PENDLETON — When artistic inspiration hits, sometimes you just create, whether you have the traditional tools to get started or not.

When Chrissy Houlett first started painting her colorful pieces, Q-tips, pencil toppers and a dinner plate were the only implements at her disposal. Now she uses traditional dot painting tools, creating intricate images on canvases of all sizes.

Houlett began her path to painting with some encouragement from her mother, Judith Graham, who is an accomplished local painter herself. Houlett has a background in beading and creating recycled paper beads, and to find her own style, she began with dot painting.

“Mandala” in Sanskrit means circle and mandala dot paintings are considered a reflection of the self and the universe. Mandala dot painting is sometimes used as a meditative practice where balance and harmony are the keys. Specific tools are typically used to create that harmony, such as a compass and a protractor.

To create her work, Houlett starts from the center of the canvas and paints the rest of the piece outward freehand. She finds a time and space that is peaceful first and she uses her painting practice to steady her mind as she works.

“It is like meditation,” she said.

When she is painting, sometimes her 7-year-old son colors his own work beside her, and a familiar TV show is often playing in the background.

She said her inspiration comes from bright and cheerful colors. While she is drawn to her favorites, she challenges herself by creating pieces from color palettes posted in her Facebook painting groups.

Using color groups that she may not immediately connect with can “get her out of her comfort zone,” she said.

Her largest piece, “Glitch in Time,” is one such example, where she made sure that none of the circles used a repeated color.

She said her goal for the upcoming year is to share her work more with the public. In the past, she gave her work as gifts for holidays or birthdays but now she is setting her sights higher. She has been looking at new ways to apply dot art and has been considering furniture as her next canvas.

Houlett’s work will be on display in the Lorenzen Gallery at Pendleton Center for the Arts through April 26. Concurrent in the East Oregonian Gallery is the 2024 Open Regional Photography Exhibit, a display of 100 works by established and emerging artists.

Both exhibits are free to the public, thanks in part to generous support from Banner Bank in Pendleton.

More information is available at PendletonArts.org or by calling 541-278-9201.