Masterpieces

Both of these paintings have been particularly important to me. I discovered them years ago while young and formative and still refer to them for instruction and pleasure. Cotopaxi [1862]by Frederic Edwin Church is an ultimate example of a narrative landscape. He packed his paintings with so much information and scope they`re practically cinematic. And what an apocalyptic view! The abstract piece by Joan Mitchell, La Ligne de la Rupture [1970], is actually much larger yet it`s strength lies in it`s intimacy. It has always felt to me like a suspended moment of summer. A pulsating landscape of grasses, sky, sun and water. I tore the image from a magazine in 1976 and it has given me comfort and hope.

Creekbank Study

Summer Field

This was painted after a beautiful walk in the Steigerwald National Wildlife Refuge with my niece Mackenzie. It`s a protected floodplain along the Columbia with expansive grassy fields and massive stands of cottonwood trees. It was a perfect summer morning; cool, sparkling sun, breezy and humming with life.

Water, Wetland, Field

Stones by the Trail

Estuary

After delivering paintings to the White Bird Gallery a couple of weeks ago, we returned home on the Washington side of the Columbia. For reasons unknown to me, this area is still undeveloped and gorgeous. Tides and weather flow upstream from the Pacific creating a fluid environment. Land, air and water comingle here in a dreamy pastoral countryside. The challenge in this painting was to suggest that flux.

Edge of the Marsh

I`ve spent some time in the Oaks Bottom refuge this week now that it`s not so hot. Parts were dry as bone yet there were still lots of wetlands. Just lovely, even with the screams from the nearby rollercoaster. I came home and did this piece.

Slow Creek in Summer 4

None of these 'Creeks' have had an actual reference, but I`ve walked along many.