Another Version

This-is-another version of the Wolf Kahn style painting. 26x30 oil on linen (July 2006). Collection of artist.

Starting from Matisse

This-painting is based on a Matisse portrait of his wife in the Barnes Museum. I kept the posture of the woman and the Matisse style of rendering the face. I particularly liked the expression Matisse achieved in the hands. In general I simplified everything removing the large ornate hat, the patterned dress and all detail in the hands. I gave the woman a simple direct less coquettish expression. I kept the marvelous Matisse shape of the body. The Matisse has a flat background. I added the painting in the background for depth and interest. 40x32 o/c (2004) (artist's collection)

Acrylic Disaster

I-was-painting-at-a-friends beach home when I painted this on a summer evening. Acrylics usually dry in minutes and I had no concern when I left out my palette out on the deck over night. However with the evening dew the acrylic paints did not dry and when someone brushed the palette the next morning it got paint all over. Live and learn. 26x20 acrilic on canvas. Collection of the artist.

Mexico Abstract # 4 54x48 o/c

This-painting-was-inspired by Joan Mitchell. She was one of the second generation of American abstract expressionist painters. She lived in Paris most of her later years and perhaps this is why she did not get the recognition in America that she deserved until recently. This painting is 54x48 inches, oil on canvas. (collection of the artist)

Giving up the palette knife

I no longer routinely use the palette knife to mix colors on the palette. Instead I pick up the colors to be mixed on the brush with a little medium and mix on the canvas. Alternately I put one mixed color across a large area like the sky and meadow in this painting and then lightly mix in another on the canvas. Both techniques add texture and allow broad shapes of a single color that are not boring. 26x30 Oil on linen. (July 2006)

Evolution of a Painting

This evolved from an impressionistic painting to a formal painting similar to some of the Nabis painters. Initially the home in the background and the fence on the left were a light violet and distracted from the maple tree that was the subject. I started painting them out but noticed they could remain and add interest if just subdued by glazing them with the violet of the background. Then I started making interesting solid shapes of the loose impressionistic foreground picking interesting colors. Finally I simplified the foliage of the Japanese maple by connecting groups of foliage and removing some lower branches. Oil on linen 26x30 (July 2006) Collection of the artist.

Paint Sticks

On-Wednesdays we paint in the morning, have a great pot luck lunch and then do a critique of the morning paintings. Three years ago Helen experimented with oil paint sticks in her abstract landscapes with great results so I tried them. Paint sticks go by several names depending on the manufacturer but they are all oil paint mixed with sufficient wax to make them solid - like a fat soft kindergarten crayon. You can mush the paint around with your fingers, scribble etc. to get effect impossible with a brush. There is considerable artistic license in this painting - the barn was a home and the trees became dancers in tutus with spindly legs. Click on the painting twice to enlarge it and see the texture. If you are inclined to try paint sticks, get some from several manufacturers as they vary dramatically in their intensity of color and softness. They can be combined with normal oil paints and medium. The most dramatic texture comes when you go over dry work and the paint from the stick catches only on the high points. (2004) 28x24 o/p (artist's collection)

Learning from DeKooning

It-has-taken-me some time to really appreciate DeKooning. I recently read the superb biography by Stevens & Swan I went back to look at his work. His "Pastorale" from 1963 inspired me to paint a series of three pink abstracts. This painting is 48x54 oil on canvas (2005) (artist's collection).

Changing Course

This-started out as a plein air painting of the light house at Yaquina Bay on the Oregon Coast. Admitedly it was not your Edward Hopper type lighthouse to start with but it was white with as I recall a bit of a tower. There was a small yard, a dirt road and forrest in the foreground. You can see the lengths I will go to to try to make a painting work. You may also see that I am interested in shapes and color. Milton Avery and Richard Diebenkorn are among my favorite painters. There are thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean just over the brink we see. 28x24 o/p (2005)

Painting in Series II

This-is-the second of the series. I simplified the left side, removing the traffic sign and replacing the lush foliage of a vinyard with an open field. I used the same palette but made the fields more yellow. 24x28 o/o (2005)

Painting in Series VI

This-is-the sixth of a series. Again I have reintroduced the barn and foreground foliage in an abstract stylized manner to emphasize shapes and color combinations. Helen pointed out that the middle tree group looks like a Henry Moore sculpture of a woman. 24x28 o/p (2005)

Quiet Calm

Mirror-like-reflections on water create a quiet calm mood. I painted this in Laurelhurst Park in Portland on an overcast day in July of 2005. Fortunately just before I finished the sun came out showing me the beautiful red streaks across the path and the illuminated leaves. I love the rich colors, simple shapes and quiet calm of this painting. 24x28 o/p (2005)

Community with Mountain 28x32 o/c (2003)

I-don't-think I had Mont Sainte-Victoire, which Cezanne included in the background of many of his landscapes, in mind when I invented a mountain background for the homes in the community where I live but I did recognize the shape once it was there. o/c (2003) (artist's collection)

Mosier Cabin 24x28 o/p (2004)

(private-collection) (2004) 24x28

Hannah's Yard 3

Oil on canvas 32x28 (2003) Artist's collection

Ladd Hill Barn with Orange Meadow 28x24 o/p (2004)

Plein Air Painting in the Rain

I-painted-this at Helen's house on one of the few rainy Wednesdays in the summer of 2004. I stood in Helen's garage with the door open looking out at her driveway and the woods. It was all grey green and this represents my rebellion. The trees and some of the shapes were actually there although not what I have represented and of course no lake or cabin. I again used solid oil paint - this time I think it was mainly Winsor & Newton Oil Bars which tend to have more saturated colors than the Shiva Oilsticks. I often use a cadmium red light gesso under the oil sticks and I think I did here. 28x24 o/p (2004)

Red Trees with Barn 20x24 o/c (2004)

Formal Spring Trees 24x20 o/p (2004)

Mexico Abstract 11

Red Trees at Sunset 28x24 o/p (2004)

Short Sands Beack 24x20 o/p (2004)

A Loose Encaustic Painting

This-was-one of those happy circumstances when in about 20 minutes I had a painting. I was looking out at an apple orchard from the barn in which I was painting. 28x24 encaustic on panel (2000)

Klimt and Art Nouveau

This-evolved from an impressionistic painting to a formal painting similar to some of the Nabis painters. Initially the home in the background and the fence on the left were a light violet and distracted from the maple tree that was the subject. I started painting them out but noticed they could remain and add interest if just subdued by glazing them with the violet of the background. Then I started making interesting solid shapes of the loose impressionistic foreground picking interesting colors. Finally I simplified the foliage of the Japanese maple by connecting groups of foliage and removing some lower branches. Oil on linen 26x30 (July 2006) Collection of the artist.

Cannon Beach Sunset 24x20 o/p (2004)

Farm House in the Style of Hopper

This-farm-house was too good to give up so I did a second version. They both remind me of an Edward Hopper lighthouse painting. 26x30 oil on linen (Aug 2006)

Painting Seascapes

I-am-not-much for painting picturesque seascapes but this was fun. 24x28 o/p (2005)

Helen's House 24x28 o/p (2004)

Dark Trees with Barn 28x24 o/p (2004)

Painting in the Rain

This-painting-of the Bybee-Howell House on Sauvie Island was done on a rainy day in July of 2005. I wanted to capture the reflection of the bright sky on the wet roof. I was lucky and a little sun came through briefly as I was about to leave. I had trouble getting the grass the right color until I learned that another way to desaturate a color besides adding black or the complement is to add white. It is 20x24 in oil on a panel. (artist's collection)

Shadows and Reflections

I was dismayed when I arrived at the lake in Laurelhurst Park to see that the water was yellow with algae. However when the sun came up the contrast of shadows on the yellow water with the reflection of the sky in the nearer water was interesting and I love the feeling of calm. It is 24x28 o/p (2005). (artist's collection)

From Mondrian to Rothko

In-the-winter I paint in San Miguel, Mexico. Most of the paintings I do there are abstract. I enjoy balancing shapes and colors. This is 48x48 o/c (2006).

Violet in sky reflections

I-was-intrigued when painting this painting to see how the hues in the reflection of the sky went from light warm blue to violet. 14x11 o/c (2005)

Adding a Fence

This-painting was done with Shiva paintsticks on panel. There are several manufactures of solid oil paints in the shape of fat crayons. The Shiva brand tends to be harder, faster drying, and have a greater variety of less intense hues. The site is at Cascade Head on the Oregon coast. The building is a home but I wanted the simple planes of a barn. I added the fence which adds depth and I think makes for a more interesting foreground. 24x28 o/p (2004) (private collection)

Homage to Monet

Another-Mexico abstract. I wanted something suggestive but not explicit relating to Monet's water lilly paintings. It is 36x48 o/c. (2006)

More Oilstick Work

What-got-my attention here was the upper meadow. I painted this with the Shiva Oilsticks on site. The fence was not there but inventing it provided the needed foreground accent and nice verticals. I simplified the colors to earth colors and a greyed green. You can see some ot the texture the oilsticks privide in the meadow foreground. The barn was actually a classic red! 28x24 o/p (2004) (artist's collection)

Improvement in a Series

This-is-the-last-of a series of three paintings done in acrylic with a palette knife in 2002. It is 40x32. In the original painting the meadow occupied only the lower third of the composition. At our critique Helen said "move the trees up". With the second I moved them up and she said "move them up more". Obviously I liked her suggestion.

Impresssionist Painting with a Palette Knife

This-is-another palette knife painting with an under painting of saturated unmixed colors of the proper value and temperature and over painted using the palette knife with local color. If you click on the painting to enlarge it you can see bits of the saturated under painting showing through - orange in the meadow and blue in the woods . The site is at Cascade Head on the Oregon coast. 12x16 o/p (2002) (artist's collection)

Simple Themes

This-is-about-as simple as a realist landscape gets. It is a hill about 15 minutes east of Roseburg, Oregon. It is a favorite of my wife, Alice. 28x24 o/p (2005) (artist's collection)

Painting a Stream Bed

I-find-painting a steam challanging. I have whatever is on the surface, the reflection on the surface, the color of the water, the color of the stream bed and the shadows on each of these to consider. Or if I can just keep my mind out of it, I can simply paint what I see. (both actually help) This is the Metolius River in central Oregon. 24x28 o/p (2005) (artist's collection)

Stylizing Foliage

This-scene-in Fir Grove Park, Roseburg, Oregon had all sorts of brambles, blackberries and bushes in the foreground. I don't have much patience for all that detail so I stylized the foliage into spherical shapes and edited out several trees. 24x28 o/p (2005)

Semester Abroad

I-am-fond-of my title for this painting: First Semester Abroad in Provence. I painted a second version of this where the main change is that the book is to her right. I call it: Second Semester Abroad. 36x46 o/c (2002)

Sitka Orange Meadow 28x24 o/p (2004)

Boulders

I-chose-this-motif over the picturesque harbor of Florence, Oregon behind me because I wanted to paint these marvelous boulders. The building is a public lavatory but I call it a cabin. 14x11 o/c (2003) (artist's collection)

Artist at Work 24x28 o/p (2005)

Ladd Hill Barn

24x28-o/p (2004) (private collection)
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Mexico Deck View approx 48x40 o/c (2003)

Sitka Lemon Yellow Meadow

28x24-o/p-(2004) (artist's collection)

Barn with Yellow Trees

24x28-o/p-(2004) (artist's collection)

Ladd Hill Barn 24x28 o/p (2004)