Pen & Ink of President Obama

November elections, 2010, deserve to reflect confidence in President Obama and the Dems. With the stock market in ascent and the Bush era tailspin arrested, continued affects of the protracted war in the mideast cannot be attributed to current administration. "Keep the Faith!" Support our President and his plans.

Frida in a Blue Robe

Iconography, conning nobody, F--K, can't wait. Most deserving for suffering and painting anyway, for maintaining a life long love for Diego Rivera, the muralist, Frida--Kahlo in a blue robe surrounded by paper roses will appear on the river in a flying saucer (at the Rio Cafe, more like), Astoria, Oregon, in October. portrait painted on paper by B M Martin

As Summer Ends...

Here we are in Astoria, OR on the Columbia River. the weather is wonderful. Indian Summer is upon us, the first week in September. Hurricane Earl is moving away from the Atlantic coast. The Rio Cafe in Astoria near 9th and Astor had a great summer and is receiving rave reviews all the way from Portland. Travelosity is giving them a 4* plus rating. And my paintings continue to grace the south wall of the Cafe. Please drop by for great Mexican cuisine.

water color, "Pier 11", by Barbara Martin

More to Read identification on Art

An "artist" is open to the planet as a whole, the many nations, the variety of races.

When the public feels inadequate, it is a commentary on the degre of focus necessary to walk a daily line. The open-ness is exactly what the public, those that are not there to cop a lick, is in a museum or gallery to find, not the cork in a hole in space, in the universe. (watercolor: Ilwaco Marina, BMM)

Dancer at Rest

Long Beach peninsula artist, Varytin, as portrayed by Barbara Martin, reclining in her heavily encrusted fringed bellydance costume can be seen dancing at Astoria's Sunday Market throughout the summer! The gorgeous Varytin is without a doubt a beautiful person, talented dancer and instructor! (Click on Acrylic painting of 'Dancer at Rest' or visit Myartspace/Gallery Barbara Martin)

Att: Beach Combers

She would sell seashells on the seashore,
But sea surf shatters shells
Found imported only at the store!

Other than razor clam shells, the rowdy Pacific makes sand of any shells that might show up on the beaches! You might find sea weed, glass floats and driftwood but, sorry, no sea shells. For all types of exotic sea shells on the Peninsula try Marsh's Free Museum in Long Beach, WA.

Summer on the River

So green the pilings, brush dry having painted the rocks.
The water folds and fans, whispers, smiling
among the pilings of docks long agone.

June-July 2010

Need an object for your affection? Donate to the Ilwaco Timberland Library, Ilwaco, WA, landscape fund. They are about $7-8000 short of beautification funds to grace the new remodeled building.

If you have battled the bulge forever and have just realized that raising the heart rate is an excellent source of mental energy, remember the executive recourse to Nerf Basketball. Find a nice basket and shoot "popcorn balls" into it. Wrap plastic bags into tight little wads and toss them across the room into the basket. Oh, and don't forget the plastic cottage cheese lid frizbee. Sail them across the living room into the basket. Why not bounce a small beach ball off the wall? It's all aerobic.
When you realize that cooking isn't a sport, regret getting too cozy with the pasta machine, and get no athletic thrill from doing laundry, buy a basketball and bounce.
If you are too old to enjoy bending Q-tips into Commas, take another look at your arms and legs. : )

Phase One?

On this Cinco De Mayo, there is oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico, civil riots in Greece over a failed economy strangled by a decade of war in the Middle East, investigation of a failed car bomb in Times Square of NYC, and cleanup of unprecedented floods throughout the South (on the occasion of the burst pipelines in the Gulf)

Watercolor notebooks are a favorite way to study life with little storage problem. This, "Jar", 11 x 14", sits atop just one of many by B. Martin.

April Astoria Art Walk at the Rio Cafe

Made the Art Walk in Astoria, OR, April 10, second Saturday, 2010. The folks at the Rio Cafe, Julie Foster and familia, hosted me, Barbara Martin, doing charcoal portraits and introducing my paintings. The Rio plans to be a regular on the Artwalk map throughout the coming year. I should be around to do you in water color or charcoal.

March comes in like a Lion, goes out like a lamp post

Purple Ocean
Lavendar lotion
Lighting & Glass
Rainbow looms

In Astoria, Oregon, Clatsop Community College is the scene of greatest access to practice of the arts. Instructors Richard Rowland, ceramics, and Kristin Shauck, painting, keep the studios jumping.

Dr. M. L. King jr. Month Good Time to Read

January and a holiday thanks to observance of Dr. King's b.day is a great time to bring a stack of books home from the library and catch up on art history or whatever. The cold, damp days are perfect for a long read under a hand-made afgan throw. When the wind blows and the windows rattle, put on the tea kettle, hunker down and if not watching figureskating, flip a few pages. Makes us literately mobile.