Thursday, March 14, 2019

some winter landscapes

                                             Fanno Creek in Winter oil on canvas 40x30


 For many, this winter has been rough. The weather more extreme, our government more depressing. Everyone knew how the shutdown would end yet it was agony for 35 days.
Finally though there are signs of life! Quite tardy here however, it`s not unusual for things to start stirring in late January.
Now I take my responsibility as the local head cheerleader for winter very seriously but even I fatigued and wished it weren`t so damn cold.


                                                 Almost Snowing oil on canvas 20x20


 For days it became common to glance outside and see snowflakes drifting down. It is not welcomed in the cities of the Pacific Northwest, in fact it causes panic. There have been raids on the grocery stores by anxious citizens, many cancelled school days and weeks long power outages in the countryside. A mess, but the forecast for this weekend is 70 degrees! Yes!



                                                    Bryant Woods Walk oil on panel 12x12


 This one was more like a long doodle. It started with more realism but as I randomly amped up the color, my trees became more stylized. Yet it still has the spirit of my beloved park.



                                                     Songbird by Nicholas Wilton


 Isn`t that magic? If you don`t know Nicholas Wilton, it`s time you did. He is a mensch extraordinaire! His work is always interesting and he`s a tireless, generous educator and mentor.
He interviews the great painter Krista Harris in this video. It is a remarkable conversation full of insights into the painting process and completely absent of ego. Listening to the two of them talk about their [abstract] work, it made perfect sense why I find painting non representationally so incredibly difficult. If you paint, this is well worth your time.


                                           Everyone we have ever Loved by Krista Harris





 You`re looking at a game changer here. Among the many things I learned at my workshop was the revelation that some Q-tips come with points! They are used for makeup apparently and are overpriced but they do fine job of carving trees out of wet paint. So much of my technique involves removing paint creatively. Blotting is a current field of experimentation.


I was introduced to Howard Hodgkin 35 years ago and I didn`t take to him immediately. The work was so simple and the painted frames seemed gimmicky. Yet I wanted to keep looking and in time I  became deeply affectionate toward his work. He`s one of a handful of artists whose paintings suggests an entirely new and separate reality. For me. This other world is one of pure sensation. Because of the era he was born into, this gay man, like millions of others, married in order to have a socially legitimate life. Such a common tragedy for his generation. But look at his stuff!;










 Though I`m not directly influenced by him as an artist, as a human being I`m so grateful he lived and gave the world such intensely personal images. He made the heroes journey.




                                                              oil on canvas 20x16


 This did not succeed and I threw it out but I am returning to this island in my next painting. It lies close to shore but away from homes in a quiet stretch of the Willamette River. I`ve tried three times now to get something of the atmosphere of its dark oak forests. I will prevail eventually.









online exhibition at the Marcia Burtt Gallery



work for sale in my studio




4 comments:

RH Carpenter said...

Oh, the dreamlike quality of the top two paintings. I would say, “I’d know your work anywhere” but then you toss in a color burst like the third painting :). Keeping me on my toes! Love the artists you’ve shared today, too. And of course, the laugh out loud of the letter writer’s plight! ha ha. Take care and enjoy spring - it will come :)

Melody Cleary said...

I absolutely love Krista Harris' work....especially the ones that I see nature in. Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing the interview video! Your works here are amazing, Randall....thanks for the q-tip tip!

Libby Fife said...

Randall,

I meant to tell you earlier that I watched the video with Krista Harris. Thank you! As usual, I didn't know about her work so it was good to see it. It felt really reassuring too hearing another painter speak in the same terms (similar enough) as I do about their work. Particularly, she mentioned something to the effect of being careful about looking at the work of others, of being influenced and not listening to yourself, etc.

My vote is for #3 though I like them all of course. And for the record, I am sick of winter too though I go on and on about the weather being good for hiking. It's been a long one. (I'll be saying the same thing about summer soon enough!)

Another great post. Thank you!
Libby

Lorrie Mcclanahan said...

I read this post a couple weeks ago and shared the Dr. Ruth letter with my husband for a good laugh. Comedy and poetry affect me the same way. I guess it’s a zen-like or ah-ha experience. I’ve come to embrace what I see as a cosmic sense of humor. At that level, comedy and tragedy are a hair’s width apart. Our attempts at art may be an attraction to that knife edge, or overlapping space. Since your art is poetic and even melancholy, it’s not surprising to discover you also have a sense of humor!

I enjoyed the Harris interview. We artists toil away in solitude, so how great is it that we can find each other via the internet and even come to feel that we know each other? Always, it’s through a person’s generosity. Artists get a bad rap for being selfish, but it’s generous to attempt to communicate the indescribable.

You mentioned Mary Oliver in another post. Her poem, “The Place I Want to Get Back To” describes both the rarified air of communing with nature and the gift of sharing. The first part of the poem packs in the Zen experience, but the last lines are equally valuable. Finding your site felt a bit like her invitation, and I offer her lines back to you:

If you want to talk about this
come to visit. I live in the house
near the corner, which I have named
Gratitude.