TREES mural!

Hey everyone!

I wanted to share my latest mural in pictures. This one was soooo fun and relaxing to paint! People ask me a lot what my favorite thing to paint is. This is kind of it I'd say: playing with light, playing with brushstrokes, painting organic and natural things. Only thing that would have made it more fun and an ultimate answer to that question, would be if I could have added some kind of surreal, not-really-the-way-it's-supposed-to-look-in-real-life element to it. But, ya know, clients. I'll save the crazy for when I don't have one. ;) Hope everyone had a great weekend! More murals to come very soon. 

Corie

Early stages look like a forest fire! Hmmm

Getting there!

Installed on client's fence surrounding her hot tub!

My Art Show Happened!!!!!!

Hey guys! 

I just read an article about how a lot of people are stuck in this cycle of accomplishing things and needing to always be moving forward and working towards the next goal. We don't always stop to just say: "hey, I just finished/achieved a thing!" before trying to get to the next thing. I just want to take a minute to feel excited about a thing I just finished. 

I displayed a series of 13 paintings that I've been making since 2010, when I returned from the Peace Corps in Madagascar. The paintings tell the story of my life there. I showed those paintings, along with drawings that Malagasy friends made me while I was there, for 2 weeks here in Portland. On March 24th, I invited my friends, family, and others in the community to come see the show, and also watch me narrate a slideshow of pictures from my time in Madagascar. March is Peace Corps' birthday - in March of 1961, President Kennedy made Peace Corps official, and started sending people overseas. So, Peace Corps as an organization, likes to help Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCV's) have events like mine in March. The goal is to "bring it home" - to tell stories and share other parts of the world with Americans, that they might not know much about.  Peace Corps' main goal as an organization is literally, "World peace and friendship" (so 1960's.... either that or so Miss America). So a big part of that goal, is just sharing what you learn from living in a different culture, with people at home who may not know anything about that culture. So that's kind of why I did the presentation, and I think it went really well! Almost 80 people came! Lots of RPCV's attended - only about half of which I actually knew. I had all of them stand up and say the country they went to, and the years they were there. Pretty emotional to see all those RPCV's in the audience stand up - their support means a lot to me. 

It felt so cool also, to be able to show a series of paintings that are so deeply personal to me. I am a commercial artist; most of the time I am making art, I am making it for someone else, the way they ask me to make it. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy that - getting to help people solve their visual problems, or brighten their spaces with art, is very fulfilling. But when I have something I want to say to the world about something I have personally experienced, it also feels incredibly fulfilling to see those feelings come alive on canvas. People's responses have been great, too, which is always nice. I'm not yet ready to sell any of the originals (who knows, maybe I will try to show the series again at some point). So I made a ton of prints of my work, and have been selling them both at the event, and online here:

www.etsy.com/shop/coriehinton

So far, I've made almost $800 in profits from selling these prints, and I am getting ready to donate it all to an organization that I believe in very much. Population Services International is the single most impressive charity-type organization I saw while in Madagascar (and that's saying something, because there are a lot!). PSI actually walks the walk of being a sustainable development agency. I never met a PSI employee in Madagascar who was not themselves, Malagasy. They work to improve health conditions for people around the country (and also all over the world - their headquarters are in Washington DC). I once went out with a group of PSI-employed sex workers, equipped with PSI fanny packs full of contraception info and supplies, to a park where younger, more inexperienced sex workers often found clients. Peer-to-peer education. PSI also hires Malagasy pop stars to make hit songs and music videos about health topics such as maternal health. Then, PSI educators will go out to rural villages with generators so they can play those music videos for people, as part of their presentations. Anyway, I could go on and on about PSI and their work... they're just really great. So if you like my art and wanna support a great organization, you can buy a print from me from the link above, and I will donate all the money I've made so far in one big chunk at the end of April. Or, you can go to www.psi.org and donate to them directly :) 

Anyway, just taking this moment to stop, exhale, and feel proud of what I just worked hard at making happen. It's been a great few years of painting and was a great event. I'm so happy I was able to do it and so thankful to everyone who came and helped me make it special. I won't ever feel really "done" talking about Peace Corps (sorry, friends!) and probably will continue to paint about Madagascar throughout my life. BUT, this whole thing has given me a bit of closure, too. Yay. 

Onward!

Annoyed at Mom-a-razzi

Murals on the Horizon

Hey people!

Long time no blog. I gave myself a whole month, to not do any kind of commissioned work. I painted for myself, and took a little break. More on that in a later post. BUT, I'm just about to get back at it! Here's a little preview of some murals that are soon-to-be-painted. All residential murals this time, so they're all somewhat smaller. But, all these scenes have personal meanings to the clients who are commissioning them. I love being able to bring this kind of thing into people's homes: brightening their spaces, reminding them of happy memories, or reminding them of a place that makes them feel at peace. I just handed off all these "sketches" (photoshop collages) to my clients. Can't wait to get painting these! Excited!!

Corie

Attention Portland Readers!

Now that I have your attention....ha! I'm having an art show!

I am taking a break from mural-ing and freelance designing, to work on my own personal paintings. It's been too long since I really gave my focus to work that is entirely for myself and not commissioned. It feels great!! I've finished new paintings and touched up old ones....and getting ready to start some new ones again! And it's all because of the event flier below: an event I have been wanting to put on for a long time now. It's finally happening: an art show/slideshow about my experience in the Peace Corps in Madagascar. So if you're in Portland, I'm inviting you to come check it out! Hope to see you there! Stay tuned for updates of a slightly more personal kind this month. ;)

American Flag Veterans Mural

Hi Everyone! 

Here's the latest. I was asked by the retirement community company that I've been working with for the past year or so, to paint this American flag mural in one of their buildings in Portland. When I was first texted a picture of the wall, I was thinking the flag would be painted only on the right side by the tv screen, and that I would be able to bust it out in an evening. When I got there, I learned they had much, much, BIGGER plans! 

I was asked to paint the flag as big as the entire wall. This is bigger than my projector can reach, so I eyeballed the whole thing. I used blue painter's tape to create an outline of the flag, and then, typical Corie, just went for it with the paint. I did make sure to write notes to myself (you can see the "w" and "r"'s below, telling me which stripe was which). Then I painted it all in, leaving some of the beige wall showing through, to make this gigantic-not-subtle-at-all mural, slightly more subtle. 

Crazy story: When I was about halfway through this mural, I got a voicemail telling me not to come in and work on the flag that night. There were some residents and veterans who found it disrespectful to the flag, to be walking through it, through the door. So, the residents voted and 75% of them wanted me to finish painting it, instead of having it painted over and aborting the project. I wasn't sure how I felt about annoying the exact population of people that we were trying to honor by doing this thing in the first place. But, the democratic process has spoken, and I finished, as they asked. 

'Merica!

Doggie Daycare Mural

Hi everyone, 

First off, big thank you to my close friends in real life who might be reading this (hey guys!) and reached out to support me through the thing that was/is going on in my life (see my last post). It's been a rough one, and I'm lucky to have my friends and family, who I know I can lean on, always. 

This is the mural I mentioned that I was working on in my last post. This mural came about when I donated my services to an annual fundraising auction that's held at my work. I donated an 8'x10' mural, and the highest bidder ended up being the owner of a small chain of doggie daycares around my area. I was super stoked to do this because it sounded like a really fun project (dogs, non-realistic/whimsical style....dogs) and it would mean more of my work in public places. I always like that :) The wall ended up being double the size that I had donated, so I did end up making some cash while also raising some for my workplace. Win-win, I tell you! Now let me tell you the warm/fuzzy part of this whole deal. The largest dog on the right hand side (not the 2 playing in the distance, but next to them), was the deceased dog of the owner. The manager of this place was the person I was working closely with on the design, and so she surprised the owner by having me paint his pup (R.I.P.). Super sweet. The rest of the dogs are inspired by pictures that she gave me of other employee's own dogs. Love that what started as just a way to brighten up a boring wall of their business, turned into something so personal for all the people who work there. Was really happy to be a part of this one. :)

Before dogs!

Dogs watching me....always watching...and barking...

Perspective

Well, I wasn't feeling like blogging this week, but we are at 12:01am and I can't sleep. It's been a really heavy week. I found out that one of my best friends and roomate in college passed away under terribly tragic and mysterious circumstances. This isn't the place for sharing her, or our, full stories. But after the numbness and shock wore off, her death has brought up so many emotions. I took a day to read old notes, look through pictures, obsess over the news, and just feel what I needed to feel. I wrote her a letter, and went into nature. Then, what I knew I needed to do, was get a brush into my hands. I guess I'll bring it back around to what this blog is supposed to be about: my art-y adventures. 

I was painting this mural today, listening to some music that she loved when I knew her: The Postal Service, Nine Inch Nails, and that one Against Me song that she knew every word to, and sang it enough times that eventually so did I. I was thinking about her life cut short before she could do, and be, so many things. Tragedies always make people recognize what they have and should be grateful for. I am grateful to live somewhere that I can be free. I am living a life that makes me happy. I have this crazy art habit that feels like popping happy pills. Or, at least brings me inner peace when I'm going through something hard. That is what I am grateful for today. For this confusing, wonderful, complex, colorful, beautiful but sometimes tragic, life.