Full Moon - Mt. Rainier

                                                            oil on canvas 24x18 1998

                                                        watermedia on paper 7x4 1996

 I traveled to Mt. Rainier last Thurs. in an odd mist. It`s July which is usually bone dry.
The national park is popular so I had made reservations months ago fully expecting a visible volcano in summer. Arriving in a cloud was beautiful but I was somewhat concerned we wouldn`t even see our destination.
The next day was crystalline clear and it was startling to awake on the high shoulder of the beast with the peak looming right above the hotel. Nice!
My favorite part though, was an old growth forest called "Grove of the Patriarchs". It was breathtaking as many of the trees were over a 1000 years old!  It`s humbling to stand next to a tree whose base would not fit in my living room.
We drove around the whole massive mountain, visited old friends from New Mexico and took a  delicious walk at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. The air was moving and the salt scent from the Sound with the warm sun produced a flood of memories of being roasted on the beach while being cooled by the sweet breezes coming off the water.

work for sale in my studio

Starlight and Snow 3

                                                            watermedia on paper 20x16

Someone suggested I do a larger version.


available work in the studio

Starlight and Snow [again]

                                                         watercolor on paper 8x8

Absent soulful music, departed loved ones, and an open spigot of grief, another thing that`s real helpful when I`m blocked is to just repeat something. The point is to keep working. Try to be in the right place at the right time. I do so many studies trying ideas out, many of them could be done again if I need to tread water.


available work in the studio

A Cold Moon

With a show opening Aug. 10 at the White Bird Gallery in Cannon Beach OR, and one on the 24th at the Waterworks Gallery in Friday Harbor WA, I`m immersed in the tedious endgame; attaching hardware, photographing and signing them and painting the edges to make them presentable without framing. Thirty two pieces will be leaving my studio soon. Here and there I`ve tried to paint watercolors to remind me I`m really an artist. Though I used to mock traditional technique, I`m now obsessed with transparent watercolor. Unfortunate because I can`t seem to remember how to do it. This began nice and luminous and free of opaque pigments and then suddenly it needed repairs. Out came the acrylics, watercolor crayons, and water soluble graphite. As much as I want to be Winslow Homer, I`m going to have to settle for myself.
watermedia on paper 14x11


available work

participating artist in Portland Open Studios in October

Distant Peak

Once again, the demonstration painting from today`s class. By restricting the color to only one, value [the degree of light, dark and in between] becomes all important. I read on someone`s blog, that color gets the credit but value does the work. Without the concern for color and therefore realism, a painter is free to emphasize something else. I think with less choice, something more pure in one`s intention results. Some simple, atmospheric work was done this morning.
watercolor on paper 17"x14"


available work

Absaroka

Mountains from memory. Look at them long enough and then you don't have to. I suspect anyone in northwest Oregon could draw Mt. Hood and get that distinctive hump in there too. This improvisation is named after a range in Wyoming.
It's painted on a paper formulated for use with oil paint, I think there's a resin that protects the fibers from the acidic paint. Too absorbent for my tastes. I have a new piece in progress where I sprayed some matte acrylic on first. Much better.
16"x12"

The Trees the Mountain the Moonlight

Although I paint flat on a table, I`m always lifting the painting and tilting it various angles. Let gravity move the color around. Some drips can stay if they support the effort, but I remove most of them.
acrylic on paper 12"x9"



Available Work [updated- bottom rows]

Moonlight Lake

oil on paper 8"x6"


Available Work