Over the Sea 6

Winter Marsh

New oil painting! Not exactly what I was after but I`ll keep it. These swampy winter-dead edges of streams and lakes fascinate me. I want to suggest all the teeming life they contain without botanical detail.

Rio Grande Gorge

This is from the mid 80`s, on the original Meridian Drawing Paper. I recently had a bunch of slides digitized to a cd. Seeing them again is like reading an old journal; amusing, mortifying and confusing. I remember the emotions but not the thinking too well. With many of them I`m just baffled, a different man painted them.

Black and White Orchard

These small paintings I`ve posted recently were painted on Meridian Drawing Paper made by Pentalic. It was 100% rag, about 72 lb., tough and heavily sized. It took watercolor beautifully. Because it was relatively inexpensive I felt free to try anything. For over 20 years I used this paper for everything. Then I ran out. Ordered 100 new sheets without a thought. When I went to paint on it I knew immediately something was wrong. It was like blotting paper. The paint sank into it and dried to a dull finish. The opposite of what it had been. Well, I researched it and the 'recipe' had been changed! Only a painter would understand what a calamity this was. In 2004 I didn`t paint a single watercolor. I`m still really upset. I`d pay handsomely to get some of the old stuff. Seems we all have a horror story like this. Painting is it`s own challege, we don`t need the distraction.

Pasture 2

Dune

Pasture

Willamette Valley Study #3

Willamette Valley Study #2

Willamette Valley Study #1

Every watercolor larger than a postcard, I`ve attempted recently, has just not succeeded. I`m fighting my support [Yupo] and I`m frustrated. It`s time to paint with oils again, I need some control. Until I have new work, I`m going to post some small watermedia from the recent past. Before Yupo.

Rain Cloud at Dusk

2007

Coast Range Runoff

A friend sent me a photo of a hillside with rain rushing down it; a spontaneous waterfall in the coast range. He thought it would be a subject I might like to paint. Well, I tried. This little scrap of plastic has seen battle and it shows.

Minto Brown Island Study

Heat in the Orchard

From my Chimayo New Mexico years.

Winter Night

I`m organizing a page of paintings for my website of New Mexico work. This was the first of many big watercolors I began in 1988. I was living in Chimayo in a derelict mobile home. After pushing the furniture out of the way, I`d unroll the paper, cut off a piece, put it in the shower to moisten, then slap it down on a wet sheet of plywood while crawling around the edges with a staple gun attaching it. My generous landlords gave me a very cheap rent which allowed me to concentrate on painting. I sure got a lot of work done.

Overflow

This painting has vexed me, it`s wonderful when a friend can see things more clearly than I, thanks Suzanne!

Fog on the Slough

One walk in late fall on Minto Brown Island has given me so much to think about. The last bits of flickering color were so poignant in the fog. The liquid northwest winter is deep and exactly what I need.