Boise Junk Drawer

Every two years, the Department of Arts & History calls artists to submit visual artwork currently for sale or a proposed artwork for their collection, the Boise Visual Chronicle. I submitted a proposed painting for the 2014 BVC application, and much to my delighted surprise, the City chose my proposal for the collection.

I call this 14" x 14" oil painting the "Boise Junk Drawer." To me, living in Boise means enjoying recreation in foothills, mountains and rivers without sacrificing the culture of larger cities in visual and performing arts, music and food. We get it all. I thought about how to capture these traits in a still life painting and came up with a junk drawer concept. Everyone has one. These drawers are full of little anthropomorphic symbols of our daily activities.

Local businesses represented:

• Guru Donuts "Hipsterberry" doughnut
• Plate by Mike Sowers of Classic Lines Pottery
• Flying M Coffeehouse mug
• Coaster from the music venue and bar Neurolux
• Member sticker from Boise Contemporary Theater

Symbols of outdoor life and recreation:

• Smith Optics ski goggles (based in Sun Valley)
• Ridge to Rivers trail guide to the Boise foothills
• Camping "spork"
• Sport climbing carabiner
• Hand-tied stone fly and Mickey Finn streamer for fly fishing
• Bike chain purchased at Boise Bicycle Project
• Dog leash and Boise Parks & Rec pet waste bag

Other nods to life in Boise and Idaho:

• Built to Spill album "Keep it Like a Secret"
• Ernest Hemingway novels, "A Farewell to Arms" and "Death in the Afternoon" (Hemingway loved to fish on Silver Creek and owned a home in Ketchum where he died)
• Charcoal pencils representing our visual artists
• Sewing shears honoring the craftspeople of Capital City Public Market and indie shops
• Hardwood table with junk drawer handmade by my father and me
• Wood floors in my 1917 home in the West End, a mile from downtown Boise

Announcing Daily Paintings

I create still life paintings to bring attention to the visual exquisiteness of fresh produce, the seemingly everyday objects that provide us sustenance.  I initially started with "Still Life with Attitude," my irreverent series depicting produce set up in personified and often "suggestive" manners.  I am excited to announce a new still life series of daily paintings.

We all know the adage “you are what you eat.”  I want to be art.  The implication is that by consuming beautiful, wholesome foods, you will in turn inherit this beauty in the form of health.  I purchase fruit and vegetables for my subjects grown sustainably and local to Idaho whenever possible.  If not grown locally, I select foods from producers from small farms and with a commitment to fair trade and wages.

I use 4" x 5" and 5" x 5" canvases and paint the subject in one sitting, working alla prima (wet-on-wet paint). My goal is to capture the rich color and texture of the fruit or vegetable, those traits that make it desirable to consume.  I currently use a dark gray or matte black painted wood base for the subject to help the color and texture pop off the canvas.

I will show my first batch of these small oil paintings at my March show at Flying M Coffee House.  Watch my Etsy store for these little paintings, coming soon...