Tag Archives: intuitive painting

Solo time at the coast

For the past week I’ve been staying in a little cottage in Waldport all by myself, enjoying silence and creative time and walking on the beach twice a day. It’s been heavenly!

I bought a folding table to set up as my workspace in the dining room and spread out my supplies. It was great to have the whole day–the whole week!–to alternate working on paintings with taking breaks outside. The past few days it was so warm that I took my book about Henry Miller’s watercolors onto the deck and soaked up some sun.

I’m heading home refreshed and restored and with a stack of new work and many, many photos for future inspiration.

 

Coming up in October

I’m proud to announce that two of my paintings were juried into Beaverton Arts Mix! I really enjoyed visiting the show last year and seeing the breadth of work, so it’s exciting that my work will hang in it this year.

Here is one of the pieces that will be in the show, which runs October 5-8 at the Beaverton City Library.

“Living on Hope,” mixed media painting by Riis Griffen.

Lake Oswego Festival

Lisa Griffen, "No More Candy." Mixed media on 16x20" canvas.

Lisa Griffen, “No More Candy.” Mixed media on 16×20″ canvas.

I finished this painting on Thursday and dropped it off yesterday, along with 5 others, for the 53rd Annual Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts that takes place next weekend (June 24-26). This is my first time doing the Open Show at the festival. I’m excited about entering my paintings in such a big show that gets over 20,000 visitors. Standing in the long line to drop off art, I was looking at the beautiful florals and landscapes around me and thinking my art would definitely stand out–hopefully in a good way.

When I got home, one of the show volunteers had written me to say that he was glad to see my work there and that photos online don’t do my paintings justice. That made my night!

Old Soul

Lisa Griffen, Old Soul, mixed media on 8x8" wood.

Lisa Griffen, Old Soul, mixed media on 8×8″ wood.

This is the fourth of my ten paintings for the Big 500 show at Peoples Art in Portland. There was about half a day when I considered painting over the figure that was emerging in this painting but I kept going with it and I love the way it turned out.

Sunday was the deadline so my paintings are all turned in. This is my third year doing this show and it now feels like an annual tradition: get the Big 500 paintings done and then the holiday season really starts!

Red Scarf

Lisa Griffen, Red Scarf, mixed media on 8x8" wood.

Lisa Griffen, Red Scarf, mixed media on 8×8″ wood.

Baby, it’s cold outside. She’s all dressed up in her scarf but her nose is still red.

This is the third of my ten paintings for the 8th annual Big 500 show at Peoples Art in Portland. It opens Saturday, Dec 12 with a high-energy reception and runs through mid-January.

Pajama Party for One

Lisa Griffen, Pajama Party for One, mixed media on 8x8" wood.

Lisa Griffen, Pajama Party for One, mixed media on 8×8″ wood.

This little piggy has his PJ’s on and he’s ready for fun! My second painting finished for the Big 500 show at Peoples Art in Portland, which opens December 12 at 2 pm with a huge reception.

Wise Beyond Your Years

Lisa Griffen, Wise Beyond Your Years, mixed media on 8x8" wood.

Lisa Griffen, Wise Beyond Your Years, mixed media on 8×8″ wood.

This is my first painting finished for the Big 500 show at Peoples Art in Portland. This is my third time participating. Every year I get my boards and plan to finish my paintings before Thanksgiving…and every year I’m still working on them at the start of December! One down and nine to go!

The show opens with a huge reception on December 12 at 2 pm, with music, snacks, a canned food drive for the Oregon Food Bank, and thousands of pieces of original art priced at $40 each. It’s always a good time and I’m looking forward to being a part of it again.

Handful of Stars

Handful of Stars, mixed media outsider art painting on 18x24" canvas. $270.

Handful of Stars, mixed media outsider art painting on 18×24″ canvas. $270.

This is one of those paintings that didn’t want to come together for ages, until it suddenly did. I’d like to figure out what it is that sparks that resolution, because it would make my painting process a lot faster! And then this little lady lingered on the easel all summer because I’ve been so busy I didn’t have time to put the finishing touches on her. It was great to get back into the studio last week and finally finish her. This isn’t a very good photo, because I snapped it hastily before she went off to People’s Art in Portland for their So Many Days, So Many Dead show that opens on October 17. The show hangs until November 15, so stop by to see her and three more of my paintings in person!

Solo show at New Seasons

Wishbone. Original mixed media outsider art painting on 16x20" canvas. $200.

Wishbone. Original mixed media outsider art painting on 16×20″ canvas. $200.

I’ve had a bad cold since returning from vacation, but made it out of bed this morning to hang my solo show at the Cedar Hills New Seasons cafe with lots of help from my sweet husband. Wishbone and 12 other animal-themed paintings will be there until the end of September.

Visitor from the Dreamtime

Lisa Griffen, Visitor from the Dreamtime, acrylic and ink on 18x24" canvas.

Lisa Griffen, Visitor from the Dreamtime, acrylic and ink on 18×24″ canvas.

I watched the movie Tracks on Netflix. It’s about Robin Davidson’s solo trek across the Australian desert in the 1970s. Then I read her book, which gave a lot more detail, especially about the Aboriginal people she met along her way. That got me interested in reading about the spirituality of indigenous Australians. I’m especially intrigued by the Creation stories about the Dreamtime.

A few days after I finished all that reading, this figure showed up in my painting, clearly emerging from those explorations.