Fare Thee Well...

The Flow Burns Strongest In Gaps
Jennifer G Cutshall

This last day of the Portland Open Studios was bittersweet. It was sweet to have so many artists and art lovers visit the studio, but I was sad that it was coming to an end.

I was filled with inspiration as visitors shared their musings and insights.  Portland is filled with creative, talented people and this showed up even more today as the studio filled with open, generous folks.  I am always surprised by the level of interest in the work, too.

A trio of young creatives (Eilish, Jessica, and TJ) pampered me with attention and interest.  They asked about the my process and the meaning behind the pieces.  When I started to explain how the above piece speaks to the chances we are given while we are in an in between phase (in between jobs, moves, marriages etc.)..that it's in these gaps, so to speak, where the greatest art is created and when we are closest to the flow (the creative flow)...

Jessica, quoted a line from Wendell Berry's poem, "The Real Work"
       "...the impeded stream is the one that sings."

I instantly felt so lucky to be among kindred spirits!

Fare thee well Portland Open Studios 2012...

we're in the gap until 2013...

our chance to make streams sing...

the real work begins again.

"It Lives and Dies In Cerrillos"
by Jennifer G Cutshall
(now @ Art On the Ridge in Setatle)

Posted by Jennifer G Cutshall

Less is More

I preach that less is more in art (and in life) and today this sentiment proved true again.

Rain -the scene this morning outside the studio

"Rain"
the painted scene inside the Studio on the wall

This mornings' Portland Open Studios' second opener brought buckets of rain to the studio door, but not even a trickling of visitors spilled in until...

Sun

...the sun poured in! And along with it- a great collector named Duane.  He came in like a ray of sunshine.
You can find out more about Duane Snyder through his blog:
http://www.theartcounselor.com/dsnider/wordpress/
or his website
http://theartcounselor.com/

  He was closely followed by a lovely family of burgeoning art critics...

Zeeman and Jayden taking a closer look at
"From Limb to Limb"

"This one looks like a bug's eye view and this other one looks like a dream tornado destroying the nightmare,"commented young Zeeman.

"Or an Ocean City," his liitle brother Jayden added.

A trio of lovely ladies bustled in with great energy and attentive ears for my art ramblings...

Liz, Jacqueline, and Mickey
in front of "PreOcuppied II and Surrounded"

I really enjoyed talking with these fellow artists and it was neat to have a cast member from "Portlandia" in my studio (Mickey Ronningen in the yellow jacket).  I loved meeting these ladies!

Then I had the great pleasure of meeting Halina and Charla (below)...they asked such great questions...they could host their own talk show.

I had so much fun talking with them, too!

It was a day with less visitors, but I felt so blessed to meet the ones that stopped by...
 I hope my Portland Open Studios'  mates had the pleasure of meeting these amazing folks too.
Visit Portland Open Studios website to learn more about this uniquely PDX experience and come out tomorrow to meet 100 artists...
http://www.portlandopenstudios.com/
http://www.portlandopenstudios.com/artists/cutshall/

Thanks to all the great studio visitors today...you made my day!

Post by Jennifer G Cutshall

Opening Day

A shot of studio, all gussied up for Portland Open Studios Tour

This is my first year participating in the Portland Open Studios tour.   Rich and I had to clear out some of our studios to showcase my work and make room for the tour goers.  It felt good to get out from under layers of charcoal dust and paint splatter that had accumulated since our move to Portland.  Now I'm not saying that we don't clean up regularly, but I'll admit that we hadn't done an every nook and cranny clearing out in a while.   After all, our studios are in a 3 car garage structure, so it was easy to have that garage standard (of clean)... until Portland Open Studios, that is.  One of the visitors today even expressed a little disappointment at the cleanliness of the studio (I felt a pang of pride).
"Where's the paint splatter, the mess, the dust?" she asked.  "All the studios we've been to are all cleaned up."
There were so many great visitors today.  Interested and curious people that love to look at art (my favorite kind of people).  I kept thinking, this is such a great city to live in....a great city for artists!
Thanks for coming out to visit the studio...there are 3 more days of over 100 studios to see...
Learn more at:
http://www.portlandopenstudios.com/

http://www.portlandopenstudios.com/artists/cutshall/

I hope to see you at the studio...

Our Favorite Art Supply Stores

Studio Cat 

It's no surprise that we love art supplies; all artists do.  The same way great chefs love fresh ingredients, artists seem to be drawn to the supplies that make their creative juices simmer!
 Here in Portland there's a virtual plethora of great independent art supply stores and we feel so lucky!  Sometimes we just browse the aisles and talk about how we could use different materials in the future.

We picked our top 3 favorite (all time) art supply stores below.  We encourage our readers to visit these independent beauties and leave the Chain Beasts behind for good...

In Portland we love
 "I've Been Framed"
4950 SE Foster Rd
Portland OR
503-775-2651
for Great prices, the best framing guys,  knowledgeable staff, and just the right amount of Hodge Podge Savoir-faire
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ive-Been-Framed-Discount-Art-Supplies/230942885624


In New Mexico
"Artisan-Santa Fe"
for great prices, community engagement, and proximity to great green chile!
http://www.artisan-santafe.com/
2601 Cerrillos Road
Santa, Fe, NM
505-954-4179

And the # 1 pick ...
is from my hometown (New York)
"Pearl Paint"
for its' creaky stairs, its'many levels...
an entire landing is dedicated to mostly pencils...enough said, right?
but there's so much more...its proximity to great dumplings and pork buns...

....to shop at Pearl Paint in New York is to imagine greatness...

http://www.pearlpaint.com/

We invite you to leave a comment and tell us about your favorite art supply store...
share the love for the little guy...

Portland Open Studios Hit it Out of the Park...

Portland Open Studios at Directors Park

Portland Open Studios hit it out of the park yesterday...Directors Park that is, in downtown Portland.  I had a grand time doing a couple of quick portrait paintings yesterday among all the talent and skyscrapers. I couldn't even look away long enough for a good pose (above)...so much art, so much  color, so much fun!

And I love being hemmed in by buildings...it's as cozy as a forest, but with more faces.

I was just one of many who peppered the park with a little extra spice.  I got to hold court with the following fabulous Portland Open Studios artists:
Christopher Bibby,, Jason Kappus, Suzy Kitman, Carolyne Landon, Patrick Noe, Theresa Andreas-O’Leary, Barbara Paanakker,  Yer Vue, and many more.

It was like the perfect appetizer before the main entree to come...

There was a fabulous model to draw inspiration from...

I hope you had a chance to visit Directors Park, but if you didn't...please be part of the Portland Open Studios Tour this fall.  Autumn begs a change in palette!

Read more about the Portland Open Studios tour here:
http://www.portlandopenstudios.com/tour-information/

We're Falling for the Northwest

PreOccupied
by Jennifer G Cutshall
Mixed Media on Canvas
48" x 60"

It seems like we are finally falling for the Northwest.  New Mexico was hard to leave and even harder  to forget...
but there's something about the crispness of the air, the rustling of the leaves. Everything and everyone in Portland seems destined for this autumnal season.  There's a bounty to harvest  everywhere...
every neighborhood boasts voluptuous tomatoes plants on sidewalk paths. Chinese lanterns hug the edges of stone cellars while pumpkin vines creep onto the roadways tickling bikers as they zoom by...
How can we resist Portland?  It seems made for us to love...

And to mirror the bounty that surrounds us we've been blessed to be featured in several shows this fall.

The Weeping Field
by Richard Cutshall
11.5" x  6"

In addition to his current work available at the Portland Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery, Richard has a new piece  (The Weeping Field) selected for the Fall show. The Fall show opens Friday October 19, 2012 from 5PM - 8PM.

Bridging The Gap
by Jennifer G Cutshall
36" x 48"

Two of Jennifer's pieces were selected for the 99% show at the Wiseman Gallery at Rogue Community College.  Show runs from Halloween through December 7, 2012.

Jennifer has also been invited to be the feature artist at Art on The Ridge Gallery in Seattle from October through December...more information will be posted soon.

And Jennifer's work will be showcased  as part of the Portland Open Studios Tour which opens our studio to the public.

If you're in the Northwest this fall it's ripe with art...
we invite you to view:
Richard at the Portland Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery:
http://apps.portlandartmuseum.org/rentalsalesgallery/artists/Richard-Cutshall/
Jennifer has 3 pieces at the Pittock:
http://pittockmansion.org/events/contemporaryartviews/
Jennifer is a featured artist in the juried Portland Open Studios tour:
http://www.portlandopenstudios.com/artists/cutshall/
99% show at the Wiseman Gallery at RCC(2 of Jennifer's pieces): http://www.roguecc.edu/galleries/wiseman.asp

We hope you will stop by to see the bounty of art in the Northwest...there's so much out there!

And if you do come to PDX this fall be sure to visit Guardino Gallery, too.  Stephanie Brockway curates an awesome Day of the Dead show at Guardino Gallery in the Alberta Arts District:
http://www.guardinogallery.com/about-the-gallery

We're happy to be a small part of the haunting theater that is the Northwest...harvest art here this fall!





Posted by Jennifer G. Cutshall

You are cordially invited...

"Peripheral Coney Island Shine"
by Jennifer G Cutshall
21" X 28"
Mixed Media on Canvas

This fall we invite you into 3 Spirits Studio in Portland, Oregon (as part of the Portland Open Studios Tour) to view work by Jennifer Gillia Cutshall.

"The Light At The End of The Street"
by Jennifer G Cutshall
Mixed Media on Canvas
18" X 18"

Jennifer was selected to be part of this fall's Portland Open Studios tour.
http://www.portlandopenstudios.com/artists/cutshall/
For more tour information about Portland Open Studios and their showcasing of more than 100 artists in the metro area, click the link below:
http://www.portlandopenstudios.com/tour-information/

"Seeds Escape With the Wind"
by Jennifer G Cutshall
Mixed Media on Canvas
24" X 30"

"Struck"
by Jennifer G Cutshall
Acrylic on Canvas
17" X 24"

"The Timekeepers Pendulum"
by Jennifer G Cutshall
Acrylic on Canvas
52" X 52"