Kerry Sovde Design

sweet caroline

2012-01-08T12:09:00.000-08:00

finally...it's begun; the hardest part of painting.

2012-01-08T11:49:00.000-08:00

paper collage paintings for Mica!

2011-11-01T14:42:00.001-07:00

It's never to early to learn your letters and sounds...

a friend turns forty and I was inspired to create a little something for her...

2011-09-14T13:17:00.000-07:00

2010-08-02T20:56:00.000-07:00

wall art for baby Margaux

2010-06-27T22:09:00.000-07:00

Somehow the new and busy parents of Margaux found a spare moment to send along a photo of a recent painting I made for the family. Very impressive...the fact that they took the picture and emailed it to me all while running on very little sleep. Congrats on the birth of your daughter, AJ and Kendra!!

Check out www.yesspaces.com/blog

2010-05-19T09:40:00.000-07:00

Barbara Miller, a talented local interior designer, has showcased some of my work and little about me on her yes!spaces blog this month. The blog is chock full of great inspiration and ideas, too! Paintings are available through a commission from me or as part of a room design through Yes! Spaces and Barbara Miller Design.

Cinqua Terra

2010-04-16T11:57:00.000-07:00

This painting was created for my kids' school auction. It was inspired by a photo taken in Vernazza on my honeymoon and this is the second time I've attempted to capture a little bit of the town's essence in art. This time I worked with paint and torn pieces of colored tissue which was incredibly fun and liberating in some ways. Happy to say the painting sold and went to my son's teacher.
I am ready to begin another collage...I love how the colors bleed into one another . I will post when my next project is under way.
cheers, Kerry

paper collage on canvas trial

2010-02-22T20:28:00.000-08:00

Inspiration: Eric Carle

2010-02-22T14:47:00.000-08:00

Some brightness for a dreary November night

2008-11-11T21:06:00.000-08:00

some new items delivered to baby Elly this week...

2008-09-08T11:16:00.001-07:00

Created this mark for a new store in Portland

2008-08-24T13:25:00.001-07:00

2008-05-09T17:12:00.000-07:00

Something recently painted for a little "Teddy Bear!"

2008-04-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

a pretty Spring Day wandering around Elk Rock Park, Lake Oswego.

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

2008-04-25T14:13:00.000-07:00

Hey, ho, look I'm blogging.

Even though you wouldn't know it from this blog, I am alive, active, enjoying life, funny children, crazy antics in the real day to day world.

The painting has taken a back seat to some graphic design projects (bread and butter, baby) , Tball schedules and general goings on around town and home. I did complete a fun little trio for the son of some good friends and delivered it this week. The little guy has a very fun room thanks to the cool, funky, eclectic style of his parent's who have displayed great ol' tin toys like spinning tops and rockets etc from the 30's and 40's. Here a photo I snapped of them before they left for their new home.

My better half is home today getting ready to head off on a long Southeast Asian tour of duty (business trip) and I kept bumping in to him. I'm a bit like a spinning top when I have those precious few hours in the morning to myself. To the outside observer, I may look downright chaotic, but in my own mind I am a sure-footed, swift, errand-running, project ticker offer....fool. So, you may be able to understand why I was playing bumper cars with my guy.
It was all good. What can be better than making chocolate chip cookies with the whole family in the middle of a Friday afternoon? I guess, eating them is even better.

To round out the day, we're heading out to get red wigglers so we can embark on our new adventure of composting. I'm quite thrilled with the concept since last summer was my first real attempt to put things in the ground and grow them and low and behold, things are springing up (despite the daily hail we seem to get around here lately). Now, I realize I need to do something about soil quality. Yep, Friday night of red worms (acquiring not eating), a little dinner, and some red wine. That sounds just about right.

over and out.

2007-10-19T11:44:00.001-07:00

some paintings

2007-10-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

child labor?

2007-07-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

room progress

2007-05-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

The wood is acclimating this week and we'll start nailing the first boards this weekend. Some new mysterious squeaks have appeared and we are trying to fix that problem. Sydney picked some vibrant colors for her walls and I got that on the walls this week.
What can I say; the girl loves pink! I had to sell the green idea to her...
all for now.

2007-05-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

Paintings up in Little Monkeys Cafe and Gallery

2007-05-06T20:25:00.000-07:00

Quick blurb on a new Gallery where I have some work on the walls. It is called Little Monkeys Cafe and Gallery located in the Carnegie Art Center, Oregon City. It has Art Classes downstairs and two galleries upstairs. The Little Monkeys showcases great local art that is fun and whimsical from paintings, to handmade dolls, children's clothing, pottery, and more. Yummy coffee and kid-friendly, too.
The curator, Anne, has some images up on her blog...
http://www.annejenningsparis.blogspot.com/

http://www.fineartstarts.com/

long time no blog

2007-05-06T19:29:00.000-07:00

Well, it's May and we've embarked on our traditional Spring time/summer project du jour (they usually last that long or longer!). Our disgusting, nasty carpets are hitting the curb one room at a time. We are taking a stab at laying bamboo floors and we're starting in my "project", "art", or most commonly referred to as "Kerry's junk room". So, I have finally been forced to clean up my act. Which means I have just transferred my projects to little piles all over the house.

Last week, the kids and I cleared the room and then I painted the ceiling and I didn't even bother with drop cloths. Oh, the freedom! Not a care in the world as the paint drips landed on the carpet. Geoff and the kids picked out the ceiling paint and when they arrived home with it, Sydney declared they had found glow in the dark paint. (because Daddy had asked for the brightest paint to make the ceiling practically glow.) We are trying to fool the eye with brightness that our ceilings really aren't 7 1/2' dungeon height. :)

Well, we demo'd the floor today. Pulled out the skanky carpet, and crowbar'd the heck out the pet-urined particle board to eventually reveal semi-decent plywood sub floor. All for now.

Here's some pictures of a recent custom order for a new little baby. Makes me feel like it's 4th of July...

-K

It's a zoo around here...

2007-02-07T13:25:00.000-08:00

I'm looking forward to meeting Sterling and giving him his new wall eye-candy!

here's a work in progress...

2007-01-22T16:08:00.000-08:00

2 paintings for a couple in Seattle. It's a start. Now the trick will be to finish them. I'm used to painting with lots of primary colors and PINK! Nice change to try a muted palette.

all for now.
K

surf's up!

2007-01-17T19:10:00.000-08:00

blurry photo, but you get the idea. Life's a beach for little Nathan in his tropical room!

I guess it really is official; I stink as a blogger. I'd love to write that I've been just so busy jet setting to this or that to focus, but reality is it's just the normal pace of life that has me scrambling to keep up. Not complaining...I'm having fun, doing some interesting wine label designs for some great folks in Forest Grove and a few custom paintings (promised way too long ago to mention) and playing in the piles of snow with the wee ones these past few days.
The blog still stinks. Hee, hee. must go do some more of the "normal life" stuff. Like break up the fight going on in the bathtub and wash kids' hair. Wee!

pumpkin patches and paintings

2006-10-25T15:21:00.000-07:00

I could practically see the dust accumulating on my blog, so I'm freshening things up with a few new pictures. A lovely day was had recently at Koch's Family Farm in Tualatin where all the preschooler picked out their own pumpkins. The only rule was each child had to be able to carry the pumpkin on their own to the tractor. It was a riot to watch, but I do believe everyone managed to do it!
The Vanessa Lee painting was a commission for a new baby in Bend, OR. and I tried to make it go with a Winnie the Pooh themed room.

Harvest time

2006-10-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

I don't have much news on the creative side. I have one painting in process right now for my friend Sharon, her and her husband have a precious new baby boy at home. The inspiration is frogs and lavender!

Last weekend my family was able to experience a little bit of the farming life. My folks are first time Hazelnut Farmers and as many of the relations and helpful friends that could turn out tried their hands at the fine art of Hazelnut harvesting. Let me tell you, it is a dirty job. After a full day of work one looks a lot like a chimney sweep.

Although repetitive, the harvesting really gives you the sense of accomplishment and my Aunt Irene (a nurse) remarked that it could be great therapy for obsessive/compulsive disorders. We may need to solicite outside the o/c clinic around harvest time next year. I think I may have a touch of it, because I sure found myself completely focused sitting in the back of the trailer in the tote with hazelnuts flying of the conveyer belt with no sense of time or place just total focus on getting all the sticks, twigs, rocks, broken nuts, husks out of the bin. Once the bin is filled and the fork lift is ready to take it away and replace with a new tote, you almost need to be forced to stop and made to climb out.

The best part was seeing my husband driving the tractor in farmer overalls and manuevering around the orchard. At one point, I was raking by myself far away from the machinary or people and all I could hear standing under the canopy of the orchard were the sounds of dropping hazelnuts around me. Very cool.

weekend recap

2006-09-18T20:39:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report that my first outdoor show was a success mostly because the the weather was wonderful and my tent didn't fall over! Also because I had a chance to meet some very talented artists, visit with friends and family, and meet a lot of nice folks visiting the festival. On top of all that, I sold some art!
Despite being pretty exhausted this morning from all the activity leading up to and including the weekend festivities I was on the schedule to help at preschool this morning with fourteen very energetic four year olds! This afternoon, my kids and I had a much needed nap curled up in the middle of the living room on a nest of blankets. For someone whose kids don't nap anymore...it was amazing!

show approaching...

2006-09-12T20:46:00.000-07:00

Here's a peak at what we here at the Sovde residence like to call "Outdoor Art Fair meets Garden party gazebo". Together with the help of friends lending me things and a few trips to the local do it yourself store, my booth for the West Linn Arts Festival is coming together.
Here's my plug...Arts festival this weekend in West Linn, Saturday 10-6, Sunday 10-5. Come by and say hi!

deck days of summer

2006-07-30T18:56:00.000-07:00

We started demo on our front porch deck on 2nd of July. I had tried to breath as much life back in to that old deck with numerous power washings (which I'm addicted to) and stainings, but the time had come to say goodbye. When your foot almost goes through the wood it tends to be a clue. It is now July 30 and the end is in sight. We are so proud of our railings and I have such a better appreciation for builders and work they do. Of course my very "handy" man is the one doing the bulk of the work, I am proud of my new found "routering" skill. Not sure if that's how you spell it. I can pre-drill, countersink, and screw like a pro. Hmmm...that sounds a bit odd.
Anyways, we're making progress which is nice.

summertime

2006-07-12T21:53:00.000-07:00

I was never a very good journal entry writer in school and even though I've tried to keep a personal journal over the years, it usually skips around a lot. When I say a lot, I mean my notes go from "I just graduated from college" to "well, I just got married" to "they have me scheduled to give birth next Tuesday at 9am". Basically, a blog is a journal and I'm trying not to let such long lapses of time go by between each entry. Sorry, no huge life events to speak of right now.

Honestly, I didn't think it was necessary to post anything since I (and maybe 2 other friends) was the only one viewing it, but I've noticed a jump in vistors and so I better get on it!

Greta, the very nice lady who runs Footpaths Cafe, has been so very kind to let me hang my work on her cafe walls for July and August. I went in this week with the youngins and we had a lovely lunch (the pear salad is yummy) and checked on the space. It was a buzzing little place considering the quiet location tucked around farms and the river. It was great to see my kiddos taking pictures of Mommy's paintings and being asked by my 4yr old son why there were price tags next to them.

Tonight was about no painting, no logo design(which I should be doing); it was about reality tv. Project Runway is a show where 15 apparel designers from various backgrounds compete to be the last standing and win gobs of $. Anyways, it is quite fun and always interesting to see what these people dream up. Tonight was the premier of this season and it just so happens an old friend and colleague, Bonnie, is one of the talented bunch. She was a crack up back when and I can tell she hasn't changed too much!
Good news is she wasn't voted off and her dress design was beautiful (they had to create haute couture from the materials found in their shared apartment; shower curtains, rug, sheets, lamps, etc...).

Okay. I made a journal entry. I feel good about that.

Collaborative work by Kerry and Beth - "Organic Elements in Warm Colors"

2006-06-08T09:16:00.002-07:00

Some of my paintings (like the one above) are now hanging at the Footpaths Cafe for the months of July and August. Whoohoo!

2006-05-19T12:29:00.000-07:00

2006-04-21T16:37:00.000-07:00

It's been quiet on this blog for quite some time. If I can't maintain a blog, how in the world do I think I can have my own web site??? Patience, grasshopper. All in good time. Oh yeah, and there was that little problem of forgetting my password. Whoops!

In the meantime, I put up a few more visuals as it was getting kinda stale around here. I hope to put up some collaborative photos soon. One is a piece my fellow Treasure Diver, Beth and I have been working on together over the last 6 or 7 months. It's slow going when our painting sessions include 4 young children! We are very excited with the outcome and we are currently getting our feet wet with the whole glicee printing process.
The second collaborative piece was a large 3ft sq painting that I did with the wonderfully creative 3 and 4 year olds at my children's preschool. The title, "Jellybean Trees", was perfect for it . It was a huge hit at the school's annual silent auction. It will likely be the inspiration for a "Jellybean Tree" series that hopefully will be showcased at the Oregon Grape Nursery coffehouse/cafe here in good ol' West Linn in May.

In other news, I found a great pair of jeans at Goodwill today and most amazing was that they fit when I tried them on at home. Also found some great kid books at the library sale today...great ol' 50's era children's picture dictionary. The drawings are great and only 50cents for a hardback gem. Gotta love that 2 hour chunk of freetime I get every once in awhile...school is a good thing on so many levels!

some paintings inspired by sweet little girls...

2006-04-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

Cinque Terra is waiting for me...

2006-02-07T21:02:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo taken of my progress after my second painting session on the Cinque Terra oil painting I started in mid January. No, I haven't gotten it down off the wall where it has been drying and crying out for me to finish it, but I hope to soon. I have 3 custom paintings to do for clients this month and those have to come first.
The big news today is we finally got a new garage door and my car is actually parked inside. I push the button and the door goes up and goes down. Amazing technology!

Lovely Ladies

2006-01-19T16:25:00.000-08:00

Photo of the Treasure Dive Collective taken at our November group show.

2006-01-19T12:59:00.000-08:00

sample of special order for a little boy's room

2006-01-19T12:47:00.000-08:00

a friendly push

2006-01-19T12:38:00.000-08:00

My friend Lori, who is super saavy with all thing creative and technical, has been bugging me to update my blog and actually get a picture up. Okay, so I will attempt. Thanks Lori; I need a push now and again.

I began a large scale (for me) oil painting last week. It's been a long time coming. I sketched out the drawing on canvas nearly a year ago and have been holding on to the inspiration photo to paint even longer than that. I had a great session getting it under way and was re-inspired by the wonderful qualities of oils (water-based which I love -so easy to clean up!). It is really so much more fun to paint with them than acrylic. My rendition of a little coastal town of Western Italy is hanging up where I can see it every day and breath in those lovely oil fumes and not forget that I need get back to it...just need to find another block of 4-5 hours at a time. Might take a few weeks, but it will happen!

2005-12-13T21:33:00.000-08:00

long time no blog. Show went very well and actually took a few custom orders which I'm trying to complete now before Christmas. Must go discover how to upload images on here. Very boring with no visuals...

K

technically slow

2005-11-10T11:05:00.000-08:00

okay. I am brand new to blogs and I seem to have a huge learning curve when it come to all things technical. My attempts to alter the code and make links etc...have not been too successful. I've drained all my free time this morning and have nothing to show for it!! Ahhh...must call in the some aid tonight. Maybe I will even add some pretty pictures. :)

Crunch Time

2005-11-09T21:49:00.000-08:00

I am part of a creative group of women, we call ourselves The Treasure Dive Collective, and we show our work and sell our wares 2 -3 times a year. We met and formed our gang in September 2004 and we've had a great year exploring our creative sides and learing about running a business together.

We will be showing our work with a larger group next week (total 17 artists) in an in home show and I am trying to tie up loose ends before the 16th. Must go get to it now.