Adrift

                                                        Adrift watercolor on Yupo 14x11


 Though the release from pain has been joyous, to my surprise, a surge of innovation did not rush in. So as I often do, I tinker. My studio has lots of failed or unfinished paintings about. There are many opportunities for rescue.
 As rapid as my recovery has been, I`m careful not to over extend my new knee. So I haven`t yet been back to some of my sources of inspiration. However we are planning a visit to Minto Brown Island. I`ve never been there in the summer and its cool muddy lagoons will be seductive and quiet. I will happily work with the thousand shades of green.
 Meanwhile, these are what I`ve been up to;

                                                  FC Wetlands watercolor on Yupo 14x11


 Because it`s always best to have a paintbrush in hand when inspiration sweeps in, sometimes I`ll do something I`ve already done. Usually in a different medium like I did here. The site, the confluence of Fanno Creek with the Tualatin River, is dense with possibility. What I mean by that is not just the beauty but also the spatial relationships of trees to water to grasses. That couple of acres is almost Japanese in its elegant proportions.

                                                 Flood Plain watermedia on paper 12x16


 As I remember, I had recently returned from the Finley Wildlife Reserve and I was trying to depict the delicate new grasses arising from a huge field that had been underwater. I believed she texted and said she was in the area and wanted to meet me. I said sure and because I was already in process with this, she watched me paint. Probably because I was talking, that fresh green field turned into a scene of apocalypse right before our eyes. Oh well. She was worth meeting.

                                            As the Moon Rises watermedia on yupo 14x10


 As the Moon rises, eyes of the animals rise from the forest into her light.
That was the opening sentence of a poem I read in 1970 in a library. I`ve been trying to find the complete work ever since, to no avail. With the internet, I should be able to find it but haven`t.


 Notorious Pam was here again doing what she does best, redistributing wealth. She was on a mission and when she was through she had bought nine of my best works on paper! She sent me photos after they were framed;

 She sure did honor the paintings! Thank you Pam, you do beautiful things.



 Among the many sad aspects to living with chronic pain is how small your world becomes. In my recent experience, I couldn`t shake the feeling that I was at the end of my life. Time to wrap things up. It wasn`t rational, I know what the actuarial tables predict but it was there. My family assured me it was the legs and they were right. I`m appalled at the idea now and feel sorry for that guy getting ready to go. I feel better than I have in years. Far more than I should after having atrophied for so long. And to my delight, arthritis elsewhere in my body, such as the other knee, is mostly gone!
 The universe sent me this story just the other day;

                                                                       Trudy Smith

 She was lonely after her husband died so she took up painting. She was 85! Read her remarkable story!

John says we need to paint the house.
If my house looked like this one in Burkina Faso, I`d just sit on the lawn and look at it.

                                                                     by Endre Penovac


 This is why I love watercolor.

                   In Mexico this dog walked through a parade for the Pope thinking it was for him





work for sale in my studio [updated]

untitled autumn slough

                                                               oil on canvas 50x40


 From a study done in 2011, both are improvisations based on memories of Minto Brown Island. This progressed quickly and I was feeling brilliant. Then came two weeks of tweaks as I tried to reconcile a simple but looming shape with the delicate intricacy of the vegetation. A 'stillness' was what I was after.


At the Clackamas Art Extravaganza I bought another inexpensive new paper made from rocks called Mineral Paper by Yasutomo. I was assured it was tougher than Terraskin but it isn`t. My problem involves the multimedia I usually end up using in a work on paper. Acrylic binds the paper along the edge to my drawing board and when I very carefully try to lift it free, it tears! When that began happening to the painting below, I stopped and got a box cutter and cut the painting out leaving the edge. This is not acceptable but I did like the painting even if it was a little smaller than I intended;

                                Over the Sea 31 11.75x 8.75 watermedia on Mineral Paper


 Loving pure color, pattern and complexity, I was smitten immediately when I discovered the work of the Lebanese painter Huguette Caland. Take a look at the magic she weaves;

                                                                 Huguette Caland

                                                               Huguette Caland

                                                   It`s fun being Huguette Caland!


 No new I pad paintings from me this week but scroll down here and check out Cynthia Wick`s vibrant slideshow.

                                                Father and Son by Cynthia Wick


In case you missed it in the 1970s, here is the incredible chocolate chip recipe from the Diet for a Small Planet Cookbook. One and a half grams of complete protein in each cookie! And they`re delicious!
[notes to the right are for a double batch]

[WW=whole wheat]



My workshop in Coos Bay July 10;

work for sale in my studio

Fen Forest

                                                              Fen Forest oil on canvas 20x16


 Finally a new oil painting! A fen is a wetland and this one is Oxbow Slough on Minto Brown Island. At the water`s edge, the bare lichen covered trees are a chaotic tangle of brittle branches. I was there last weekend with my camera and in my painting clothes knowing it would be muddy. Maybe I looked like a groundskeeper because two foreign families stopped me for information. I had to tell them I was a tourist too. That island makes me wish I lived in Salem!

 It`s been beautiful out there! We are in our tiny brief winter and I`m trying to get out in nature as often as possible. The stark clean landscapes will soon be budding for the annual onslaught of green. Now is the time to see the rich colors of winter.

                                                                Oswego Creek

                                                                Oswego Lagoon

                                                               Durham Park

                                                                   Minto Brown Copse


 I was so proud of our president`s executive action on background checks for gun sales and even prouder to see his tears of grief for those children just mowed down at Sandy Hook elementary school. It takes a brave man to show his emotions in public. Gun violence is a national disgrace we must confront with stubborn common sense and rigorous new laws. I`m all for the second amendment as it is written, and for sportsmen and honest self defense. But no one goes deer hunting with a machine gun.
 Then in the State of the Union address, he used the phrase 'unconditional love', that ultimate Christian challenge and dilemma. How do we love our enemy? Do you think any Republican presidential candidate ever considers that question?

President Obama`s many accomplishments are explored in this article from Politico.

                                                          Winter Still Life by Fred Cumming


 Fred Cumming is known best for his moody evocative seascapes of the English coast. Yet this still life is one of my favorites. The contrast between the bleak slushy field outside the window and the humble warmth within is so touching. Sort of like a microcosm of civilization valiant before the brute forces of nature. The guy is a visual poet! His website has a new video of him painting and here is an older one of him working on location.

                                                Chimayo Spring watermedia on paper 36x20 1988


 Those of you in truly cold places may be dreaming of Spring already. Be patient and try to find pleasure in the winter too. I tell myself this every summer when the heat is oppressive and the air is dirty. I want to enjoy my life in every season.


work for sale in my studio

MB Spring Tangle - Sitka Center - a daughter`s memories

                                                       oil on canvas 20x16

 When derailed, I find it helpful to paint a successful painting again. To feel competent and on track. It`s best to keep working and this ends the anxiety. I want a brush in my hand when the 'spirit' moves through.
 A painter needs to be in motion for anything worthy to arrive.

 We spent the weekend near or on Sauvie Island. Since moving south to Clackamas County, I don`t visit very often. First we had a houseboat experience that was a little underwhelming. It was almost perfectly stable and I expected/wanted much more movement. The home and the location was beautiful and cozy however. The next day we walked toward Warrior Point and after, paid a visit to Howell Territorial Park and the historic Bybee House. Years ago, I spent many sweet summer days here painting with friends. Always exactly how the season should be; warm with cool breezes, thick deep grasses, far away views, clean and healthy smelling with a sense of timelessness and plenty. Although Saturday was only April 4, it was all there in the orchard;

Here is a study of this orchard from 2001;

A larger [24x18] watercolor of the back of the orchard;

and a small watercolor study of the nearby Kruger Farm;

 The deadline to apply for an artist in residency at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology on the Oregon coast is fast approaching! [April 17] Apply for god sakes! This place is heaven! Big airy studios, a comfortable apartment, the most pristine piece of coastal real estate imaginable and the priceless gift of time! You deserve it, you know you do!

 At first I thought it was ridiculously indulgent but John didn`t ask for my approval. Paying to have someone read stories to you?! He said try one! I did and it was a revelation. It was not like how I would read to a child, stumbling over words and yawning. The books were read by the most gifted, sensitive, inventive actors I`ve ever heard! Paul Hecht reading Annie Proulx`s 'The Shipping News', was truly astonishing. Every character had it`s own voice and none of them seemed forced or off. What a rich experience! Cleaning the bathroom? Invite Bernadette Dunne to join you as she reads 'Wild'. You will feel lucky to be scrubbing the bathtub instead of lugging a giant backpack over the mountains! I guess I never fully understood the art of acting. These amazing voices bring the books to life. I am a complete convert and feel justified because we are supporting the literary arts!
 But, 'Moby Dick' is also unlistenable.
Many are available through libraries or at Audible.


 Once again, my champion Maureen Doallas, takes to cyberspace words of praise for my work in her 'New Artist Watch' feature at Escape Into Life.
Also, scroll through her blog and read her powerful poems. Many of them just make me stop.

And here is a charming account of growing up as Richard Diebenkorn`s daughter. The video is an hour long and well worth it if his work moves you. I feel he is as influential a painter as any. The raw honesty behind the color and searching brushwork is humbling. Gretchen Grant shows the master to be human.

work for sale in my studio


And the last demo in my studio for a while is this coming Saturday at 10 am.
5373 Lakeview Blvd. Lake Oswego OR 97035

Oxbow Slough 2 - magnolia demo - elderly artists

                                                         oil on canvas 20x16

 This was many paintings before Oxbow Slough 2. Sometimes I forget how to paint. I suspect the reason is too much 'life' not enough solitude.

                                             Magnolia 2015 oil on canvas 12x12

I had painted this earlier in the week so I figured I`d use this motif during my demonstration at my show in the Museum 510. But instead of predictable oil paints, I would use transparent watercolor on the slippery plastic paper 'Yupo'. Feeling confident, I thought I`d add about a hundred more blossoms. Thank god I wore a short sleeve shirt as the eastern sun shining through the huge windows was creating greenhouse heat. I wasn`t 20 minutes into the painting before realizing I was in way over my head. With maybe 34 eye balls watching my every move, I valiantly tried to find a composition. Someone asked if I used color or tonal studies. No I explained, I just wing it. I truly believe improvisation makes for more personal work and exciting exploration.
 Or terror. T S Eliot said anxiety was the handmaiden of creativity.
 Ultimately, improv might be best for the privacy of my studio but I walked my talk that morning.
 This is what it looked like when I brought it home;

 Once I was safe and alone, I labored to create the buoyancy that attracted me to this subject. First I shaped it up with acrylics but it still wasn`t sparking so I took it to the oil painting area. Because Yupo is plastic and the earlier layers were sealed with spray acrylic, I went in with oils. I surrendered at this point;

                                     Magnolia and Sky watermedia and oil 20x20

 A photo of the demo;

 The Colorado artist, Ken Elliott, wrote a blog post in 2013 about elderly artists with links to an article from Time. There were many photos of some older painters including the wonderful Wayne Thiebaud;

This is of interest to me because it will be me soon enough.
It`s encouraging to know that most painters continue on even when the body is failing. Wolf Kahn says he is doing some of his best work ever, despite macular degeneration. Matisse created his radical paper cut outs while confined to a wheelchair.
I will be one of those obsessed, rickety artists if I`m lucky.

 Snack tip. I recently bought a package of fresh Shishito chile peppers at Trader Joes. They looked sort of like the Padron peppers I had found at the farmers market so I prepared them the same way. I seared them in a very hot skillet with a little olive oil shaking it constantly after they began to sizzle. When browned a bit I removed them from the heat and sprinkled with salt. They are not too spicy hot and I think they would be great with an icy cold gin martini.

 Finally a woodcut from the German immigrant Gustave Baumann. He settled in New Mexico and his landscape prints are some of the most evocative images of that beautiful state. Produced in multiple, they were once inexpensive. When I lived there, an elderly cousin told me they had been popular as wedding presents. He had three of them.

work for sale in my studio

the next demonstration in my studio, April 11, 10 am, will be the last one for a while. 5373 Lakeview Blvd, Lake oswego OR 97035

Second Demonstration

This is a closer view of the wetlands painted without a reference. It`s interesting to me that I use my visual memory so much more as I age while the 'real' one is so predictably unreliable. Below is my hardworking intern, Cooper. Portland Open Studios and Portland Community College partnered to give young creative students an opportunity to be involved in the tour. The final weekend begins Saturday at 10. I`ll be demonstrating mixed watermedia on Yupo, the plastic paper from Japan, at noon on both days.

watermedia on Yupo 11x20

work in the studio