Estuary Overlook

                                                   Estuary Overlook oil on canvas 40x30


 This is my contribution to the upcoming exhibit "Ode to Tides"

 In too many places worldwide, wetlands have been thought worthless. They were drained then turned into pasture, farms, industrial sites or communities. In hindsight we know now how foolish that was. Beyond being rich incubators of diverse forms of life, they also can cushion inhabited areas from the worst effects of storm surges.
 So "Ode to Tides" aims to educate the public while preserving and celebrating Oregons 22 estuaries, including its tide pools and shorelines. This is a project of the Wetlands Conservancy and will travel throughout Oregon in the next year. The opening reception is May 2 at the Giustina Gallery at Oregon State University in Corvallis.
 I wanted to participate because these landscapes are important to me. For reasons personal and civic. No matter how huge and refreshing the ocean is, any time I visit the coast, my back is to the sea in short order while I explore the tideline, rivulets, dunes, marshes, rocks and tide pools, all part of the intertidal web of marine relationships. Their conservation is a just cause. In Oregon, the entire coastline belongs to the people. We are so fortunate to have access to the water and all of the ecologies at its edge.

                                                                      superbloom


 See that orange stuff, those are California poppies! I took this photo from the airplane as I was leaving. I knew from my visit to the soggy Coachella desert last February, things were not as they usually are. And press about the states superbloom has been everywhere. Still, as a native and veteran of droughts my whole life, it was extraordinary to see the state so vibrant. Everyone said it was over too when I arrived in early April. Yet what I saw was the California of dreams.
 I was visiting friends and family with challenges that I wanted to see for myself. Everyone was doing the best they could and I got to see grace and courage up close. Witnessing good attitudes under pressure is instructive.  I was happy I came.

 Two pictures from a moving train on a gorgeous ride from San Luis Obispo to Irvine.

                               
 A eucalyptus forest I walked in and got a tick!

 The shade of a Live Oak, some of the best climbing trees in the world!

                                                  Pugs on the Beach by Trajan Lunde


Another artist in my family, Tra is my great-nephew. His grandparents knew good work when they saw it and framed it.

                                                                  by Jason Mayer


 Jason Mayer was my capable instructor when I did monoprints last month. He is giving a three day workshop in his studio in Portland coning up soon. It will be fun, plus this guy has a real feel for open space and lonely landscapes. He is a visual poet.

Ghostprint Studio
Monotype Workshop, May-14-16, $210

Join artist Jason Mayer for a three day workshop on the art of monotypes. Monotype is the most free and painterly style of printing. In this workshop you will learn to layer images to create depth and beauty. Mayer will walk you through the process of reductive and additive techniques that create a unique image with each pressing

10am-4pm Tuesday, Wed, Thurs. Hour lunch break, 12-1.

To register email manifestj71@gmail.com. Class size is limited. A $75 fee is required to hold your spot. Accept PayPal via manifestj71@gmail.com. All materials provided. Ghostprintstudio is located in downtown Portland and easily accessible by the Max line, Trimet, and Ctran.

Ghostprintstudio.com

• 
  
• 
  
•  My first plein air effort of 2019. I just bought the only portable watercolor outdoor easel Cheap Joe sells and I wanted to try it out. I like it. For one thing I`ll be standing which is what I do in the studio. Everything had its place but I discovered I`m still going to have to lug my lawn chair with me. I need to sit occasionally. 
•  Here is Eva Bartel`s rig;
• 
  
• 
  
• 
   
• 
  
•  She wants to be comfortable and has figured out a way to transport everything via a golf caddy cart. Her beautiful work can be precise and that takes stable conditions while working. Here`s what she paints;
• 
  
• 
  
• 
                                                                                           Eva Bartell
• 
  
• 
  
• 
                                                                                                Eva Bartell
• 
  
• 
  
• 
                                                                                             Eva Bartel
• 
  
• 
  
•  I`m in awe of her ability to create these thoughtful paintings while being tormented by mosquitos, getting sunburnt, coping with the wind and glare and even with her efficient system, it can`t be easy to get to these places. She`s a hero.
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
                                                                                   photo by Joe Freeman
• 
  
• 
  
•  Here are some troubling yet compelling landscapes. The area is visible at times, in the distance from the interstate. Joe Freeman doubled back and went to check it out. It`s an interesting if disturbing story and his photos elevate the scene into something powerfully eloquent and foreboding. I live in a house made from old growth timber, the stretchers supporting my paintings are pine, wood is good!  yet I have trouble imaging someone taking a saw to one of these monolithic ancient trees. 

• 
       
•  Here is advice for the artist from the venerable Willem de Kooning. It`s worth the read.
• 
  

                                                                            by shitty watercolor

                                                      Creek Alcove oil on canvas 48x48

work for sale in my studio

Monoprints!

                                                                             20x20

                                                                           15x11

                                                                         20x20

                                                                            15x11


 To make a monotype, one essentially paints an image on sheet of plexiglass, a piece of paper is carefully placed on top and then this 'sandwich' is squeezed through a printing press. The painting transfers to the paper with surprising results. It`s an exercise in non-attachment as the painting will not look like the print, just 'related'. I tried this 30 years ago and wondered why I didn`t just eliminate the whole 'creating through pressure' step and just do a painting. The question remains though I know the answer;

                                                         monoprint by Jason Mayer


 Jason, who claims not to be a painter, dashed this off in moments. That`s why I try.

                                                         monoprint by Forrest Moses


 The idea is to make something spontaneous, send it through the press and see what you got. Hopefully something fresh and spirited like this one by the New Mexican artist Forrest Moses.

                                                         monoprint by Edgar Degas


 Degas did some too!
My friend, the formidable artist Don Gray, turned his studio into a laboratory and invited me, Ruth Armitage, Jim Young and Jason Mayer over to play with this process for a couple of days. Our leader and technical advisor was Jason. He was an extraordinarily patient and thorough instructor and he did not get much of his own work done. This party included a sleepover for Ruth and me and Don`s wife Brenda saw to our nutritional needs. What fun! The experience was carefree much like the plein air painting I do with friends. Such simple intimacy is too rare in my life.

                                                                monoprint by Don Gray

                                                                    Don and Ruth

                                                         Hog Island oil on canvas 20x16


 I did it! Finally a painting of Hog Island that feels like the place.

It`s those murky shadows under the trees that get me. In summer, with the oaks leafed out, it is just another green view. The mystery is a winter pleasure.

                                                            by Lorrie McClanahan


 I have a new friend in Texas!  Lorrie McClanahan appeared to me on Instagram and we had a mutual sympathy with each others work. She is fearless as she explores all manner of mediums and materials.

                                                               by Lorrie McClanahan


 Artist Books are an important part of her practice. Look at this clever way she displays them on an acrylic shelf together;

                                                           books by Lorrie McClanahan



Instagram, btw, is a direct and effective means of interacting with interesting people/painters. See something you like? Write the artist a thoughtful comment and you`ll most likely hear back from them.

 My buddy Ruth Armitage is going to France and will be exploring color in the landscape with a handful of fortunate painters. She told me the other day that there were two spots open. She`s rented a chateau and has experienced, fun guides to whisk everyone from painting locations to villages to wineries to restaurants for seven days. Sounds amazing to me!

                                                La Sagrada Familia when finished in 2050


 This thing is nearly finished! I remember reading about it in an encyclopedia when I was a kid. I couldn`t imagine something taking over a hundred years to build. Guess it could. Probably won`t be open for worship in my lifetime but it`s getting close!

 In this photo you can see the final central towers emerging. How incredibly exciting!

 The architect, Antoni Gaudi, is a universally beloved artist. His designs are so rich in imagination, they delight the child and stun the adult.

                                                   The Sitka Center for Art and Ecology


April 16 is the deadline for applications for an artist in residency at the phenomenally nurturing Sitka Center. Trust me I`ve been one, this place is magic! The campus sits upon Cascade Head, a geological marvel that juts out into the Pacific. It is so pristine and healthy, it is a protected UNESCO site. Safe for introverts too, no communal anything!
Here are some photos I took in 2014;

                                                          The Marcia Burtt Gallery


 The wonderful Marcia Burtt Gallery in Santa Barbara California is featuring an online exhibition of my work on paper. Please check it out!

                                                     Gerard Depardieu enjoying his life



work for sale in my studio

Prints from Fine Art America

some winter landscapes

                                             Fanno Creek in Winter oil on canvas 40x30


 For many, this winter has been rough. The weather more extreme, our government more depressing. Everyone knew how the shutdown would end yet it was agony for 35 days.
Finally though there are signs of life! Quite tardy here however, it`s not unusual for things to start stirring in late January.
Now I take my responsibility as the local head cheerleader for winter very seriously but even I fatigued and wished it weren`t so damn cold.

                                                 Almost Snowing oil on canvas 20x20


 For days it became common to glance outside and see snowflakes drifting down. It is not welcomed in the cities of the Pacific Northwest, in fact it causes panic. There have been raids on the grocery stores by anxious citizens, many cancelled school days and weeks long power outages in the countryside. A mess, but the forecast for this weekend is 70 degrees! Yes!

                                                    Bryant Woods Walk oil on panel 12x12


 This one was more like a long doodle. It started with more realism but as I randomly amped up the color, my trees became more stylized. Yet it still has the spirit of my beloved park.

                                                     Songbird by Nicholas Wilton


 Isn`t that magic? If you don`t know Nicholas Wilton, it`s time you did. He is a mensch extraordinaire! His work is always interesting and he`s a tireless, generous educator and mentor.
He interviews the great painter Krista Harris in this video. It is a remarkable conversation full of insights into the painting process and completely absent of ego. Listening to the two of them talk about their [abstract] work, it made perfect sense why I find painting non representationally so incredibly difficult. If you paint, this is well worth your time.

                                           Everyone we have ever Loved by Krista Harris

 You`re looking at a game changer here. Among the many things I learned at my workshop was the revelation that some Q-tips come with points! They are used for makeup apparently and are overpriced but they do fine job of carving trees out of wet paint. So much of my technique involves removing paint creatively. Blotting is a current field of experimentation.


I was introduced to Howard Hodgkin 35 years ago and I didn`t take to him immediately. The work was so simple and the painted frames seemed gimmicky. Yet I wanted to keep looking and in time I  became deeply affectionate toward his work. He`s one of a handful of artists whose paintings suggests an entirely new and separate reality. For me. This other world is one of pure sensation. Because of the era he was born into, this gay man, like millions of others, married in order to have a socially legitimate life. Such a common tragedy for his generation. But look at his stuff!;

 Though I`m not directly influenced by him as an artist, as a human being I`m so grateful he lived and gave the world such intensely personal images. He made the heroes journey.

                                                              oil on canvas 20x16


 This did not succeed and I threw it out but I am returning to this island in my next painting. It lies close to shore but away from homes in a quiet stretch of the Willamette River. I`ve tried three times now to get something of the atmosphere of its dark oak forests. I will prevail eventually.

online exhibition at the Marcia Burtt Gallery



work for sale in my studio