Winter Storm-Chimayo

In 1985 a few days after Christmas, I sat in a lawn chair on a BLM floodplain and painted this storm rolling in over the mountains. Tomorrow I leave the Pacific coast and drive east to go to the 'West'. I expect to see similar landscapes in Wyoming. watercolor on paper 11"x14"

Over the Sea 23

A Daily painting. I bought some acrylic inks to experiment with in Wyoming and I tried them out here. The saturation is much different than paint and exactly what I hoped for. I want to be able to cover large areas quickly. watermedia on paper 8.5"x5" Available Work

Over the Sea 22

A Daily painting watercolor 5"x8.5" Available Work

Starlight and Snow

I wish I knew what I was doing with the new blogger format but I don`t have the concentration now to figure it out. Is this confusing anyone else? I`m leaving soon for my artist in residency at the Brush Creek Ranch in Wyoming. Because I`ll be away for three weeks, the preparations are numerous. I am painting, but just small 'daily' stuff and 'fixing' failures from the past. David Page Coffin has introduced me to the possibilities of Pinterest and I fear losing myself in a sea of astounding art. Seriously, if one is looking for inspiration, education, or insight, it can be found. It took me a while to find 'boards' of interest, but once I did it was like swimming in beauty. watermedia on paper 8"x5.5" Available Work

Blossoms and Fir

acrylic and oil on Yupo mounted on panel 6"x12" Available Work

Evening

A Daily Painting. oil on panel 6"x6"

Across the Refuge 2

This was a demonstration painting I began for a class yesterday. It was a new group I was working with so my intention was to show the combination of watercolor and acrylic techniques I use. My personal project was to see if I could create a lively neutral space in support of the sunlit areas in the distance. watermedia on Yupo 23"x16" Available Work

Edgewater Study

A Daily painting.
My inner Diebenkorn got loose!
Completing a painting every day is fun, a way to work out compositions, and a disciplined challenge. The downside is this effort can siphon off one`s ambition and energy. I like to do them between larger paintings these days.

oil on panel 6"x6"



Available Work

Oneanta Gorge

Oregon`s beautiful gorge within a gorge, just a couple of miles from Multnomah Falls.
This is the other demonstration painting from the class last weekend. I was trying to show how large simple areas can compress the focal point.


watermedia on paper 14"x17"




Available Work

Over the Sea 21

This is one of two demonstration paintings I was able to get a good start on in the class I taught yesterday. It`s painted on Strathmore Aquarius paper which is a blend of cotton and synthetic fibers. To say it`s 'forgiving' is an understatement. It never buckled, color lifted easily, blending was effortless and the texture was subtle. I used bristle brushes almost exclusively and explained there was very little difference between my watercolor methods and my oil. I paint flat, work thin and transparency is important in both.

watermedia on paper 11"x15"



Available Work

The Flooded Field

After visiting an old New Mexico friend in Tacoma earlier in the week, we made a stop at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. Remarkable things have been happening there. Dikes and dams have been removed and what once was pasture is being restored to salt marsh. There is a phenomenal 2 mile long boardwalk which wanders over the former fields all the way to the Puget Sound. This conversion from meadows to wetlands has a strangely appealing apocalyptic look. Birds are everywhere.

The Cloud Appreciation Society has featured some new work!

watermedia on translucent Yupo 19"x23"



Available Work

Winter Aspen

From 2002.
This is the largest painting I`ve done in the smallest space, a bedroom.
Aspens in snow are a visual cliche thanks to Bev Doolittle.
Yet having seen them in winter so often in New Mexico, I wanted to paint them anyway.

oil on canvas 60"x60"



Available Work

Sundown at the Base of the Mountain

This comes from my walk in the near-dark on a wet evening last Dec. on Mt. Talbert. It was too dark for useful photos so memory was my reference. I began with the mood to guide me. Then I was interrupted and when I returned to it a couple of days later I had lost my idea. So I did what I sometimes do when clueless, I put random swipes of paint down, squeegeed them around, wiped off some of it and carved through other areas with a spatula and found enough of interest to proceed. Then the original thoughts about the subject resurfaced and I tried to create a sense of the gloom and reflected illumination I remembered.

oil on canvas paper 12"x9"


Available Work

Estuary Island

watermedia on Yupo 26"x20"

Iron Mountain Shade

Miners once worked where I now walk. Before Lake Oswego was upscale, it was a steel town.

oil on canvas 24"x24"


Available Work

Runoff

A Daily painting.

watermedia on paper 6"x6"