Circle of Cypress

                                                   Circle of Cypress oil on canvas 40x56


 My stint of art school took place in Mendocino Calif. in the fall of 1972. The small village sits on the south side of a huge sloping headland jutting out into the ocean. A meadow covers the rest with spectacular views of the sea in three directions. It is now a protected state park.
 Near the bathrooms and picnic area was a grove of Monterey Cypress. One group of trees formed a circle with the trunks like pillars framing the scene. I loved to go there and sit at a table and watch the ocean beyond the cliffs. Lots of activity, loud and salty, but the trees made a peaceful sanctuary. Another group of these magnificent trees was planted in a double row as a windbreak for the high school football field. Walking between them was a spiritual experience! At one end I had a favorite to climb and often took a sketchbook up with me. I was like a refugee, I had escaped the horrible heat and pollution of inland south Calif. I was 18 and so ripe for a different life!
 The last time I was there was in 1986 when I drew these cypress for a future painting;

 That painting was a large watercolor I did in the early 90`s;

                                                  Circle of Cypress watermedia on paper 36x56


 Though I liked it well enough, the place never left my imagination which is why I just tried again. Closer! The trees formed a cozy little room and I think it`s the contrast of their serenity with the raging ocean outside it that I found so compelling.


 God love the internet! Because I`m easy to google, I hear from my past quite often. Usually it`s from someone who purchased a painting long ago and they want me to know they still love it. How kind an impulse is that?! A photo of the piece is often included. Usually I cringe to see what my younger self did, but not this time. Here is one from the 70`s, a creek study from the palm canyons of the Coachella Valley;

 My workshop in Coos Bay in July is full, I`m sorry if anyone was left out!

Who knows what this bird is? The photo was the best my I-phone could do. I was in the living room and it was on the fence outside. Tiny thing with a pale peach colored head and longer tail feathers than one would expect. New to my yard! In this warmer climate now, it could be from Mexico!

                                                                    Spring!


work for sale in my studio

Red Surf-hospice

                                                                 oil on canvas 8x8 2010


The ocean is the source of life on earth and our blood is the same salinity as the sea.

My mother entered hospice this week and all trajectory stopped. At 88, after a lifetime of health problems, she said no more treatment. I admire her decision. How marvelous it is to see someone face imminent death without fear. That is a gift to the living. I`ve been present for a birth  and a death and the profound gravity and intimacy are similar. It`s a privilege to be there.
She`s watching a movie tonight, so it appears Mom lives another day!

                                        Barcelona triptych three oil on panels each 24x24


I delivered this commission to the building site of the Barcelona apartments. The project is to provide low income housing in the 'old town' part of Beaverton. I was 'hired' by the Kimberly Kent Art Brokerage. I find commissions really tricky because there isn`t a personal motivation propelling the painting. But the client liked my work, I was given the theme and the specs and I thought I can do this, I`m a professional.


My show in Oregon City continues through Dec. 23, though a couple of holiday related closures are happening. If you`d like to view it, give a call first.

work for sale

Over the Sea 27 and others

                               watercolor on paper 24x18

Like most of the others in this series, this began halfheartedly but became serious. This is a 'go to' theme when I need to paint but I`m too distracted to focus. Before I understood what a complete cliche they were, I used to paint pears for this reason. They have such a curvy voluptuous form and with a jaunty phallic stem, there`s something for everybody! Someday I`ll post a bunch of them.
Here are some earlier pieces from this series. As usual, the 'styles' range from realism to symbolism to abstraction. All are me, sometimes just days apart. All are about remembrance.

                            watercolor on yupo 5x5 [#1]

                            watermedia on yupo 8x8 [#4]

                                   oil on canvas 10x8 [#7]

                                   oil on panel 5x5 [#8]

                                 oil on panel 6x6 [#13]

                          watercolor on paper 12x12 [#16]

Larry Groff`s enlightening web site, Painting Perceptions, nearly closed down this week. It never occurred to me that it cost money to produce. Which is naive because it has a wealth of information about representational painters and painting. He`s a really bright guy and asks thoughtful questions when he interviews an artist. The archives are rich with insightful, wonderful profiles. So when he said he was shutting down because of a lack of funds, I quickly made a contribution through the Paypal button I had never paid attention to. Larry wrote to say he could continue for another year. If realism is your bent and especially if painting on location or from a model is your passion, this site is extremely rewarding. Somehow I started reading it early and saw it blossom. Larry`s own recent work has become luminous and haunting.

Got to love Pinterest! How else would I have heard of Peter Hicks? He looks like a merry grandfather and  his website assembled with a kit, but this man can paint! It seems in Britain there is a respected tradition of landscape painting that is missing here. And watercolor in particular is celebrated. Even Winston Churchill was an active, decent painter! Watch this trailer for a film about Peter which is still in process. I love seeing him tilt and maneuver his support. He will do anything to get it right.

The next open studio/demonstration is Sat. Dec. 13, 10am

work for sale in the studio

Metolius [River]

                                                   watercolor on Yupo 26x20"

When I saw this river last week, its lush aquatic nature was in stark contrast to the bone dry, flammable-at-any-moment Ponderosa Pine forest it flowed through. This morning it has begun to rain, very gently. May it continue.

                                       Over the Sea 16 watercolor on paper 12x12"

The cure for anything is saltwater - sweat, tears or the sea.
                                                                                  _ Isak Dinesen


available work for sale in my studio

Portland Open Studios  [mid-Oct.]
studio address;
5373 Lakeview Blvd.
Lake Oswego OR
97035

Over the Sea 25 + Bog Forest Study

                                                          watermedia on Yupo 20x16

This was my demonstration painting I did at the Lincoln City Artists' Studio Association. The Sitka Center asks its residents to do some sort of community outreach. I contacted them and inquired about doing a demo with a casual class to follow. They were agreeable. As I`ve done many times elsewhere, I showed them a complicated mixed watermedia technique that allows for more versatility. Yupo was the 'paper' and I explained why one would go through so much trouble. Or why I do.

                                              watercolor and water soluble graphite 12x12

I`m working on a large oil painting of this boggy area close to the estuary. I did one of the same place in 2010. The depth, reflections,  textures and sense of vitality come together beautifully in this tiny spot.

Seascapes! California! Oregon! Washington! Hawaii!

                                                        acrylic on canvas 64x48 1973

 I`m transferring slides onto CDs and revisiting paintings from my past. Although I only lived near the ocean for one year of my life, I`ve painted it with some frequency. I`ve always wanted to do a concentrated body of work from new, extended experiences on the coast but that might not ever happen. In 2012 I rented a house at the beach for a week. It was in a spectacular rugged location, but I was taken with a little creek that ran by the house. I sort of ignored the sea. So I think it must be more of a metaphorical significance for me now. The painting above was done at 19 and the seascapes I did when young are from the vantage point of being in the water. I loved swimming in the ocean almost more than anything. Over time other aspects became the focus, Here`s a bunch of them.

                                                    acrylic on canvas 48x48 1974

   

                                                       acrylic on canvas 40x30 1978

                                                     acrylic on canvas 40x40 1980

                                                           oil on canvas 48x34 1986

                                                           oil on canvas 68x48  1988

                                                           oil on paper 30x22 1994

                                                         oil on canvas 48x48 2000

                                                            oil on canvas 36x24 2006

                                                         oil on canvas 24x24 2009

                                                            oil on panel 20x20 2013


work in the studio

                                                              

                                                           



                                      

Cambria

This was the demonstration painting for the class I taught last Saturday. I asked everyone to work from a drawing. I chose one I did last year in California. After walking on the bluff above the ocean, I came indoors and did a sketch imagining the cliffs from out in the water. I believe when I draw my subject first, there is often more insight and understanding of it when I begin to paint.
This coming Saturday we`re going to work from something actual, like a flower or some other still life. We all have great cameras in our pockets with our smart phones. I`m very grateful for this but there is a real risk we won`t slow down enough to closely study something.
watermedia on paper 20"x16"


available work in my studio

Kauai 5

I knew of this cove from photos years before I eventually saw it. When I flew over and recognized it, I felt affection, 'we finally meet'.
oil on cradled panel 20"x20"

Kauai 4

I`ve always avoided painting sunsets. The odds of painting a cliche are about 95%. But we all love to look at them! The ones in New Mexico were far and away the most spectacular I`ve ever witnessed. On a summer evening, especially after a rain, the whole sky, every bit of it would turn into a theater of moving color. It would seem to last for hours. In Hawaii I saw a different type. Because of the latitude, the day ended quickly and the sunset was brief but often radiant. Probably from the humidity. It would proceed from some rosy clouds, then the air itself became pink, then me too. As darkness fell, high up in the sky, some clouds still caught the last of the fading sunlight.
oil on cradled panel 20"x20"

Neahkanie Cliff

My problematic horizontal seascape from the other day was painted over, you can see remnants here and there. I`ve been looking at this cliff for a week and finally saw a composition.
acrylic on panel 20"x16"



Available Work

Above the Falls Above the Shore

We were hiking on Neahkanie Mountain the other day and noticed a detour on the trail. I needed to know where it went. A short walk away, we came to a clearing with a view down to the lip of a waterfall dropping to the beach, with the ocean beyond. Spatially, the juxtaposition of the two scenes was really interesting.
acrylic on panel 20"x16"


Available Work

Stream to the Sea

Shallow streams flowing into the ocean are everywhere on the Oregon coast. They`re beautiful and kids love them too.
watermedia on paper 13"x8"