The yarn is sturdy and water resistant (those sheep endure some serious wet weather!). I really love how the colors come together in this one.

Multnomah Falls Oregon

Entry number three of the landscape sketchbook is of Multnomah Falls. I was very pleased with the initial outline sketch, but disappointed in my choice of greens for the foliage. Green is one of the hardest colors for me to capture, yet ironically I have a green aura.

Still learning...

St John's Bridge, Portland Oregon

Portland is known as Bridge City because we have so many. The most beautiful in my opinion is the St John's Bridge in NoPo (North Portland for you non-locals). This long sketchbook is a new experiment in drawing iconic places in Oregon up close. After painting 20 quick landscapes in my memories journal, this one will have more detailed sketches. I am trying to use fewer colors but still capture the image I have of the landmark. It's definitely a new learning curve, and has got me thinking it may be time to take a formal watercolor class next year. 

Skogafjall knitted sweater

Time to take a break from painting. Now that it's cold, I have been knitting and crocheting a lot. On my Iceland vacation, I had the chance to stop at the Alafoss store in Mosfellsbaer to buy a lot of yarn for a good price. I had no idea what I wanted, so I took my time in indulging in the largest selection of Icelandic yarn I have probably will ever see in my life. 

I chose this magenta color because I rarely wear anything of this hue, plus I din't have any pattern in my mind to knit with it. Finally, this past summer I chose Skogafjall because it calls for Lett Lopi yarn. This sweater is typically knitted with greens, and of course the colors I purchased were nothing close. That's okay, the sky can be pink and the trees dark when there are Auroras right?