Second Demonstration

This is a closer view of the wetlands painted without a reference. It`s interesting to me that I use my visual memory so much more as I age while the 'real' one is so predictably unreliable. Below is my hardworking intern, Cooper. Portland Open Studios and Portland Community College partnered to give young creative students an opportunity to be involved in the tour. The final weekend begins Saturday at 10. I`ll be demonstrating mixed watermedia on Yupo, the plastic paper from Japan, at noon on both days.

watermedia on Yupo 11x20

work in the studio

Open Studio Demo - Storm over Minto Brown

Well, it was wonderful experience for me! Many super nice people, some sales and a demonstration painting that succeeded in getting across my techniques. The subject was my beloved Minto  Brown Island Nature Preserve in Salem. And my studio has never been so orderly. Day #2 is tomorrow the 13th. http://www.portlandopenstudios.com/

watermedia on Yupo 15x20

available work on hand

Portland Open Studios!

The tour begins tomorrow Oct. 12. Lots of good work by sincere artists. Visit one or two, the studio can be a lonely place. We want to talk to you!
Above are older works that will be on view in my studio.

available work in the studio

Portland Open Studios Tour - Unposted New Work

 By now, anyone at all who visits this blog knows that I`m taking part in the Portland Open Studios Tour this weekend and next. Please come by if you can. Maps with the locations of all the artists are being sold at New Seasons Markets and I have some too. The organization asks that we not post our address publicly because the sale of those maps and calendars finances the tour. If you`d only like to visit me, which would be missing out on some wonderful work, email me for the location of my studio. I will be demonstrating a mixed watermedia technique on Yupo at noon each day and may have a chance to continue painting as the day progresses. Here are some recent paintings that I never blogged about but they`ll be in the studio too, as well as large and small canvases and many works on paper.

other available work

Desolate Landscape

When I began this painting of the Finley Wildlife Refuge last month, it was to be a green marsh like I saw there in June. Then, I had a visitor from Canada who wanted to watch me paint. Since this was what I was working on, I resumed painting. Maybe because I was explaining my process and not paying attention to my original idea, in short order I had this apocalyptic landscape.
watermedia on paper 12x16


available work

Plein Air Oregon City

The day could not have been more beautiful, my subject could not possibly have been more complicated. On the rare occasion I paint on location, I sit down with the painting on my lap using watercolors. That didn`t work out so well, I couldn`t see what I wanted to paint.  So I stood on the Promenade, above the industrial district, balancing my board on a column and did my best. This was the view;

I`m not a straight line kind of painter but I`ve always thought the mills were fascinating visually. I focused on just a section of one a couple of years ago;

Earlier in the morning, John and I toured the defunct Blue Heron Paper Mill and heard all about the ideas to restore and develop the 23 acre abandoned property. The location is just sensational with the Willamette Falls right beside it. Oregon City was our state`s first capital and I also learned it was the first industrial area west of the Mississippi River with it`s mills and hydroelectric power station. This project is one of the most exciting urban redevelopment schemes I`ve ever heard of. I plan to be involved somehow. Below are some photos from the tour including one of my fiance! We got our marriage license yesterday from the great state of Washington! We need a wedding within 60 days!

available work in my studio

Portland Open Studios just a week away!

Late Autumn Tangle 2

With this one I just starting painting without a reference. My memories of Tryon Creek last November were my guide. Because I had handled the Yupo too much, I was immediately getting a resist that thwarted the watercolor. So sticky acrylics were used from the beginning and an image didn`t coalesce until late in the process. It was all moody color before the trees took shape.
watermedia on Yupo 12x12

Please visit me in my studio during the Portland Open Studios Tour coming  up soon

available work in my studio