Plein Air Iron Mountain

                                                               Iron Mountain watercolor 26x40


 I was on location painting for two days of the recent Lake Oswego Plein Air Festival. There is an entire culture to painting on site but it`s never been critical to my studio practice so I just do it for fun.
It wasn`t the size of this painting that was so tricky, it was that dappled light falling on the paper as well as the path. The composition was straight forward so I filled the surface with paint and manipulated it as it dried. If something wasn`t working, I`d re-emulsify it and do it over. Revisions are easy with the slick plastic paper Yupo. Still, the light falling on the surface made it confusing and I was about to stop when my pal Mitch objected. That bit of faith kept me going.

                                                                 Before the Park watercolor 12x12


 A couple of days before, I was with Bert Jarvis shivering in the cold as we painted at the edge of Tryon Creek State Park. We saw two other painters on the only day the park was available to the festival painters. Too wet, windy and frigid!
 A reception will be held Oct. 7, 5-7pm at the Museum 510 in downtown Lake Oswego.


Lyndon

 I told him he was on sacred ground. That both Jackson and Lincoln had sat there before him watching me floss. He indicated he understood and accepted the rights and responsibilities of being my cat.

                                                                       Caio Fonseca


 Caio Fonseca is an interesting painter in that he works backwards. With negative shapes. He explains it in this video. I`ve been told this is a sculptural impulse, removing something painted to reveal the image. I do this at times with scrapping. Ciao paints something then paints over it again with flat color leaving behind in shapes, the original painting.


Call me stupid, naive and foolish, but after watching the first debate last night, I think my country is going to get very lucky. Who else could withstand year after year of withering attacks and still be standing? Still willing to fight for what is needed? I don`t think she wants war, I don`t think she`s a pawn of Wall St. I don`t think she`s a pathological liar. She`s tough and effective and I think one day will be beloved.
Be sure you are registered to vote!


This is the last week to see my show "New Landscapes" at the Coos Art Museum on the southern Oregon coast. It ends Saturday Oct. 1.
Thank you to those who saw it!


work for sale in my studio

December Forest 4 - 'Environments' - B&W

                                                       oil on canvas 20x16

 This is the latest in a series of the forests on Cook`s Butte where I often walk. Every time I try for the actual density of those woods but never seem to get it;

 Or the color either! Maybe I need to impose order on all that chaotic growth?
Numbers 1,2, and 3 are below, all are 20x16.

 Yesterday the paintings in my joint show with Tom Cramer, 'Environments', were delivered and hung. After bringing them in, I had 23 paintings leaning against the wall like a police line up;

The opening is Friday March 6 at 5 pm. We`ll have a gallery talk about the work Thurs. evening March 19 at 6:30 pm, and on Thurs. March 26, I`ll give a demonstration at the gallery at 11 am.
Museum 510, downtown Lake Oswego at the corner of 1st. and B ave. I hope some of you can see the show, I think it`s a good one.  Here`s a write up in the local newspaper.

 A couple of months ago I had some correspondence with the  Massachusetts painter, Ginny Zanger. She wanted to compare notes on our watermedia techniques on Yupo, that slippery plastic paper that bedevils many. When I saw her work I immediately felt she was on a similar mission. This is vain but much of her work sort of looks like mine. She`s interested in the incidental minutia in the landscape like I am. Here`s an example;

                                                             Ginny Zanger

 She has an interesting biography having grown up in South America and she`s done what many landscape artists including me would like to do, address environmental catastrophe in our work. The dilemma is about creating beauty out of tragedy and it paralyses many of us. She marched right through that and produced a stunning body of work based on the Gulf Oil Spill. Well done Ginny!

 When I was visiting my old friends in California a couple of weeks ago I saw this tiny watercolor I did in the early 90`s, a difficult time.

This was a study for 'Roses for St. Anthony' which I gave to my Dad, a devout Catholic.
 Ruth called me a colorist recently and if that`s true, it may be why I`ve retreated to black and white frequently over the years. Didn`t Monet say something about color obsessing and tormenting him every single day? I`ve noticed many times, if there doesn`t seem to be enough colors, I`ve used too many already. Sometimes none is best. Black and white paintings seem directly connected to the subconscious and are truly refreshing to paint. Here are some others;

 He`s always said it best;

work for sale in my studio
studio demonstration Sat. March 14, 10 am. 5373 Lakeview Blvd. Lake Oswego OR 97035

New Year Alders

                                                            watermedia on Yupo 9x6
Nature rewards the adaptable not necessarily the strong or even smart. I see this constantly when painting. If I can tolerate the feelings of uncertainty, even failure, and stay with the process, my hopelessness can turn to joy in an instant. Or really get mired down. But then, it`s easier to walk away having fought the good fight.
With all the blessings of the past year, I hope to be a lighter being in 2014. My anxiety is no longer protective. During the studio tour, someone asked me what my favorite watercolor brand was. Without hesitation, I said Holbein. Later I realized I only had two tubes of it. In colors I couldn`t get in a cheaper version. Now I`ve always used lightfast archival materials but a higher level of quality affects the experience. Makes it more sensual and satisfying. I can afford it now so I bought all new colors from Holbein and put them in a fancy new palette;

Since life does seem short, at least to us in the second half, I hope to notice that struggles can end too.


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

Rose

I took my own advice.
Taking the garbage can to the street tonight, I saw this rose craning toward me.  So I drew it.
graphite on mat board 12x12

Magnolia Collage

watermedia on Yupo 6"x8"

Lily

A couple of more days here on the coast and then home. I have two larger paintings in process, one promising, the other non-cooperative.
Judson`s Art Outfitters gave me a nice little plug. They have everything imaginable for plein air painting.
watercolor and graphite 8"x6"

Seed Pods

I needed to go into Michael`s Craft Store yesterday. Painters are always showing me cool stuff they bought there. This is daunting but I decided I`d explore a little bit. My timidity was justified. Every supply you`d need to make anything at all was available. It was overwhelming and busy! at 9 a.m.! I was also trying to get used to new glasses, a big mistake. I staggered out sort of nauseous with some water soluble graphite pencils and a pad of paper and did this drawing last night.
watercolor and graphite on paper 8x6

Fire in the Forest

At the height of the fires near Ft. Collins CO a couple of weeks ago, this happened without intention as I played with some new acrylic ink. I pressed a wadded up kleenex into the wet surface and when I removed it I thought 'that looks like fire'.
watermedia on paper 12"x9"




Available Work [updated]

Storm on the Lake

Yellowstone Lake. A helpful young employee at the hotel told us 3G reception was possible on a hill overlooking the lake. Although it wasn't close, we found it, read our mail and saw this magnificent storm advancing over the water.
Following David Page Coffin`s advice, I painted this on Fabriano Artistico that I had applied a thin coat of acrylic matte medium. It acts as another bit of sizing preventing too much absorption. Yupo, my usual watermedia 'paper', is completely non absorbent and the difference between it and normal papers is huge, requiring different techniques. A little layer of acrylic on cotton fiber papers bridges the gap somewhat.
watermedia on paper 9"x12"



Available Work [updated 7-4-12]