Sunday, July 26, 2015

Riverlight[s] - Reflections

                                                           Riverlight 1 oil on canvas 20x20


                                                           Riverlight 2 oil on canvas 20x20


 These are new paintings of the Tualatin River near where it joins the Willamette southwest of West Linn. The bluff shades the river much of the time with bits of the shore in sunlight.


My show at the White Bird Gallery continues, please take a look if you`re on the north coast.
And opening next Saturday, Aug. 1 is a group show of work with the theme of 'Oregon City' at In Bocca al Lupo Fine Art. I was asked if I`d like to participate and agreed as a prompt to finally paint a view of the falls and the mills that I`ve had in mind for years. Definitely out of my comfort zone with all the straight lines and perspective;


                                                       Oregon City January 30x48 oil on canvas


 After seeing how Astoria has reinvented itself two weeks ago, I`m confident Oregon City has a similar future. The Willamette Falls Legacy Project is going to turn that town into something radiant. Investors take note!




Yesterday I moved some of my late brother Gary`s paintings to my studio for storage or possibly resale. He would have been 68 two days ago and started buying my work when he was in his twenties and I was still a teen. The quality of his collection is therefore quite mixed. Now seven years since his death, his wife Mary has decided to sell the house and move into something smaller and more practical with all the girls adult and on their own. It`s a poignant moment. Having these pieces around me has sure made me miss him. There was nothing equivocal about him and his instincts were good. Though not his taste. He also collected those porcelain plates with fairy tale illustrations on them and glass crystal balls which were everywhere in his bachelor condominium. His wife was first his employee at Hewlett Packard and she tells a funny story about a meeting his staff had in his home. Being completely unhomophobic, he had watercolors of naked men I had done on the walls, about a dozen of the obnoxious plates on the mantel and at least one colored crystal ball on every level surface. Everyone  respectfully kept on topic with nervous glances shooting all around the living room. He was so funny and such a leader, smart supervisors just let him be himself.
This was before Carly Fiorina trashed the company. Now she wants to be President!?
Here is one of the paintings;


                                                       watermedia on paper 48x36


work for sale in my studio

5 comments:

E.M. Corsa said...

Beautiful work, River Light being my favorite. I want to go explore that tunnel through the edge. I love hearing about your brother. I have one sibling and he and I are very close. He too has a lot of my work.
And there's something to be said for fairy tails and crystal balls!

Ruth said...

Your new paintings are beautiful, and I am curious to see the work from your late brother's collection. You write and speak of him with such tenderness. I am sorry you are missing him so much.

RH Carpenter said...

Oh, that first one makes me want to just dive into that deep green pool of water and swim around the colors! Beautiful landscapes, as always. I am at odds with the third one with the buildings - for some reason it doesn't look like one of your paintings? If that makes sense at all. I am sorry for the loss of your brother - he sounds like a wonderful person with a good sense of what is important and what is fun :) We never really lose them but it sure would be great if just once a year or so we could get a call from the other side to talk to them! I don't think that would be too much to ask.

BlueHwyGal said...

Damn Randy, you good!

Gary L. Everest said...

Hi Randall,
Another interesting post with great work. Your featured early painting screamed "DIEBENKORN" to me, so you know I REALLY like it. More impressive is how you grew beyond him and blossomed into such a wonderfully unique talent.
Sincerely,
Gary.