Pandemic Landscapes + Portland Open Studios

                                                Marsh Forest watermedia on Yupo 14x11 inches

 Please bear with me. In the interest of earning a living, I am going to promote my work here even more than normal. As an introvert, I assure you this is not what I want to do. But I do want to paint, the stuff deserves to be seen, and I like it when they are off on their own at last. So there are several ways to see my work in October besides on this blog. As I mentioned, again I will be part of the Portland Open Studios on the weekends of the 9th and 10th and the 16th and 17th. 10 am - 5 pm. 

5373 Lakeview Blvd, Lake Oswego OR 97035. Call if you get lost; 503 380 4731

The paintings here were created or finalized during these past 18 months of Covid 19. I returned to landscape occasionally to feel competent.  During most of this time, I`ve been trying to figure out what abstract painting is for me. I`m a true believer in the importance of modernism yet whenever I`ve tried to execute purely non-objective work I`ve gotten stuck rather quickly. I have viewed this as evidence that at heart, I`m a landscape painter. Well the fear and panic I felt in the early days of the pandemic as the death toll mounted, demanded I respond appropriately. For me, this meant taking on a challenge as difficult in a purely personal sense. Getting through that wall of confusion when painting abstractly became my goal. After all this time, I am only more familiar with the project. I intend to keep at it. Many of those paintings and the landscapes below will be on view during the Open Studios. I`d like to show them to you.

                                         Creek, Low Tide watermedia on Yupo 16x20 inches

                                                        Quiet Forest oil on canvas 12x9

                                            Oregon Refuge watermedia on paper 12x9 inches

                                     Copse of Winter Alder watermedia on Yupo 14x11 inches

                                              Young Trees watermedia on paper 19x14 inches

                                               Cumulous watermedia on Yupo 14x11 inches

                                       Cook`s Butte Study 1 watermedia on Yupo 14x11 inches

                                       Cooks Butte Study 2 watermedia on Yupo 14x11 inches

                                          Stafford Valley watermedia on Yupo 11x14 inches

                                          Wetlands Study watermedia on paper 14x12 inches

                                                   Hedgerow acrylic on paper 24x18 inches

                                               Sundown watermedia on paper 19x14 inches

 I will also be sending out an announcement soon about the studio tour. Some of you will get it as well as this blog newsletter. Forgive me, my mailing list resists every effort I make to streamline.

I have 10 big paintings in the West Linn Lutheran Church along with paintings by my pal Mitch Burrell;

Creative Spirits Gallery Re-Opens September 3rd, 2021         We have missed having new art on our walls, and neighbors and congregants visiting to enjoy it. West Linn Lutheran Church's building has been successfully open for a little while now, and we feel confident that our anti-Covid measures are allowing folks to spend a little in-person time safely in community. We are therefore very pleased to announce that we have two wonderful local artists in the Creative Spirits Gallery this fall.  Learn about our artists below, and come see their work yourself, on display whenever the building is open, from September 3rd through the beginning of November. Masks are required while inside WLLC so please wear your mask, to keep your neighbors safe.         Randall David Tipton has painted in Portland for more than 25 years. Here's a little about his practice, in his own words: "Landscape has been my primary interest from an early age. I am mostly self-taught, and have been deeply influenced by the American abstract expressionists, particularly by their belief in improvisation as path to something unique and meaningful. I was fortunate to study with Richard Diebenkorn in the first master class at the new Santa Fe Institute of Fine Art. Walking is an important part of my life and work. When I'm in the landscape, I often have a camera, notebook or sketchbook to help me remember my response. What I see and experience outdoors is the basis for most of my painting." You can follow Randall's painting online via his blog.         Mitch Burrell told us, "While out on walks with my dog, Greta, sometimes I will come upon a scene that is so profoundly moving that Greta and I will pause and sit silently, absorbing the wonder that is Nature.  Greta somehow seems to grasp the importance of these times, and she seems to appreciate them as much as I do — it is as if we bear lone witness to these brief marvels of the natural world.  I try to hold onto these feelings, and once I return home, I do what I can to capture the moment in paint.  Scenes with light reflecting on water, or the fleeting luminosity of changing weather can be especially inspiring. My hope is that with repeated effort to render these moments on the canvas, my skills and knowledge will improve to the point that I can faithfully render my intent.  It promises to be a lifelong challenge."         West Linn Lutheran Church 20390 Willamette Drive, West Linn, OR 97068  503-656-0110  www.wllc.org

 

And, the White Bird Gallery in Cannon Beach has my first exhibition of all watermedia on paper, on view through the month of October.

I will return to my typical wandering in my next post.

White Bird Exhibition

click HERE for work for SALE  in my studio

Prints are HERE

Exhibition at the White Bird

 

 The show I`m having at the White Bird Gallery in Cannon Beach Oregon coincides with the 50 year anniversary of the gallery. I`ve been a part of it for 35. The poster above is available from the gallery, $35.

 The founder of the gallery, Evelyn Georges, was in New Mexico on vacation and staying in the bed and breakfast of a friend. My work hung in the guest rooms. Meanwhile I`m in Oregon giving it a trial run while living with my brother Gary. After a year, I moved back to Santa Fe for a while longer before coming to the Northwest permanently in 1993. Evelyn came by my studio in 1986 in a section of Portland now called the Pearl District. She looked at lots of my work with most of it done after the month long workshop I had participated in with Richard Diebenkorn. I was inspired and really productive and she asked me to show at her gallery. Evelyn wasn`t easy but she was a true believer in the relevance of art. Our relationship was tested but it held fast, I knew she cared about and believed in me. 

 The White Bird has always had an eclectic group of artists and for many of them, showing there was their first experience being represented by a gallery.  A long time employee, Allyn Cantor, bought the gallery from Evelyn before her death in 2014. As the new owner, she continues in the same spirit. I`ve never worked with anyone who was so simultaneously sharp, empathetic, and principled. She has been so kind to me even when I whine. The public, promotional part of a painting career has always been uncomfortable. I`m friendly and like the attention but I do not want to clamor for it. I write my blog, post my paintings on Instagram and Facebook, appreciate the notice and let Allyn do the other promoting.

Here are the paintings in the show. They all are 26x20 inches [55x51 cm] in either pure watercolor or mixed water soluble mediums such as acrylic, ink and crayon on the plastic paper Yupo;

                                                                 Downstream Tahquitz

                                                              Above the Cold Ocean

                                                                              Beltane

                                                                     Coastal Nocturne

                                                                         Cliff Corner 

                                                                      Dune Sea Sky

                                                                              Estuary

                                                                        Forest Edge

                                                                         North Coast

                                                                        Glacial Water

                                                                           North Slope

                                                                      River Run Park

                                                                       Over the Sea

                                                                           Reliquary 3

                                                                   North Coast Cliffs

                                                                Stafford Valley October 1

                                                              Stafford Valley October 2

                                                       The Cloud Lifts from the Mountain

                                                               Surrounding the Creek

                                                                      Summer Cliffs

                                                     Oswego Creek Spring 23x35 inches

 I was in Cannon Beach this morning to see the show. Most of the paintings are unframed and hung beautifully. It`s an unconventional presentation with a distinct advantage. The paintings can be rolled up and shipped in a mailing tube at a cost much less than shipping a framed painting with glass. They are also suitable for professional mounting and hanging without glass at all. They have been varnished with a UV protection matte varnish.

Here are some photos from Cannon Beach earlier today;

The pandemic made it worse but my inertia on updating my website has ended. After many recommendations, I sat down with Squarespace and tried to do it myself. Unsurprisingly it was disastrous. But I had paid already and begun the transfer of my domaine name. I put out a call of distress and sure enough the network came through for me. A watchful mom saw the S.O.S. on Nextdoor and promptly suggested her bright son design it. I go talk to him and he assures me he`s the guy I want. I believe him.

Not as much but I am painting too. There are several paintings in process in my studio and I think this one is finished;

oil on Multimedia Art Board 12x12 inches

                                                              

 I also will be part of the Portland Open Studios Oct. 9 and 10 and Oct. 16 and 17, 10am-5pm. I have open windows, good ventilation and masks will be required. I`m confident it will be a safe environment.

I live at 5373 Lakeview Blvd, Lake Oswego OR 97035

Please come by

Click HERE for work in my studio

Late Summer

                                          oil on paper oil panel 12x12 inches, 30.5x30.5 cm

 After over a year of troubled solitude, I got busy. I delivered 21 large watercolors on yupo to the White Bird Gallery in Cannon Beach OR. It opens in mid-Sept. and I will post all of the pieces here in my next blog post. This is my first exhibit of watermedia on the plastic paper from Japan called Yupo. I began using it in 2005 and it gradually became my favorite surface to paint on. It is such a brilliant white, light reflects through almost any paint layer. They have a kind of radiance that is unique. I`ve devoted much of my life to learning how to work with the slippery stuff. Paint is not absorbed like with true paper, it has to evaporate. This is where the big challenge happens. Even with a perfectly level painting table, the paint will move. Walk away to the bathroom and return to a different painting. It is so slick, I`ve developed lots of strategies to keep the paint stable. These include a constant use of a hairdryer, gum Arabic or acrylic medium added to the paint to make it more sticky, elaborate tilting of the painting board beneath the Yupo to direct a wash, applying watercolor in a dry stick form, and subtle blotting techniques to achieve the correct density. It`s a lesson in gravity every time.

So anyway, the show is a big bunch of them mostly unframed. They will be hung on the wall using clips. I had a few framed to show how they look properly presented and had one of them mounted on board and framed without glass. This was surprisingly affordable and looks great. I finished all of them with a matte varnish with UV protection. I`m hopeful a collector will understand the savings involved with rolling up a painting to take home in a tube, is substantial. Shipping work with glass can be done safely but the buyer pays for that extra caution. I`m grateful the gallery agreed to this unconventional manner of presenting the work. Framing everything would have a prohibitive cost. Here is one of them;

                                              Summer Cliffs watercolor on Yupo 26x20 inches

This one will be there too. It was used to promote a local festival;

                                            Coastal Nocturne watermedia on Yupo 26x20 inches

 I have used Yupo for so long in such focussed concentration, I think the company should acknowledge me somehow. Give it to me free maybe, although it isn`t too expensive. I have written them and sent photos of the work to no avail. A different corporate culture I suppose.

                                         Summer Pond watermedia on yupo collage 12x12 inches

 Those watercolors that don`t turn out well often have something nice in them somewhere. I can cut them up and reassemble them to my liking. In the one above, I was aiming for a high school biology experiment vibe.

Here are a couple more new paintings;

                                                         oil on canvas 20 inches diameter

Believe me, it was completely disorienting to paint a circle. Without a fixed point of reference, it was almost impossible to proceed. What is top or bottom? I imagine something true to life might have been easier. The palette here was inspired by the audacious colorist Morgan Russell.

                                             Overflow oil on canvas 30x24 inches, 76x61 cm

 I want these new abstract paintings to be honest in their reference to nature but not have a realistic quality. The way light animates the landscape is worth emulating but I don`t need the logic coming from representation.

                                                                       Linda and Todd

The newlyweds came to Oregon for their belated honeymoon! He is my closest buddy since 7th grade and she has a long time relationship with the Oregon coast. Thirty years ago on a business trip she stumbled upon the Inn at Otter Crest and has been coming out frequently from Nebraska ever since. We joined them there and had the best time. This resort was well built in the 1970`s and even with the dated architecture, it still felt intelligent and extremely comfortable. Not to mention gorgeous and surprisingly inexpensive. Because she knew the area so well, we ate at the most delicious places in Newport and Depoe Bay.

I saw this on a Portland subreddit. This is why I love this city. This is why the civil and friendly Portland will be evident again. There is a wild generosity here. I felt it and benefited from it immediately. I believe it comes from the land itself. Its outrageous fertility. This letter will brighten the mood of all;

Dear Portland, A letter from that teacher who asked you for rocks...

A little while ago I shared with you all that I was a teacher who was putting together a nine-month rock exhibit at my school. I teach at a program for kids who are working on behavior stuff and, to be honest, many of them aren't quite ready for field trips to quiet museums. I take that as a challenge-if the student can't go on the field trip, then the field trip must come to the student.

So, for much of the past year I have been taking my small but nice classroom rock collection and turning it into a nine month, changing exhibit so every month the kids at my school will see the magic that a simple rock can be. (LOL...simple as in-mined from the bowels of the earth, cleaned, cut, polished and shipped halfway around the world).

Portland and the world in general stepped up. My gofundme brought in almost $700 which was incredible but it was the Portlanders who dropped things off at my house that makes my jaw drop. A whole bucket of PUMICE and a second bucket of PETRIFIED WOOD. (floating rocks and petrified wood...enough for every student in the WHOLE SCHOOL to have a piece!). One person was moving into a smaller place and left half of her cherished rock collection. A teacher from Florida sent me a baggie of million year old shark's teeth. Enough for every kid in my grade level, but then someone else bought a bigger bag of shark's teeth so every kid in school could have one. There is a company that makes mini museums that sent me a bug in amber, and a trilobite AND a piece of a space capsule that has been on the moon. A local geological club is going to let me come pick stuff out of their storage. A man sent us a diamond. A lady sent us little bags of polished rocks, one for each student while another one sent me a five pound bag of them.

You all, there have been so many acts of kindness that if I made a full list you would cry. Like I am right now because this list is so incredible and I'm so touched that in these hard times, so many people have stepped up for my kids, and my whole school of kids. (I'm talking to you person who sent me toothbrushes for every kid at school). My administration is so excited we are now planning a science night where our whole community will get to see everything at once!

So, with all that kindness going on, I had to share with you the good news. VOYA has named me one of their Unsung Heroes (the award) but it comes with something AMAZING (the reward)!!! The award comes with $2000 towards the rock and mineral project!! I'm just so overwhelmed that VOYA chose my school and this project and my students (and me :0) to invest in.

For all those who donated rocks or threw some money my way, to VOYA for valuing my kids-thank you so much for my kids, but also for letting me go into a covid school year feeling inspired and valued. Thank you, thank you, thank. you!!!

                                                                           Mitch

 That guy there is my friend Mitch. Five years ago when my knee implants were both infected, he brought us food and kept me company. I couldn`t even get down my front steps. We were new friends but he didn`t wait for reciprocal gestures. He saw my need and met it. As I started to slowly heal we began painting together on location. With other friends joining in, every Friday morning was devoted to plein air painting. So when I was asked if I wanted to show my work in a Lutheran Church, I didn`t say hell no! I asked if I could show with a friend? Mitch is a diligent painter but has never shown his work to the public. I had large older paintings just sitting in my studio and I thought they might pair nicely with his smaller landscapes. It was scheduled for April 2020........When the church reopened this summer, they asked 'are you possibly still interested?' We said yes and the show went up yesterday. If the covid situation allows, there will be some sort of reception in late Sept. or Oct. I`ll announce it here if it will happen. Meanwhile you can go by during the day and check it out;

                                                             West Linn Lutheran Church

                                                   20390 Willamette Dr. West Linn OR 97068

                                                                        503 656 0110

                                                                         www.wllc.org

       We20390 Willamette Drive, West Linn, OR 97068 

503-656-0110 

www.wllc.org

 

                                                                     Nancy  Diamond

 My latest love is for Nancy Diamond. I haven`t been able to find out very much about her as her website is under construction. However, I found her on Instagram and she is wonderful. Like me, she loves to paint skies. Unlike me, she seems to do it with minimal angst. Often her paintings are complex but executed with a carefree quality that is so lovely. Maybe she is as long suffering as most painters but the work looks thoughtfully like magic. 

                                                                        Fjaðrárgljúfur 

 I belong in Iceland

Portland Open Studios - Oct. 9&10 and  16&17 - plan to visit!

click HERE doe work for sale in my studio