Alberta Art Hop!

Thanks all who came out to visit during the Alberta Art Hop on Saturday!  Jon and I had lots of fun, but it was sure warm!  Here are some pictures we got of all the festivities.

Enjoy!

Rachel and Jon

 

Rachel’s Paintings: Aerial Farm Watercolors

I’m busy working on new map paintings these days - getting ready for the Alberta Art Hop on Saturday (see post below for more info) - and can’t believe sunny, nice weather will be joining us at the sale! Today, Jon and I are going to make more wood frames for the paintings and cut some panels. I’m also going to try and make one or two big mixed media paintings in the next month for a show at Tilde I’m having in July and need to get those prepped.

I was spacing out this morning, looking at my watercolors as they hanging all over my apartment. This was the series that got me started in painting, and though not as popular as my map or oil paintings, I really love them. They started off in oil then moved into watercolor. I haven’t done them in a while and don’t have many posted on etsy or my website, but hope to do some more soon. They were inspired by flying over the strange and beautiful shapes of crop circles and land grids. I abstract them, but always imagine little farm layouts while painting them and hope people pick up on that. Watercolors are such a lovely medium and I always get excited when I see artists do more abstract work with them instead of the traditional watercolor subjects. Above are some little ones I’ve done.

Have a lovely Wednesday,

Rachel

 

Art Hop

Next Saturday (May 17th) is the Art Hop on Alberta Street here in Portland!  Alberta hosts a thriving art walk every Last Thursday of the month and began an annual event called the Art Hop a few years ago.  With a number of galleries and hundreds of artists set up on the streets, along with spontaneous street performances and the obligatory tall bikes, low riding bikes, and other unique welded bicycle arrangements, the events on Alberta are always lively.  This Saturday, Rachel and I will be set up between NE 19th and 20th with brand new paintings and pendants!  The official time for the Art Hop is 11am - 6pm, check the Art on Alberta site for more info.

 

Crafty People: Nancy Kremiller (my mom!)

Hello all,

I’ve been busy working on more mixed media paintings this week - I’m trying to start really stocking up so I have plenty around when our baby is due. I’ll post some things I’ve been working on tomorrow, but until then check out my mom’s beautiful paintings! She recently started painting and selling on Etsy and is doing great! I love these pieces and how they remind me of the lovely spring weather we’ve been getting. Check out more of her work at nancysview.etsy.com

Cheers!

Rachel

 

Crafty People: Jamee Linton

Happy Friday to you all,

I’ve been working on oil paintings all this week and have been really happy with the way they are finishing. Today I’m going to start on some larger pieces - 36″ x 36″! I haven’t worked that large in quite a while and have a nervous excitement about the paintings - one will be a poppy painting and one will be a lanterns piece. Fun times!

Today I wanted to share the work of another very talented Portland artist and friend, Jamee Linton. I have a couple of her landscapes hanging in my apartment and think they capture the beauty and solitude in landscapes. I’ve put a couple of images of hers above, but you should check out her website to see more and to see some of her other series. Lovely!

Have a great weekend,

Rachel

 

Crafty People: Stepanka Horalkova

I recently discovered Stepanka Horalkova’s beautiful ceramic pillows.  She is a self-taught ceramic artist born in the Czech Republic who now lives in New York.  Her work is all hand built, mainly using slabs, and range from standing vessels, standing abstract forms, wall pillow forms, spheres and functional ware.  I love the drawings on all here pieces - maybe it’s all those circles I’m so attracted to - I have such a weakness for circles!

Happy Tuesday,

Rachel

 

Rachel’s Paintings : Oil Painting Process

I took some pictures of three painting stages on two of the oil paintings I worked on last week. The first, of course, is the outlines of the lanterns/poppies painted over my pencil marks. The second picture is of the acrylic under painting. And the third is the finished piece in oil. I’m really happy with the way these turned out and hope you enjoy them too! It’s fun for me to see the process. You can view more for sale on my etsy site.

Cheers,

Rachel

 

Crafty People - Michelle Ramin

One of my favorite artists around Portland is Michelle Ramin. She is always exploring interesting things and has an amazing style that always demands exploration of an entire piece. We are lucky enough to own some of her work, including the Goose, Gear and Tree picture shown. I also really love her recent series of bridges, which includes a lot of local bridges like the Astoria Bridge - one of our favorite places to visit! She’s also a super nice lady to boot! Check out her website for more info on her work and current show at Moxie and upcoming show at Amalee Boutique, both in Portland

-jon

 

Crafty People : Sarah Symes

I first became aware of Sarah Symes work at the YES Gallery in Rhode Island, where I too am showing . Her artwork is completely amazing to me! I first thought they were paintings, but they are all sewn. She pieces together pieces of hand dyed fabrics that are then stitched together and stretched over a frame. Sarah has such a beautiful eye for color and design - lovely!

Rachel

 

Sew!

I’m afraid I’ve been neglecting this blog for the last week because I have been distracted by cute little sewing projects. Jon and I recently found out we will be having a little girl in August, and now that I know I just want to spend my time sewing tiny things for her! Here are some little outfits that Jon and I made together - neither of us is very good at sewing (yet!) and it’s been fun to work as a team on something new. He is much better at following directions than I am and we are both pretty proud of our little creations. My favorite is the red polka dot romper that my mother so nicely came over two different days to help us out on! I’ve also been doing some more screen printing and printed these onsies - another fun project that has also been distracting me from painting.

However, today I am excited to be painting! I started prepping five new oil paintings yesterday and will be working on the underpaintings on some of them today. I’ll keep you posted on the progress!

Cheers,

Rachel