More Floods!

For some reason it`s hard to concentrate on new stuff when I have a show up somewhere. I wonder how they`re doing. This is when the paintings meet the world and become works of art. Consequently, I`m still in a goofing off mode. I have something ambitious under way but it isn`t going well so I do small paintings. That has had mixed results too.
After I clean up at the end of the night, I`ll sit down and look at art online. Before going upstairs to bed I`ll go take a look at what I`ve done. Often that will get me painting again though now it isn`t a 'real' session, in fact I should be sleeping. Good things happen. It`s sort of like how men will have the important conversations standing in a driveway saying goodbye to someone.
oil on Yupo 12x12

White Bird Show
Waterworks Show

Portland Open Studios Tour
Oct. 12 &13 and  Oct. 19&20

Fumarole

It`s estimated there are around 4,000 fumaroles in Yellowstone National Park. Most of the ones I saw were in concentrations of geothermal pools. Once though, I was walking along a creek and came upon a singular vent shooting steam into the air just a few feet away from the cold flowing water. From an elevated view one can see them steaming all across the landscape. In places, the heat can be felt through the soles of your shoes. It is eerie and humbling to feel the inert earth itself quite alive and in motion.
watermedia on Yupo 6.5x7.5


White Bird Show
Waterworks Show

Portland Open Studios Tour [Oct]

Near Hug Point

This is new though it comes from my visit to Arch Cape last Sept. All the beaches in Oregon are public but this little jewel of coastline is never crowded.
watercolor on Yupo 8x6

If I had seen this as a kid, I would have run away from home.

White Bird Show
Waterworks Show

Portland Open Studios Tour

Deep Undergrowth

Some of my best days are when I can tinker around in my studio without responsibilities, work on small studies, review my photos and notes, look to see what other artists are doing online and generally get lost in my work. I`ve had three in a row now that my summer shows are up.
watermedia on Mylar 7x9

White Bird Show Aug. 10 - Sept. 15
Waterworks Show Aug. 24 - Sept. 14

Portland Open Studios Tour
Oct. 12 &13 and Oct. 19 & 20

Another Mylar Landscape + Waterworks Show

               

I like the stuff a lot. The only disconcerting thing is when I hold a piece up to the light and every single stroke is visible. Because it`s transparent, it has to have a white surface behind it. Now I hear, it`s even suitable for oil painting!
watermedia on Mylar 8x10

                                                       Waterworks Gallery Show 2013
                                                            August 24 - September 14
                                                Friday Harbor, San Juan Island Washington
                                                             with Tom Small - sculptor

                            

In Steven`s Meadow

I saw a very interesting painting on Pinterest the other day that was done on Mylar. Then I remembered I had bought some years ago but hadn`t really played with it much. I found it and did this. It has many qualities like Yupo, the plastic paper from Japan. However, paint seemed to adhere more firmly and did not lift as easily when over painted. Being completely transparent, it required a white surface underneath to see what was happening accurately. I liked it and will explore it further. The subject is one of Lake Oswego`s many parks, a huge meadow that spills down the side of Cook`s Butte. There are a few tiny new trees planted randomly within the grasses.
watermedia on Mylar 9x12


work in my studio

Little Seascapes

I spent a couple of happy days in Oceanside last week. I love the place because there is so much to look at and nothing to buy. It`s cliffs, caves, surf, wide beaches, offshore monolithic rocks and very limited options for eating. The fog rolled in and out constantly, the mood going from existential questioning to celebration. There were families on the beach wrapped in blankets then suddenly in short pants. We happened on two minus tides which left long shallow pools of water in the sand. Watching the sky change in the reflections was magical. The fog, in person, has a gorgeous silver opalescent quality that I found very challenging to paint. How to make the grays come alive? The first up above, is a love letter to Fred Cumming, one of the most poetic painters alive. The second I did standing at the kitchen counter in the cabin where we stayed. I used the tiny paint set Jo Reimer gave me. The only other time I had played with it was in Wyoming and I was just getting started with the painting when I was confronted by a moose. That brush with the water in the handle was surprisingly capable. The third sketch I did in my studio, trying in vain to convey the shimmering fog.
August Wave oil on panel 6x6
Watercolor Shore wc on paper 6x6
Silver Sand oil on paper 6x6


available work

Fertility

So I had a  red cloud. I liked it. First there was a seascape underneath but that wasn`t working, too cold. A couple of years pass and I figure it out, it needed green. Something growing.
This isn`t a recommended way to paint but sometimes it takes time to understand what to do.
oil on canvas 10x8


available work in my studio

Slow Creek in Summer 2 - White Bird Show Aug. 10

This is from a couple of years ago. The only time it`s really dry in Western  Oregon is later in the summer. Everything slows down in the heat. This is so abstract because my subject is that unique  condition when most living things seek shade.
oil on canvas 10x30
                                                                   White Bird Show
                                                                Cannon Beach Oregon
                                                    opens next Saturday with Ken Grant

Flood Studies + Klaus Fussmann

These recent small watercolors were based on walks along the Tualatin River last December. Some colorful autumn leaves were still hanging on in thickets along the inundated shoreline. Those bright colors and tangled branches were a compelling contrast to the surging muddy water. I did them on a Fluid watercolor block 6x6 inches. I like this surface much better than more expensive papers such as Lanaquarelle.

                                                                 Klaus Fussmann

Speaking of watercolor, this artist makes magic with it. Though he uses a variety of mediums, it`s the work on paper that I get excited about. His style is direct, confident, awkward and completely winning. He gets the essence of a landscape down perfectly with a true economy of means. Take a look;

available work in my studio