It is an honor to be a featured artist at Portland International Airport this year!  The exhibit, titled “Portland Soul:  Portraits in Jazz & Blues”, is on display on Concourse E from February through July 2016.  This exhibit features many of my portraits of the Portland blues and Jazz musicians whose music has inspired me to do the work that I do.  As I was putting this show together, I started thinking about all the musicians I have painted and how many more I would still like to paint (or draw).  Some are still with us, and sadly many have passed away in recent years.  It began to dawn on me that my work is becoming a documentary of sorts, which hopefully will evolve into a book as soon as I have enough portraits finished!  To see more about my exhibit, and others at PDX, visit the Port of Portland’s PDX Art Program.

Photo credit:  Dan Kvitka

A big thank you to Ken Boddie of KOIN 6, who put together this segment on my work!  My story is actually part of a larger series Ken is working on called “Where We Live”, which features many stories about Oregon.  Check out the video at KOIN 6 – Where We Live.

I am so honored to be part of this wonderful memorial tribute to Judy VanAlstyne, commissioned by the Bill Naito Company in Portland. The memorial was designed by Mary Galluzzo Design and written by Janet Gonrowski. And I was fortunate enough to get to know Judy during my month long process of painting her. Judy served the Bill Naito Co. for 24 years as property manager, and was known and revered for her dedication to Portland’s downtown and Old Town. She was a mentor, a strong supporter of women in business, and she was a key team member responsible for bringing City Target to downtown Portland. So it is only fitting that Judy’s memorial is permanently exhibited in the Galleria Building in Portland.