Burkland's Cartographers

Capturing the student's favorite activities at Camp Orkila and their grade-level school community service project.

Helping with Addie's classroom auction project this year has been a true labor of love. It's also given me a chance to get to know the students better -- thank you for the opportunity!

I thought I'd share a few snapshots of the project and description so that you can see all of the hard work the kids put into this large-scale, mixed-media diptych painting. I only wish I had a better camera! Cheers, Mandy

Completed panels with metal fasteners + washers to mark each student's "neighborhood". Photo was taken at night so coloring is off a bit. Measures 4 ft across x 3 ft tall.

Project Description:Last December students in Mr. Burkland’s class embarked on map-making journey of grand proportions. Inspiration for the project came from the book The Map as Art by Katharine Harmon and from the class’s studies of landscapes in Washington State, South America, and those found in mentor texts such as Marshfield Dreams. 

Students collaborated on several occasions to identify map markers, establish art direction, and voted on their favorite projects and class excursions. They enthusiastically rolled up their sleeves for a painting party and eagerly shared interests, hobbies, and aspirations in order to create their own “neighborhoods”.  

The finished artwork measures 3ft. x 4ft. and is comprised of two wooden canvases adorned with acrylic paints, artist renditions on drafting film overlays, metal fasteners as map markers, and student signatures. 

There’s no doubt Mr. Burkland’s cartographers have left an indelible mark on the fourth-grade landscape at Meridian with this large-scale, mixed-media painting. If you look closely you will also see loving sentiments about the meaning of family, the Meridian community, and Mr. Waldman. 

One of the survey questions I had for the students was "What do you want to be when you grow up?". I wrote their answers on top of the "River of Dreams" that spans both canvases. 

Here are two examples of the "neighborhoods". Can you tell my daughter is horse obsessed?!

Here is the map legend with key 4th grade assignments and special interests.

The kids and I wanted to include well wishes and a way to honor the head of school who is retiring at the end of this year. To do this, we created "Waldman National Forest" within the "Meridian Mountains". I hope he likes it! 

why am I just now discovering Google Art Project?

Close-up of Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" made possible by the 10 billion pixel image!

Yesterday I watched a TedTalk about Google's Art Project and was blown away with what I saw. I learned that anybody anywhere with online access can experience world-class art and cultural information thanks to the marriage of Google technologies and hundreds of acclaimed art partners from around the world. Furthermore, some of the digital images have 10 billion pixels allowing you to see brushstrokes and fine details too often missed.

I encourage you to watch the video and then explore Google Art Project to view the collections, take a tour, or even start your own art collections to share with friends. Simply lovely.

new art in the shop + poppytalk coupon

    

"A Collection no. 10 - Navajo"

I've recently added a handful of fresh acrylic paintings to my Etsy shop. These paintings on paper + cradled wood panels are based on doodles of late and have been arranged in various groupings and color combinations. Perhaps one catches your eye? 

"Shapes of Blue" - Original acrylic painting on cradled wood panel

My Poppytalk promotion: 
As a participating vendor in the current Poppytalk Handmade "Paper Pops + Affordable Art" market, I'm offering 10% off all items (not just the paintings on paper) in my shop through June 1st! To save, enter "POPPY10" at checkout. Cheers!

"A Collection no. 8 - Black + Ochre"

Close up of "A Collection no. 7 - Silver"

"A Collection no. 6 - Cancun"

Close up of "A Collection no. 3 - Deep Orange"

shorpy finds: metropolitan museum of art

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (circa 1902)

Someday I swear I'll take my daughters to this place. For now, this photo will do the trick.

One of my goals for 2012 is to visit as many local art museums as I can -- thankfully there are plenty to choose from here in the Pacific NW.

Cheers + Happy New Years!
Mandy

our eco/vintage art bucket

A couple of summers ago while vacationing with my dear friend Julie and her family, I picked up a few antiques, including a weathered bucket. To corral the myriad of art supplies on our family craft table, I got the idea to place recycled tin cans inside the bucket to organize supplies by type. I'm pretty smitten with the end result. What do you think?

Dust Bowl Glimpses revealed

"Taking the Mother Road" - acrylic on cradled wood panel

I am beyond thrilled to finally be revealing my Dust Bowl Glimpses series of original paintings and limited edition giclée prints. I've only been working on this labor of love now for 12 months!!

"Waiting" - acrylic on cradled wood panel

"Worldly Possessions" - acrylic on cradled wood panel

The idea for this series, my first in some years now, came to me last summer after reading John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer-prize winning novel, The Grapes of Wrath, and helping my mother digitize a photo collection of her ancestors who homesteaded on the prairies of Kansas and Colorado in the early 1900s. I came away from both experiences with a much greater understanding of the human condition during the Great Depression, specifically of those families displaced by the Dust Bowl.

"Fryin' Pone" - acrylic on cradled wood panel

"Ruthie's Red" - acrylic on cradled wood panel

My paintings are dedicated to the impoverished people who, despite hardship, extended a hand to help strangers because it was the human thing to do.

"Faded Clover" - acrylic on cradled wood panel

Over the next few days I will be blogging about the stories behind each of the six original acrylic paintings on cradled birch wood panels as well as details about my professionally-printed fine art giclées.

But for now, given how late it is on a Friday afternoon, I simply invite you to visit my Etsy shop to browse the entire collection. Perhaps you'll fancy something for yourself or a loved one.

Thank you...and special thanks to each and every one of you who supported me during this journey -- I am forever grateful for your inspiration and guidance.

Cheers, Mandy

studio update

The week of August 22nd promises to be a big week for me. That's when I plan to offer all new art for sale in my shop.

For starters, I will unveil my very first series of paintings, Dust Bowl Glimpses, since opening my Weathered Silo studio in January 2010. It's been a rewarding (and excruciatingly slow) journey. I plan to sell my original paintings (acrylic on birch panels) as well as limited-edition giclees (professionally printed locally).



Additionally, I'll be selling a handful of original pencil+ink drawings that incorporate natural colorants such as coffee, tea, and wine. They are part of my Art is My Compass series. Stay tuned for more details.




And last but not least, I will be offering the first of several oil paintings I've completed on pieces on handcrafted canvases made in my studio using salvaged exotic hardwoods + eco-textile remnants from previous studio work (hemp/organic cotton). I can't wait for the reveal -- they are paintings you won't need to frame!

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In the coming days I plan to finalize all the administrative work associated with updating my Etsy shop and other online marketplaces (a task I do NOT favor...especially when it comes to matching screen colors to artwork -- sigh!).

I will also be taking a much-needed family vacation August 7-14th in Eastern Washington with dear, dear friends. Thankfully we can count on sunshine and heat during these trips...something we haven't seen much of at all this year in Seattle. ;-)

Thank you to everyone who has given me support and advice along the way. I am grateful to have you in my life!

sneak preview no. 3

I think I'm finally ready to share my Dustbowl series of paintings. For some pieces I knew they were complete while others I'm still fussing over whether or not to add more details. Am I the only artist who struggles with this? I know I just need to put them out there.



Next up: fine tuning some photographs taken this weekend. Cheers, Mandy

dabbling with natural colorants from my kitchen

I'm loving how these natural colorants are working as watercolor washes on my "art is my compass" drawings/paintings.

Last Friday I found myself raiding my cupboards and refrigerator in search of potential washes.

I started with coffee (a columbia supremo blend) and moved quickly to a red wine (cabernet sauvignon), green tea, earl grey tea, vanilla flavoring, and ended with balsamic vinegar. I know, the vinegar most likely won't make the final cut, but I couldn't not try it. I think they're all pretty, but my preferences are the coffee, wine, and earl grey tea colorants.

I'm loving the end result of multiple washes on each sheet. Take for example the photos below of a few wine washes. I LOVE the imperfection of the edges. Don't you?



My pieces will be 8"x10" sheets with a smaller washed image with pencil and ink sketches/drawing. They will have a white border approximately 1/2" wide on all sides for framing. Of course, each piece will be hand drawn by me, so no two will be alike. Stay tuned!

prairie inspiration

Three trips in one year to the prairies of Colorado have influenced the work I'm currently working on in the studio. With my digital camera in hand, I set out on foot to tour my family's farm on five sections of land (that's a lot of ground to cover!) as well as the rural town of Deer Trail where my husband grew up. The aerial shots were taken two days ago on our return flight to Seattle following a graduation weekend and running my first 10k (BolderBoulder) with my family, girls included!

Behrens homestead

Behrens homestead - just one of many spectacular outbuildings

a nearly dead cottonwood tree

eastern Colorado farmland - ground level

eastern Colorado farmland - aerial view

simply a stunning view

sneak preview no. 2

June is shaping up to be an exciting month for me. Here are just a few more images of what's to come later this month from my art studio. Have I mentioned my obsession with natural colorants and dyes? Cheers!

canson cold-press 140 lb watercolor french paper I stained with my morning coffee for my "art is my compass" original art prints

birch wood plank I stained with the same mug of coffee for my equine art contest entry

some of my colorado prairie landscape oil paintings on salvaged mexican hardwoods

sneak preview

my dustbowl series

pencil and ink sketches; coffee + tea stained papers

salvaged wood for a future canvas

Here's a sampling of the art I've been working on and plan to officially unveil next month once school is out for both daughters. Sketching, painting, natural dyes/colorants....each have brought me happiness.

a new deal for the arts

It's no secret I have a serious lust for the early 1900s...from art and architecture to music and everyday American life. My current obsession focuses on the 1930s and the millions of Americans who struggled to survive The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl in particular.



One source of pertinent history that's influenced me is the National Archive's "A New Deal for the Arts" online exhibit (a gift for those of us who weren't able to travel to D.C. for the 1997-98 exhibit at the National Archives Building).

Art took many forms such as plays, music, photography, playbills, posters, and paintings, and covered a variety of subjects, including "Rediscovering America", "Celebrating 'the people'", "Work Pays America", "Activist Art", and "Useful Art".

USA Work Program WPA by an unknown artist, Photolithograph (circa 1936)

Magnus Fossum, a WPA artist, copying the 1770 coverlet "Boston Town Pattern" for the
Index of American Design. (circa 1940)

Robert Sonkin and Charles Todd recording a fiddler at a Farm Security Camp in California
By Robert Hemmig, (circa 1940-41)

Words from their Website:

"The New Deal arts project provided work for jobless artists, but they also had a larger mission: to promote American art and culture and to give more Americans access to what President Franklin Roosevelt described as "an abundant life.

The projects saved thousands of artists from poverty and enabled Americans all across the country to see an original painting for the first time, attend their first professional live theater, or take their first music or drawing class."

Painting depicting the activities of the National Youth Administration
By Alden Krider, Kansas National Youth Administration, Oil on canvas (circa 1936)

Perhaps I am drawn to this collection because art is central to who I am (you've heard me say before that "art is my compass--without it I am lost"). Well, I can only imagine these artists' sense of relief and fulfillment once they were given the opportunities to exercise their craft.

I invite you to browse the collection and share your impressions here.