Here is a fabulous Portland artist, Elizabeth Soule, that creates and photographs lovely vignettes with little plastic animals. I adore her Zoo Series - to see more visit her website or her etsy shop. I’ve seen her work in a couple of the places that I show in Portland - visit Tilde, Noun, or Presents of Mind to see her work in person if you are in the area!

Cheers,

Rachel

One of our favorite summer time activities is to head out to Sauvie’s Island (10 minutes outside of Portland) and go to Sauvie Island Farm to pick berries. This year has been a little funny since, as you can see I am about 9 months pregnant and look like a berry myself. : )

We still were able to pick several pounds of blueberries, raspberries and marionberries with our good friend Amy and her adorable little boy. I love when we get home with all this amazing fruit and then have to start processing it to preserve it’s great taste. We’ve made jam, popsicles, muffins, and froze most of it to have throughout the year.

Next up is peaches!

Rachel

Hello,

Jon and I have been trying to have ‘Sewing Sundays’ where we sew a complete project. Last week we made these cute little toys. I made the elephant from the book ‘Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts’ by Joelle Hoverson. (Note to those who want to make it - the instructions are written a bit poorly and in some cases wrong. I finally just looked at all the pieces from the template and was able to figure out how to put them together. I read some online reviews and other people had the same problem and contacted the author to get better instructions.) Jon made these great fabric blocks with rattles inside - he took an empty film canister, put some dried beans in it, placed it inside the block and stuffed the rest with batting.

Fun times!

Rachel

Our friends Kris and Haunnah recently returned from working with the Peace Corps in El Salvador and were telling us a story in which they happened to spend some time with (I believe) a Japanese man and a Frenchman.  Their communication was rather hindered, so they ended up sharing the sounds that roosters make in their respective countries.  This testament of cross-cultural exchange led us to scour the internet for further examples.  We stumbled across bzzzpeek.com - a fun site with a slough of animal and vehicle sounds with recordings of speakers from around the globe.  Their graphics are fantastic too.  Have fun!

-Jon

Hello all,

Hope all is well!  Sorry for the lack of posts last week - we got incredibly slammed with work and general life business.  And now I’m up at way too early - I keep being wide awake at 3 or 4 AM - I think my body must be getting ready for the early mornings that will be coming soon with our baby.  Adelaide is due in less than a month!  I usually work on the computer this early, but took a break to check out my favorite sellers on etsy.  I was just looking at Kelly Packer’s work - I keep being drawn to her rooftops and urbanscapes.   Great colors and simple shapes.  She is gets her inspiration from living in Montana and recent trip to France.   Check out her etsy site or website for more.

Cheers,

Rachel

Thanks to all who stopped by last night for the opening of my show at Tilde! It was fun to chat with folks and spend time looking at all the cute things in the shop. We sold several pieces including one of my favorites, ‘Portland’ (shown above). The show runs for the month of July and will be my last solo show for a while as our baby is now due in just 5 weeks. This reception felt like a great way to start this long weekend of bar-b-ques and fireworks. : )

Happy 4th,

Rachel

I figured I should plug Rachel’s latest series - they are inspired by seeds collected on walks around the neighborhood and through Hoyt Arboretum. From there she took off and abstracted a variety of seeds she was familiar with as well.   The work is drawn with graphite and then painted with watercolor, and an elegant departure from her other work.  See more images on her site.   She has been working on the series for over a year and will display them for the first time next week at Tilde here in Portland.  Their is an opening reception on July 3rd from 6-9pm and the work will be up all month.  Feel free to stop in to see the paintings and check out the other wonderful wares by local artists and designers.  Tilde is at 7919 SE 13th Ave in Sellwood.

There are so many talented artists in Portland!  One of my favorites is Jenna Robertson who makes all sorts of beautiful creations out of recycled wool sweaters.  I often see her work at Noun and Flutter where I also show.   I especially enjoy her collages that are made from hand drawn and cut wool pieces that are stitched together and then stretched on canvas.  Designs usually are of birds, trees, chairs, flowers or cats and are made from 95% recycled material.  So sweet!  Check out more at her website here.

Cheers,

Rachel

Hello all,

Sorry for the lack of posts this last week - Jon and I went camping on the spur of the moment for most of the week.  We went to out to the Columbia Gorge where the Deschutes river meets the Columbia to explore the area and soak in some sun.  The area was so pretty - makes me want to do some landscape paintings!  The bottom two photos are from the Stonehenge replica built on a hill overlooking the gorge.  It was great to relax and get out of the city - we figured it will be our last real trip before our little baby is due.  Now it’s time to finish up and frame pieces for my show at Tilde going up next week.  : )

Happy Tuesday,

Rachel

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Flutter is one of the loveliest shops in our fair Portland. Stuffed full of goodies, the shop is a cacophony of treasures. They also stock some of Rachel’s oil paintings, including a few of my all time favorites. Check out their site, flutterclutter, where you can now purchase many items online, but if you’re in Portland. I recommend you head down to Mississippi Avenue to check out the shop in person.

-jon