New Day Coming

                                          Rabat watercolor on Yupo 14x11 inches, 35.5x28 cm

 Even though I was very young, I remember the tension and anxiety of the Vietnam War well. Closing in on the draft age will make someone pay attention. Yet for all the division back then, this moment seems much worse. 213,000 dead as of today, the economy battered and the virus revealing exactly how mean our social order is. Essential workers, usually people of color, are exploited daily. The suddenly unemployed now lack wages and health insurance. The system is rotten, any honest person can see that. There is much to repair.

 An adult is on the way, the nightmare will end at last. The GOP is about to be decimated. They refused to remove the sick leader when they had a chance 10 months ago.

As I grieved Ruth Bader Ginsberg`s death I learned so much about her that inspired me.  As principled and certain as her convictions were,  she never demonized her opponents but instead tried in her most creative arguments, to persuade them. Everyone notices how polarized our country is right now but it doesn`t have to be like this. There is no coming civil war or succession of states. I have little patience with those that swear they will leave the country. That is the ultimate white privilege, just walk away. We are here together, bound by our history together as brutal as that may have been. If the liberal West Coast became its own country where does that leave our black citizens in Alabama? No, if the unthinkable should happen again, we will need each other more than ever. We just need to take some deep breaths and learn to listen again. Let respect be non-negotiable. 

All the while pressuring the powers that be for economic justice and opportunity. 

                                                               photo by Noah Berger

 When I last wrote a blog post, the fires in Oregon had just begun. I was in the evacuation zone told to be ready. The flames never came close thank god but my husband`s hometown of Mehama was destroyed. What everyone in Western Oregon had to endure was smoke of an unimaginable magnitude. The air was between 400-500 on the air quality index for nine days. Under 50 is considered healthy. My hundred year old house could not keep it out. It was like the air wanted to kill me. I did absolutely nothing to avoid taking a deep breath. My studio was off limits because my radon remediation system is based on bringing air in from the outside to displace the radon. The experience was so extreme it put the corona virus into a new, proper perspective. I is nothing compared to what is coming by way of a hotter climate. When a rainforest dries out, there is a whole lot of fuel that can combust quickly. Controlled burns, the way the natives used to do them, is the big conversation now. No one wants to go through that again, it was truly terrifying.

 Falls Creek, the jewel like tributary of the Umpqua River burned in the fires. I`ve only seen it twice, it isn`t nearby. The first time I entered it with John we had just had the worst fight. There was a parking lot so I pulled in and we began to walk in silence. The mossy geology there is so special; a small rainforest stream winds among enormous boulders that are draped in vegetation. The beauty is staggering and our discord was overwhelmed.

Here is a video by Elijah Finlay of the canyon before the fire.

Below are some of my paintings of the canyon;

 Last week I finally got away, first time since the quarantine. To the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. It was austere colorful and bright. Truth is we went as much for the place we stayed, Painted Hills Vacation Rentals. This is such a fun collection of cottages perched above the funky town of Mitchell.  The Painted Hills are a half hour away.

Even did a painting;

                                                              Equitable Farm 1973

 Those that know me have heard me mention the 'farm'. I spent my 19th year living in that converted chicken coop above. I`m the middle one, the other two were friends from high school who had come by  on their way north to Vancouver. By the time I found the farm it had already been a real commune. Now it was a collection of young people who didn`t quite fit in. Willing to milk goats and weed the garden for a place to live. Everyone was female but me. It was the most educational time in my life. It was there I found my sister.

    watermedia on paper 19x14 inches, 48x36 cm

                                              watermedia on Yupo 14x11 inches, 35.5x28 cm

 Two new abstract paintings.

My practice and mental health have been all over the place. The social distancing especially is getting to me and I`m a recluse. I know many others with more tangible problems. 

Music has been a comfort but in listening to a piece repeatedly it becomes infused with sadness and I need something new again. Most of us will survive this awful time but we will always remember how defeated it felt. A better day will come.

                                                   The late Leonard Cohen buying Cheetos

Listen to his encouraging song Democracy, sung by the Lumineers.

                                                                  by Mark Rothko

 Rothko`s watercolors from the 40`s fascinate me with their loose reference to myth and ritual.

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The Apex of Spring - more plein air - -Rothko

                                               The Apex of Spring 1 oil on canvas 20x16


 A couple of weeks ago I walked the completed Burnt Bridge Creek Trail in Vancouver WA. Much of it was open to the sky but on this overcast day it was cool. The new growth of the season was peaking, the grasses forming seed heads but nothing yet fading to yellow. This moment in the Northwest is truly extravagant, everything exudes health and vitality. Then it ends suddenly as summer advances and the rain stops until autumn.
I painted two views of the creek.

                                                The Apex of Spring 2 oil on canvas 20x16


 And the antidote for green is Red of course. I need it more than ever in summer.

                                                      watermedia on Yupo 12x9


In a 'first' for me, I did some plein air painting the other day in a friend`s boat on Lake Oswego. Although we were anchored somewhat, the boat drifted in a slow circle while we painted Phantom Bluff. The steep basalt cliff has an almost decorated look with colorful lichens, mosses and ferns cascading down it. Best of all was just feeling the water under the boat. Just a little motion which along with the sweet breeze made for an 'I can die now' sensation. The painting was shiny and wet and I thought 'Damn  Randy, you good!' Then I went home and saw it dry. What was I thinking? My bold adventure in color looked garish and cartoony;

                                           Phantom Bluff watercolor on Yupo 10x8


 It was still a lot of fun!
I did do a remarkable rescue however. When I got rained out painting with my friends beside Tryon Creek during the Paint Out, I figured my watercolor had been ruined. This is what it looked like when I pulled it from the plastic bag meant to protect it;

But because the experience was so recent and my impression of the dark creek still clear, I was able to find my way back in;

                                         Muddy Creek Study watercolor on Yupo 12x9


 When the great painter Mark Rothko committed suicide in 1970, I was 16. This was obviously a tragedy for the world but also a devastating personal blow. I was beginning to imagine about my future life as a painter and he mattered to me because of his persistence through ridicule and poverty. And he had become celebrated at last!
“The only thing I care about is the expression of man's basic emotions: tragedy, ecstasy, destiny”
His shimmering giant paintings had opened up the concept of abstraction for me. He was the guide who showed me exactly how less is more;

 Chronically depressed, acclaim and success could not sustain him.
Through Pinterest, I`ve run into some early watercolors he did as he was becoming influenced by the surrealist ideas about the unconscious;

 So when I saw these, I was initially shocked. The disrespect shown to this grave, tortured artist was an outrage.
But also hilarious!

This is good too;

 The extraordinary painter [and pal] Don Gray is having a show at the RiverSea Gallery in Astoria June 13 through July 7. Included are some truly poetic seascapes like this one on the invitation;

 Check out Astoria while you`re there. Our local public radio was touting it as a new hipster outpost. It couldn`t be more beautiful and it`s affordable! It`s like a tiny San Francisco!

work for sale in my studio