Sunday, July 16, 2017

New Work Summer 2017

                                                  My Marsh in Winter oil on panel 26x24


 Mine because I go there, the wetlands of Bryant Woods. I get in with the mud to see what`s happening. Last January I was able to walk into places I hadn`t seen because the ground was frozen. The previous summer`s vegetation was dead and  new grasses and cattails were sprouting. The Northwest winter often looks festive in its decay and regeneration.


                                              In the Bishop`s Garden watercolor on Yupo 12x9


 Las LOPAS convened at the beautiful Bishop`s Close last week to paint the gardens from life. A fine time it was! We have decided to return this coming Friday but with an earlier start. Please join us if you can. No one chased us off the lawn.


                                                                  Las LOPAS


                                                      January Moon oil on panel 26x24


 Every so often I like to create an 'all over' painting. The subject is usually a dense winter forest with the incredible complexity of the bare trees. With hints of foreground and back to anchor the frenzy of marks. The coastal stands of alders with their luminescent branches always excite me.


                                         Flooding Fanno Creek oil and oil pastel on Yupo 12x9


 More exciting branches, OK?



                                                       Path to the Sea 2 oil on canvas 30x30


 Sometimes if I`m lost in my studio I`ll paint again a favorite from the past. Not exactly the Warrior Way but I just want to be working, to have a brush in my hand should the spirit arrive.
 As my legs slowly heal, I`ve questioned the career aspects of being an artist, wondering how to proceed? What do I really want from my efforts? The answer is always good paintings but not how to disperse them into the world.



                                                               Immature Honeycrisp


 Six years ago I was going broke eating so many Honeycrisp apples. They are not cheap! I thought, how hard could it be to grow them? This is Oregon after all. So we planted a dwarf variety along with a small Japanese Akane to pollinate them and boom!, the first year the tree nearly broke from the weight of the fruit!
 I wasn`t able to prune it this winter and with all the rain, this crop will be huge. That bucket is filled with at least a hundred apples I thinned from the tree the other day. Here`s the problem though, bugs also like them. Do any of you know of any remedies that aren`t pure poison? My neighbor suggested copper sulfate. Any other ideas? Thanks.


 I`ve loved the work of Lynn Boggess for years and he just gets better. Though not a fan of thick impasto paint, when he uses the technique, it`s poetry. Take a look;


                                                            Lynn Boggess



                                                               Lynn Boggess


                                                             Lynn Boggess


 He goes out into the local forests where he lives in West Virginia, chooses a humble scene then brings it glory. In this video you`ll see his astonishing set up as he paints a canvas 68x80 on location!
Oh my, Las LOPAS has a lot to learn! He looks like the guy in the hardware store but this man speaks to God!


 I will be having a show at the White Bird Gallery in Cannon Beach OR Sept.1 through Oct.16. I`ve shown with this gallery for 32 years! First with the founder Evelyn Georges, now with the new owner Allyn Cantor.
I won`t be at the opening but I`ll be giving a demonstration of watermedia on Yupo Sept. 23rd. 2pm. Stop by if you`re on the coast.





some available work in my studio







Saturday, July 1, 2017

Arch Cape Creek

                                                      Arch Cape Creek oil on canvas 20x20


 Nine years ago today I began this blog. What it means for me has changed over time. Its promotional aspect is still my priority but now I also think of it as a journal of sorts. This may be why I`m so surprised when I hear someone reads it. Thank you for doing so! I never thought what I said would be of interest particularly when my passion was painting. A blog visitor told me she reads it to her husband at dinner! Now that is gratifying.
I`ve thought if my eyes failed I would take up writing seriously. Try to study with somebody I admire. But for now, I`ll focus on painting. It`s been going well, it feels natural again.
 Nine years ago, I had no idea my world would be forever sadder. I did not know on July 1, my comic and dear brother Gary would be given the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in three weeks, then die two months later. This is when I finally grew up. This is when I understood at last how fragile reality is.
Pancreatic cancer is very fast once it is obvious. There is no 'pap smear' test to alert us but there are some warnings. Please look these over.


                                                  Slow Summer Water oil on canvas 56x44


 This was in my show at the Coos Art Museum last summer. Before I sent the paintings off I carefully reviewed each one for glitches. I had time for corrections, then away they went. When I retrieved them in the fall, several seemed to have glaring problems. They didn`t change, it was me. So I`ve reworked some of them including the one above. It`s better now.

Below are my last two small plein air efforts. The weather has been sublime and I`ve been much more inclined to relax and soak in summer once we`re set up, than paint. With all the walking I do [or did], I rarely just sit outside and do nothing. It`s nice. Smells good.









 Here is a thoughtful set of remarks by professionals in the art market. The demise of smaller, less well heeled galleries has been accelerating. The usual culprit, the internet, is to blame. Collectors are buying from the artists directly, from the comfort of their homes. Like everything else.
I got involved in this when my Portland gallery closed just before the Big Recession.The galleries that still did represent me were not close and I felt I had to try something to earn some income. This blog was part of that effort and it was the best business decision I ever made. It definitely begat sales and even better, led to friendships. Strangers wrote to me, bought paintings and some became companions.
The downside to all this oncoming digital commerce is that real places to see art are intimate, offering a richer experience. Local venues will take chances on unknown artists too. My first show in New Mexico [1978] was at the Los Alamos public library. Because a gallery owner saw it, I was offered representation in Santa Fe. Good things happen when our communities have the opportunity to experiment. The pop-up shows of recent years are a great example. Portlander Chris Haberman came up with the idea for a huge show of affordable work created by 500 different artists at Christmas time. Brilliant! It earns the artists some cash and exposure and benefits the worthy Oregon Food Bank.
 I hope there will always be art galleries.



 It`s shocking, but listen to the new advertisement from the NRA if you haven`t seen it. It`s important to know what the opposition thinks although this is obviously inflammatory.
We really have so much more in common than our differences.
We are always better together.


                                                                   by Su Sheedy


                                                            by Su Sheedy


 Finally the glorious, intelligent paintings of Su Sheedy! Damn, I can look at one of her paintings for hours! They are so generous, teaming with squirming, pulsating color! Mesmerizing! So skillful in balancing such strong color with patterns and neutrals. Her work makes me glad to be alive.


This is as good a definition as I`ve ever heard;





work for sale, mostly in my studio