new works

                                           Rio Grande Gorge watermedia on Yupo 19x13 inches

 Finally painting with some regularity again. That was the longest break I`ve ever taken other than through illness. First time in my life I`ve questioned my identity as well. I know I`ll always make art but their afterlife isn`t certain and my intentions have shifted. Since my economic survival isn`t bound up with it now, I`m hoping the experience of painting opens up in a new way. I want to be a better artist and that may take being a more deliberate person.

Here are some new pieces;

                                     [untitled-Cook`s Butte] watercolor on paper 19x14 inches

                                           Algodones Study watercolor on Yupo 12x9 inches

                                                     Winter Alders watercolor 12x9 inches

                                               Silver Creek watercolor on Yupo 26x20 inches

                                                Cloud Forest acrylic on Yupo 10x30 inches

                                               Local Marsh watercolor on Yupo 19x14 inches

                                             Late Fall Canal watermedia on paper 19x14 inches

Public Service Announcement; Local artists take note, Lake Oswego will have its inaugural open studios tour next October 14 and 15. That is the first weekend of the Portland Open Studios as well. Since art lovers will be out and about our hope is that they will venture into our community too. I believe the city will support such an event and I know there are plenty of artists who live here. No doubt the first one will be sort of rough and homemade but no matter. It`s just fun when artists meet the public, we have such solitary lives. Save the dates!

Another Public Service Announcement; The Sitka Center for Art and Ecology is accepting applications for their artist in residency program. This is a unique opportunity to get serious work done in a pristine and magnificent environment. Two weeks up to three months perched on the side of Cascade Head with views of the sea and the adjacent rainforest. It really is wonderful. If you need to concentrate on your book, or score, or series, this place will nurture you.

                                                                Wellness Check

                                                            In any given moment,

                                                             on any given day

                                                              I can measure

                                                             my wellness

                                                              by this question:

                                                                is my attention on loving,

                                                               or is my attention on

                                                                              who isn`t loving me?

                                                                  __Andrea Gibson

                                                                         Cuno Amiet

This handsome Swiss gentleman painted over 4000 paintings in his career and 1000 of them are self portraits! He always had a willing subject close at hand. He was new to me a few years ago and it took me a long time to warm to his post modernist paintings. Then I became obsessed with all things Cuno Amiet. From what I`ve read, most of his work is still in Switzerland. You have to visit the homeland to see this national treasure up close.

                                                                           Cuno Amiet

                                                                            Cuno Amiet

                                                                            Cuno Amiet

                                                                              Cuno Amiet

                   

                                                    
 

ckick HERE for paintings for sale

My Marsh

                                        Bryant Woods Marsh 1 watermedia on paper 19x14 inches

                                      Bryant Woods Marsh 2 watercolor on Yupo 14x11 inches

 Is it a demo if no one sees it? This years Portland Open Studios has not been the love fest it was last year. Then, there seemed to be a palpable need for culture and beauty. The pandemic had exhausted everyone and the common wish was to be restored. I don`t think I`ve ever felt so appreciated. Well last weekend the weather was sublime, no one is at fault for preferring the sun. I went for walks myself both days as soon as it was light. The visitors that did come bought some paintings so it was certainly worthwhile economically. The only problem was me being tethered to my studio all day. After completing the collage below by noon on Saturday, I was at loose ends between guests. So Sunday I decided I would paint. Though my studio has been transformed from a workspace to a display area, I still had access to my plein air gear. I had recently been in Bryant Woods in the fog, so had some photos and a dreamy memory to launch me. I made two versions, one on Hahnemulhe Cezanne hot press paper and the other on Yupo. Both were augmented with Caran d' Ache watercolor crayons. I love those! Proper color right where I want it!

 One more weekend of the Open Studios. Again the weather looks unbeatable. For those who join me in my underground lair, prizes, toys, cash and gratitude await!  10 - 5pm

5373 Lakeview Blvd

Lake Oswego OR

97035

ph. 503 380 4731

                                                         watercolor collage 20x13 inches

                                             Winter Walk watercolor collage 24x25 inches

Could you be a Super Recognizer? Apparently some people can retain the memory of a face even after just a brief exposure. This has proven useful in legal situations. Take a TEST! Being visually adept, I thought I would ace it. I made my selections quickly, certain of my accuracy. Not so fast Randy. I only got half of them right.

 I was not an enthusiastic supporter of Joe Biden. I`m a tree hugging, socialist, tax and spend Democrat. But as my brother Tom says, he had only one job to do; not be Trump. He has done that spectacularly well. 

Having once been raged at for my ignorance of the misdeeds of his son Hunter, I`ve kept an earball open to any new developments. It appears his poor judgment has caught up with him now. Addiction will make anyone stupid. No shadows fall on the president however though Fox News tried to make a voicemail between father and son appear pathetic.

 The poison Fox pours out daily is in large part why our country is so polarized, so gripped with anxiety and anger. This was just an attempt to demean Joe Biden`s family but reasonable people saw the love he has for his only living son. This Joe Biden I`m completely proud of.

   

                                                                     Cicely Cottingham

 There is always something new to say about the landscape. Look at what Cicely Cottingham has done. This work is sensual and yearning in its presentation of timeless nature. In a recent body of work entitled "Everything is Sky" a beautiful yet indifferent world reminds us of our small supporting role in the scheme of things. There is true peace in knowing we are just one part of creation. Her paintings seem to me to be urging acceptance.

                                                                      Cicely Cottingham

                                                                    Cicely Cottingham

                                   

click HERE for work I have in the studio for sale

some winter landscapes

                                             Fanno Creek in Winter oil on canvas 40x30


 For many, this winter has been rough. The weather more extreme, our government more depressing. Everyone knew how the shutdown would end yet it was agony for 35 days.
Finally though there are signs of life! Quite tardy here however, it`s not unusual for things to start stirring in late January.
Now I take my responsibility as the local head cheerleader for winter very seriously but even I fatigued and wished it weren`t so damn cold.

                                                 Almost Snowing oil on canvas 20x20


 For days it became common to glance outside and see snowflakes drifting down. It is not welcomed in the cities of the Pacific Northwest, in fact it causes panic. There have been raids on the grocery stores by anxious citizens, many cancelled school days and weeks long power outages in the countryside. A mess, but the forecast for this weekend is 70 degrees! Yes!

                                                    Bryant Woods Walk oil on panel 12x12


 This one was more like a long doodle. It started with more realism but as I randomly amped up the color, my trees became more stylized. Yet it still has the spirit of my beloved park.

                                                     Songbird by Nicholas Wilton


 Isn`t that magic? If you don`t know Nicholas Wilton, it`s time you did. He is a mensch extraordinaire! His work is always interesting and he`s a tireless, generous educator and mentor.
He interviews the great painter Krista Harris in this video. It is a remarkable conversation full of insights into the painting process and completely absent of ego. Listening to the two of them talk about their [abstract] work, it made perfect sense why I find painting non representationally so incredibly difficult. If you paint, this is well worth your time.

                                           Everyone we have ever Loved by Krista Harris

 You`re looking at a game changer here. Among the many things I learned at my workshop was the revelation that some Q-tips come with points! They are used for makeup apparently and are overpriced but they do fine job of carving trees out of wet paint. So much of my technique involves removing paint creatively. Blotting is a current field of experimentation.


I was introduced to Howard Hodgkin 35 years ago and I didn`t take to him immediately. The work was so simple and the painted frames seemed gimmicky. Yet I wanted to keep looking and in time I  became deeply affectionate toward his work. He`s one of a handful of artists whose paintings suggests an entirely new and separate reality. For me. This other world is one of pure sensation. Because of the era he was born into, this gay man, like millions of others, married in order to have a socially legitimate life. Such a common tragedy for his generation. But look at his stuff!;

 Though I`m not directly influenced by him as an artist, as a human being I`m so grateful he lived and gave the world such intensely personal images. He made the heroes journey.

                                                              oil on canvas 20x16


 This did not succeed and I threw it out but I am returning to this island in my next painting. It lies close to shore but away from homes in a quiet stretch of the Willamette River. I`ve tried three times now to get something of the atmosphere of its dark oak forests. I will prevail eventually.

online exhibition at the Marcia Burtt Gallery



work for sale in my studio

Daily Painting-again

                                       Sun on the Winter Marsh watermedia on paper 12x9


 Since I`m not burning hot with great new ideas, I thought painting whole pieces in a single day might be useful again. Ten years ago the practice kept me working through the deepest grief I had experienced.
   Carol Marine makes a convincing case for the habit as a way of learning efficiently. In her book Daily Painting, she asserts working small and often as a way to gain confidence and develop technique. It`s also a way to be active in the studio when the muse is away. Almost exercises without any expectation, it`s pleasant and satisfying. Nothing I liked much has come from it until this piece, a bright, brittle winter slough. Here are some of the others, all watermedia on paper 12x9.

                                                                  Distant Green

                                                                           [yupo]

 With perfect timing, this sweet little book arrived in the mail yesterday. It fits nicely in the hand and is filled with ideas, methods, proposals, concepts, and suggestions. And it`s illustrated with lots of paintings. The UK artist Joanna Goss contacted me a couple of years ago about using an image of mine. Naturally enough, I`m the section on Yupo;

 This is one of the coolest books on watercolor I`ve ever seen.

 That nice red head boy got married, God bless them.
Prince Harry served in two deployments in Afghanistan. Heel spurs were never mentioned. He also created the Invictus Games so that injured servicemen could also compete in sport.
I like Meghan too;

 After referring to a poem in my last post that I`ve searched 48 years for, my pal Elisabeth sent me this wonderful piece by James Dickey;


                                                       The Heaven of Animals

Here they are. Their soft eyes open.
If they have lived in a wood
It is a wood.
If they have lived on plains
It is grass rolling
Under their feet forever.

Having no souls, they have come,
Anyway, beyond their knowing.
Their instincts wholly bloom
And they rise.
The soft eyes open.

To match them, the landscape flowers,
Outdoing, desperately
Outdoing what is required;
The richest wood,
The deepest field.

For some of these,
 it could not be the place
It is, without blood.
These hunt, as they have done,
but with claws and teeth grown perfect.

More deadly than they can believe.
They stalk more silently,
And crouch on the limbs of trees,
And their descent
Upon the bright backs of their prey

May take years
In a sovereign floating of joy.
And those that are hunted
Know this as their life.
Their reward; To walk

Under such trees in full knowledge
Of what is in glory above them,
And to feel no fear,
But acceptance, compliance.
Fulfilling themselves without pain

At the cycle`s center,
They tremble, they walk
Under the tree,
They fall, they are torn,
They rise, they walk again.

                                                        Prow by Christopher LeBrun


 Isn`t this magnificent?! It is as urgent and inspiring as when I first saw it 35 years ago.
Pegasus! We`ve been waiting for you! What is the message?



work for sale in my studio