Blog

As I mentioned in my prior blog...I have to rush to make a deadline for the Plein Air Painters of Oregon juried show. So yesterday I set off to a location not far from my house...about 30 minutes. This part of the Deschutes is very familiar to me. We have drifted this section from our friend Bill's house...and it is a favorite fishing spot for fly fishermen/women...the scene is right from the side of the highway. There is ample parking, if it is not full of fisherpeople...and I was lucky. This is probably 85% done...did some hilights and value adjustment in the studio today...will return later this week to finish.

Reading details has never been my long suit...and now it has really caught me. I had 3 paintings all complete for the Plein Air Painters of Oregon annual juried show...and then I submitted them, only to find out that they were too small! The instructions clearly said, minimum size 9x10....now that strikes me a bit odd, as plein air frames start at 6x8, are most common in 8x10 and 11x14...but rules are rules...and I had a choice...withdraw (I did have to withdraw the paintings) or start over. Well, thank goodness I have great views just off my deck. For 3 nights I got great sunsets (some variation, so the first was the one I used as the basis for the painting) and got this 11x14 complete...I think. Last night I went to a fairly close location to start a second....Don't think I will do a third. Enough already!

While I haven't been blogging much, I have been painting a lot...several shows this summer....here is one I completed (well, almost...will likely make a little darker)...I am moving into the nocturne mood. I will update these files with some paintings tomorrow that I retouched. I find letting a painting sit for a week or two gives me enough distance to see what I want to work on.

Yesterday I did about 90% on a really sweet little landscape, Fall River (Oregon)..will likely finish it this weekend. But today we (a group of painters)met at one of the artist's studios to do some life sketches. We were fortunate to have Jake as our model. He is a professional artist, so he knows how to strike and hold a pose. It was so nice to draw (I actually just paint...doing some warm up sketches, and wiping them out with turp) from a model again. Need to brush up on those skills. (Then to round out my "other art" day, I went to A-6 and pulled 6 dry point etchings...will hand color them later this week. BUSY!

As I have mentioned to several fellow artists, I have really pushed color as much as I want to...with my new goal being a series of paintings that are about storms...dull light....nocturnes. Of course, most artists know that "red" sells,and doing more subtle, moody paintings may be a downer in a recession...but I am so attracted to the weather moods out here in the high desert that I am moving forward... Here is what will be the first in a series.

I have a show in September that will focus on long/horizontal paintings. I have completed 6 larger ones (10 x 40 and one 12 x 44, which sold prior to the show), but wanted to do some smaller ones. This is the first 6x12." I went through all my photo reference files and came up with this image...think I took the actual photo a year or so ago...on the Deschutes? Or maybe the Crooked River, in Oregon. The river is not actually important...what I wanted to express is that late afternoon calm of a summer day on a quiet stretch of river.

This is from a photo I took of a young mother in Copper Canyon Region of Mexico. The people in this region,the Tarahumara, live much as they did hundreds of years ago. While there is a beauty to their life style, they are extremely poor...and this results in high infant mortality, and a shorter than average life span. I will be showing this series of paintings in August, in Sisters, Oregon (At Navigator). Proceeds from sales will be donated directly to the Tarahumara. I have located a person who delivers food, medicine and school supplies.

Amazing when you get on those county roads between Baker and ????? it is hard to say where this was painted...no nearby towns. But I am beginning to really treasure the overcast days...the ones with a mood....guess this means a pallet change...have been experimenting with Quinacranone (sp?)Naples Yellow (of course) and Indigo...great because the rosy red, chalky yellow and staining thalo/black is wonderful.

Our local Plein Air group Plein Air Painters of Oregon has had several debates...when is a painting plein air and when is it a studio painting? Most members agree that it needs to be composed and mostly painted in the field...allowing for some touch up in the studio. I am in this camp. One member says that all work must be accomplished in the field. If this were the case, I am not sure I would ever have a finished work. As Jean LeGassick says, "you don't always appreciate what you have when you are out int he field...the light may be too bright...etc. Take your work home and let it rest." Well, this painting has rested since last fall. I took it out and just made a small modification to the lake bed...and think it is done.

This was one of those days when I worked on several paintings...getting several ready for one of the shows I am in this summer. I also started reviewing my plein air paintings for submission to a show. I think I will enter this one...painted from the roadside on one of our many road trips. I like the lonesome feel of the little shack, and the corrals. I did some touch up on the cliffs and shack, but otherwise left it alone.