Holly Putman

Eccentric art for interesting people.

Most often people fill out these "about me" segments with education, qualifications, and work history. I don't want to bother with that. Instead, I am going to tell you a story. It's the story of how the series you see before you, came to be.

I live on the remote Oregon Coast. As you can probably guess, there is a lot of beach and coastal themed art around here. Most of it, while being well done, is what I consider basic and repetitious. It was never the subject matter that interested in me at all. That was about to change.

My younger sister (also an accomplished artist) owned a local art gallery and wanted me to put on an ocean themed exhibition with my sharp edgy style. I agreed only because I had been in an artistic rut for years and a deadline was good motivation.

I had zero inspiration. I sat staring at my paper and charcoal for weeks. I tried to sketch a few boats, then crumpled them up. Stared some more. I then ruffled through some of my old art from back when I lived with my roommates. At the time, they had commissioned me to re-paint a crappy canvas with something they had found on Pinterest. It was Anthropomorphism (animal heads on people bodies) and I thought it was prett...

30 years of blind dedication to a career that I might not be so great at.

"A Piece of History" showcased locally in Waldport

"Why not?" showcased locally in Yachats