Marsh Forest

                                           Marsh Forest Study watercolor on Yupo 8.5x11


 I want to thank all of you who told me what we should discuss when I teach next weekend. My first thought was to emphasize technique but  I heard that I should address color choice, emotion and the landscape and selecting personal subjects. So I`ve been thinking. Of course this is the stuff that never is verbalized by me even to myself. I know instinctively what to draw or photograph when I`m out in nature. Now I`m figuring out how to talk about it. It`s uncomfortable. There is a yearning quality in my response to nature that I don`t understand. Beyond Romanticism. I find ephemeral scenes lit temporarily in a poetic manner and I`ll take a picture. If what I`m seeing is really striking, I`ll remember it too. Then I begin painting but it`s more like an excavation, subtracting to find my painting. This is better shown than explained.

                                             Cape Arago watercolor on Terraskin 14x11


 From my time in Coos Bay a couple of years ago. That eroded coast would provide a lifetime of subjects if I lived near. Without bias, the Oregon Coast is the most astonishing, compact, jewel like series of landscapes, one after another. And it`s never crowded other than Cannon Beach. If I lived in the interior of the US again, I would come here to this coast to be by this sea. Not Hawaii or Mexico or Greece. There is a wild, interactive relationship between the water, sky and land that`s palpable.

                                                          unfinished marsh


 I should have left it alone but it wasn`t finished. I thought last night.
Now this no longer exists but that`s ok.
If there is time in my workshop I`ll demonstrate a do or die effort to rescue something that`s ruined. Good things can happen if there is nothing to lose. I once said to Don Gray that all my paintings were better 20 minutes before I finally stopped. He said that`s true for all artists. We keep pushing for more clarity until we go too far and then backtrack as best we can.

                                             man in motion by Eadweard Muybridge


 Eadweard Muybridge was a bookseller until he cracked his head in an accident and became a determined innovator of photography. It appears that brain damage can unleash tremendous creative potential. This article in the BBC explains how even dementia can unlock hidden talents.
It does not mention if the poor high school football players with concussions become more creative. I wish it would have included this kind of trauma.



Igor Mosiychuk, have you heard of him? I sure hadn`t but apparently he`s quite well known in his own country, Ukraine. He`s a watercolor wizard unlike any other;

                                                            by Igor Mosiychuk

                                                                by Igor Mosiychuk

                                                                  by Igor Mosiychuk

                                                                      by Igor Mosiychuk


 Yes, they have a traditional sensibility but who cares? They are so dense with lyrical color and mood.
If you have an extra hour or so you can watch him demonstrate here.

                                            Oaks at Brandy Creek watercolor on Yupo 12x9


 For the first time in my 25 years in the Pacific Northwest, winter is bugging me. It`s too cold. Usually I`m head cheerleader for all things gloomy and wet but not this year. Now I don`t want sunshine mind you, that low angle light is blinding this time of year but a warm breeze would be nice. Here`s to Spring and its gentle promise.

Goodbye Mary Oliver, thank you!


updated webpage

work for sale in my studio

prints on Fine Art America

New Watermedia and regained mobility!

                                                      Red Landscape wm on paper 9x12


 This was truly a doodle. I found a failed figure drawing, turned it on its side and made her a landscape. Just a goof and sure enough without the pressure to be 'good', something interesting took hold. True red, ink black and cerulean blue, together, are an emotional combination of strength and delicacy.

                                                       Streamside Spring wm on Yupo 14x11


 This had only slightly more intention to it. Since returning to my studio, I`m mostly puttering trying to be being patient with my limited stamina.
Because Cascade Head is protected, the streams that flow off it are pristine and lush. By late Spring the vegetation is wild and vigorous. It`s a party and everyone is drunk on sunshine.

                                                          Endless Winter wm on Yupo 10x8


 A representation of the season which will not depart in the NW. Only last Friday did we have a 'once in every 100 years windstorm'. There was also one last Oct.
This is our weather now, completely unpredictable. The Republican Party owns the country since the election and they don`t believe the atmosphere is heating up. Ignoring it is good for profits.
I wouldn`t say this to a young person but I`m losing confidence in my species. It`s becoming clear human beings could lose their purchase upon the earth. We are stupid enough, just think who the most powerful man in the world is.


 As per my Californian birthright, I am driving again!
Even though I love to walk, I do not feel whole and viable without my wheels.
When I was 15 and a half on May 6 exactly, I got my 6 month learning permit. On my birthday November 6 it would expire. If I failed my driving test that day, I would have to start over. Of course I passed! Then promptly got 3 tickets within the first few months. No matter, I was a teenager in Southern California, I took my place on the freeway.
While my legs have been distressed, John has been driving as well as doing Everything else. It has been difficult being so dependent. So when I hobbled into the grocery store with my cane, alone last week, I was triumphant!

                                                              by Howard Hodgkin


 The legendary British painter Howard Hodgkin died last month. By all accounts he was cranky with a conflicted relationship with painting. His passionate paintings often took years to complete but seem executed in minutes. It is a paradox in painting that an appearance of freshness and spontaneity can be so laborious to achieve.
Here is an excellent video of the artist.


It is six A.M., and I am working. I am absentminded, reckless, heedless of social obligations, etc. It is as it must be. The tire goes flat, the tooth falls out, there will be a hundred meals without mustard. The poem gets written. I have wrestled with the angel and I am stained with light and I have no shame. Neither do I have guilt. My responsibility is not to the ordinary, or the timely. It does not include mustard, or teeth. It does not extend to the lost button, or the beans in the pot. My loyalty is to the inner vision, whenever and howsoever it may arrive. If I have a meeting with you at three o’clock, rejoice if I am late. Rejoice even more if I do not arrive at all.

Mary Oliver, from an essay in Vox Populi, 'The Artist`s Task'

Winter Morning-Fanno Creek Wetlands + other marshes

                                        watercolor and oil on yupo 26x20

 This was my demonstration painting from last Saturday. The day before I had walked around the Fanno Creek wetlands in Cook`s Park taking mental notes. So as I began the demo with watercolors, I was confident about my intention. The subject was the dormant grasses in the foreground water with bleak bare trees and brambles behind. Illuminating it all was to be a cloudy sky in Easter egg colors. Things went south quickly as my sky refused to take shape and I re-emulsified it repeatedly. With 20 eyes watching me, I just wanted to set the mood in the hour and a half I had with them. Nope, even alone that night not much went right. Getting desperate, I went nuclear. I sealed it all up with a spray acrylic and took it to the oil painting side of my studio. I`m always telling frustrated watercolorists to work in oils. Much easier to control! Usually so. This was a defeat and I`m posting it because I told my guests I would. We all want to see how the story ends.
Below are some earlier, more successful marshes.

                                                  oil on paper 12x9

                                                 oil on canvas 10x30

                                         watermedia on Yupo 12x12

 When I posted a Mary Oliver poem recently, others wrote me who loved her work as well. I`ve never heard or read any dismissive comment about her from anyone. I tried to think of other artists so unanimously admired. My list was short. One was Johnny Cash. Has there ever been a more convincing voice of moral authority? Another was Andy Goldsworthy, that magician who uses the earth itself for his art. I actually have an little issue with him though he is innocent. All of the projects, stunts and happenings that exist only to be photographed or videoed, then posted on the internet, I think derive from his marvelous, temporary works of art. I had had enough when I saw a clip of balls rolling down through a forest hitting bamboo planks with the sound recreating a Bach concerto. Why?
 Here`s an interesting video of the man himself talking about what he does. Here is one of his simple elegant works;

 Now for a recipe, yes, a recipe. This is good, easy and my own little accidental invention.
 one package of Trader Joe`s Belgian Endive [3 small heads]
 one ripe avocado
 one large red grapefruit
  Slice the endive into 1/4 rounds and place in a large bowl. Dice the avocado and add. Peel the grapefruit by scoring it into quarters first, then use a paring knife to remove any pith. Slice into small pieces like in the photo below. Be careful to remove any seeds. Sprinkle with good salt, pepper and a little olive oil. Toss.

See this cat? See that rug?

 That`s Jackson, my cat with 'issues'.
In a classic example of the road to hell being paved with good intentions, we found him a companion, a playmate 13 years ago. He does indeed play with Lincoln yet also nurses a bitter resentment. The new member of our household has never been welcome by Jackson and he reminds us by vomiting. Oh the remedies, foods, medications, and therapies we`ve tried!
 We`ve sorely needed new furniture for a long time now but have held off as we`ve searched for the holy grail that would solve this matter. After finally casting out a particularly hideous coffee table that I literally found on the side of the road, we were left with a giant void of a bare floor. Now, we really needed at least a rug. So off I went to IKEA with a mission. This floor covering had to be densely woven, with a complicated pattern, short easy to clean fibers and Big. I had budgeted a whopping $700, this was how urgent our situation was!
But this marvelous rug was only $65! Thank you IKEA!!
 'Problem' pets can teach us how to do the impossible, love unconditionally. That`s no small thing.

work for sale in my studio

next open demonstration, Sat. Feb. 14, 10 am