November Gloaming

                                               November Gloaming oil on panel 12x12


 Two kinds of fog settled upon Cook`s Butte just days after Thanksgiving. Driving below it on Saturday, I saw the dome was obscured by a mist. Walking toward the top, I was soon in a light drizzle. This type of fog is being inside a cloud. The next day it was thicker but 'dry'. Both were impossibly beautiful. Literally everywhere I looked was worthy of painting;

 For me, such a visual and sensory feast just makes me want to paint.
That`s where the danger is! How in the world to even get close to such loveliness? Nature even simplifies the task by removing many of the details. The depth is solved before even beginning. Then why was it so difficult? This was my first attempt in watercolor;

But that didn`t please me so I sprayed an acrylic varnish on it and took it to the oil painting part of my studio. This what I accomplished;

                                                    November Gloaming Study


 No, no, no! Too heavy handed!
So then I began the piece at the top of this post. I changed the orientation of the composition a bit and this time began in a much more sober deliberate manner. Inspiration makes one feel so alive, it`s just about the best sensation there is. It sure can create some high expectations which are often disappointingly unrealized. That`s what it`s like to paint. Try and try again. Sometimes I think after all these years why isn`t it easier? Some smarter, better me keeps the challenge fresh by finding new ways to think about painting and the landscape too. I don`t want it easy. Even though people can recognize one of my paintings with a glance, believe me, how I got to the conclusion of each one was a lot different from the other. Knowing that each process was unique, it used to bother me that they could be so quickly identified as mine. Now I`ve come to understand that the human eye is acutely perceptive. It notices characteristics and patterns that don`t even reach consciousness. And the painter is a slave to his body. How I walk, speak, sign my name and wield a brush, it`s all unique to me and others notice.

This year Thanksgiving was in my home and just my brother and his wife were with us. I offered to cook anything,

I have enough skills to follow a recipe and I was game for adventure. What I wouldn`t do is make a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Too much variety! Oh my god, how many millions of moms pushed through their own exhaustion to satisfy the expectations of their families?? Year after year after year! Really, how extraordinarily selfless!
Well I wasn`t going to take up that cross but I would make something exotic. Problem was, we all wanted the real thing.
Portland has an established beloved deli, Elephants`, and I had seen an ad for a package Thanksgiving dinner. We got a few extra side dishes and I will tell you it was Good. The turkey especially. Reheating instructions came with it and we all felt extremely clever and well fed.

Oregon has a new Artist in Residence program and the incredible Gert Boyle is behind it! Pine Meadow Ranch is now offering all sorts of artists a chance to get some serious work done on the dry side of the mountains near Sisters. Super easy application form and an approaching deadline of Dec. 17 for sessions beginning in March.

                                                           By Kim Frohsin

                                                             By Kim Frohsin

                                                          by Kim Frohsin


 I`ve been vaguely aware of Kim Frohsin`s work for years but never took a good close look until recently. These figurative paintings from ten years ago really caught my attention. Her negative spaces are skillfully integrated with clear bold color. Newer work seems to be about architectural abstraction.

                                                          by Kim Frohsin

 Those are my boys Lyndon and Carter. They are on the edge of the bathtub because they are obsessed with this cat toy;

 It is stationed above the tub where they can never reach it. Carter`s foster mom gave it to us and it is a most excellent device. We all know playing with our cats is important but it is also incredibly boring. Right? This is the solution. The Leather Bouncer Wand is capable of many complex movements and sounds that make cats insane. This is entertaining. Other toys may look like this but this one is tough. We use it all the time and it hardly shows any wear. Trust me.

The last apple on my Honeycrisp apple tree and the only one not infested with insects. I only saw it because the leaves had fallen. It must have ripened after the cold killed off the bugs. The dwarf little tree produces lots of fruit but I don`t know how to protect it. I use a dormant spray in winter to little avail and yes, I`ve googled my dilemma. Maybe next year I`ll try something toxic. Be careful what you ask for! I was eating so many of these apples I thought I have to grow them!


when it`s good....

Happy Hanukka!



work for sale in my studio

Workshop in Seattle Feb. 2&3

Prints at Fine Art America

The River in Between

                                                The River in Between oil on canvas 50x36


 This is the third painting of these trees but finally at the scale the scene deserved. There was grandeur on the golf course that day, the fog bringing to this copse of trees an unexpected nobility. I was on one side of the Tualatin River, and they with the sportsmen were across.
It was November 4, 2016. The world would be radically threatened in four days, but this moody morning was a joy.

                                               The Flooded Trail watercolor on paper 12x9

                                           The Flooded Trail 2 watermedia on Yupo 14x11


 What do we do with so much green?
I went into the Columbia River Gorge recently to paint. It was my first visit since the catastrophic fires of the past autumn. From the interstate, I was relieved to find limited evidence though I knew it was extensive just beyond my sight line. My friend Mitch wanted to show me some island like peninsulas he had discovered earlier. The day was warm and clear and we were excited to paint. Not too far in we found the trail flooded. The Columbia was at its peak spring flow and there were many trees in standing water. Looked good to me so we sat up at the edge of the new stream, a wet tunnel through a solid green wall of vegetation. Every summer presents this same dilemma, how to make a monochrome landscape interesting? As you can see, I tackle this by adding other colors and focusing more on texture. Accuracy doesn`t matter to me but an emotional response does. Sitting in the shade with that water rippling toward me, and loving the breeze, I was happy. Later Mitch wanted to show me the views that had inspired this little road trip so we put up our gear and walked the other way around until the 'islands' came into view. They were lovely;

 We will return.
Two days later on a visit to John`s parents, we detoured to Minto Brown Island first. I had never seen it in summer so of course I expected the green. It may have just as well been Brazil. Nearly every view of the sloughs was blocked by this sort of obstacle;

 Without a machete, I chose instead to just enjoy the air. It didn`t disappoint. All of those plants were at the apex of their cycle and the smell was rich and healthy.

Below is how three of my heroes painted the summer green;

 Here Vincent Van Gogh seems trapped by the green, just like thousands of other plein air painters since. Texture was always something he excelled at so it predominates.

 He manages better here by letting the green be green.

 Now he`s finally where he can breathe again and vows not to paint the forest anymore. This gentle rolling scene is where his gift really shines.

 Gustave Klimt just totally surrenders and gives us one of the freshest, most interesting statements on green ever.

 There are more emerald shades and tints in this one and their effect is one of peace. Klimt gives us a sublime summer day to swim in.

 Gerhard Richter merely hints at green yet gives us an abstract landscape teaming growth and fertility.

Here the dense garden doesn`t even need color to suggest vitality. He probably painted it with his big toe. As all living painters know, Richter can do anything. And much better than you! It`s an old cliche to say he is the world`s greatest painter.
Unbelievably, I`ve seen David Hockney sadly shake his head on camera and indicate Richter is overrated! Now that`s green!

                                                                Hanalei Kauai Hawaii

 An interesting thing happened a couple of weeks ago. I was at a family gathering when my email notification chimed. When I later used the bathroom I checked to see what it was and it was an invitation to come to Kauai, stay in a home and paint! I thought "a groupie at last!" When I read it more carefully it created more questions than answers. A room was being offered in an old home next to the viewpoint above. However the host didn`t own it and in fact lived in a tent on the property and painted in the carport. This kind soul was looking to share the splendors of the north shore with another like minded painter. The generosity was touching. He also said he had around 40 [!] unfinished paintings and I asked to see some. Well he was no amateur. What he really needed was some encouragement. Here are two of his 'unfinished' paintings;

                                                             by Jordan Ellingston

                                                by Jordan Ellingston [this is 10 feet long]


 I told him he had found his 'voice', that elusive, essential quality artists seek mightily to find. And that the world should see these!
Last weekend he wrote again and wanted to talk. He had been painting at the viewpoint and a woman asked if she could visit his studio. He wanted coaching as she was due to arrive soon. Now I`m not exactly a hustler and all I could muster was he had to at least act like he was legitimate, look her in the eye and give her a firm honest price. A while later he texted that he had closed a nice sale with her. I felt proud of him, he`s so talented. If he just walks out his door, sets up his plein air rig at the viewpoint,  the buyers will come to him. Please stop saying they`re not done! Jordan, you may be too good for this world.

                                                                  Elizabeth Gilbert


 By the time Eat, Pray, Love entered my consciousness, it was too late. It had become a cultural battlefield so I took a pass. But after watching Gilbert give a TED talk, I listened to her novel The Signature of All Things as an audio book. It was clunky but celebrated the creative joy in science with a female protagonist. I loved it. Next I heard a short interview when her latest work was released and I was intrigued. Big Magic explores what it means to live a creative life.
Personally, it affirmed most of my own choices and was a nice pat on the back.
 Among the important messages conveyed is the idea our artistic practices need protection, not crippling expectations for a livelihood. When we prioritize our work, the rest of our lives sort themselves out accordingly. She strongly advocates that artists need suitable jobs to support their real work. It also need not be so angst ridden, that there was another more playful way to engage with inspiration. We shouldn`t take ourselves too seriously. This led to an assertion that art was really just decoration for the mind. Hmmm. She had already stated that art preceded agriculture by 30,000 years, yet it ultimately was less important for the advancement of humanity than most other tasks. Art exists to delight the imagination.
I was sure I was missing something so I listened a second time. Somehow I still think we only have a semantic disagreement on this point but I`m confused. I remember so well how literature showed me a bigger world when I was young and created a life saving sense of hope. Pippi Longstocking can do that! Her argument may be an effort to de-mystify and humanize artists, release them from their own difficult mythology. Maybe, but big magic itself is an ecstatic, spiritual experience most artists will attest to. Seems important to me, worth living a life for.

  

                                                      Poet`s Meadow by Amy Falstrom


 She is a wizard form Michigan. It`s not like she paints landscapes, more like she is part of it and merely opens her eyes. Her understanding is profound yet modest. One body of work is called Feral Places. She can elevate the mundane we walk through into the smoldering bit of the cosmos it is. The unity between the artist and subject is so close! Give her a look, be reassured by her vision;

                                       Light Garden by Amy Falstrom pastel on paper

                                           Moon Garden by Amy Falstrom oil on panel

She is my soul mate!

 What happens to the eyebrows of old men?
It`s like every hair in mine just read Thoreau and feel they must go their own way now. While they still can. I am constantly trying to contain them!

 An exhibit in Michigan coming up! I`ve never been there but I`m told by high authority it is spectacularly beautiful. Maybe Amy would meet me at the show?

Another urgent Pegasus by Christopher le Brun!



work for sale in my studio

Shinrin-yoku for real

                                                         Shinrin-yoku 2 oil on canvas 20x20


 One of my pieces in this weekend`s Sitka Invitational at the Forestry Center in Portland. The show is a benefit for the one of the coolest institutions I know of, The Sitka Center for Art and Ecology in Otis OR. Unusual provocative classes in summer, long generous residencies for artists and scholars in winter. Forty years ago, Frank and Jane Boyden had a great idea and they made it a reality. Not many do that, especially in their 20s.
This is a worthy exhibition full of landscapes and nature themed art of an unusually high quality. Give it a look and then take a walk through the arboretum while you`re up there, it`s spectacular right now!


 When I got up at 5 to go to the bathroom, I could see out my window the street lamp was a hazy glowing ball. Fog!! At last!
Just last night I was looking at my photos from autumn 2015 and remembered I wasn`t out and about too much then. This year is different. I set out early for the Tualatin-Durham-Cook`s Park trinity of autumn wonder. Once there I had a long soaking Shrinrin-yoku, a forest bath, and it did me good.
Cold wet fog always reminds me of being a kid, camping with my family on the coast of Northern California or Oregon. We fled the heat of the Inland Empire in summer and drove north. In those foggy state parks we were cool.
Look what I saw this morning;

 Now is a time for faith. Vote, then trust our great country to do the right thing. Breathe deep.

Now we know



work for sale in my studio