New Paintings around town....

 Open Eye Art 

Collaborative art created at the Butterflies in the Wine Country Workshop

Collaborative Painting Created with Open Eye Art and the

participants of the Butterflies in the Wine Country Workshop

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly,

 but rarely admit the changes
it has gone through to achieve that beauty.

 ~Maya Angelou

Open Eye Art gathered a fun group of artist together at  Art Elements Gallery in Newberg, Oregon Saturday July 21^st.   The goal was to create two colorful and meaningful collaborative paintings for the Oregon Community Foundation's offices in Porltand!

Each painting was created by a team of 4 individuals during our five hour Open Eye Art’s Creative Encounter. The cool aspect of this art is that they have hidden messages under the silhouette paint that includes hopes, aspirations and advice for OCF .  These wishes are an integral part of the pieces enabling the art to be playful yet meaningful.  I will share photos of these "embedded intentions”  in a future post.

The staff at Oregon Community Foundation work long and hard to make our community and our state an incredible place to live.  Open Eye Art and these talented artist felt that it was time for OCF to receive a little thank you back from the community !

                                                                                                  Open Eye Art 

Collaborative art created at the Butterflies in the Wine Country Workshop

Collaborative Painting Created with Open Eye Art and the students at Lincoln High School in Portland, Oregon

 

 Open Eye Art's and Lincoln High School's International Studies student's collaborative painting

created for the new Oregon School of Oriental Medicines new building in Portland Oregon.

This amazing 48 x 48 acrylic painting was  created by the International Studies students at Lincoln High School in Portland,Oregon.  Every year I help organize Art's Beat event in the school's cafeteria .  It is an enlightening gathering of musicians , artist, dancers and volunteers that believe in sharing the cultures of the world in a creative and interactive way.
The theme for this year's event was Asia.  My contribution was to create a collaboration between students and the volunteers from the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine.
Close to 100 students learned about the concepts taught at the College. They took their new found insights and added their artistic touches to the art piece creating the abstract painting you see above. The intriguing  part of this piece is the variety of symbols and techniques that the students resonated with after they learned more about Chinese herbs and practices.  The painting will be presented  and installed in the school on October 5th during one of OCOM's opening ceremonies. We know that the students of OCOM will appreciate the detail and energy of this wonderful collaborative work. 
 Graham paints , a generous local company that produces small batches of high quality paints was kind enough to donate their incredible acrylic paint for the project.  In fact they were so generous that the left over paint will be used in the many community projects we embark on this year.

Open Eye Art is a big supporter of the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine,

 the students at Lincoln High School and we are dedicated to giving creative opportunities to people that enable them to "get their hands dirty", so this collaboration was dear to our heart on many levels.

I highly recommend you check out the new Oregon College of Oriental Medicine  

when it opens to the public next month. The new building is amazing on many levels.  My favorite aspect of the space is the fact the a renowned Feng Shui master, Alex Stark made sure that every classroom, gathering space and office was put in the perfect location containing the right elements to enhance harmony and beauty. 

Feng shui is based on the teachings of Daoism, founded by Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu in the sixth century B.C.. It is an increasingly familiar interior design concept in the West, and is commonly used in China to site buildings and design spaces to maximize the potential for success. Like Traditional Chinese Medicine, feng shui is based on the principles of yin-yang theory and focuses on the harmonious balance of the five universal elements – water, earth, metal, fire and wood. Feng shui “treats” the built environment through the use of things like strategically placed mirrors, greenery, crystals and color, while TCM focuses on bringing balance to the human body through acupuncture and herbs. These principles, whether applied to building or individual, seek the same result: the creation of prosperity, health and success.

 

Ocean Painting Created by Jennifer Mark for the Oncology Staff Lounge at the New Randall Children's Hospital in Portland Oregon

Acrylic painting by Jennifer Winship Mark 48 x 48