My Chaboo

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a great collaboration with Ken Tomita to customize one of his Chaboo Benches.

For my chaboo I integrated my abstract landscape design with the shape and materials of the bench. It was very pleasing to work three dimensionally, to wrap the painting around the sides of the bench. I chose a more natural pallet to compliment the beauty of the wood, leaving areas unpainted to allow the bamboo to show through.

To see my chaboo, and to so many other chaboo collaborations go to:
http://www.projectchaboo.com/chaboo/product/kelly-neidig/


For those of you in the Portland area please check out the opening for Project Chaboo on March 4th at Gallery Homeland!

Four New Painting

Here are four New paintings inspired by my beautiful state of Oregon!










"Midnight Oasis" 10x10" Oil on Canvas
This reminds me of the painted hills in Eastern Oregon. I traveled through there with my husband about a year ago on the way to Utah. We stayed in a neat little A frame cabin, and in the morning the owner gave us some cool rocks. He said they were snake skin agate, formed by lightning hitting the sand. The rocks are creamy in color, with a rough "skin" on the outside. You can see burn marks on the outside from where the lightening struck.





















"Moss" 10x10" Oil on Canvas
This painting reminds me of my first hike at the George. I think winter in Oregon is my favorite time for hikes. Everything is covered in Moss, so even though there are no leaves on the trees everything vibrates green.




















"Snow Blast" 10x10" Oil on Canvas
This past December Portland got buried in Snow. Not many people own shovels and there aren't many plows since the snow usually doesn't stick around that long. It was a great winter wonderland for over a week!





















"Coast" 10x10" Oil on Canvas
I love sitting and painting on the beaches of the Oregon Coast. I think Manzanita, Or is my favorite. Mostly because there is a great hotdog stand there in the summer, Manzanita Mud Dogs. The owner Jim and his wife sell hot dogs to rais money for underprivilaged youth. They are great to talk to and have the best hot dogs I have ever eaten!

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!

Linda Lee

Here is a painting of my very beautiful mother.
She came to visit over the weekend from Pittsburgh, PA. We had a great time together cooking and antique shopping.

On her last day we got down to business in the studio. I painted her portrait while she worked on a painting of her own. She painted a lovely autumn landscape. It reminds me of the rolling hills in Southwestern Pennsylvania. I have the painting she made hanging in my studio. Not only is my mom beautiful, she is also a very talented lady.