A New Miniature Painting Every Month

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Swallowtail

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Simplify

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Creature Comforts

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Series Five: Flight of Fancy

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Monthly Miniature, Flight of Fancy

My still life paintings pay homage to the works created during the Dutch golden age of painting (roughly the 16th and 17thc). For my series,“Flight of Fancy” I’m exploring how to seamlessly combine different elements of the composition from multiple sources. In particular, I’m interested in bringing the lively birds from my garden into my paintings as well as objects from the Seattle Art Museum collection.

When I was little, we lived on 20 acres and my dad always knew what birds were on the property and where most of them nested. I inherited his wonder and love for studying the flora and fauna all around me. In this series, I’m attempting to capture many of the birds I find in my own 1/4 acre garden. 

For much of my artistic career, I had a parallel career working in the arts installing paintings and sculptures at the Seattle Art Museum. My first job for the museum was to help create mounts for objects on display in the Porcelain Room. After handling literally hundreds of pieces it was impossible not to develop a keen appreciation for the beauty found in these simple objects. 

This series takes inspiration from multiple facets as I learn the nuances of bringing separate elements together in ways that bring my still life paintings to life. 

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Monthly Miniature, In Season

The miniature series, “In Season” consists of still-life paintings in the Dutch Still-Life tradition. Still-life paintings from Northern Europe were at their prime from around 1600 – 1800 and they often feature blossoms, insects and food that could not be found out of hibernation or in season at the same time. They are constructs of seasonal impossibility, pieced together from earlier studies, signifying impermanence and the perception that earthly life is transitory. “In Season” pays homage to Northern European still life, while also contrasting modern and past experiences. Expectations have changed; perennial availability is the norm now, and seasonality is hardly acknowledged. In Season features combinations of fruits, flowers and insects that occur together naturally, in appreciation of the beauty of the cyclical and ephemeral. To learn more about each specific painting, go to my blog.

Series Three: The children of Artists

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Monthly Miniature, The Children of Artists

I was worried about how I was going to balance motherhood with being an artist, but I’ve been amazed at how well the two are coming together. The Children of Artists is a mantra of courage and a celebration of creative power that I began just before my son’s first birthday.  The first painting in the series is of my own son and each of the other paintings will feature a different artist’s child. I meditate on balancing two great passions and I thank each artist I know who continues to work, particularly those who manage to raise children at the same time. I have also asked each artist to write about their parenting and artmaking experience. It is difficult to express how powerful it is to read the stories of people I admire and recognize in them my own joys and struggles. Read their stories and learn more about each painting and the artwork their parents make on my blog.

Series Two: Into the Country

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Monthly Miniature, Into the Country

Please go to Into the Country (larger works) to see bigger paintings in this series.

My early memories are few but vivid, with joy and sorrow in equal measure. When I was small, I discovered the aftermath of a weasel attack in the hen house. Yet I also remember the sole survivor, a newly hatched chick who followed me everywhere. As my father succumbed to Multiple Sclerosis, the rest of us took more responsibility for the animals, and I reveled in it.

Now I paint animals, revisiting fond memories of my dad and the wonder of growing up on a small family farm. My work also draws influences from the language of portraiture from the Northern Renaissance and the Dutch Golden age of painting, and the animals that grace my life today. I seek not only the likeness of my subject, but also the beauty particular to them.

The second Monthly Miniature series, Into the Country, features animals from my mother-in-law’s herds and flocks (and more). Portraits from the series are painted in a style inspired by the classical Dutch portrait, and continue a mood from the first miniature in the “Paintings of Rabbits” series. The series began as my ongoing Monthly Miniature project, but evolved to also include larger paintings.

Series One: Paintings of Rabbits

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Monthly Miniature, Paintings of Rabbits

The first Monthly Miniature series chronicles two large personalities in my studio, rabbits Charlemagne and Eleanor. Paintings of Rabbits takes miniature portraiture to strange, new places. Finding new ways to portray the same two rabbits was a great challenge that became more generative and exciting as the series progressed, with every other painting inspiring ideas for new future work.

For me, painting animals is much like painting people. Seeking the subject’s personality, a narrative, a mood remain steady areas of focus. With each painting, I learn more about these personable yet highly individual creatures, and my own connection to them, at once foreign and familiar.

Each Monthly Miniature in this series is fitted to a unique, hand-restored antique frame.