Abstraction, national tragedy, plein air again

                              Untitled-violet watercolor on Yupo 18.75x14.25 inches, 48x36 cm


How are we now?
If I don`t attend to this blog I eventually get an email asking me about it. Where are you?
That anyone cares is touching, so I keep it up. It has brought me many friends.
Usually I just feel like I don`t have much to contribute and with this pandemic, only rage and sorrow. Who needs more of those? I will say this,  our lack of national mourning is dehumanizing, and a lost chance for unity. Such a pity.
The virus has claimed the lives of thousands more than the Vietnam War.
I remember that war vividly, I might have been drafted. The body bags returning home were endless.
Yet in just two months, over 89,000 people have lost their lives. I read the other day that just to speak their names would take over three days.
Our HIPAA laws forbid identifying photography of the sick so we are mostly unable to imagine the horror in the hospitals. In written accounts it is palpable but without images our collective experience of this historic tragedy is stymied. Unless we have lost someone, our pain is about the quarantine, economics and psychological survival. All important but as Governor Cuomo has said, death trumps everything. We have lost so many citizens, far more than any other country.
So, as we lurch to reopen our businesses and public spaces, I`m afraid we will not account for the dead. They will be quickly forgotten even as the numbers mount. I try to internalize what is happening for my own consideration. I read every obituary I see. I want to feel this moment.
The New York Times has segregated the covid deaths in a section called Those We`ve Lost. It feels important to read about the lives of these New Yorkers. It`s the closest I`ve been able to get, to understand what we are losing. New York is the mythic city of our ambitions and ideals, it deserves our attention.

 In the beginning of this pandemic, when it seemed quite possible I could get infected from living with a nurse, that I could conceivably die, I had to quickly reconcile the life I had already lived in order to face whatever came next. As whole as I could be. When it was clear the tsunami had missed Oregon, I was incredibly relieved and grateful. Yet this is not over by any measure. The economic hardship alone is going to be immense and crippling. The virus seems utterly unpredictable with reports now of it reinfecting those who had recovered, causing strokes in young patients and responsible for a serious inflammatory situation in children. It is no time to let down our guard. As I thread my way though this scary reality I`ve realized I need to clarify for myself not just how to survive but why. What gives me purpose? Painting of course is my reflective answer but it has not risen to this occasion. The overwhelming uncertainty is undermining the best intentions I realize, but underneath that is a personal question. Am I giving it my best self?, the deepest one? Reflecting on my experience while working I noticed I was not engaged with the landscape like I usually am. Could be that my walks now are anything but solitary. The forests near me are bustling with families out for diversion from their locked down lives. I`m completely sympathetic but I am not having the insightful and stimulating observations that have been the source for my work. So I`ve recently detoured into abstraction with more serious intent than I have had in years. The lack of a subject  causes persistent anxiety eventually and I return to representation. But now, with everything and everybody unsure, it feels right. The paintings are born with simply color in mind.

                                  Untitled-blue watermedia on Yupo 26x20 inches, 66x51 cm

                          Untitled-for Susan watermedia on Yupo 12x12 inches,  30.5x30.5 cm

                                           Untitled-red watermedia on Yupo 9x8 inches


Here are a couple of the better landscapes that preceded them;

                                 Mill Pond watermedia on paper 14x14 inches, 35.5x35.5 cm

                                     Twilight watermedia on paper 19x14 inches, 48x36 cm

                            Willamette Valley April watermedia on Yupo 20x13 inches, 53x30.5 cm



 Like many others, John got extremely frustrated that we couldn`t find toilet paper. When he finally located some online, he bought a huge bundle;

 Lyndon included for scale. Here is a single roll;

Notice the size of the hole.

 
Two great minds working together found a way to actually use it. This is industrial strength TP, interstate gas station grade. We have many years of supply now. Should anyone get desperate, you know who to contact.

An empty Golden Gate Bridge under quarantine. Unimaginable.

 If you`re a confused creative, let Matthew Inman tell you how it works. His take on running was one of the funniest things I ever read. He is well acquainted with his shadow.

.


This was an unequivocal success! Tahitian French Toast!
John had made an amazing spongy kind of bread that was going stale and I had just bought a bunch of Ataulfo mangoes. This kind;

Not the beautiful but disappointing red and green ones.
So I thought a tropical version of French toast would be good. I put a little dark rum in the eggs and then topped the toast with lots of mangoes, toasted coconut and almonds, a drizzle of maple syrup and crowned with creme fraiche. It was a delicious homage to the carbohydrate.

I`d love to hear what others are making, this is a perfect time to experiment.

                                 Bryant Meadow watercolor on Yupo 14x11 inches, 35.5x29 cm

What a gorgeous morning! I was sitting in that meadow painting the day.
Even with my current ambivalence about landscape painting, getting out and just being there was a joy.

                                                         dazzling   Shara Hughes

Now she is a colorist!

by Bill Watterson

Click HERE for work for sale in my studio

HERE for prints

Summer Work

                                               In the Canyon oil on canvas 30x30 [76x76 cm]


 This came together in a 12 hour day, it`s been a long time since I`ve done that. I didn`t intend to and as the day progressed, I started letting go of my other plans. This is an imaginary composition of the Oneanta Gorge in the larger Columbia River Gorge, and I had done a study years ago. Can something be a study when there was only memory to guide it? It felt great to paint in the 'zone' again but when I took it outdoors to photograph, the greens screamed at me. So then I spent several days adjusting them and in the end there is peace.


 It can`t possibly last but Oregon is having a mild summer. Like they used to be and I am beyond grateful. In this new age of global warming, the sweetness of a day feels to me extravagant. I want to honor it. To that end, I`ve been painting outside some. The results aren`t too successful yet but these two cheered me on;

                                 From Luscher Farm watercolor on Yupo 14x11 [35.5x28 cm]

                                     Untitled Forest watercolor on Yupo 12x9 [30.5x23 cm]


 Lots of unfinished oil paintings about but they are slowly coalescing. Very slowly. I`m close.

                                            watermedia on Terraskin 12x12 [30.5x30.5 cm]


 As I plot my strategy for re-engaging with the oil paintings, I paint watercolors. Even a decent abstract one!

 Everybody has seen the photos, most are appalled, but unless the courts order more humane treatment, these concentration camps at the border will persist. This is what the president wants and his party is mostly silent. Deterrence to immigration through cruelty. I am so ashamed of my country right now.

 Illegal immigration is a persistent problem but these Central Americans are fleeing lawless countries menaced by drug criminals. They struggle to come here for the mere chance their children will be safe.
In my opinion, we broke those countries and we own them now. Where to start? We overthrew democratic governments to make banana agriculture profitable for American business interests. That`s where 'Banana Republics' come from. We supported dictators who enabled businesses to exploit those countries for any resource that was marketable. Our disastrous war on drugs caused these societies to degrade into vicious feudal territories ruled by drug gangs. We used those countries in a petty proxy war with Russia, ignoring the needs of the citizens but keeping their governments placated with foreign aid. So now a lot of those people want the hell out of there just to survive. It will never happen, but I think we need a separate immigration policy with those Central American countries. And major investment in their local enterprises. Throw in sensible drug laws since this is a fantasy.


 And since this is a serious tone, here is an article by Bill McKibben on our new climate.

For now, the fate of our country resides in the Republican Party. Will any patriots besides Justin Amash emerge? Sure looks doubtful as that institution slides into fascist policies without a hiccup. The voter suppression alone is an outrage.
 We all can see it. That damn red hat is a swastika. American style.


 OK then.

 Look at these beautiful paintings by Jordan Ellingston.
A year ago he wrote me and invited me to come paint with him in Kauai. I could stay in the room he rented, he would sleep in a tent. Now that touched me, I`m a virtual stranger. He saw something in my work that had a commonality with his vision. I agree. There is an obsessive focus on the sweeping crystalline space of the North Shore that sure got to me when there in 2013.
Have you ever seen any paintings of Hawaii this soulful?

More research on the incredible power of drawing! This article caused me to examine my own resistance. As I`ve mentioned many times, I think drawing is a pain in the ass. But why? Well for me it might be because I try to make it utilitarian. I see it as preparations for painting. So when I can`t indicate mass without a bunch of tedious cross hatching I get frustrated. Maybe if I just let lines be lines. I`m not sure if I can. For many years I only worked from drawings so it is baked in. That practice made me draw a lot and I truly think it`s the foundation of what I`m doing. I advocate for it all the time yet feel so little joy.

work for sale in my studio [updated]

prints from Fine Art America

Travel, Tests and Abortion

                                              [restoration marsh] watercolor on yupo 12x9

 It`s been a tentative start to the plein air season, Spring came late,  but my new set up is simple, functional and compact. I wish I had abandoned my deliberate low tech lawn chair rig years ago. I stand to paint in my studio, it makes sense I`d want to outdoors as well.
 I don`t make a lot of plans, I like life to be as slow as possible with as much time to paint as I want. My focus is on art whether or not I`m doing it very well at the moment. I`m often not and that is when I welcome any interruption whatsoever. Finding a balance between stimulation and solitude isn`t easy.
 One way to appreciate and utilize the quiet life is to go to New York City!
My husband John had been wanting a full scale total immersion NYC experience and he got one. An old friend lives in a close by suburb, so we stayed with her but took the train into the city every day. It was her suggestion and a good one. She lives in an old converted barn in the middle of a huge garden.

 A great place to decompress.
My pal and I had lived on a post-communal farm together when we were both very young. I`ve often  marveled my parents trusted me with this adventure at 19 and far from home, but it was all they really could do. They loved me. It was a pivotal experience, everything is pivotal at that age!
We became fast friends and stayed so even with a whole country between us. Being with her again in this late part of our lives was profoundly satisfying. Because our visit was a full week, John slipped into her pocket as well. He personally understands now.

                                                      The September 11 Memorial

 I had been to NY several times since the attack but had never seen the site. This was a high priority this time. Photos are vastly inadequate to convey the scene. The memorial uses the actual footprint of the two towers in creating a waterfall that flows from the edges of the open void into a pool before falling again into an unseen space. I think for many, the image of the towers melting in place was the most horrifying. The falling water suggests this. Reminds us in a way both powerful and subtle as the names of the dead can be felt by our fingers. It is a masterpiece.
The jury had this to say about the winning design;


Of all the designs submitted, we have found that "Reflecting Absence" by Michael Arad, in concert with landscape architect Peter Walker, fulfills most eloquently the daunting but absolutely necessary demands of this memorial. In its powerful, yet simple articulation of the footprints of the Twin Towers, "Reflecting Absence" has made the voids left by the destruction the primary symbols of our loss. By allowing absence to speak for itself, the designers have made the power of these empty footprints the memorial. At its core, this memorial is anchored deeply in the actual events it commemorates – connecting us to the towers' destruction, and more important, to all the lives lost on that day… 

While the footprints remain empty, however, the surrounding plaza's design has evolved to include beautiful groves of trees, traditional affirmations of life and rebirth. These trees, like memory itself, demand the care and nurturing of those who visit and tend them. They remember life with living forms, and serve as living representations of the destruction and renewal of life in their own annual cycles. The result is a memorial that expresses both the incalculable loss of life and its consoling regeneration. 

 We saw the acclaimed play The Ferryman and a dance performance by the Mark Morris Group loosely based on the Beatle`s Sargent Pepper`s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was colorful and joyous with extra music by Ethan Iverson.

 Two botanical gardens, bonsai and alone time with John Twachtman`s "Arques la Bataille" at the Metropolitan Museum. The first time I saw it in 1983 I gasped. I had never even seen a reproduction and it`s quite different from his other work. I still love it but was shocked to see the color was completely other than I remembered.
The best paintings I saw were in a show of Joan Miro`s work inspired by poetry at MOMA.

                                                                    Nozkowski


 Thomas Nozkowski died last week. Even in the title of his obituary, the size of his paintings is mentioned. His opinions about scale were reassuring to me and the idiosyncratic work he produced delighted me. He was an outspoken original. Though our work is nothing alike, I felt close to him. Read his own words.


 I`m about to begin a new period of oil painting now that I`ll have all summer to concentrate. Prior to this effort, I`ve been testing watercolor papers and trying to get my fill of watermedia. As I`ve written before, I paint with oils as a concession to successful career practices. The techniques are nearly identical but there is much more of a market for oil paintings. I live with this compromise comfortably. However there is a psychological freedom in working on paper that is unique and pleasurable. It`s less precious. Though when it comes to presenting a good one, framing costs are considerable.
So in an un-Nozkowski spirit, I`ve been painting familiar motifs on these sample papers and also trying mightily to get a good watercolor before I resume the oils;

                                                               oil on Yupo 20x16

                                                             watercolor 6x6

                                                                  watermedia 6x6

                                                                    watermedia 12x9

                                                               watermedia 6x6

                                                                    watermedia 12x9


And this last one below is painted from seeing a friends Instagram documentation of her hiking trip in Jordan [!] Something about the hills in the far distance seduced me. The outcrops were bleached to transparency much like distant views in New Mexico. Georgia O`Keefe famously called the phenomena 'the faraway nearby'.

                                                   Wadi Rum watercolor on Terraskin 12x12



 Everyone by now knows of the states trying to outlaw abortion in an effort to get a case before the Supreme Court. That a bunch of men think they can legislate what a woman can do with her body makes me crazy. I suspect most readers of this blog about painting would know how I feel and agree.
Fundamentalism, in any religion, is about control, not faith.
Here is one ministers take on the matter;

Everyone should bear in mind that outlawing it will only make abortion dangerous. That is obviously no problem for politicians who come up with laws that would prosecute a female for an abortion more severely than the man who raped her. This is the modern Republican Party.

Read Ursula le Guin`s personal remarks

Harold Ho is a hero.



work for sale in my studio

Jackson Bottom and the End of Summer

                                           Jackson Bottom watermedia on terraskin 24x18


 I was delivering a painting to Hillsboro for transport to the International Society of Experimental Artists annual show, this year in Newport Oregon. And the wildlife refuge, Jackson Bottom, was nearby. I love these places. There is hardly anyone ever there and those that are, are birders! Such lovely people! Because it was late August, the refuge was dry as a bone. The pond I painted [above] was dry and had only a living green rim that suggested moisture. Still, on a summer day made bearable by passing clouds, it was magnificent;

 The show in Newport had an interesting angle. Applicants were asked to explain how their piece was experimental. This text would be posted next to the accepted entries. Mine was a watercolor painted as if I were the painter Bjornar Aaslund of Norway. I was trying to figure out his fusion of abstract expressionism and landscape painting. Oddly, it sort of worked. Just changing my palette alone provided some insight. You can see the entire exhibit here.

 H2O has opened at Ferris State University of Michigan in Big Rapids. The brave curator saw my work online, could see the importance of water in much of my work and included me.

                                                  Summer Water 4 oil on canvas 24x20


 The smoke had finally cleared out and the summer everyone yearns for was back, but only for a few days. The transition is often abrupt and this year especially. It was still August! The population has experienced true grief. Some hold out hope for that 'Indian Summer' but the sunlight is too angled now, the days too short. Our great fear is that every summer now will be one of massive forest fires. To those climate change deniers, you will breathe the same smoke as I do. My rage and disgust with the Republican Party make me choke for words, but listen to Harrison Ford. At least an actor can hold it together to speak the truth.

                                  The Mountain from the Train watercolor on terraskin 14x11

 From my great train ride to Seattle last month.

                                                  My buddy Mitch painting en plein air


 To anyone reading who is not an artist, I suspect you too know of this rapidly expanding phenomena called Plein Air painting. Doing it outside. Rain or shine for some. Here are some profile essays on the joys and frustrations. Made me want to do more again next year.

                                              Caravan of the Moon by Eric Merrell


 Speaking of on-site painting, Eric Merell, a painter I`ve admired a long time, does so in a most original way. Here is a wonderful little video of an artist in residency he did in the desert. This guy owns Joshua Tree.

                                                                 Richard Diebenkorn


Still another nine days to see the show of early work by the revered artist Richard Diebenkorn at the Portland Art Museum. I wasn`t going to see it but my brother Mike thought differently. I`m so glad I went! It isn`t my favorite body of his work but with the scholarship in the accompanying texts, I learned a whole lot. As is true for most artists, his early career was not easy and with WW2 in process, he had some tough choices. To see the work on paper he did during this difficult time was so sweet. He was a kid!


Only two days left to see the collection of astounding, one of kind automobiles also at the museum;

 For a long time it wasn`t appealing to paint with oils, I naturally gravitated to water media. Yet I can do the same things in oils, I paint thin and flat. Plus what one puts down in oil paint stays that way by and large. With watermedia there is always an accounting for things drying lighter in value. Basically oil is far easier and the paintings find homes much quicker. Economically, I needed to figure out my reluctance. Then I saw it;

                                                                     my palette !


No wonder! Yikes! The last time I gave it a good cleaning I ended up in the clinic getting stitches in my finger. So I decided to get a new one;

 Big difference! And I`ve promised myself to observe how it gets out of control. That took about a day. I paint until I`m tired and then do a half assed cleaning. Well, not the new Randall. Keeping the scraping razor pristine is key. It`s been three weeks and it still looks new. Wish me diligence.


Here is a disturbing photo;

Chinese students taking an exam for art school


delightful photo;

 my nephew`s new puppy securely fastened



work for sale in my studio


Portland Open Studio Tour  mid-Oct.