The show I`m having at the White Bird Gallery in Cannon Beach Oregon coincides with the 50 year anniversary of the gallery. I`ve been a part of it for 35. The poster above is available from the gallery, $35.
The founder of the gallery, Evelyn Georges, was in New Mexico on vacation and staying in the bed and breakfast of a friend. My work hung in the guest rooms. Meanwhile I`m in Oregon giving it a trial run while living with my brother Gary. After a year, I moved back to Santa Fe for a while longer before coming to the Northwest permanently in 1993. Evelyn came by my studio in 1986 in a section of Portland now called the Pearl District. She looked at lots of my work with most of it done after the month long workshop I had participated in with Richard Diebenkorn. I was inspired and really productive and she asked me to show at her gallery. Evelyn wasn`t easy but she was a true believer in the relevance of art. Our relationship was tested but it held fast, I knew she cared about and believed in me.
The White Bird has always had an eclectic group of artists and for many of them, showing there was their first experience being represented by a gallery. A long time employee, Allyn Cantor, bought the gallery from Evelyn before her death in 2014. As the new owner, she continues in the same spirit. I`ve never worked with anyone who was so simultaneously sharp, empathetic, and principled. She has been so kind to me even when I whine. The public, promotional part of a painting career has always been uncomfortable. I`m friendly and like the attention but I do not want to clamor for it. I write my blog, post my paintings on Instagram and Facebook, appreciate the notice and let Allyn do the other promoting.
Here are the paintings in the show. They all are 26x20 inches [55x51 cm] in either pure watercolor or mixed water soluble mediums such as acrylic, ink and crayon on the plastic paper Yupo;
