Kootenai National Forest, Montana: Webb Mountain Fire Lookout on the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail

Matt and I are spending our summer vacation in northwest Montana’s Kootenai National Forest along the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail.

We spent four nights at Webb Mountain Fire Lookout above Lake Koocanusa. It was stormy and cold when we arrived, and the dramatic scene complete with this huge, vibrant rainbow won us over immediately.

The rest of our time at the Webb Mountain Fire Lookout had spectacular weather. We had 360° views (as you would expect from a fire lookout). We were surprised that the sunrise was around 5:30am and sunset was about 9:45. It stayed light out long past then, only starting to really get dark around 11pm. Then we were graced by a huge full moon that kept the skies lit all night long!

Boulder Mountain and Boulder Lakes are near the lookout. We hiked to a ridge above the lake to get a good view. The photographer is at work in the foreground.

Logo Concepts for a New Yoga Studio

 

I’m excited to be working on a new identity project for a small yoga and wellness studio that is about to open in Mukilteo, Washington, called Nanda (translation: “Joy” in Sanskrit).

 

I love the luminescence in this logo. The layering gives a sense of depth and vitality. I love the way the words radiate out from the center, as if coming straight from the heart.

My client gave me some images that inspire her, including the Fibionacci spiral, which fed several of these logo ideas. This one is youthful and fun!

This logo is simple, again reflecting the warmth and radiance of connection and community. I think warm colors are especially inviting here in the Pacific Northwest, where so many days are grey and cool.

This is another design derived from the Fibionacci curve, cultivating a sense of nature and personal exploration.

 

The studio’s owner wants the logo to express the radiance, joy, and peacefulness that comes from natural healing modalities like yoga, massage, and acupuncture. Her favorite yoga pose, “wild thing” is pictured in these two concepts (above and below). These can be used whole, or broken up into pieces for different effects.

I love different aspects of all of these concepts. I’m eager to find out which one inspires my client the most.

Preview of a New FIDM Poster

I’m designing this year’s new FIDM poster now... I’m really excited about the concept I created with my colleague Kimberley Askew. We plan to develop an entire integrated campaign in print and online. The posters will be seen in high schools around the country.

Four real FIDM students will be featured throughout the campaign, which will drive our audience to a blog where the students will chronicle their experiences as part of the creative community at FIDM. Our audience wants to be able to imagine themselves at FIDM before they apply for admission, and this is the perfect way for them to see what campus life is like from their own peers.

Campfire Series 2012: Three Nights in Okanogan National Forest, Washington

Campfire Series: May 25, 2012, Okanogan National Forest, First Butte Fire Lookout, North 48.61934 West 120.10805

Matt and I spent the holiday weekend camping in Okanogan National Forest on the east side of the North Cascades in Washington State.

I’ve always loved campfires. Watching a campfire is a great meditation that blurs boundaries, releases old mental patterns, and opens the mind to new ways of seeing.

 We camped at the bottom of First Butte Fire Lookout.

Campfire Series: May 26, 2012, Okanogan National Forest, 8 Mile Creek, North 48.73785 West 120.28925

Each night, we camped at different sites, and I became enamored with the different characteristics of each fire, the placement of the wood, the sparks, the glow... the dance.

Campfire Series: May 27, 2012, Okanogan National Forest, Andrews Creek Trailhead, North 48.78430 West 120.10781

Our third night out, we stayed in the Chewuch River Canyon. My heart was nearly ripped out when we read the interpretive signage describing the Thirtymile Fire that occurred in July 2001. The fire started in a campsite; a camper left his fire unattended and it spread, went out of control, and killed four firefighters within 24 hours. Eleven years later, we could still see evidence of the fire's devastation throughout the canyon, and we plan to hike up the river canyon into the Pasayten Wilderness on our next trip there. Needless to say, we made sure our fires were dead-out before we went to sleep.

Helen Frankenthaler: Favorite Famous Artists / Part 9

Island. 1965.

As seen at Portland Art Museum.

I went to the Portland Art Museum yesterday, and found two Helen Frankenthaler pieces that remind me just how much I love her work. The spontaneity in her mark-making inspires me to my bones!

Spaced Out Orbit. 1973.

As seen at Portland Art Museum.

“A really good picture looks as if it’s happened at once. It's an immediate image. For my own work, when a picture looks labored and overworked, and you can read in it—well, she did this and then she did that, and then she did that—there is something in it that has not got to do with beautiful art to me. And I usually throw these out, though I think very often it takes ten of those over-labored efforts to produce one really beautiful wrist motion that is synchronized with your head and heart, and you have it, and therefore it looks as if it were born in a minute.” —Helen Frankenthaler

I love this quote, because I struggle with the same things in my own work. How much do I try to control the media, and how much do I allow it to control me? When is a piece finished, and when is it overworked? Mmm... Good questions!

Spontaneous: A New Series

 Spontaneous: Jump. Ink on paper. 8x8 inches. 2012.

The amazing spring weather and subsequent abundant flowers blooming all over town inspired this brightly-colored series. The rhododendrons are especially beautiful and vibrant right now, and I’m inspired!

 Spontaeous Series. Ink on paper. 8x8 inches (each piece). 2012.

 Spontaneous: Courage. Ink on paper. 8x8 inches. 2012.

Fabriano Features My Paintings

A few months ago, paper maker Fabriano purchased images of several of my paintings to include in their new paper sample books. I just got my copies in the mail today; they look great!

Graphic designers use these books to spec paper for their large press projects. The sample books show designers the best of what the papers can do with printing effects and inks.

What I love most about this piece is that it combines two of my favorite things—painting and printing.

I am humbled and full of gratitude that these Italian designers (a) found my work, and (b) appreciated its quality and ability to communicate the best of what their papers can handle.

Handpainted Watering Can for Charity

A few weeks ago I was asked (along with about 40 other artists) by a friend at Arapahoe/Douglas Mental Health Network in Denver to custom paint a garden watering can for their upcoming fundraiser. I was honored to be a part of this project, and I hope they rake in tons of cash to help people in need.

The luncheon and auction will be held on May 11, 2012.

To find out more about the project and to register for the luncheon, click here.

North Carolina Gardens

During my recent visit to North Carolina, I got a chance to see some public gardens bursting with flowers.

The irises above were at the JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University. They were so oddly colored, we couldn’t decide whether we liked them or not. I finally concluded that, yes, the color is complex and beautiful. The base of the flower is a muted purple, and it transitions to a bright yellow at the top. 

These classic amaryllis blooms were spectacular!

We saw beautiful, delicate columbines at the North Carolina Botanical Gardens.

I wish I could remember the name of these crazy flowers! The blooms are above, the buds in the photo below.

I think in a former life, I must’ve been a gardener. These gardens in springtime are so inspiring!

Haiku for Springtime in North Carolina

The green forest leaves'
Confetti celebration
Whispers love and light.

North Carolina Museum of Art

I went back to North Carolina to visit some family and attend a yoga teacher training course at Duke Integrative Medicine. I went to the North Carolina Museum of Art with my mom and sister to see how their permanent collection looks in the new building.

I’ve been visiting NCMA since high school. When I was a design student at NC State University, I used to go to the art museum to sketch and relax. Back in those days I was always drawn to the Byzantine religious paintings. This time I was more interested in abstraction.

This Frank Stella piece looks a lot better in the new building than it did in its previous home.

I notice now, looking back at the works I chose to photograph, that I was really drawn to geometric curves this time. I wonder if it has to do with experiencing the work in a different, brighter, more contemporary building. It really did seem like the modern and contemporary art fit better in the new space. The older, more historical works actually seemed more out-of-place than I remember them when they were exhibited in the other building.

The interior of the new building is great—it's open, bright, inviting. I wish the exterior was as nice. I was disappointed that the exterior of the building doesn’t seem to incorporate the environment or context of the location very well, not to mention the fact that it kind-of looks like a cheap metal shed. Situated next to the old building, the two seem to fight with each other, visually and experientially. Perhaps museum administrators have future plans to bring the two buildings into a more cohesive, holistic kind of visitor experience. I hope so!

Autocomplete / Collaboration

Autocomplete: Untitled. A drawing by Kevin White and Danielle Foushée.

7.5 x 9.5 inches. Crayon, ink, and twine on matte board.

My friend from our days at Cranbrook, Maya Drozdz, invited me to be a part of a new exhibition she’s curating, called Autocomplete: A Collaborative Coloring Book Exhibition at Visionaries + Voices Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio. The exhibition will be on view from May 10 to June 29, 2012.

The Visionaries + Voices Gallery provides artistic and cultural opportunities for artists with disabilities, and builds an inclusive environment where all artists feel valued. They value a world in which artists with disabilities not only create and share their works of art, but also are able to learn, work, collaborate, exhibit, teach, and celebrate with other community members.

I was given the black and white drawing you see above, created by artist Kevin White, and was asked to “complete” the piece. I added the color and the twine to finish it. I always love these kinds of works. What two artists create together is completely different from what each of them would’ve done alone.

Special thanks to Maya for including me in this project. It has been really fun to be a part of it!

New Blue Paintings

Vishuddha #11, Ink on Paper, 6x6 inches. 2012.

I just finished a new series of blue and purple paintings. There are 22 of them.

Vishuddha #3, 6, 7, 10, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22.

Ink on paper, 6x6 inches (each), 2012.

My sankalpa (intention) for 2012 is to focus on the idea of integrity—living from my own truth, and from the inside out. After my thyroid cancer diagnosis last fall, I’ve been thinking a lot about the throat chakra and it’s energetic implications on my life. Vishuddha Chakra is generally represented by the color blue. 

To honor my body and my intention this year, I’m focusing on becoming a better communicator. As part of my studies and spiritual practice, I’ve taken on a course in life coaching, which I think will give me skills to become a better speaker and especially a better listener.

Vishuddha #19, Ink on Paper, 6x6 inches. 2012.

I hope I will be able to deepen my personal relationships, improve my own life and the lives of people around me. I’m also looking forward to grounding my art-making work in the ideas that evolve from these explorations. 

I’m giving one of these little guys to each of my classmates in my Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction class at Swedish Hospital in Seattle. I hope it will be a happy little reminder to everyone of what a great experience we had supporting each other together. 

Maybe it will also help keep us on task with staying in the present moment, where everything is always as it should be.

A Yellow Landscape

This new painting I’m working on reminds me of the birds-eye view of Utah I used to get when I would fly back and forth from Los Angeles to Colorado. The land and rock formations are so graphic from above. They signal both stability and change simultaneously. These are concepts that seem to permeate the human condition—at least mine, anyway.

My Paintings at Home in Los Angeles

Late last year I was commissioned by Umesh Vaghjiani, uber-talented interior designer and owner of Inbox Designs in Los Angeles, to create two new paintings for his client's new bedroom. I was honored to produce the two works you see pictured above the bed in this photo.

I think the room is gorgeous!

It is so gratifying to know that my work is bringing joy to the homeowner each time he enters the sanctuary of his new bedroom.

Thank you, Umesh, for giving me the opportunity to collaborate with you on this project. It was such a pleasure to create these pieces for you and your client!

See the paintings up close here.