Winter Forests - Deep Southwest PDX studios

                                              Iron Mt. Madrone oil on Yupo 19x15"

                                                 Marsh Winter oil on Yupo 12x12"

With a hundred or so people likely to be coming through my studio, I`ve had a real incentive to complete work that was abandoned. I knew they had possibility but I was sick of them. I have ripped in two many frustrated efforts, but Yupo being plastic, destruction requires scissors. That extra level of intention spared these. I like them now.
Visitors willing to drive to south Portland/north Clackamas for the studio tour will find an interesting variety of work.  Check out my local comrades;

Theresa Andreas O`Leary
Kitty Wallis [the founder of the tour]
Beth Yazhari
Carolyn Hazel Drake
Harold Oxley
Sara Swink
Francine Deering

Portland Open Studios Oct. 11,12 and 18,19. Please come visit!
I will be demonstrating watermedia on Yupo each day at noon.
After the tour, I will continue having demonstrations in my studio on the second Sat. of each month. 10 am.

some work for sale in my studio

Riverside Studies

                                                watercolor and oil on Yupo 14x11"

                                                     watercolor on Yupo 14x11"

Both of these improvisations were inspired by the Metolius River. Neither look remotely like what I saw. I made my own 'nature'.
I`ve lived my whole adult life near beautiful landscapes and expressing my affection and respect is pretty much what I`ve done with my 60 years. Yet ultimately I`m just moving color around a flat surface. That I want to do this so exclusively and passionately seems very odd and very lucky. No indecision.
Through Pinterest I`ve learned more about a New England painter I was vaguely familiar with, Jon Imber. He died recently of ALS. This is one of his glorious paintings;

                                                    Jon Imber 'Lantern in the Snow'

Here is a video of him after his diagnosis. Look what he did to keep working. This deep impulse to create is a profound gift.


Portlan Open Studios! Oct. 11,12,18 and 19!

work for sale now in my studio

Metolius [River]

                                                   watercolor on Yupo 26x20"

When I saw this river last week, its lush aquatic nature was in stark contrast to the bone dry, flammable-at-any-moment Ponderosa Pine forest it flowed through. This morning it has begun to rain, very gently. May it continue.

                                       Over the Sea 16 watercolor on paper 12x12"

The cure for anything is saltwater - sweat, tears or the sea.
                                                                                  _ Isak Dinesen


available work for sale in my studio

Portland Open Studios  [mid-Oct.]
studio address;
5373 Lakeview Blvd.
Lake Oswego OR
97035

Heat in the Grasses + Metolius Water

                                                     oil on cradled panel 20x20"

This was total surrender to summer green. It was July, really hot, bees were buzzing and the water was barely flowing. The Siletz River was lazy and lovely. This was constructed through memory and all I needed were convincing trees, everything else was green.

                                                           Metolius River photo

She was polite but persistent. Every time I would talk to Laura about painting and the landscape she would ask 'have you made it up to the Metolius yet?'. There was something about her voice that made me take notice. She said this river was made for me, I would love it! So much to paint! She was so correct! First of all, it pours out of a mountain from a spring fully formed! It doesn`t become a river through the contributions of snowmelt and creeks. It`s BOOM, now there`s a river! The water is phenomenally clear and near the fish hatchery, the most gorgeous turquoise color. There are islands teeming with healthy vegetation. People with cabins near the banks set chairs beside it and watch it like a movie. It is a world unto itself and flows down through a forest of regal Ponderosa Pines. Well worth the intense three hour mountain drive from Portland.

Portland Open Studios Tour is less than a month away. I`ll be demonstrating watermedia on Yupo all four days at noon. Oct. 11 & 12 and Oct. 18 & 19
5373 Lakeview Blvd.
Lake Oswego 97035

work for sale in my studio

Path to the Sea

                                                     oil on canvas 24x24"

I saw this little shortcut to the beach at Hug Point two years ago.  Much of the Oregon coast has dune grasses you walk through on the way down to the water. It`s a joyful trek in the sunshine.


work for sale in the studio

Portland Open Studios Tour Oct. 11&12 and !8&19

Coastal Cliff 2

                                                    watercolor on Yupo 14x11"

                                                          Devil`s Punchbowl

This painting is a product of my trip to the central coast in July. We stayed in Gleneden Beach and toured the string of parks between Lincoln City and Newport. The geology along the coast shows it`s history very visibly; Lava meets layers of sand which have formed into Sedimentary Rock. Often you can see the actual movement of the magma. The cliffs in Devil`s Punchbowl State Park were particularly dramatic.
Now stop and think about that name.
Our country and the state of Oregon has nurtured scores of gifted poets. Yet who do they get to name the most amazing parts of the landscape? Anybody!!
Devil`s Punchbowl!! Really? Is that the best we can do? This collapsed sea cave exudes mystery and it is hauntingly beautiful!
The job of bestowing place names should belong to someone who loves words!!
I want the governor, the head of the parks dept. and Garret Hongo to go out there and do it over again.

work for sale in my studio

Portland Open Studios Tour [mid-Oct.]

Nature in the Abstract by Lynne Cunningham

Plein Air - Columbia River Gorge

                                      The Dalles Mt. Ranch watermedia on Yupo 14x11"

                                     Mt. Hood with Orchard watercolor on Yupo 14x11"

The Pacific Northwest Plein Air Competition and Exhibition in the Columbia River Gorge  is this week. Some friends and I wanted to observe but not compete so we crashed their party. We were welcomed. There is a distinct sub culture that has developed around simple painting on location that involves prizes, tourism, sponsors, Chambers of Commerce, workshops and even a competition within a competition called a 'Quick Draw'. Speed painting in other words with an award this year of a $1000. When I heard that at the orientation meeting yesterday, my usually dormant competitive instinct was aroused, but I had missed the registration deadline.
Hood River and the Columbia Art Center host the event in an area famous for wind surfing and fruit orchards.
Our first destination was an astounding property called the Dalles Mountain Ranch which had historic buildings, blazing summer fields and a whole lot of wind. I painted my watercolor in a barn trying to keep it fluid. I was going to put a broken fence in the foreground but ran out of time.
After lunch, we went to the Hood River Valley. It was a little less breezy and we were surrounded by pear trees. Most of the pears Americans eat come from here. Mt. Hood was glorious in the distance but too far away so I brought it closer.


work for sale in my studio