New Work No Titles

                                                                      1. oil on canvas 20x16

                                                                   2. oil on canvas 20x16


 Same old problem, what to title new paintings of familiar subjects?
I`ll get to it later.
Every painting begins with an intention that originates from an experience. How they conclude is more often than not quite different. There is a point in the process where to insist on the 'vision' would sacrifice what is happening before me, the true pleasure of exploration. Forget about the idea that launched it! Funny thing though, it usually circles back around and reclaims the most important part.
 The wetlands in #1 were inspired by the Fanno Creek marshes near where they join the Tualatin River. They`re near my home and I visit a lot in winter. What I love about them is the dense variety. So many textures and colors doubled by the reflections and amplified by the bird sounds! And so inhospitable to anything heavy! Like me as I sink into the mud. When I paint them, I want to layer all the elements into an interconnected teeming whole. So while I may have photos or sketches of particular clumps of grasses and trees, ultimately they may be included or not as I grope toward something serene yet kinetic.
 #2 comes from viewing the autumn color against the bright reflections of clouds on the river. I began by including the wavering reflections of trees and soon realized it was too confusing. In removing them my vividly colored leaves were visually unanchored. So I added chunks of green vegetation with spidery stems linking each mass together. Now it doesn`t exactly look like what I saw, but the buoyancy of that sunny Fall day is there.


 As this election season came to life I thought, this year I`m going to vote from my heart. I`m going to vote for Bernie Sanders. He has walked his talk for decades and his decency is obvious.
I believe politics is the real world enactment of our spiritual values. This is why I`m a Democrat. My Dad explained it very simply, 'Democrats are for the little guy'. This is also in accord with the Christian teachings I was raised with.
So I planned to vote for Bernie in the primary and I hoped his success would keep Hillary humble and honest. I believe it has. Then I read this article claiming a vote for Sanders was a vote for Trump. That`s so provocative! But it made sense and caused me to remember the McGovern campaign I worked on in 1972. That good man was slimed beyond recognition, he never had a chance. The same would happen with Sanders I fear. I`ve decided it`s not worth the risk. President Trump? That is too scary to imagine.

                                                             Miroco Machiko


 I`m crazy about Miroco! She completely turns distinctions between illustration and fine art on their head! She`s bold and playful, inventive and fearless! Such fresh air!

 This photo is so painterly! The color alone is gorgeous and the composition is both stylized and dynamic! 'Dalmatian Pelicans' by Marko Konig



work for sale in my studio

Oxbow Slough-demo-SLO

                                                 Oxbow Slough 20x16 oil on canvas

 It was a good week for wetlands! It really hasn`t rained much but the Tualatin River is in flood stage and Minto Brown Island is a swamp. This isn`t good at all, it can only be snowmelt. The weather has been so mild and the freezing level so high, the snowpack is 15% of normal. There will not be anything wet by summer. And the party of climate change deniers won even more seats in Congress. What a world.
 I had business in Salem this week. The gallerist Mary Lou Zeek invited me to be part of her pop-up show 'Blink'!

 I first heard of this temporary exhibit idea as the Great Recession took hold. It`s clever, resourceful and such a good use of vacant property!
After delivering work, I had to go see the Minto Brown wetlands nearby;

The next day I walked through the fog along a bit of Fanno Creek. It was ethereal and gorgeous;

 This walk became the basis of my monthly demonstration painting this morning;

                                           Tigard Wetlands 12x18 watermedia on paper

 Tomorrow we`re off to San Luis Obispo to see my long time friend and glass artist, George Zarolinski and her husband Steve. They relocated after 40 years in Chimayo New Mexico. I need to see their new lives!
 While we`re in the area, I`ll finally meet my internet friend Marcia Burtt. She paints large, bold landscapes on location using quick drying acrylics. We`re going to paint together out in the hills! I was going to do my usual, crude watercolor plein air routine which is basically a lawn chair with the paper in my lap but thought differently after thinking about her offer. She had extra French easels, plenty of paints and brushes so I decided to act like a Roman in Rome. I`m going to paint vertically while standing up! Like she does!
 Here is a vibrant painting of hers I just found on Pinterest;

Wetlands Studies

                                                         #2  oil on canvas paper 6x6

                                                                #1 oil on Yupo 5x5

 I`ve had some frustrating sessions lately with one large piece so irretrievably bad it had to be cut into pieces. After working for hours, it`s an unhappy sense of accomplishing nothing at the end of the day.
Such is life, with luck we wake up to new opportunity. To regroup and regain some confidence, I`ll do something tiny. These are my first successes of 2014!
 I`ve mentioned my infatuation with Pinterest before and my love only deepens. Never before has it been possible to see such a diversity of art so conveniently, and it`s easy to join if you have a Facebook account. The poster Kintsugi has an amazing, vast collection of paintings, crafts and natural phenomenon. His/her 'boards' on Aboriginal Art are encyclopedic in scope, and there is one on my work too!


available work in my studio