Yet another "cute" owl

Hey guys! It's been awhile since I've blogged... my computer was broken (ouch, my wallet hurts) so I've been slacking. But here's my latest!... as in, 2.5-hours-ago-I-had-a-brush-in-my-hand latest. Getting right back on the blogging horse!

Can I just say that this is the 3rd nursery that I've painted this year where the couple asked me for a tree with an owl in it?! Popular theme! Not a "scary owl" though mind you, a "cute one".  Everyone made sure to note that. This family was the sweetest. And the kid's dimples were KILLING ME.  It was one of those times where I was in the zone and just busted it out, 9am-3pm and done. It's always the filling in the initial big shapes that I paint super fast so I can get to the fun part of laying in the last few layers of my brightest and lightest colors. When I get to that point, I slow down and I'm in this stupid-happy trance. 

Anyone else ever feel guilty for taking people's money for doing stuff you would totally be doing anyways? Like when I got home and was unpacking my stuff and my roomate says "Did you work today?" And I'm instinctively like, "Nah, I was painting!" But I did work. It's weird. Anyways, happy Saturday, people. Go get you some of whatever makes you feel stupid-happy! 

Corie

It was super weird painting on this ceiling slantiness! 

One satisfied Client and mini-client!

The funest moments!

WHY do I always end up looking like this? I don't understand the artists who can keep paint off their hands and clothes, and out of their hair for that matter. Don't worry, drop cloths protecting carpeting!

If the Thunder don't get you....

Happy Sunday, people!

I realized I forgot to share this little project with you all. If you follow me on my facebook page (which if you don't, I'd really appreciate the support! click here), then you may recognize this from the 2 minutes it was actually posted on that page before I took it down. I'll get to that in a minute...

The request for this project was sent less than a week before they wanted it done, and I actually was able to make it happen for them, so that was kind of great :) This is in the brand-spanking-new bar in the Alphabet District of downtown Portland, called "Lightning Will". Check them out if you're ever in the area! A sports-bar-meets-old-school arcade-meets-biker-bar. It's pretty great. They are located at: 305 NW 21 Ave, Portland. The whole place is based off of some Grateful Dead lyrics...the ones I painted over the lighting bolt. This was a fun little project. And challenging too.... freehanding Old English typeface....not the easiest choice. 

And now, my embarrassing story: When I painted this, I actually left out the first "g" in "Lightning". Like, completely left it out. I even showed the bartender who commissioned this, and we both stared at it for awhile, and he gushed. Then, I got home, even posted this on my facebook page, all excited. And then 5 minutes later, my mother called me to tell me the horrible news. OOPS. I immediately set up a time to fix it...which I did. Cannot believe I did that, but I guess I was too focused on how the letters were looking, to think about painting them in the correct order ;) They were totally cool about it though. :)

Go check out Lightning Will and have a great week everyone!

The Cutest Funnest Mural (picture-heavy!)

So this happened this weekend... I don't even know what to say about this mural... I loved making it sooooo much! It's somewhat rare that someone would ask me to paint something that I would absolutely 100% paint inside my own (fictitious, future) house. The couple who commissioned it was so incredibly sweet too. P.s. is it totally awkward and unprofessional to hug your clients who are strangers? If so, then my bad. They were so NICE and appreciative :) Painting this brought me a lot of joy this weekend after a particularly long and tough week. Nothing like making someone else happy, to make yourself happy. And nothing cures an emotional hangover like painting. (for me, anyway.) 

I was glad to help these parents-to-be get their sweet little owl-themed room ready for their new son. I think this is totally something he can grow into for years to come (not totally baby-ish). Here's the wall before critters, and then after critters. You can't really tell, but the grey-ish trees in the background are a super-shiny metallic silver. Can someone else please commission me to paint in metallics? Or neons.... or glitters.... Gaudy is my middle name. 

xoxox Corie

Coming soon to a wall near you!

That was the cheesiest post title ever... sorry not sorry. How are you guys? I'm super sad that October is over. It's been an awesome month. I got to go to New Orleans for vacation and it was a total blast! Also, it contains my favorite holiday (duh), lots of pumpkin food items, and gorgeous colors in nature everywhere you go. I love love love this month. But, alas, the holiday season is now upon us, and parents-to-be are busy busy nesting. And I am happy to help them. :)

Here's what I'm gonna do:

Which one of those do you like better, cartoony or realistic? Obviously I'm just photoshopping stuff over a picture of their wall, but you get the idea. This is is gonna be soooooo much fun! The grey trees represent metallic silver, by the way. How much fun is that?!?! Can't wait!

More trees for a different nursery. Interesting that this will be my 4th tree-themed nursery. I guess that's a thing. Super cute.

Excited about these ideas, and even more excited to get off my computer, and get some paint on my hands (and let's be honest, in my hair and on my pants, too)! Can't wait for all the upcoming projects. These, plus some other light mural touch ups and sign work in a retirement community, and some graphic design freelance, will take me at least through January. Stoked. Stay tuned, and thanks so much everyone for reading, and for your support. Stay warm!

xo Corie

Walla Walla Murals, Part Deux!

Hey guys! 

A little late, but here's what I've been up to lately, mural-wise:

I was invited to head back up to Walla Walla, WA to add more murals to the memory care facility up there. (I went there for a week last spring for the first round of painting...those pics are here). This time, I only had 10-12 hours of painting approved according to their budget, so here's what happened in those hours:

Directional signage for one of the residential wings.

More signage for the other wing

This mural was started by the Muralist who came before me. He sadly passed away from cancer before he could finish all the murals in this facility, and I was hired on after him to finish them up. (And then, have the whole entire brand new facility in Portland to fill up with murals). This is the only piece in the building that we actually shared. He painted the signs, I added the swirlies on the sides. Kind of a nice collaboration if you ask me :)

This is area where the residents (all of whom have either Alzheimers disease or some form of Dementia) can play with and rock the baby dolls. 

I painted the sign, not the onions in the background.... those were done by the wife of the muralist who died. She tried to paint some of the things he had left unfinished. I was assigned to help make the Parkview Eatery sign look a little.... nicer. The font was not my choosing (if they even started with a font): swirlies, random serifs, and descenders that don't descend. I know that I'm seeing it with my graphic designer's eye, but come on. Haha Anyway, I cleaned up the letters a bunch and made it a bit bolder and more readable (wish I had taken a "before" picture)

There's still more work to be done up there, so looking forward to spending some more time up there when I'm able to, and budgets allow. It was nice seeing some of the same caregivers and residents I had met in the Spring. Like last time though, it did take a bit of a toll on me emotionally. It's hard to see people who must have been so vibrant and have these incredible life histories, stumbling around so confused. It's sad. But this is a tiny thing I can do for them at least! One lady kept thanking me, so that felt nice. I tend to be pretty sensitive, so I cannot fathom doing a job where I'm in this kind of situation day in and day out. Hats off to those of you out there who do. :)

On Losing All Your Work

I just read this article that popped up on facebook called "Pixar, U2, and the Horrific Feeling of Losing all Your Work" . Not that much too it, just saying how it indeed, sucks to lose all your work. Just reminded me of my own experience losing an entire body of work. Here's the story.

This is what my house looked like while I was living in Madagascar. This is the "before" shot. Pretty gorgeous, huh? (Some days, it's painful how much I wanna go back to this exact spot and hang out.)

 Aaaaand this is the "after" shot: a bush fire rolled through the village and burnt my house entirely to the ground. I was out of town on business, but came home to this.

That's what the neighborhood looked like. :( My amazing friends and neighbors went into my BURNING HOUSE and rescued a lot of my belongings though, which I was so grateful for. They weren't however, able to rescue all the paintings I had been working on. I had them all hung up on my walls, and they were all done on paper, so I'm sure they were one of the first things to get swallowed up in the flames.

For me, the fire was kinda like spilling coffee on your laptop. And it was a horrible sinking feeling, knowing that all I had left were the fuzzy memories (no pictures) of what the paintings looked like, and some sketches in my journal (which thankfully, I had with me and was not in the house.) Anyway, I guess my point of this story is, things can get lost in an instant. A whole series of artwork can get lost in seconds. And it really sucks. But when I got home to the U.S., I re-painted them ALL. And you know what? Had I NOT lost those paintings, I never would have painted the following ones. And I really, truly, am much happier with the way the re-dos came out, rather than the originals (it helped that I had access to much better art supplies for the re-dos, too)

The series of paintings were all based on books I read during peace corps. I read a lot there, and just started painting the female protagonists of the stories, as I imagined them. I called the series, "Literary Heroines". Here's some of the work from the series. To see them all, clicky. 

So I guess my point in all this is: keep trying? Try again. Make it all the way over again. You might like things better that way anyway. :)

Latest painting and making plans!

I've had "Blog" on my to do list for awhile now, but haven't felt like I've had much to talk about. So I'll show you what I've been working on:

That's the latest in a series I've been working on since I guess technically, 2008. I've been drawing and painting about my experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer living and working in Madagascar, since my first week in the country back in February of 2008....(holy crap I was 22!) Drawing in my journals, and painting murals on walls (the ones I could find that were sturdier than the ones made of reeds...like my own house there, haha!) kept me sane and happy. After I got evacuated, the need to paint about it was even stronger, since I was absolutely not ready to leave yet, but had to (I got to go back and finish my service tho...yay!) And now, coming up on 4 years since I came home, I still feel the need to paint about it. But now, it's mostly to help me feel connected to a place that's full of things and people I love, but is incredibly far away. I'm not sure how many more paintings I'll make for the series... or if I'll ever stop painting about Madagascar.  It will always be a second home and therefore something that feels good to paint about, but also, a wealth of ridiculously beautiful and inspiring subject matter. An artist's paradise. But I would like to start a new body of work at some point, too. Anyway, for the sake of putting things in writing that you want to have happen someday, here are my plans for the series, whenever I do finally decide it's done:

I work as a marketing person/graphic designer at a community center that holds a lot of events. I've talked briefly to our events person about the possibility of displaying this series sometime. I want to make it a party: Malagasy music videos playing, some fried banana donut things or other delicious street food that I will probably fail miserably at replicating, a little slideshow presentation/talk, a display of some of the awesome art that was done by Malagasy kids and friends that I brought home, and all my original art and a bunch of prints for sale, with most of the $$$ going to an organization or two that I trust and support that works in Madagascar. That's what I forsee: a giant art party with all my friends and family and strangers who want to support Mada. Yep, that's the plan. And I just put it out there to all of you, and the universe, so it's gonna happen. Right? Right. Now.... to finish the paintings! :)