By LUIZA LUKOVA

Holly Osborne is a painter and a mixed media artist, currently based in Portland, Oregon. She attended Portland State University, graduating with a BS in Art in 2014 and a Master’s in Art Education in 2018. Coming across one of her works for the first time is a breath-catching experience. Her paintings are ethereal, almost realistic but not quite, imbuing each piece with a sense of mystery as if colored in a dream. Done in cloudy hues of pinks, blues, and oranges, her Landscape and Still Life series in particular, a wide berth of exploration on the part of the viewer. As our town continues to remain on pause, with art happenings postponed indefinitely, writer Luiza Lukova interviewed Osborne from the comfort of their respective homes, touching on inspirations, emotions, and experiences. 

Luiza Lukova: You just had a show up at Albina Press Coffee on Albina; could you tell us a little bit about that series of paintings and how that show came about? Will that be extended now that the city has essentially gone on pause for the foreseeable future?  

Holly Osborne: It started when I had just finished 4 new paintings. I thought they were a nice cohesive bunch, so I asked my long time friend Anthony Tortorici if he needed an upcoming artist to show at Albina Press. He had just started curating the space. Of course, the shop walls needed to be filled so I worked fast to complete more work by the set date. Luckily I have this strange way of creating where I start new paintings and work for a while, then stop. . .until they sort of tell me it's time. Then I will contemplate the piece for a while, maybe put it away, or hang it, and eventually, pick it up again someday. Whether that is 2 weeks or 2 years later, I never know. I rarely complete a painting in one session. Anyway, on some of those paintings that were stored in a corner, under the bed, or hung on my daughter’s bedroom wall, I used the momentum to force-finish quite a few (17 total). Perhaps sooner than I would have if I didn’t have a show. One thing is true, deadlines get work out of ya. 

Right now, with the pandemic, I am not working at my other two jobs, so I get to stay home and paint. It’s wonderful. I have to acknowledge those less fortunate with health or home life. I am so thankful. 

Lately I have been more and more interested in collaborations, and recently, I started a new project with a woman named Sarah Van Raden who is potter and owner of Notary ceramics in my neighborhood. I live so close that I am able to visit the studio as often as desired. We just met late last year and she is very genuine and kind. I wanted to use some of her work to make some interesting still life paintings. It’s been fun to use her work, building some layers of meaning in the pictures because usually I just paint my own objects. Sarah found a space to have an April show for the collaboration; where I hoped to set up some of her ceramics in the same space as the paintings, and everything would be for sale. The show was canceled, but creating still lifes feel right with the current “stay-home” rule that has gone into effect in our city. 

 I also have one other collaboration going with a good friend on the east coast. She sends pictures and I am painting them. Excited to see how many we create. 

LL: Could you speak to your process when beginning or imagining a piece? Do you pull themes from your personal life, from what you experience, and let it evolve naturally or do you have a set idea in mind when executing a painting? 

HO: Well, with the collaborations, I think it’s a way to connect with my community that still leaves me my beloved alone-time. 

Everything you’re listing sounds about on point. I paint what is around me and things I am interested in. I listen to ideas that come in, especially if I have lackadaisically let them go at some past time and one returns. If I physically make the work, or just go ahead and ask that other artist to collaborate, whatever it may be…I usually find a way to execute an original vision. Or, it might lead to another cool idea.

Themes in the work I make are directly from my personal life. I take a lot of photos. I’m often struck by beauty [in any form, not just traditional (I think the definition of beauty could be a long one)] and nature. 

LL: There is a general abstraction to your paintings, even with the landscapes or some of the portraits and still lifes, that I find really interesting. could you tell me a little bit more about that inclination? Is it an intentional abstraction? 

HO: It has a lot to do with the process. What I choose to present as a finished painting is intentional. How I got there is sometimes unintentional. A finished work typically is made of both parts. So, I can plan plan plan for a painting but once I’m in it, applying the paint, new things come into play. It could be anything from deciding to let a color of the underpainting show through or scribbling in a number about some news I just heard while streaming NPR. The way I find excitement in painting is allowing room for abstraction and understanding what the piece needs. Sometimes I will mix color right on the canvas and leave some of the marks made. There are so many beautiful unforeseen and unplanned marks that can happen when I am not trying to control the painting too much. That said, I always start with an original vision. Each and every painting is just a new exploration. I’d like to give the viewer different experiences in a singular work.

LL: I love this excitement that you talk about, the feeling of getting caught up in what you’re working on that all previously drafted plans fly out the window. I think that can lead to some really beautiful and exciting experimentations. Has staying home afforded you the time and interest to explore any new themes and/or painting styles? 

HO: I love having more time to paint! It allows me room to explore and create more of one idea, like still lifes from around the house, and those long-distance still lifes I described earlier. Maybe I’ll layer a still life inside a landscape one of these days. I did pull out some large canvases that were stretched years ago with hopes of finishing them. It feels good to work bigger, using more of my body, but my apartment sure is tight. I have to move paintings around a lot and the laminate wood floors are getting a bit colorful.     

LL: If there is one sage wisdom you could pass on to your daughter, or anyone for that matter, as we’re all looking for ways to readjust to this new normal, what might that be? 

HO: I like how you put that: a sage of wisdom. Hm there are many but much like the new paintings I discussed in the interview, life will without-a-doubt, take directions that are completely unforeseen and unplanned which can be shocking or annoying. Accept and take on the challenges fully and hopefully, this can be done with some type of beauty or strategy. This unexpected way might lead you to a nice surprise. If it doesn’t, keep going and you will arrive there eventually. And the cycle continues lol. Also, from these moments you’ll one day realize the growth that was established in yourself and maybe why you’re better (or your life is better), not worse from the setbacks. Who knows, just stay positive, helpful to others, and roll toward your goals :)

For more of Holly Osborne’s work, she invites readers to her website or her Instagram, @ijustwanttopaintallday. 

Luiza Lukova is a poet, curator, and visual arts, critic. Born in Bulgaria, she is currently living and working in Portland, Oregon.