My Pochade Box

My portable painting setup is very minimal. My husband, Peter, built this pochade box for small painting ("pochade," pronounced poe-shod, means small sketch in French). The top is spring-loaded to fit painting surfaces anywhere between 5" and 10" wide. It mounts on a camera tripod. My color palette is very limited: Cadmium Yellow, Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Titanium White, and premixed colors (in this case, I premixed black and greens) for saving time. I try mixing these colors to create the rest of the colors I want. Beneath the sliding palette is a storage compartment. I've shortened the brush handles to fit in this box of 9"x10". I use multiple brushes for distinct colors to minimize time to clean brushes.

Ellensburg National Art Show & Auction

I participated in the 37th Ellensburg National Art Show & Auction (May 15-17, 2009, at the Fairgrounds). My personal theme was "Creature Comfort of the Northwest." This is a view of my booth. It was nice to see fellow artists from different parts of the country and world, and I was honored to exhibit with them at the show. I was also delighted to meet many out-of-town visitors, as well as local people, who came all the way to see our show.

Quick Draw

I participated in a Friday Quick Draw along with 21 other artists.

I painted "Rooster no. 3" (8"x10") on panel.
This is the finished painting after one hour.
All the Quick Draw pieces were auctioned in the same evening.
A part of profits from this auction will go toward Western Art Association's scholarships like the one I received two years ago.