Logjam

                                        watermedia on Yupo 26x20"

This was an unusual challenge.
Driving down Mt. Rainier a couple of weeks ago, I could see the road curve over a bridge up ahead. As I crossed it, I glanced upstream to briefly see a massive logjam wedged up into a chasm with a waterfall gushing out the bottom. My view couldn`t have been a whole second, but I knew I had just seen a spectacle, a scene of terrible beauty. The force of that flood dragging all those trees into this impasse must have been truly awesome. This is not the nature I see on my nice walks in the forest. This was brutal and impersonal. Such views are common in Alaska but down here it takes a National Park or somewhere remote to see this kind of evidence of natural violence.
It burned into my memory. Not the facts but the feeling of 'wildness'. That`s what I had to go by, having no recollection of of shapes, colors or scale. In a sense I paint like this all the time. I move paint around until it looks like how the place felt. But I usually have a photo or drawing to help build the scaffold. With this it was just a fleeting glimpse of hundreds of fallen trees straining against the mountain. I began hoping to execute a true watercolor, but quickly saw I would be doing major revisions all along the way so out came the acrylics. It was a battle.


work for sale in my studio

Full Moon - Mt. Rainier

                                                            oil on canvas 24x18 1998

                                                        watermedia on paper 7x4 1996

 I traveled to Mt. Rainier last Thurs. in an odd mist. It`s July which is usually bone dry.
The national park is popular so I had made reservations months ago fully expecting a visible volcano in summer. Arriving in a cloud was beautiful but I was somewhat concerned we wouldn`t even see our destination.
The next day was crystalline clear and it was startling to awake on the high shoulder of the beast with the peak looming right above the hotel. Nice!
My favorite part though, was an old growth forest called "Grove of the Patriarchs". It was breathtaking as many of the trees were over a 1000 years old!  It`s humbling to stand next to a tree whose base would not fit in my living room.
We drove around the whole massive mountain, visited old friends from New Mexico and took a  delicious walk at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. The air was moving and the salt scent from the Sound with the warm sun produced a flood of memories of being roasted on the beach while being cooled by the sweet breezes coming off the water.

work for sale in my studio

Falls Creek - North Umpqua Study

This is a recent piece based on my experience along this creek in 2012. In an easy walk from the parking area, one can see pristine old growth rainforest in a scene of violent geologic activity. The trail weaves between massive boulders that are the remains of a mountain that slid down in an earthquake. It is intimate and pure magic.
watermedia on Yupo 12x12


available work in the studio

North Umpqua Study 6

The scenic North Umpqua River area has the most unusual Northwest rainforests that I`ve seen. There`s a sense of the violent geology that still percolates underneath. I wish I lived closer. Tomorrow I`m exploring some of the Columbia River Gorge, another astounding landscape.
I love Oregon.
watermedia on paper 10"x8"


Available Work