Reset

                                                       Christmas Snow oil on panel 12x12


 This painting is 2008 I think.
My knee was infected and I now have the project of my life so far. I will be giving myself infusions of IV antibiotics every eight hours through a Pic line in my arm for six weeks.
But at least I`m out of the hospital.
I will pretty much be home for awhile. There is an 'immobilizer' on my left leg to keep it straight but when that comes off in two weeks things will get easier.
I`m kind of weak at the moment but visitors are welcome!

Watercolors - Joseph Stella - Late Starts

                          Oregon Refuge 5 watercolor on paper 13x11

                          Over the Sea 28 watercolor on paper 5x7

                      Light in the Forest watermedia on Yupo 6x6

                  Winter Rainforest Study watermedia on paper 12x9

  Two new clouds, two older forests.
Unlike many artists, I don`t identify myself as an 'oil' painter or as a 'watercolorist'. I`ll paint with anything however watercolor was my first love. Maybe everyone`s, toddlers aren`t usually given oil paints and solvents.

  Because research is now instant rather than having to take a trip to the library or make phone calls, our curiosity has met its match in the internet.
Just this morning in bed, on my cell phone, I began some research into the under celebrated painter Joesph Stella. He`s long been a favorite but I remember being frustrated by a lack of information about him. Not any more. The Italian immigrant isn`t better known because he doggedly followed his muse into some very strange places. He`s best known for his early work as a Futurist and is justly famous for his magnificent paintings of the Brooklyn Bridge;

   Then he abandons the avant garde to delve inward and construct deeply personal and often complex images based on folk art from his homeland, his travels in the tropics, his interest in surrealism and experiments with collage. Most completely defy categorization;

Here is his masterpiece, 'The Tree of my Life';

  I could look at this indefinitely! I have such regard for the artist who wanders away from their fame to do something else. Something important.
This is in the National Gallery and is one more reason to visit D.C. There will be a tipping point!

  Since moving to Lake Oswego and beginning to teach, I`ve met many older adults who`ve taken up painting again after long hiatuses away. More often than not to have a family, or a more practical career. Sometimes there is a rueful quality in this decision as well as  a lack of confidence. Nearly all think the big issue is technique and the hours required to become skillful. It`s not. A long searching look within is required to figure out what you love visually. What fires you up with painting and why? This takes separating what we appreciate from what animates us emotionally. If we know what language to speak, that`s a huge advantage. Finding what we want to say will follow. If the technical ambitions correspond to the aesthetic goals, the process will have direction and focus.
  Those that persist through their feelings of foolishness and inadequacy deserve respect. They are honoring their younger selves and the ideals they`ve carried quietly with them ever since. There is a parallel in psychotherapy where the adult patient learns to recognize, then comfort and protect the child they once were. I sense with many of the adult painters I meet a yearning to retrieve something of great value. While they still can.
This is noble.

  Here is an article on some late starting artists.

 Artist Beatrice Wood. What an inspiration ! Her most productive years were from age 80 to 105. "I owe it all to art books, chocolate and young men."  

 

work for sale in my studio

watermedia demonstration in the studio Jan.10, 10 am
  

Tyron Creek Autumn

                                       

                                                               Watercolor on Yupo 26x20

  My first post from an I-Pad!

We're at the coast and it's beautiful, Oregon style. Which is quite different than the beach experiences of my young life in S. Calif. I couldn't stay out of the water as a kid. The contrast is why our neighboring state has many more millions of citizens than Oregon. Even on a perfect summer day, at this latitude, you don't really want to turn your back on the ocean. It's not your friend. So we fly kites, beachcomb, eat a lot of candy, shop, sit around fires, maybe wade a bit depending on your age, and love the sea very respectfully. 

 I'm crazy about my adopted state, but I'm grateful I grew up swimming in the ocean. A thousand miles south. I miss Laguna Beach a little on a sparkling day like today.

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

Burnt Bridge Creek Study

This  creek is in Vancouver Washington and a parallel walking/bike path is close by.
watermedia on paper 6x18


available work

December Dusk

From a study I did last year which came from a wet, dark walk on Mt. Talbert in Dec. of 2011. My instincts were correct when I saw the autumn color through the gloom. What I didn`t expect was the maroon pink hillside. I`m nearly always painting at dusk, when I actually see it while in the woods, I`m so glad to be there.
Oil on canvas 30x24


work for sale in my studio

Winter Canal

This is the canal that feeds Lake Oswego in early winter. The newly fallen leaves are still a coppery pink and they glow in the diffused gloom of the season. If you like canals, and who doesn`t, check out the Master, Bob Lafond. He has shown me the light about pastels. They are not just for sissies but are capable of anything the messy wet paints can do.
Luke Fannin said nice things about my work in the profile he wrote in promoting Create Eugene. Thanks Luke!
oil on cradled panel 20x20


available work

Above the Canal

I`ve probably done less than a dozen commissions my whole life and this is one of them. More often than not, the client naturally feels like a collaborator. I find that too difficult, so rarely do them. The only request with this piece was to try to get close to a study I did last summer. I knew I could do it and I wanted to work with that palette again. The color seemed odd at the time but worth returning to.

I saw this marvelous and huge painting at the Hawaiian Airlines terminal in Honolulu. It was painted by the late John Wisnosky. This feels like Hawaii to me. I don`t post other people`s work generally but I want to help keep his memory alive. There are three other massive paintings in the terminal by Wisnosky just as good.

Website is updated! As usual, Jeremy did a wonderful job. Let me say it again, if any painter needs a website, Jeremy and his co-designer Anneliese are friendly, professional and really affordable. Their email addresses are in the sidebar.

oil on canvas 20"x16"


available work

Ice Fog settles on the Winter Oak

From a walk last week in the Camassia Natural Area, a jewel like hilltop directly above busy Interstate 205. I had never heard of ice fog before moving here, but just like the other, it`s extremely beautiful. It frosts all the small branches and grasses and when walking through it, tiny ice particles tickle your face.
watermedia on Yupo 12"x9"


available work in my studio

Rain on the Mountain

A bigger new oil painting. I`m deciding if it`s too subtle.
Oil on canvas 40"x30"


Available Work

Winter Copse

Most painters probably experience this occasionally; work that seems clever at the time is sold and later, on review of the photo, looks unresolved and embarrassing. Just as often, a temporary frustration causes me to destroy something that actually had promise. I could fill a gallery with worthy 'lost' paintings. Oh well, I live in the moment in my studio. Here`s an example from last winter that didn`t survive.
oil on canvas 30"x24"

Above the Canal - Plein Air Watercolor

I got out yesterday with my buddy Ruth and we painted on the bank above the canal which supplies Lake Oswego with its water. When faced with so much complexity at an actual site, one has to think about the essence of it. How in the world can I reduce this experience to a small piece of paper? This is always so much fun I vow to do it more often. It was a perfect late summer day.
watermedia on paper 12"x9"



Available Work

North Umpqua Study 5

In Oregon`s temperate rainforests, the base of a waterfall is usually dark and moody with plants clinging to anything possible.
watermedia on Yupo 12"x9"



Available Work

North Umpqua Study 4

I think this is the last Umpqua study, it`s time for oil painting. This was painted on a blue ground to emphasize the shade.
Acrylic on Yupo 8"x26"



Available Work