Sold! "Spring"and "April" at Bula Kava, "Transcendent" at Basic Space Gallery

 I'm always so happy when one of my paintings finds a new home!

Here are a couple of paintings that sold recently, soon to be replaced with new creations:

April, Acrylic and ink on canvas.

Transcendent, Acrylic and ink on canvas.

Spring, Acrylic and ink on canvas.

Commission Accomplished

I just finished a two-part commission for a friend! These are made in the same style as the original that she purchased a few months back. Can you spot the differences? Just kidding! Don't bother trying to count the differences. Each painting is subtly unique because I started all three from scratch (that is, I picked up a pencil and started sketching freehand).

Here's a pic of the original:

 

New Cards On Etsy

I've added a few new cards to the mix!
Keep in mind that these prints are not limited to greeting cards. Let me know if you are interested in postcards, larger prints for your walls, or original paintings. The possibilities are endless.

Etsy.com/shop/BintaTherese

Paintings Up At Homebase Coffee

Hey beautiful people!

I will be hanging some paintings in Homebase Coffee in June, and they will be there all month. Come check them out if you feel so inclined!

The paintings go up June 6th.

I'll be spending some quality time there on June 28th from 10 to noon. Come hang out with me! Chat, get a drink, look at paintings, make new friends, make use of the perfect excuse to don a black turtleneck sweater and discuss how the Avante-garde relates to Dadaism. Just Kidding. Unless you really want to.

I'd love to see you there!

Homebase Coffee
2620 SE Powell Blvd

Portland, OR 97202

(Across the street from Cleveland High School)

Nepenthes- Painting from Spring 2014

I did the usual thing: acrylic paint on canvas with black and white ink pen added in at the end. If you're wondering about the name, "Nepenthes" is part of the scientific name for a carnivorous plant (it seems I have a theme starting: "Sundew" is the common name for another carnivorous plant, and the name of another painting I made). This particular swampy plant has bucket-like leaves that collect rainfall. The water in these buckets attracts insects that come to drink and are trapped inside of the tubular leaves. They are slowly but surely devoured by the plant. Hey, everybody needs protein.

Just Keep Going When You Go Too Far

Sometimes I really don't know how to use my words. When that happens I try using paints... and sometimes that doesn't quite work, either.

You know those times when you have a great idea, or a great image in your mind, and when you try to bring it to fruition it looks like trash in a blender? Yup, that's what happened when I tried to paint some apple blossoms. Seriously you guys, it was bad. I was going to cover the canvas with several coats of gesso and pretend nothing ever happened, but for some reason I left the painting leaning on my bedroom wall for several weeks instead. Finally, I ignored my plan to white-wash the thing and I started painting and drawing a new image over the old one. I ended up with what you see above: two close figures, evidence of a whole lot of water, something physical, something reminiscent of the psyche, and chaos mingled with intention. I like it.

I think my painting problems started when I decided to paint some blossoms just because they were bound to be pretty and accessible, instead of painting something real-- that is, something that I felt actually mattered, even if I couldn't say why. Sure, its nice to make things solely for another person's enjoyment, but if we don't put a part of ourselves into what we are creating it tends to come across as a bit fake and unappealing.

This has been a nice reminder to try to stay real, even if I don't feel sure of what that means. A few years ago a professor at Whitman College reminded me that sometimes we don't know what we are really painting about until months or years later. This concept stuck with me, and several times since I've noticed how true it can be. Several weeks ago I woke up and the first thing I saw was a figural painting I'd made about six months earlier. When I first started the painting I thought the face I'd chosen for the figure was random and entirely a figment of my imagination, resembling no-one in particular. When I woke up on that November morning six months later I realized that the face strongly resembled a friend of mine who had been on my mind quite a bit at the time the painting was made. It took a while, but I finally know what the painting is about. I am also reminded that, for me at least, there is more value in trying to work on a problem or painting that feels new and genuine, and then stuttering when someone asks for an explanation, than trying to feed the world an outdated idea that comes with a beautiful explanation but doesn't apply to much. Yay for truth, whatever that is!

"Alloy"

Alloy.  8x16 inches. Acrylic on canvas.

"Canopy"

Canopy. Acrylic and ink on canvas.

The underlying inspiration for this painting came from looking up at the sunlight through the branches of a cedar tree.

"Sundew"

Sundew. Acrylic and ink on canvas.

"Sundew" is the common name for the carnivorous plant, "Drosera," after which this painting was named. You might seriously consider looking it up on google images. It is one good-looking plant.

Only One Week Left

If you haven't stopped by First Cup yet (and if you were planning to), the show will be coming down in about a week, so stop by now-ish! First Cup Coffee House is open every day until 5 p.m., and can be found on 41st and Woodstock. If you like nice people I'm sure you won't be disappointed by the baristas. The show comes down after May 31st.

Promise. Acrylic and ink pen on canvas.

Painting Display for the Month of May

The time has finally come: I will be showing some of my paintings in First Cup Coffeehouse for the month of May.


The paintings will be up on the walls from April 30th through May 31st.  Stop by and take a look! Then let me know which ones you love or detest or feel apathetic towards or have questions about! First Cup is located at 4103 SE Woodstock Blvd in Portland, OR. The shop is open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. 





Happy spring

End of April Art Show

Marrow. Acrylic on canvas.

I have no right to be bored, EVER, considering how quickly time passes. It is already mid-March, and I will be installing my paintings in First Cup at the end of April. Right now I am asking myself which paintings I will show. I have more paintings than I would prefer to store in my closet and attic, but they don't necessarily follow consistent themes. I've also learned that my painting style changes dramatically when I use a different medium, such as watercolor. Is it really so important for me to have a distinctive style, only showing paintings that are clearly recognizable as a "Binta"? "They" say it is... but this is Portland. This is also art we're talking about, and that means I can pretty much do whatever suits my artistic fancy, doesn't it? We'll just have to wait and see.

P.S. I'm sorry if there are any comments I haven't responded to. Apparently not all of the comments that are submitted here are getting through to me. There appear to be some technical difficulties with this site. Please don't take it personally!

November's Surface Girl

Surface. Acrylic, charcoal on canvas

Upcoming show at First Cup

Acrylic on canvas

In five months I'll be displaying and selling some of my art in the First Cup Coffee House on Woodstock Blvd. Five months might seem far away to some of us, but I'd like to give myself a head start. This is one of the pieces that will likely be hanging on the walls in May.

I finally painted something

Disillusion (2013).  Acrylic on cardboard.

Three works-in-progress

At this point in time, everything I have been working on lately is as of yet unfinished. I could wait to share these until they are completely finished, but I don't know when that will be, and I do love a good before and after photo comparison. Don't you? Here are some things I am currently working on:

Collage self-portrait. Remember those useful little fashion magazines I mentioned in an earlier post?

Water color and ink on paper. So far.

Water color, ink, and acrylic on paper, as seen out of my window in February.

Portland Waldorf School Annual Shield Benefit

Every year the Portland Waldorf School auctions off a collection of wooden shields that have been decorated by various artists. This year I am back in Portland, so I am lucky enough to participate! 

Discovery (2013) Acrylic, metal, yarn, glue on wood.

I was super excited when I received my little wooden shield, and I didn't want to mess it up. I thought, "why not make a couple of sketches so that I can settle on my favorite idea and continue from there?" Bad idea. I just wanted more shields after that. I ditched my sketches-- actually I hid them from myself so that I wouldn't be influenced by my own designs while painting. I wanted the image to emerge organically without involving too much conscious analytical thinking... however, I rediscovered these "forgotten" sketches soon after I started painting because, like a genius, I'd hidden them in one of my several paint stashes. This particular stash also housed my paint brushes so I guess I wasn't trying very hard. 

In any case, I proceeded to ignore my sketches (by placing them face-down) as I painted and re-painted my shield. I plucked the silver leaves off of an old sculpture of mine. What else do you do with art after it is made and everyone has looked at it? Besides, the old sculpture-- a large foam arm and hand that extended from the floor, was painted purple with hints of gold, and sported silver leaves-- was partially destroyed by wear and tear and my cat's jaws and claws.

The benefit takes place at the Portland Waldorf School this Friday from 6-8pm. You can RSVP at http://portlandwaldorf.eventbrite.com if you feel so inclined.

Welcome To My Blog

Hello world!

Welcome to my blog. You can call me Binta. 

Last spring I did a series of paintings for my senior thesis, and with these paintings (and a few before them) I departed from my usual naturalistic style- that is, instead of attempting to copy something real that I was looking at, I worked from my imagination alone. I focussed on painting the human form, and I tried to avoid getting caught up in the details of the form. 

Have you ever drawn something and really liked it, then tried to recreate the drawing and found that your second attempt just doesn't quite measure up? This happens to me all the time. This was my first painting in the series, so of course it was my favorite:

My inspiration was largely fueled by this verse:

Verse from Goethe

I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element.

It is my personal approach that creates the climate.

It is my daily mood that makes the weather. 

I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. 

I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. 

I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. 

In all situations it is my response that decides 

Whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, 

And a person humanized or dehumanized. 

If we treat people as they are we make them worse. 

If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them to become what they are capable of becoming.

         Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749-1832