Forests

                                        Above the Canal 2 watercolor on yupo 14x11


 A couple of friends and a Facebook algorithm have contacted me to see if I`m OK. They noticed I haven`t posted in a while. More often than not, when I sit down to write and show my new work, I really don`t know what to say. That doesn`t usually stop me. But I`m sick of my knees, sick about our country and until recently, didn`t have much painting to show either. But I began working outdoors in the warm light with my pals and it has helped me a lot. I painted the piece above last Friday on the bank above the canal. It began with lots of random brushstrokes and a poured on wash for a background. It didn`t take long for it to develop into an image of what I was feeling that morning, sitting in that rainforest above the water with my buddies.
We had two guest artists [anyone is welcome] along and the setting was lovely. Our long wet difficult winter has produced an even more extravagant spring than usual. Everything is huge and healthy.

                                                          watermedia on paper 24x18


 This is a rare commission. My cousin wanted something like the post card sized painting I had given her two years ago. I thought, 'I can do that'. The whole task of painting by request is tricky business, too much most of the time. The client has legitimate desires, the artist has a personal vision. Getting these in agreement is not something I`m good at. Yet I paint forests all the time so I thought it a small risk. She`s on vacation so I don`t know what her reaction will be but if it isn`t what she hoped for, I`m fine with that. It will find a home in due time.

                                                           watermedia on Terraskin 8x7


A practice exercise before hand.

                                                  Along the Canal watercolor on Yupo 12x9


 My plein air effort from a week ago.

                                                             watermedia on Yupo 26x20


 The demonstration painting I did in my studio on May 20th. I will revisit this I imagine. It doesn`t live up to its potential.

                                                        Cypress egg tempura 12x9 1972


 My first and only egg tempura, painted when I was nineteen. It`s a view from a tree I used to sit in, I was a devoted tree climber. I remember sometime in my 50`s realizing with sadness I wouldn`t be doing that ever again.

                                               Phantom Bluff 1 watermedia on Yupo 12x9

                                                    Phantom Bluff 2 watermedia on Yupo 12x9


 The two above were rescues of plein air attempts I made in a boat last year. They were awful and now are better but still fall short of doing that bluff justice. It`s an heroic mass of basalt rising out of the lake with all manner of colorful and decorative vegetation spilling from it. It reminds me of a Christmas tree.


 After the election, in my despair I wanted badly to be of use to someone. Use my white maleness to protect something. The fear of what had just been unloosed was palpable.
 Last Friday three men on a train in Portland were attacked for doing just that, shielding someone vulnerable, a muslim young woman and her friend. The men were stabbed in the throat and two of them died. Everyone is aware of the story.
That this unspeakable horror happened in daylight, on a commuter train in ultra liberal Portland has the community in shock. I`ve asked of myself since, would I have done anything? Would I be brave enough to confront a raving racist man? Would I remember and honor my instinct to protect?

                                                 The Deep Blue Sea by Fran Coca



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Inside Passage - Iron Mt. Spring

                                             Inside Passage watermedia on Terraskin 9.5x13.5

                                             Iron Mt. Spring watermedia on Terraskin 11x8.5


 Still aimless and liking it. Professionally, I should be working on larger oil paintings but that doesn`t seem appropriate at the moment. Lots of stuff percolating in my mind and for once I can pay attention. Being so unsure of the how and when of my recovery, I cleared most everything from my calendar. Doing so has left me with the time to think. In the end, it would be great if I could use the experience to become a better painter.


  If the state of our country is a relentless worry, finding a way to make a difference and stay sane is a worthy ambition. Not surprisingly, psychotherapists have their hands full right now. On Facebook I read an essay from Robin Chancer, a therapist, on finding this balance. It was super helpful to me and I think others would similarly benefit.
Optimism can be a way of avoiding responsibility.
I think I`ve been guilty of that.

                                                              by Georgia O`Keefe


 A couple of years ago I began a search to find out what the paper was that Georgia O`Keefe used for her modernist watercolors from the early years of her career. These paintings are extremely sensitive yet simple. Betsy Chang had been curious too and sent me a huge pdf file she had obtained from the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It contained detailed information about the materials the artist used. The watercolors were painted on 'cartridge paper', basically cheap and non-archival. I expected so as she was teaching school and probably didn`t have much money.
Anyhow, Betsy and I became friends. Here is one of her glorious watercolors;

                                                                by Betsy Chang


 A few days ago I was avoiding work and decided to google myself. There I ran into a very flattering blog post Betsy wrote about me a year ago. Immodestly, I present you the link.  Thanks Betsy!


Studio demo next Saturday [May 20] at 10 am. Let me know if you`d like to watch.
5373 Lakeview Blvd
Lake Oswego OR 97035


work for sale in the studio

Plein Air Spring

                                                              watercolor on yupo 12x9


 Who knows when we`d see the sun again? Every able bodied person went outside today if only for a moment. Sidewalks and parks got some use again. Knowing the forecast days ago, I arranged to paint outdoors with my pal Mitch.
We set up at Steven`s Meadow and took in the views. This lovely city park is just a vast field of grass open to the sky. We sat at the edge in the shadows and began painting the hedgerow in the distance. As popular as plein air painting has become, for me it is always awkward. It aways seems like a bad idea until I get enough paint on the surface of my paper. But the conversation is stimulating and without much conscious intent, something begins to form.
It was an afternoon well spent.

                                                           watermedia on paper 22x15


 This is from the mid-nineties soon after moving here. It was another sparkling April day in Washington Park.


 In the winter of 2015, once a month I did a demonstration painting in my studio on a Saturday morning. Anyone could come. I think I did six of them and then it began to feel like a complete ego trip. The master and his acolytes. However, I met some very nice people. Some of them went out of their way to help me in my recent ordeal. So I`m going to do it again on Saturday May 20, at 10am. If you think you`d like to come, please let me know. It seems 10 is about the most that can fit around my table and see. It`s a standing room situation and the floor is concrete. Not especially comfortable but the questions and conversation are always interesting. Lots of parking nearby and in my driveway.

5373 Lakeview Blvd
Lake Oswego OR 97035


 The Wonder Street Blog has a handy description of the major brands of oil paints being made. Give it a look if you`re considering oils. They sure are easier than watercolors but you need good ventilation.

                                                         mounting Yupo


I haven`t tried this technique of mounting Yupo yet but I`m going to. I`ve succeeded with small dimensions using a different method but failed spectacularly when I tried it with larger pieces. Air bubbles are the problem. An unglazed unframed watercolor that is 'stable' is a holy grail of the medium. Framing is expensive and laborious. Imagine finishing your masterpiece and just hanging it on the wall! [I would recommend a spray coat of UV protection acrylic varnish first however].
Here`s the dilemma with me; if I go to the trouble of mounting a fresh unpainted sheet of yupo, it then becomes too 'precious' to paint on. I think I`d choke up. But if I took a good completed painting and mounted it and it developed bubbles, I`d be really upset.
Is it just me or are most painters this neurotic?

                                           A beautiful painting by Bernd Haussmann.

                                                           photographer unknown

New Watermedia and regained mobility!

                                                      Red Landscape wm on paper 9x12


 This was truly a doodle. I found a failed figure drawing, turned it on its side and made her a landscape. Just a goof and sure enough without the pressure to be 'good', something interesting took hold. True red, ink black and cerulean blue, together, are an emotional combination of strength and delicacy.

                                                       Streamside Spring wm on Yupo 14x11


 This had only slightly more intention to it. Since returning to my studio, I`m mostly puttering trying to be being patient with my limited stamina.
Because Cascade Head is protected, the streams that flow off it are pristine and lush. By late Spring the vegetation is wild and vigorous. It`s a party and everyone is drunk on sunshine.

                                                          Endless Winter wm on Yupo 10x8


 A representation of the season which will not depart in the NW. Only last Friday did we have a 'once in every 100 years windstorm'. There was also one last Oct.
This is our weather now, completely unpredictable. The Republican Party owns the country since the election and they don`t believe the atmosphere is heating up. Ignoring it is good for profits.
I wouldn`t say this to a young person but I`m losing confidence in my species. It`s becoming clear human beings could lose their purchase upon the earth. We are stupid enough, just think who the most powerful man in the world is.


 As per my Californian birthright, I am driving again!
Even though I love to walk, I do not feel whole and viable without my wheels.
When I was 15 and a half on May 6 exactly, I got my 6 month learning permit. On my birthday November 6 it would expire. If I failed my driving test that day, I would have to start over. Of course I passed! Then promptly got 3 tickets within the first few months. No matter, I was a teenager in Southern California, I took my place on the freeway.
While my legs have been distressed, John has been driving as well as doing Everything else. It has been difficult being so dependent. So when I hobbled into the grocery store with my cane, alone last week, I was triumphant!

                                                              by Howard Hodgkin


 The legendary British painter Howard Hodgkin died last month. By all accounts he was cranky with a conflicted relationship with painting. His passionate paintings often took years to complete but seem executed in minutes. It is a paradox in painting that an appearance of freshness and spontaneity can be so laborious to achieve.
Here is an excellent video of the artist.


It is six A.M., and I am working. I am absentminded, reckless, heedless of social obligations, etc. It is as it must be. The tire goes flat, the tooth falls out, there will be a hundred meals without mustard. The poem gets written. I have wrestled with the angel and I am stained with light and I have no shame. Neither do I have guilt. My responsibility is not to the ordinary, or the timely. It does not include mustard, or teeth. It does not extend to the lost button, or the beans in the pot. My loyalty is to the inner vision, whenever and howsoever it may arrive. If I have a meeting with you at three o’clock, rejoice if I am late. Rejoice even more if I do not arrive at all.

Mary Oliver, from an essay in Vox Populi, 'The Artist`s Task'

Delayed Pollination

                                         Delayed Pollination watermedia on Terraskin 9.5x13.5


 When I came into the studio yesterday for the first time since January, I knew I wanted to paint something yellow, with small, short marks. I was thinking hieroglyphics in orderly rows.
Well nothing is tidy in my world so soon enough the characters started to move. A random dance, like the flight of bees. Something entomological  was going on.
Even though I`ve been indoors for weeks and love the rains of winter, something deep within me was craving light and warmth. To everything there is a season.
It`s been a long difficult winter in the Northwest and people seem tense. For the good of the community, I`m praying for some sunshine.
And hoping beyond hope that I really am on the mend this time. No more surprises!

                                                     Night Pollinators watermedia on paper 8x8


 This drawing from a couple of years ago has the same bumbling, drifting intention.

                                                          watermdeia on paper 12x9


 Another yellow painting, this one from the late 90`s. The work I was doing then attempted to fuse some representational imagery with an abstract sense of space. There were few successes unfortunately.

Shinrin-yoku

                                                        Shinrin-yoku oil on canvas 40x40


 Japanese for forest bathing. The idea that trees and nature can predictably refresh and restore us. It`s a nice concept and a better habit. In my experience, I need to be there awhile, an hour or so. It takes a bath, not a shower, to get really clean.

                                                                   Iris I-pad drawing


 Well I finally took my I-pad outdoors to see if its fancy app and pressure sensitive stylus would be the revolution in plein air painting I hoped for. Yes and no. It requires shade and isn`t real easy to see even then. In sunlight I think it would be impossible much like taking a digital photo in full sun. Why can`t they get this solved, it`s so annoying!
 At dusk I took a folding chair out in the backyard and sat in front of some gorgeous irises and drew. It certainly is fast, my eyes did adjust to so much light on the screen and I once again experienced true pleasure while drawing! This is rare for me, I`m not a patient person. Being able to shade and fill it large areas with color quickly is wonderful. I`m going to take it into a forest soon.

                                                          April Stream oil on canvas 30x40


 An April painting from ten years ago. This is Johnson Creek as it borders the Eastmoreland golf course. Eastmoreland and nearby Reed Canyon were an oasis to me when I lived in a treeless neighborhood of southeast Portland.

Ive been asked to teach a second workshop on Monday July 11 at the Coos Art Museum. I think there are three openings left.

                                                                   Willem de Kooning


Because de Kooning is such a hero of mine, I thought I knew his body of work. But not this one from the 80`s. This is before his paintings became much more minimal as his Alzheimer`s advanced. No surprise his landscape inspired canvases are my favorite. The period bridging the late 50`s-early 60`s is his pinnacle of bold abstract landscape painting. The Whitney museum`s 'Door to the River' is especially breathtaking! There weren`t a lot of them but almost every one is a home run!

                                                      A Tree in Naples by Willem de Kooning

Here he is in his studio;

work for sale in my studio

                                                                          Soon!

                                                                   by David Shrigley

Camassia - paintings of Spring

                                                           Camassia oil on canvas 56x44


 This new painting comes from the little jewel of a preserve in West Linn OR called Camassia. It`s a Nature Conservancy property and sits on a bluff above the frenzy of Interstate 205. It`s not big but it has a lot of variety and it`s always empty. Its namesake, the beautiful blue Camas flower, is in bloom now.

 I`ve admired this magnificent oak for years. On a night not comparatively wet or windy, it lost its grip and toppled. This tragedy was cleaned up quickly by the parks department. They cut it up into perfect fireplace lengths and the healthy trunk was sliced into table size rounds. An earnest young man was assessing the situation when I first encountered the scene. I thought he was trying to figure out a way to get such incredible firewood home. The next time I was in the park I saw this;

 He made a fort! Bravo! We need more of these!

 Here are some larger versions [24x24] of a series I did ten years ago of the Eola Hills wine country near Salem;

 In the spirit of 'you only live once', we are going to spend a bunch of savings to go see Iceland up close. The idea occurred to me in Yellowstone as we were astounded by all its geothermal beauty in 2012. 

Iceland has become quite popular since then. So I asked a native, tour designer to send us to places that were remote and gorgeous. That was the expensive part, but I did not want to visit waterfalls with 20 tour buses parked along side it.

The country is one of only two places in the world where the tectonic plates are visible, rising out of the ocean. And they are pulling apart too causing lots of volcanic activity! Could that be more exciting?! Pictures of that barren countryside remind me of the Southwest with its immense sight lines. Except cold. What fun!

 Be sure to register to vote! Voting in the Oregon primary means you must register by mail by April 26!

In case any of you need to know more about me, Kelly Powers at Creative Catalyst reprinted an interview with me she did several years ago. CC makes educational painting videos and I wanted them to make one of me. They said no but Kelly said she would do an interview.

work for sale in my studio [updated]

Bryant Woods Spring

                                          Bryant Woods Spring oil on canvas 40x40


 From my unexpectedly beautiful walk in the rain last week in Bryant Woods.
I guess as the new normal, this Spring too is a month early. It`s beginning to feel like Northern California!
Lots of small experiments in this one. I wanted the forest to be in shadow but with a lot of color variety and texture. As usual this involves placing paint down in a given area then moving it around with squeegees and spatulas, cutting through it with rubber scrappers, wiping it with rags and drawing into the wet with q-tips. Section by section. Nearly every successful idea requires adjustments elsewhere. Eventually it coheres or doesn`t, more luck is involved than skill. But I don`t give up easily. The foreground was to be the brightest element just as the meadow was the day of my visit.


 The magnolias are out and as splendid as always! What an extravagant tree, it`s nearly embarrassing! These 8x8 studies on wood were created in 2008 for an arts benefit sale.

 In 1983 my brother Gary clipped a article out of the Oregonian newspaper and sent it to me in Santa Fe. It was a review of the poet Lewis Hyde`s book 'The Gift'. It had the provocative subtitle of 'Imagination and the erotic life of property'. [Since changed] Well that was too intriguing and I bought it immediately. Right from the start this guy started explaining the way art comes into being and why I found the life of an artist so confusing. I have never been quite as educated and consoled by a single book. I reread it every few years and always find new insights. The introduction is beautifully written and seductive. You can read it here and this includes a link to a pdf file you can download of the whole introduction. If you`re not moved, do stop, it`s not for everybody.

 The deadline to apply for a residency at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology on the gorgeous Oregon coast is fast approaching! April 18!
I`ve stayed twice and each time was exceptional. This is the perfect opportunity to really concentrate on a project, I highly recommend it.

                                                  Autumn Slough I-pad painting


 A study for a large painting I just completed and will post soon. Procreate is perfect for composing as it is easy to change things quickly.


My favorite Frida Kahlo;

                                     What the Water Gave Me by Frida Kahlo



work for sale in my studio