Artwork / Archives / 2014

Kirk Reeves mural in Portland, Oregon old couple, sweet moment fun painted double portrait of an old couple happy running dog art a sharing kind of bear, fine art painting on a canvas tote tiger art by wildlife painter Gwenn Seemel portrait with dandelion design black and white fine art painted portrait Gwenn Seemel and Claire Barker Harai owl art and cat painting by animal painter Gwenn Seemel giraffe painting, commissioned wildlife art wedding portrait of a 1960s couple commission portraits of a husband and wife book cover, figurative art by Gwenn Seemel cat drawing in marker on paper sweet little piglet artwork by vegan artist Gwenn Seemel goat with some sheep, painting art

2014 gave me three large projects besides the commissioned works and personal pieces I completed—most of which are shown above.

The first project was public art: a 10 by 38 foot mural of Kirk Reeves, the beloved Portland street performer who passed away in 2012. Kirk’s memorial was featured widely in the press, including in a beautiful video which filmmaker Ifanyi Bell created for Oregon Public Broadcasting.

The second had me traveling to Switzerland to speak at TEDxGeneva about why imitation is good for creativity. That invitation came about through a funny series of events, and I found the opportunity nourishing on many levels.

squirrel with peanuts painting by Gwenn Seemel a lovable bear painting bear cub in a swimsuit cat and parrot facing off the Little Prince and his animal friends praying suqirrel artwork enraged bear with a broken heart parrot and bear kissing cat and parrot cuddling the Little Prince being rescued from copyright censorship remix of Smokey the Bear by Gwenn Seemel cat alien art by Oregon artist Gwenn Seemel cat chewing on a camera art Eiffel Tower painting by French artist Gwenn Seemel Moses with the copyright commandments

TEDxGeneva also inspired the third big project for 2014: this collection of paintings. These are some of illustrations I made for You Share Good, a book full of practical tips for freeing your art from copyright!

Gwenn Seemel mentioned in the Willamette Week
photo by Gwenn Seemel

“You’re not a proper patron of Portland’s arts scene until you’ve...had your portrait painted by Gwenn Seemel.”

- Editor, Willamette Week, September 2014