'Tualatin Overflow'-O`Keefe Watercolors-the Longest Night

                                       oil on canvas 30x24

  This new painting comes from a walk last week along the Tualatin River. I live close to its destination, the Willamette River. Here it`s at its widest and at this time of year flows with purpose. Yet even swollen with rain and silt, it`s maternal and graceful.

                                        oil on panel 12x12

 Another untitled abstraction, this makes five of these 12 inch squares. I think it`s out of my system now.

  A quest I`ve been on for decades is finding out what kind of paper Georgia O`Keefe used for her watercolors of the 19teens and then getting some for myself. This was in the beginning of her career and I don`t think she could afford hand made imports from Europe. The works are remarkable in their simplicity and eloquence. The colors sit on the surface and sometimes flow into each other. With extreme yet painterly minimalism she suggests vast spaces;

                                 Light Coming on the Plains

                                  Pink and  Green Mountains

                                          Starlight Night

  She`s best known for her giant flowers and New Mexico landscapes but it`s these modest watercolors that get to me. Here she is in a short video.
  I was in I`ve Been Framed recently and thought I might have hit pay dirt. Amid the reams of odd, sometimes unidentified, discontinued and surplus papers I found a legal size document paper that was 100% cotton. Nice texture to it and at 5 cents a sheet, a steal. I bought 20 and tried it as soon as I got home;

                                       Sky and Sea [Tipton]

  Not bad but not as hard a paper as I had hoped for. This took lots of pigment and the washes were absorbed in a less than sparkling manner. The search continues...

                The Longest Night watermedia on paper 12x9

  A few years ago when she was still driving, during a bright and rainless December, my Mom asked me why the sun was always in her eyes. It might have just been conversation, maybe a senior moment, but I didn`t know where to begin with an answer. I thought it was common knowledge how the seasons happen, the tilt of the earth etc. but maybe it isn`t?
  I`m not a pagan or Wicca or anything New Age, nonetheless I think the winter solstice is truly significant. The early Christian Church agreed and placed the birthday of Christ right at this juncture. In the northern hemisphere it meant the return of a growing season, warmth and the chance of continuing survival. Life and Death. The progressive return of the sun, our first god, represented hope itself.
This is the season for light, these are the longest nights.



work for sale in my studio

More Abstractions? + March show

  As yet untitled [Theodore, I need your help!], each 12x12,  oil on cradled panel. Randy was on a roll!
  It was a great week until the winds wreaked havoc last night! Yesterday`s wild weather pummeled the whole west coast. It was predicted but seemed impossible at noon. I went for a walk early to avoid it. We`ve had lots of rain and I knew the Tualatin River would be near flood stage.
  With the winter silt, the river turns a gorgeous murky greenish brown. That color is a splendid foil for any remaining fall color.

   I`ve wanted to work with this theme again since doing these small pieces a couple of years ago;

   During the drama last night, we like many others, lost power. As I laid on the bed reading my I-phone in the dark, a memory of a Mary Oliver poem featuring a wild night surfaced.  I found it today;

  She did it! My niece Mackenzie now owns a piece of my work on her skin! Design by RDT, execution by Ian of Hopeless Ink!

  Finally, I will be having a show with the renowned Tom Cramer in March, 2015! He is probably best known for his art cars;

  Since that notoriety, he`s gone on to create intricate and beautiful  bas-relief sculptures. Here is a current piece;

  Tom will also include some new paintings in this show.
  The exhibition is entitled 'Environments', and will be in the Museum 510, a space operated by the Arts Council of Lake Oswego.

 Tomorrow, Sat. Dec. 13, I`ll be demonstrating my oil painting technique in my studio 10-11:30 am. Come by if you`re curious!
5373 Lakeview Blvd.
Lake Oswego OR
97035

[503-380-4731]

work for sale in my studio

Flood Studies + Klaus Fussmann

These recent small watercolors were based on walks along the Tualatin River last December. Some colorful autumn leaves were still hanging on in thickets along the inundated shoreline. Those bright colors and tangled branches were a compelling contrast to the surging muddy water. I did them on a Fluid watercolor block 6x6 inches. I like this surface much better than more expensive papers such as Lanaquarelle.

                                                                 Klaus Fussmann

Speaking of watercolor, this artist makes magic with it. Though he uses a variety of mediums, it`s the work on paper that I get excited about. His style is direct, confident, awkward and completely winning. He gets the essence of a landscape down perfectly with a true economy of means. Take a look;

available work in my studio

Flood Stage 1

 Just like it sounds, a study is usually a 'practice' for a larger painting. Theoretically, this is why I do them. Often, I lose the impulse after painting the smaller piece and the big one never gets painted. Here I did it. This is based on a 6x6 panel I did last December.
 I will be teaching a workshop in Landscape Painting from Plein Air Drawings, as part of the Create Eugene extravaganza Aug. 31. The cost is $100 and if you`re interested, please contact The Gallery at the Watershed. In the workshop I`ll harangue everyone, including myself, about the importance of drawing to painting.
 The Gallery at the Watershed has been open since April but the grand opening is June 1, 4-8 pm. Please come by if you are able. The owner, Amy Isler Gibson, is herself a work of art and her passion for painting is infectious. I`m so happy to have her representing my work!
oil on canvas 24"x24"


available work

December Runoff

The rivers here are swollen, flowing fast and full of silt. The murky color looks great behind the last autumn color.
oil on panel 8"x8"


available work