A poem by Dave Jarecki

we can't run up
to the old lady at the bus,
grasp her hand,
but can
watch our way
into her, peel
her clothes
to expose
young flesh,
see
how eyes flick
to a child she recalls
dead in his crib.
take
the seat with her,
know
her list, the friend
and meat she picks,
how she hates the cold,
is used to rain
and fine
slow rides.

For more of Dave's fine work please check out his site: http://davejarecki.com/creative/

Just Finished....

I just finished this painting today. It is inspired from a walk I took around my neighborhood this morning. We had 2 inches of snow here in Portland, OR which pretty much brings the city to a halt. Today the sun is out and the sky's are bright blue so all the snow sparkles and shimmers in the light.

Bus Stop Girl

I rode the bus down town a few days ago and notices this girl waiting at the bus stop. She had this billowy red cloud of hair that fell all the way down her back.
I remembered as much as I could during that minute stop.


I have never painted from memory like this before. I usually have the sitters in front of me, like in this next picture of my friend Dave. Dave came to my studio for about three hours to sit for his portrait.
He played amazing music for the entire
three hours.

I found that I enjoy working from memory. I can simplify details because I no longer have the image in front of me to reference.
But part of the fun in painting portraits is enjoying the sitters company.

The Big 100

This fall has been very busy for me. I have participated in some awesome art shows here in Portland. I created 4 paintings in 8 hours at a live painting event called "Pulse". 35 artists participated in this event and all art work created in the 8 hours was auctioned off as a fundraiser for the Children's Heart Foundation.
"Little Things" at Guardino Gallery, 2939 NE Alberta St, which runs through December 28th is a show where all art is 7x7" or smaller.

The painting to the right is a piece I created for a show called "Blue Squared" at Vino Paradisio, 417 NW 10th Ave, which runs through January 4th. The theme of this group show is Blue and all the art is square.

And finally "The Big 100"
at Olympic Mills which opens Friday, December 5th from 6-11pm at 107 SE Washington St.

The Big 100 is a group show with over 100 artist participating. We were all given 10 pieces of wood, 8x8" to create on and we only had 10 days to do it. Each piece will be sold for $30.00 with a portion of the sales going to charity. My favorite thing about shows like The Big 100 is the limited time to create the art. I didn't have time to over think each piece and tried something different.

Here are three images out of my 10 that will be in the show. I have a











few of my traditional landscapes, but I also played around with the composition of the lines and broke out of the horizontal. I am excited for the opening and to see all the other work by great local Portland artist!