Red-Green & Blue-Yellow/Colors you can't see

Here is a very interesting article about so called "forbidden" colors from Life's Little Mysteries.

At the end of the article are some more interesting links especially tracking an artist who is on acid.

Tea and pastry tour of Portland

Wednesday my daughter and brother and I went on a tour of bakeries and a wonderful tea store. I did some on line research and marked up the map and off we went.

We met at the Pearl bakery at 8th and Couch at 9 AM. They only had one macaron in the case and wouldn't have others until later in the day so I didn't test them yet. Part of the purpose of this tour was to research the best macaron in Portland. Well, someone has to do it! We walked to Nuvrei bakery at 10th and Flanders and bought macarons to take with us to test later. Then on over to 23rd avenue for the macarons at Moonstruck chocolates. They didn't have any chocolate ones but we found very heavily salted caramel flavor as well as pistachio and mocha. Next to Two Tarts bakery at 23rd and Kearney where they had a poppy seed macaron and would have more flavors in the afternoon. Their macarons were the smallest ones we found.

Then we went to Steven Smith Teamaker at 1626 NW Thurman where they are open Monday through Friday from 9 to 5. This was the highlight of our tour. We had two tea tastings of four flights each so we tasted eight teas. I bought three of them. We brought our cookies from Two Tarts with us to eat with the tea although I think they provide some kind of a plain cookie too. Be sure to look at their blog. It was great fun and since the tea is made perfectly we really had the best of the flavors.

So shortly it would be time to think about lunch and we decided to move over to the east side of town. We really weren't hungry but something savory was sounding good by this time. We traveled on some streets I'm sure I've never been on and I've lived in the Portland area for a very long time. It was so helpful to have my daughter's iPhone with the map app. I see an iPhone in my future.

We made a quick stop at Little T Baker at 26th and SE Division. It was busy and no macarons but it looks like a good bakery and good place for lunch. It was one of the top three bakeries for 2011. The other two are Ken's Bakery and The Pearl.

Lunch was at Petite Provence near 48th and Division. They were very busy and again no macarons. So we were forced to take home our desserts to eat later. The meal was very good and they have a large selection of pastries of various kinds.

I had energy for one more place and we went to the Jade Bistro and Teahouse at 7912 SE 13th in Sellwood. It looks like a good place for lunch too. Their prices for macarons were the best at $1.25 each. They were rated #1 for macarons on Yelp. The decor was very nice and even after the regular lunch hour they were very busy.

I know this is an art focused blog and I am returning to painting soon since I'm recovering from an earlier knee surgery. The only problem is I still don't know my limits or where to draw the line on activities. The only way to find out is to push a little and see what happens. So Wednesday's driving and walking was another good test of my stamina. I have a ways to go yet.

Final score for the best macarons in Portland is a tie between Nuvrei and Moonstruck. I've also had the macarons at Ken's Bakery and Pix and they are no contest compared to the above two places.

Art show at Aurora Gallery/Art Walk

Friday night May 4th at the Aurora Gallery in Vancouver WA our critique group )PDX-WAM.com) or Portland Women in Abstract Media, had a wonderful show which is up through May 28th. The turn out was very good and the streets and galleries were jumping with activity.

The art was well lighted and the gallery owner did the hanging which is always a bonus. Even though we might have seen all the paintings previously it is always a delight to see them hanging together as a group in a gallery setting. Good times!

We had a meeting before the reception and then went to the gallery. Most of us visited the other galleries in Vancouver which are all within walking distance.

I have photos of everyone standing by some of their paintings except I missed Katherine!

Katherine Van Schoohoven
Jan Heigh
Ann Fullerton
Nikki Dilbeck
Marge Rood
Collin Murphy
Bonnie Garrett

Art Instruction DVDs

I haven't been painting while I'm recuperating but I have been watching artist's instructional DVDs. I'm not going to switch from mainly acrylic paints to watercolor or gouache but there is something to be learned from each teacher even if they are not abstract instructors.

A friend loaned me some DVDs and I bought two new ones so I've had a good time seeing a variety of techniques. I just cannot rank them since they are all so different.

The DVDs from left to right starting with the top row:

Creative Break Out, The Art of Freedom by Bill Buchman.

Some new ideas and art products. Especially liked seeing him fling a large brush with Sumi ink and leave his "signature".

Acrylic Revolution by Nancy Reyner

Mainly one technique and one image to make acrylic look like watercolor or oil paint.

A Designed Approach to Abstraction by John Salminen

Enjoy watching him paint. His take on abstract is too meticulous for me though.

Mastering Yupo by George James

Not sure I want to paint on Yupo or not but maybe as an experiment. Otherwise his handling of paint and painting advice is very good.

Acrylic Abstract Painting: The Evolving Image by Virginia Cobb

She starts and finishes three paintings totally without a plan at the beginning. There are large and small changes before she finishes. She had a lot to say about painting and being an artist. I would like to take a class from her. You don't have to like her finished product to learn something useful to whatever your process might be.

Secret Tricks to Pouring Acrylic by Nancy Reyner

Rather than using an epoxy finish she shows how to use mainly GAC 800 for a similar finish since it doesn't crack when dried. I always learn more about Golden products when I see one of her videos. I don't think I would like to finish a large painting with this technique. She briefly talks about Clear Tar Gel and Self Leveling Gel as a substitute for GAC 800 since the GAC 800 has a slight yellow tint but the other two do not.

Start Abstract Painting Today by Robert Burridge

Always entertaining and full of ideas.

Figure Design in Gouache by Carla O"Connor

I learned the most from this one. Lots of good information about composition and certainly about the products she uses. I think I'll have to watch this one again because it's so dense with information.

Artist's blogs

I recently had a total knee replacement and that's the main reason I haven't been posting. Also haven't been on the computer and have not been painting. It's been a very up and down time with all the complications. Very good lessons in patience for me. The lessons never stop, do they?

I found the following post on Skip Lawrence's blog and felt he hit on something important for artists.

Want to know more about Adam of Paris Patisseries?

A photo I took at Jacques Genin of his lemon tarts. I bought one of each of these lovlies.

OK, you probably didn't come here for Paris pastry reviews or to know more about Adam. But just on the off chance that you want to know more about him and his wonderful blog, please go here to read bit more about him.

Jacques Genin

It pleases me beyond measure to know that in some city far away (Paris) is a Master of his profession working away for 15 hours a day and inspecting and checking even the most mundane details in order to turn out the best pastries, chocolates and caramels I've ever tasted.

I booked a trip to France before I knew I would be having knee replacement and really hope I can go on my trip. At least I have a solid incentive to get well.

So enjoy Adam's blog about Paris pastry and chocolate shops.

Paintings

Here are three new paintings I've been working on recently. No titles yet. I have two more in the works and will post when they're done.

It's been a busy time around here lately. I'm scheduled for total knee replacement surgery on February 21st. There are a lot of things to do before hand too and I'm working on being prepared by exercising twice a day usually for a total of 45 minutes to an hour. I have the luxury of time to work on the muscles that will be needed to heal well. I'm also doing the same exercises that are done post-op. Everyone I talk to says moving and exercising are the main task after surgery. In fact, the doctor's office says 80% of the success is directly tied to the patient being motivated to doing the exercises.

24x36

24x24

18x18

Christmas. Helen Frankenthaler.

Here are a few images of my daughter's house on Christmas Day. I love the video of an "open hearth" playing on the flat screen. The Buche de Noel came from a bakery in Hillsdale. I recommend it.

Here is a recent post from the New York Times about Helen Frankenthaler.

And here is the google image page for Joan Mitchell. What a painter!