Lake Oswego Open Studios-latest work

                                      Summer Wetland watercolor, acrylic and oil 35x23 inches

Soon the Open Studio will have happened and I won`t have to keep announcing it. Promotion isn`t something natural to me. I`ve sent out invitations by email and texts and if I missed you, it`s not because I don`t want you to come. My mailing list is an abomination, that`s why. Sorry, please come visit anyway. I`d love to talk with you and there will be cookies.

5373 Lakeview Blvd, Lake Oswego OR 97035   #25    503 380 4731

 The painting at the top was inspired by a fishing hole on Oswego Creek. I found this out because seven boys waited patiently for me and Mitch to finish painting one morning so they could fish. No parents anywhere! That never happens anymore and it was great seeing unsupervised kids. Anyway, the painting began as a watercolor but I just couldn`t get the open spaces of water right. I re-emulsified the paint many times but could not get a particular transparency I wanted. So I sealed the whole thing up with archival spray acrylic varnish then went in again with oils. Of course it looks nothing like I intended and nothing like the place on the creek. Such is painting, I made something new.

                                      Dark Pool, Mossy Rock watermedia on Yupo 14x11 inches

                                           Across the Lake watercolor on yupo 14x11 inches

This new watercolor was painted after immersing myself in Ann Patchett`s 'Tom Lake'. Oh my what a beautiful book. Listening to it slowly was a highlight of my summer. From all I`ve heard, Michigan sounds like a uniquely special place.

                                           Iron Mountain watercolor on Yupo 23x35 inches

I walk this mountain frequently. This is where the iron was mined for the first iron works in the western United States. The furance is still standing in a different park and the walking trail there was once the train tracks.I wanted to paint dappled light but I may have something here that produces vertigo.

                                          Rainforest Floor watercolor on Yupo 14x11 inches

And a new collage;

                                                Bonfires in the Dunes watercolor collage

The election may be slipping away from Donald Trump. Every time he talks I imagine he loses support.

Good. I wish Kamala would assert herself more, quit talking about lifting people up. That is not going to win her respect or votes. Please tell us your honest thoughts on Gaza? Tough nut, I know. I think it`s possible to be a Zionist, promote a separate Palestinian state and do a lot more to protect innocent life. Make Israel the 51 state if need be but insist on an end to this war.

An employee of Trader Joes told me to buy this yesterday. That they had just come in and people were lined up an hour before opening time to purchase them. She assured me it would make an appreciated  gift.

??. What am I missing? It`s a miniature shopping bag. I own a big one and it`s dependable but can`t say it`s brought me joy.

 I was looking for a book and came upon a box of my mom`s photos.                                                   Here I am at 23 with my sad nonexistent derriere yet so happy to be living on a hill in New Mexico. Over my shoulder is Joan Mitchell`s  “La ligne de la rupture”. Painted in 1970, I tore the image out of an art magazine in 1976 and it was on all the walls I lived within for years. 

Here it is in a retrospective of her work in 2021. This show came to San Francisco and some of my friends traveled down to see it. I was still too freaked about Covid and stayed put which I now regret. I didn`t understand yet just how effective masks were. No one liked wearing them but they were quite efficient despite their controversy. Maybe I`ll see this personal talisman someday, I hope so.

 

Sarah Dwyer is an intriguing artist new to me. I keep seeing them online  but I only now read anything about her. Basically I think the work of the artist is interesting, not the artist so much.

She`s Irish, living in London and studied economics before deciding on an artistic life. What interests me so much is how she depicts forms that aren`t quite human, are mythic without being specific and always with fascinating color juxtapositions. Someone called them abstract surrealism but that doesn`t account for their unique power. They feel to me like nonverbal messages. See what you think;

                                                                            Sarah Dwyer

                                                                       Sarah Dwyer

                                                                          Sarah Dwyer

           

Words to live by.

Click HERE to see work for sale in my studio 

Hope

                                                   Windbreak oil on canvas 40x30 inches

 The two weeks between the debate and the assassination attempt were really tough on my mental health. I felt adrenaline in my system daily as it seemed I was just waiting for slaughter in the fall election.We saw profound confusion in President Biden during the debate and that is not right for the most powerful office in the world. Both my parents had some dementia in their last years though it came and went. I believed Biden had to withdraw or he would be the primary issue throughout the campaign. Friends, family, AOC and Bernie Sanders disagreed. Thank God for Nancy Pelosi!! Again! Seriously, what a warrior! She could tell that the gains of the last 15 years were about to be wiped out. Her legacy along with Bidens' and Obamas' Again, it wasn`t that Trump gained votes from the disastrous debate, it was that so many would be discouraged and wouldn`t vote at all. The  cult of the Republican Party would sweep congress and the presidency and further embolden a radical supreme court.  At least now I have hope. Now we can stop what seemed inevitable after the bullet missed its target. Their convention was like the second coming of Christ and all I could feel was doom. We cannot let that happen. Trump should never be president again.

 I believe the marvelous upwelling of support for Kamala Harris began in utter relief. We will see if she has the character and imagination to meet this moment [looks promising!] and advocate for a future we want to live in.

I`m curious to hear what the [likely] Madame President has to say.

                                                                        Mendocino

When I was 18 I had a semester of art school in Mendocino Calif. The school was really oriented more towards crafts but I wanted to be there because of the extraordinary setting. My dorm room was adjacent to an immense meadow that ended at the headlands overlooking the ocean. Also at the edge was the local high school. A double row of Monterey Cypress had been planted at the western side of their football field to act as a windbreak. I would climb into the tree at the start of the row and look down the tunnel or out to the sea. It was truly awesome. The painting above was an attempt to paint those trees from a 52 year old memory. The painting below is a small egg tempera of my perch up in the tree that I did at the time.

                                                                Mendocino Cypress

 Below are new watercolors painted on location then cleaned up in my studio;

[no titles yet]

And this painting inspired by the local streams;

                                             Oswego Creek oil on canvas 16x16 inches

                                                                 David Shrigley

                                                                       David Shrigley

                                                                    David Shrigley

I love David Shrigley. I think his work would be called conceptual art. It`s his goofy humanity for me. Look at this wonderful video interview. Such a lovely man.

 The second annual Lake Oswego Open Studios will happen this year at the end of September. For those who don`t know what this is about, an open studios tour is a self guided visit to dozens of artists studios open that weekend for guests. By looking through the website, you can decide which artists you`d like to visit. I was a founding member of the board  and though I am no longer,  I love and support this introduction of artists to the community. It`s fun!

For many years I participated in the Portland version and realized there were enough artists in Lake Oswego to do our own. So we did. This may be the last year I do this however, it depends. No matter how prepared I am or how successful the event proves to be, there is always an emotional whiplash I don`t understand and it takes too long to work through it. Solitude really is best for creating.

click HERE for work for sale in my studio

HERE for prints

Latest Paintings

                                      Water Wetlands Woods watercolor collage 13x35 inches

 I`ve been painting landscapes, preparing for my Open Studio and an exhibit at the White Bird Gallery in Cannon Beach in November. Fully occupied yet all was not well within. I have been using oil paints for months and was really missing working on paper. A small window of opportunity appeared and I leapt. This began as just a painting but when I placed fragments of old works on top, it came alive quickly. I had such a good time and noted carefully those feelings. This 'technique' might be a bridge between representation and the abstract work I did during lockdown.

These are some of the new paintings on view during the Lake Oswego Open Studios [Oct. 14 and 15] and in November at the White Bird.

                                               Winter Slough oil on canvas 36x36 inches

                                                    Memory oil on canvas 16x16 inches

                                               Wetlands Morning oil on canvas 40x30 inches

                                           Coast Stream Morning oil on canvas 40x30 inches

                                   Cook`s Butte Study graphite watercolor on Yupo 12x12 inches

                                               Lagoon graphite watercolor on Yupo 12x12 inches

                                                                         my desk

 I`m really not looking to claim more neurosis than I already have but so many stories in the press revolve around ADHD and the complications it brings to peoples lives. Because a couple of them say clutter is a symptom I`ve tried to learn more. Even taking a test to self evaluate. I`m not restless by and large, I have no trouble listening to others and I complete my most important tasks. But I sure leave a wake of disorder. For the photo above, I just stood up and took it. It`s typically like this. When I had the 'practice' open studio for the other artists in Aug. I cleaned everything up. It takes no time at all to trash it.  I`ve learned to accept it without much embarrassment but is there something wrong with me?

                                                            cartoon by Bob Eckstein

This is my ultimate fear but save for cardboard boxes that I may very well need to ship paintings in, I`m a ruthless anti-hoarder. There will be thousands of works on paper but they don`t take up much space. John, however, has dead toys and electronics in all sorts of cubby holes he thinks I don`t notice.

                                                                Charles Bukowski

 Now that I`ve been sober, the poet Charles Bukowski is a hero to me.  Here`s what he has to say about cats;

 "Having many cats is good. If you feel bad, you look at the cats and you feel better, because they know that everything is just the way it is. You don`t have to be nervous about anything. And they know it. They are saviors. The more cats you have, the longer you will live. If you have a hundred cats, you will live ten times longer than if you had ten. One day, this will be known and people will have thousands of cats."

He was on to something!

                                                                       still the one

 Twentyfour years! When I entered into my first real relationship at 45, it was not a leap of faith, it was a sky dive. This younger guy was steady,  deflecting my anxiety and rookie mistakes. I am a lucky man!

  After the open studio I`m off to New York to see old friends! Yay!

                                                                           Rae Klein

Take some time and check out the website of Rae Klein. She is involved with myth in a psychological context. The work is absolutely strange yet affecting.

Come talk to me.

 Bonus: Leslie Peterson Sapp will also be showing with me. This is her first foray into open studios and she will have a variety of work. She`s maybe best known for her paintings based on film noir. She will have some new stuff too involving Archeology. She just returned from France where she toured the prehistoric caves with all those amazing paintings. Knocked her out. She will be fun, guaranteed.

5373 Lakeview Blvd

Lake Oswego OR

97035

Oct. 14 and 15, 10-5pm

Click HERE for some work for sale in my studio

Goodbye Summer

                                                The End of August oil on canvas 30x24 inches

 It can end overnight in the Pacific Northwest, It recently did with another week of August still to come. Everywhere now, summer arrives with anxiety if not dread and the traditional hope of good times too of course.  We were blessed again with livable temperatures and relatively moderate fires. When we had a good rain two weeks ago, I began to feel safe. The fires of 2020 scarred us all. Though we were deep into the pandemic then, that local fire dwarfed any threat of contagion. Evacuees slept side by side each other in school gyms across the county. 

The carefree idea of summer is a thing of the past maybe but I hope it endures for kids. Adults have a trickier dilemma. How to relax into the season without bringing pessimism alongside every cookout,  hike, ballgame or outdoor conversation? How do we love our lives honestly with the world becoming  hotter than anytime in human history? I`ve given this some thought. My simple imagination can only think of one hopeful counter measure which is to plant trees. Or plant some vegetables, or hang out with children, or foster puppies or kittens, or create something completely unexpected. The antidote to grief is to focus on the young and new. The grief is worldwide and acute and shared. Maybe we can do something with it.

                                                 Lake Oswego Open Studios artists

 A bunch of local artists were in my studio a couple of weeks ago. As a board member of the brand new non profit organization, I set up my studio like I would during the real event. In case some of the artists weren`t quite sure how to do so. We spend so many solitary hours in our spaces working, it`s shocking when it`s filled with strangers. That is the best reason to participate in something like this. It is really valuable to talk about our work with people we don`t know. They bring their own perspective and hearing it is often illuminating. And just being praised is nice too. If our efforts to get the word out about our event succeed and our community responds, it`s going to be a fun weekend. The president of the organization, Ha Austin, is the incredible engine behind it all. It is her vision and efforts that are making it happen, she is a force of nature! Any locals reading this, save the dates; October 14 and 15, 10-5 pm. Check out the website to view the art, read the bios of the artists, find the map to the studios, see the sponsors who chose to support this fledgling celebration and get a feel for the arts community here in Lake Oswego. This town is more than lawyers, doctors and financial planners. Come see.                                    lakeoswegoopenstudios.org 

                                                       

                                                     Summer Canal oil on canvas 20x16

                                       End of the Island oil on canvas 20x16 inches [improved]

                                              Cook`s Butte Winter oil on canvas 40x30 inches

                                          Willamette River Morning oil on canvas 20x16 inches

 Some new work. I`ve sure been painting a lot but I sometimes lose my discernment. When that happens, I set the painting aside until some objectivity returns. Maturity at last!

 Below is the work of Frederic Fau, a French artist.  From the first image I saw of his I could tell we were in league. His mostly black and white pieces suggest a depth and atmosphere that is very evocative. He loves the forest. This video is a nice presentation of the artist and his work. It`s in French but enlightening nonetheless.

                                                                      Frederic Fau

                                                                       Frederic Fau

                                                                       Frederic Fau

                                        

                                                              Sauvie Island Study-RDT

                                                                 Willamette Falls

Willamette Falls is one of the coolest places in Oregon. Supposedly the the second largest waterfall in volume in the country. After Niagara. Visually, it`s not at that level at all but the history is fascinating. Only 20 miles from Portland in the eclectic town of Oregon City, the region`s first capital. It was a sacred fishing spot for Native Americans originally then the source of the first hydroelectric power in the West. Early Oregonians relied on the river to transport goods from the farms upstream. Locks were built to raise and lower boats at the falls. Paper mills were built at the site because of the abundant power. Those mills were still operational when I moved to the area in 2010. It was quite a scene visiting on a winters day with the falls raging with runoff and the mills engulfed in swirling steam. And it was loud, you could say operatic in a way. Just thrilling to watch from atop the bluff rising behind it. Here is a nice video on the efforts to open up the falls to visitors and transform the old paper mill into something contemporary and significant. This is an exciting project.

 click HERE for work in my studio for sale