If an artist talks about her work…

...does she say anything interesting?

I ♥ Oregon Art Beat!

Today, we did part one of the filming for the Oregon Art Beat segment about Apple Pie and my work in general.  It was a lot more fun than I had anticipated—and not just because I was bracing myself for the worst either! 

You ain’t nothing but an American citizen.

Apple Pie has been a special pleasure to work on because it has allowed me to reconnect with old friends, including Jimmy, the subject of this portrait.

The line between offending people and starting a conversation

If a work is just plain offensive, then there’s no art to it; if it’s completely innocuous, it might as well be a wall paper pattern.

Gwenn Seemel, LANDSCAPE painter.

Because I would hate to seem predictable.

Waving my flag

The flag of the United States isn’t just some stale old symbol thrown together years ago as a standard to carry into battle: it’s a reflection of how this country has grown. 

Nine different kinds of apple pie…

...and all my favorite people!  I couldn’t ask for anything more in an opening party.

Book me.

Inara Verzemnieks is amazing.  As the only other portrait artist in town who’s done my portrait—so far!—she has shown me a lot about myself.  And that’s only part of the reason why I asked her to write the essay for the book I’ve published about Apple Pie (here pictured with my friend).

Twenty slices of the American dream

Apple Pie opens 28 August at the Interstate Firehouse here in Portland and travels on to Eugene next year, and, though I’ve been working on the series for a few years now, I have two paintings that are as yet unfinished!

My disposable thumb

The story of how my right thumb came to be non-compulsory to my painting process doesn’t actually start on my kitchen floor as I try to stop myself from fainting after slicing my digit to the bone on a can top.

The difference between propaganda and art

The implications of images evolve along with the culture which surrounds them, but propaganda always remains, in all the important ways, propaganda and is only ever about inserting a pre-digested visual in a person’s head.  Art should be just as good at putting an image in an individual’s head but not one that leaves so little room for thought. 

Art should appear effortless.

And that isn’t to say it should be easy to make, only that it shouldn’t show signs of struggle. 

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