Sunday, September 6, 2015

Early Spring Slough

                                                  Early Spring Slough oil on canvas 20x20


 This is new but comes from a field trip I organized for my painting group in March 2013. Some thought Minto Brown was bleak that day but I continue to do work derived from that moody outing.


                                            Near the Confluence watermedia on Yupo 40x26


 A Sauvie Island painting from nearly ten years ago.


                                                     Near Acoma watercolor 22x15 [1982]


 Here`s another older watercolor from New Mexico. Don`t ask me what that pile is hovering above the mesa, I don`t know. But I liked it and did several paintings where this 'sky' floated above a landscape. For those who aren`t aware of it, Acoma Pueblo is one of the most magical places on earth. A Native American settlement is built on the top of a mesa much like this one. But this is Enchanted Mesa which rises directly across the plain from Acoma. I first visited in 1976 and was allowed to walk around the village freely. The views were spectacular as is the history of this place. An hour from Albuquerque but centuries away. It is the longest continually inhabited place in America.


                                                             Acoma, Sky City


 I`ve written about Romare Bearden a couple of times, I think he was a genius. I found a charming little video of him while looking through the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art online archive.


Here is my last attempt at collage;


                                                               Night Pond 12x12


 The dumbfounding self portrait below is by the late Kent Bellows;


                                                              Kent Bellows

He was truly a visionary, this is not photo-realism. No grids were used. Imagine drawing with such precision and patience for untold hours! This kind of obsession has my deepest respect, I am in awe!


work for sale in my studio

Portland Open Studios Oct. 10 and 11, Oct. 17 and 18

4 comments:

Libby Fife said...

That self portrait of/by Kent Bellows is incredible. A singular hand and vision to be sure.

I like the work of Romare Bearden quite a bit too and enjoyed his video. I love listening to artists describe their ideas and processes. It's always a help for me in understanding someone's work in an additional way.

And I enjoyed your collage as well as the other work that is shown. Hopefully you mean it's the latest and not the last!

Great post as always. Thanks!
Libby

Ruth Armitage said...

Night Pond = my favorite, though your painting of Minto Brown takes me right back to that day.... Something about the power of the abstraction, the simple shapes, the design?

E.M. Corsa said...

Love that sky floating above the landscape. Makes me think of another dimension, a parallel one existing alongside the one we inhabit. Sounds crazy perhaps but it makes sense to me.

I haven't seen that self portrait in years. Absolutely incredible.

Burt said...

I like how you used varying paint strokes, for texture in the middle and foregrounds in, Near the Confluence.