The Sky in the Water

I keep coming back to this tiny little canyon where Lake Oswego spills into a creek. It has everything; cliffs, pools, a waterfall, huge mossy boulders, quiet water with reflections, amazing and diverse vegetation and I`ve never seen anyone else back there!

Sunlight and Shade

Because this is a large painting, all but the final photo was taken in my studio. The lighting is great for painting but not photography. I hope the progression isn`t frustrating to follow with the fluctuating values and color. As always, I begin by just getting something, anything, down. Something to react to. I had a vague idea for a composition in mind but it took a really long time for something to spark. Basically I just keep re-painting the design, layer upon layer, until an insight or accident engages me. Then it`s a matter of balancing my intention, here the sensation of being in dense undergrowth, with the primary need for an aesthetically competent execution.

Cedar Root

When conditions are right, the ground saturated with rain and the winds wild, one of our towering evergreens will lose it`s grip on the earth and topple, literally uprooted. If undisturbed the trunk will become a 'nurse' log and support abundant new life. The root system, now exposed, will take decades to break down. As it does it becomes dramatically sculptural.

Iron Mountain Walk

2001 Still Life

I`m closing in on my big forest painting and I hope to post photos of it`s progression soon.

Estuary Night

Iron Mountain Study

On my easel is a giant canvas where a forest is finally coming together, but I`ve been taking some breaks to do small things. This is from a new walk I`m enjoying. It`s a former quarry, now a vertical park clinging to the side of a mountain. Much of the steel used to build early Portland, came from the iron mined here.

November Poplar

I saw this on a walk the other day. While the image was fresh, this is what I could remember.

Morning Channel