Mother Nature Original Watercolor by Megan Noel

This weekend I felt at the same time lonely and antisocial. I guess that must mean I am a moody artist? My show at Miro came down a few days early so they could paint, so I went to pick that up. If you missed that, I may have another show there later this year, and I am trying to arrange something at another Seattle venue but no details on that yet... I do however have a piece in the Venus Rising Show at Push / Pull Gallery in Seattle and the Closing Reception is this Saturday evening, if you want to stop by. I will also have several new pieces in the Literature show at Push / Pull, which opens the 10th. All of the art in that show will be inspired by Literature. My literature choices were: Alice in Wonderland, Hamlet, Macbeth, and the Moomintroll books. My friend Corrianna Garrels will have some gorgeous author portraits in that show. I got to see a few of them, notably Mark Twain and Jack Kerouac that are amazing!

Well, that's all my news for now. So back to my weekend, I spent the rest of my weekend painting and drawing. I finished this painting and I was very happy with it. It took quite long time even if it is only 8 x 10". It is available on Etsy!

Forest Spirits

I have been feeling inspired this week, so I hope I have a good weekend of painting coming up. I got to leave work a little early today and I probably should have painted but after going to Ballard Sketch Team last night I decided I needed some quiet reading time. I am just taking a little reading break to scan a painting I finished on Monday. This is:

Forest Spirits, 8 x 10", watercolor on paper. It is available on Etsy. I was very happy with it and I think whatever I start this weekend may have the same feel - though I still have another dinosaur painting to finish as well and I have an urge to draw a monkey.

p.s. how many creatures can you find hiding in the tree?

Limited Edition Audrey Kawasaki Prints - Odaijini and Ishiki

In case you are interested, I have two Audrey Kawasaki prints for sale on Ebay. I have enjoyed these since I got them from the artist a few years ago, and I really hate to part with them but I need the money so I am hoping they go to a very good home!

Odaijini
giclee print on archival paper
7" x 9" print on 8" x 10" sheet
signed and numbered
limited edition of 200 (mine is #166)

and

Ishiki
giclee print on archival paper
7" x 9" print on 8" x 10" sheet
signed and numbered
limited edition of 200 (mine is #167)

Dinosaur Village

What do we really know about what life was like 65 million years ago? Well, actually quite a bit but there is still plenty of room for imagination, and I have employed to, I hope, good effect:

This painting is available in my Etsy Shop along with a couple other new paintings I finished recently:

These are all Daniel Smith watercolor on Arches cold-press paper with ink.

New Prints - Who Really Built the Pyramids & Grr. Argh.

Is daylight savings time supposed to give one more energy? I am not feeling it! I guess I could still have "opening-lag" from the weekend. I was not feeling that social, which is not particularly unusual, only I had to be social 2 nights in a row. Perhaps it would help if I practiced more? But they both went pretty well. It is too bad that it rained Saturday, though. I also got to check out some other galleries, and other venues participating in Ballard and Greenwood artwalk. I recommend checking out Sarah Gordon's work at Cafe Chocolati in Greenwood and Cloud Nectar / Tim Manthey's work at Sticks and Stones Gallery.

Meanwhile.... I have two new 5 x 7" prints available in my Etsy Store! I am really happy with how these came out.

Miro tonight and 2 new prints!

Thank you to everyone who came to the opening at Push / Pull last night! It was wonderful to see so many creative people in one place. Greenwood Art walk is probably my favorite neighborhood artwalk! I think I went to 8 galleries last night and today I am tired - ok 7 were in Greenwood and 1 was in Ballard. Tonight is Ballard artwalk. I wish I could go see everything but I will be at Miro for my own opening, get all the details Here! I hope some of you can come see my new work!

I listed two new prints on Etsy this morning! Check it out! Ok -- I have to go now and drink my tea and have pre-opening jitters. This is the biggest day of 2015 thus far--

new prints

Throw Back Thursday - in Pencil.

I believe he term is "throw-back Thursday" but I am not posting a "selfie". These are three pencil drawings of mine. the one on the top was done in 1989. The two lower ones were done in 2012. Most likely the older one was done with a #2 pencil on white construction paper. The newer ones were done with, probably, 6b and 8b pencils on stonehenge art paper. I guess my style, while it has evolved, started emerging early? Maybe next time I will dig up some of my early pen and ink drawings....

here are two another pencil drawing from 2012, the first is graphite and prismacolor colored pencil, the second is just prismacolor, and possibly a bit of white "charcoal" pencil? on black paper:

Playing with Pen and Ink

Since I finished the shows I was getting ready for, I spent some time in the last week just playing around with my pen. This was a Pitt Artist Pen, size xs. I like to use paper made for markers or manga.

Remember if you are in the Seattle area, you have two chances to see my art this week! I will have work at Miro all month and Art walk is this Saturday. I am also in the Venus Rising show at Push/Pull and that reception is this Friday. You can get all the details Here!. Have you drawn anything just for fun lately?

Literary Journeys South

After all of the business of getting ready for things I have not wanted to do much this week. I have done a little pen and ink & I have been reading a lot. My reading it making me want to travel, which seems unlikely this year. At least the places I would like to go do not require a passport! This week I read:
Finding Everett Ruess by David Roberts
& I am reading House of Rain by Craig Childs. And it's making me want to return to the Southwest. So far I have explored a bit in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. there is still a lot I would like to see in those states, and I have wanted to visit Utah since I was little and saw photos of their geological wonders. I also have never been to Nevada - or maybe we drove through when I was little. I am afraid at age 7 I was not as interested in history as I am now an while I had some interest in nature, I had little patience for long car trips. At any rate, I hope I will make it back down there. I find the desert very soothing. I love the landscape and the desert smells. It's very different from the green green green world we have here in the Pacific Northwest.

Here are a couple of photos I took in Taos:

Back to the books. Finding Everett Ruess is quite a fascinating book. I had read a bit before about and by Everett Ruess. He was a very young desert explorer who vanished in the 30s. His writing was quite passionate, a bit immature but he WAS very young and I think in time would have become a fine writer but no one knows for sure what happened to him. It's a very interesting book about an interesting young man.

House of Rain is sort a combination of a memoir / musings about the rise and dissolution of the anasazi and their kin. I believe the preferred term is "ancestral puebloans". I have always found their architecture, pottery, and artwork to be fascinating and beautiful. One of the places we visited in Taos was Millicent Rogers Museum which has some very beautiful pottery, I really enjoyed that. So I think I will be reading some more about the southwest before I am done with this little trip down literary lane...

Do you have any recommendations?

Into the Home Stretch!

The last few weeks have felt like an art marathon. Ok, not that bad, but certainly a long art hike in perhaps not the best ever weather. I am glad that I took care of a few things today and am now able to get some down time. Though of course I have to go to work tomorrow. Anyway, this morning I hung my show at Miro!

The details:
Miro Tea House
www.mirotea.com
Mon-Sat 8am-10pm Sun 8am-8pm
5405 Ballard Ave N.W. Seattle, WA 98117

The opening will be during Ballard Art Walk, Saturday March 14th, from 6pm to 9pm The work will go up on March 1st and come down on March 31st!

And this afternoon I dropped off a new painting and a new prints for the group show, Venus Rising, at Push / Pull Galley.. The opening reception for that Is Friday March 13th, 6 to 9pm. 8537 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle, Washington.

This is a detail of a new monster painting in the Miro Show!