Near and Far - Cape Arago

                                                  Near and Far - Cape Arago oil on canvas 30x22


 Georgia O`Keefe famously titled a painting " From the Faraway Nearby". With great poetry she contrasted the temporal with the eternal. It`s an existential image of yearning. I`ve experienced that in looking at the stars or out to sea. It`s been a wake up call to make everything count. When I saw this young spruce and the exposed roots of a fallen tree beside it, silhouetted against the ocean, I had that bittersweet sensation again. As I worked on this, I thought a lot about color temperature and its conveyance of emotion. This was a view in summer so I wanted a benign mood lightening the sober and stark.


 We secured the financing and I had a check for earnest money. So when the prospect of owning the blue house I posted last week fell through, I thought 'I can`t do this!'. Which of course means 'I don`t want to do this!'. It was suddenly very clear I didn`t want this giant upheaval after all. When my Mom died and I made the decision to move, it seemed absolutely correct to be closer to my family but I couldn`t do it then because of commitments. My resolve must have faded and I was in denial. I feel stupid and sorry.
My family is 30 miles away which isn`t far, it`s just the traffic in between. I will work it just like I did when Mom was alive.


How about some schadenfreude? That will cheer us all up!
Both of these may have gone viral, I have no idea, but they are hilarious! Be sure to have the sound on!

Neither the Brazilian government nor any US court of law could punish the Olympian Ryan Lochte more thoroughly than these two TV anchors.

I never condone violence but listen to this account from an observer of a traffic accident.


Check out Joel Janowitz. Because of his first name, I figured he was a recent MFA prodigy but no, this guy is venerable!

                                                                      Joel Janovitz

                                                                      Joel Janowitz


Great painter! I approve!

And here is one of the late masterpieces of Franz Kline;

                                                              Scudera by Franz Kline


And an I-pad thing of mine;

                                                         Randall David Tipton I-pad


Not as charming as I thought coming after a mighty Kline!

I`m ready to love again, we are looking for a kitten! Is it wrong to want an orange one?


work for sale in my studio


"New Landscapes" Coos Art Museum until Oct. 1.  [Southern Oregon Coast]

"On Paper" Marcia Burtt Gallery, Santa Barbara Aug.26 - Oct.2

Cape Arago Forest - Oregon

                                                      watercolor on Yupo 13.5x40

 Iceland had some trees but nothing like the rainforests of the Oregon coast.
In black and white, I began on the right and worked to the left completing each section as I moved. The larger trees and the dark shapes I had photographed and could refer to. But I never paint this way. Generally the whole thing is in motion for quite some time. This felt like a narrative of just visual elements and I felt more like a scribe than an artist. Walk in the woods enough and these 'facts' become part of the painter.

                                                                   Elizabeth!


 Let me tell you, a happy bride getting down on the dance floor in her puffy dress is a beautiful sight!
Luckily they didn`t ask but if they had, I would have said keep it simple, elope, save some money! No, Liz and Eric had a vision and they saw it through! And I am grateful as it was pure joy! The ceremony was at 5:30 in full sun and 99 degrees. It didn`t matter. In fact I think it enhanced it. After the short vows we raced to the dim air conditioned ballroom for the reception. It was lovely, like a cool cave! When the dancing began the wedding party and friends went tribal moving in a pulsating circle. The event was the best three days I`ve had in a long time!


 We are looking at houses with potential studio space in Camas or Washougal WA. Not easy. This has to be my last move and I know it will nearly kill me. So the new home must feel right. It is hard to leave this;

But maybe this one if I can figure out where to paint;

Words elude me right now so here are some flowers, past and present.

                                                         John and Randall Iceland selfie


work for sale in my studio


"On Paper" [group] Marcia Burtt Studio Gallery, Santa Barbara CA Aug.26-Oct.2
"New Landscapes" Coos Art Museum July 9 - Oct. 1

Fjaorgliufur ! [Icelandic Canyon]

                                                       watercolor on Yupo 12x12


 Just like painting the geothermal pools in Yellowstone, this canyon in South Iceland was so ornate and unbelievable there wasn`t a credible visual 'center' to work from. When the facts are so odd and unfamiliar, questions about realism are irrelevant. Any rendering will be as strange as the site itself. So after traveling so far and at considerable expense to see this wonder, I`m sort of paralyzed as to how to proceed with painting it. I was there for a couple of hours but there was a lifetime of material.

                                                            Fjaorgliufur photo


 For the ten days since our return my head has been spinning with confusion about whether to even try to paint what I saw. I`ll probably do some watercolors and feel it out, over time.
Before leaving, I had been in Coos Bay and exploring the preserves and parks in that part of the southern Oregon coast. No problems with that landscape.


 My brilliant niece Elizabeth is getting married the day after tomorrow. To a fine young man and an original thinker. Lots of relatives about and joy in the air. My brother Gary would have been so proud of this moment, he loved her exuberant spirit. She truly is unique and it`s been fascinating watching her grow up.
So, with all the commotion I`ve had to clean my house! Big project!
Interesting thing, as soon as I start, I`m suddenly filled with artistic inspiration. Dying to get into the studio after doing nothing for a week.
In his illuminating book "The Erotic Mind", Jack Morin explains the one thing that will intensify desire is an obstacle. Too busy scrubbing the stove, well of course my authentic destiny as a painter will beckon!
The opposite can be true as well. Clear the decks of any and all intrusions into quality painting time and you may enter the studio empty of ideas. It`s maddening and perverse and all too human.

                                                    Gjian panorama by John Sanders


 The utopian, impossible paradise set in the badlands of interior Iceland.

                   

 My new favorite brush; sharp point, heavy load, cheap and imitation squirrel!

                                             


 Most of the watermedia supplies I use. The Holbein watercolors are key.


From the files;

                                                      Snowfield Auke Bay oil on canvas 40x30


Painted from a drawing done on a ferry in Alaska.

work for sale in my studio