Gray Day Images

Below are some photos taken Sunday at Jackson Wetlands in Corvallis when the sky was mostly overcast. Being winter and a gray day to boot, colors were very muted, so texture, line, shape, and values became the focus of the photos. Do you have a favorite? (click on the images to see a larger version)

Christmas tree Card

Happy Holidays!
Below is one of my Christmas tree cards for this year.

Mixed media:
Indian Village handmade rough watercolor paper (available at Daniel Smith)
watercolor
collaged painted washi (handmade paper)
gesso
acrylic paint, including some "interference" paint
... and tie-dye style wrapping paper for the present under the tree

Click the photo for a larger image
(to see the cool texture)

Call to Albany Artists

Here is an opportunity for Albany, Oregon artists to show their work at an excellent venue. The actual prospectus will be available later and I will post a link here when available, or you can get on the mailing list.

Call to Artists
Submissions due by April 1, 2010. The Albany Painting Enthusiasts (APES), in partnership with the Albany Arts Commission, will sponsor a juried two-dimensional art show at Oregon State University's LaSells Stewart Center in May 2010. Entrants are limited to residents in the 97321 and 97322 zip codes. The entry fee is $20 for three submissions. For information, or to be put on the mailing list for the prospectus, contact Michael and Billie Moore.

Night shots - Albany

Here are a few photos from a recent night-shoot with VVCC here in Albany on a cold winter's night. Christmas light decorations are a bonus now.
If you go out in the cold, keep the camera batteries warm; otherwise they fade fast. And take care when bringing a cold camera indoors. Warm it slowly so that condensation will not occur on and in your camera. A large ziplock bag can also help. Place the camera in the bag, squeeze out the air, and seal it. The lack of moisture availablity inside the bag will help avoid condensation.

Satellite image as abstract art

This very cloudy Landsat 5 satellite image from today of the Owens Valley and Sierra Nevada in California has an interesting abstract art look.


USGS has a collection of images called Our Earth as Art that has many very interesting looking images.

Abstract Patterns

After getting off of the train in Sacramento early Thanksgiving morning, we had some time on our hands, so we explored the nearly empty streets of downtown. A building not far from the Amtrak station has some rows of windows with noticeable bulges in them which create very interesting reflected patterns.

Sunset

Two very different sunset photos from the CA trip.

The sunset became monochromatic in this shot, losing some of its color but becoming more interesting in the process.


This one is all about "space," the wide open view in the Willamette Valley with the Coast Range in the distance.

Catching up

After returning from a trip to California, I have some catching up to do since I had no new posts while gone...
The photo below was taken at the Albany Amtrak station, the place where our trip started. I like the contrast of the lamposts against the sky compared to the reflection of the late day light off of the rails of the track.

Making a living doing what you love to do

If you live in the Corvallis area and want help with finding a way to be profitable doing what you are passionate about, there is a class called "Turning Passions into Profit Streams" that can get you started. The class, taught by Jan Weir at the Benton Center, provides lots of very useful information in an enjoyable and nourishing way. The class, which I attended this fall is available again for the winter quarter. Very worthwhile.
For more information visit Linn Benton's website or Jan Weir's site.

I have a master plan in the works for fulfilling my passion, but more on that later...

Carolee Clark and Donna Beverly

This afternoon I had a great time visiting with Carolee Clark and Donna Beverly in Philomath during their open studio. There were SO many wonderful paintings to see done by each of them and some done as collaborations. Two of the "Caradon" collaborative paintings especially caught my eye, but I'm not saying which ones...
You can see many of their wonderful paintings at http://www.caroleeclark.com/, http://www.donnabeverly.com/, and http://www.caradonart.com,
and take a look at Carolee's blog with her painting per day at http://caroleeclark.wordpress.com .

1st place photo

One of my photos got 1st place in our local VVCC camera club competion. It was taken at Ecola State Park on the north Oregon coast looking back toward Cannon Beach. Smoke from a forest fire had accentuated the colors.

Red Hills - painted collage

(Click the images to see larger versions)

A recent painted collage on wood panel with a detail photo (bottom) to show the detail and texture better. Handmade Japanese paper, washi, is combined with watercolor and acrylic to make this colorful, textural image.
Hmmm, I wonder which makes the better final image....

Nature Photographers of the Pacific Northwest

This past weekend I went to a meeting of the NPPNW at Evergreen College in Olympia, WA. The guest speaker was Weldon Lee, the well-known wildlife photographer, workshop leader and writer. The talks were interesting, entertaining and provided a lot of useful information. I was surprised to learn that Weldon never uses a tripod for his wildlife photography. He uses a Nikon 80-400mm VR lens that, along with good camera holding practice, is stable enough and allows him to move quickly when needed for action shots. At these times he also likes to "make a movie", holding down the shutter release as long as the action is going on or until the buffer is filled. The subtle differences between images can mean the difference between a good photograph and a great one. Weldon also likes to shoot with his camera in "Professional" mode (and he has a good sense of humor).

Thumbnail Sketches

One thing that I enjoy doing very frequently is making thumbnail sketches, small drawings about 1.5" x 1", in my sketchbooks (I especially like the Robert Bateman Recycled Acid Free Paper 5" x 7" sketchbooks). I usually line off one of the pages into 8 or so small rectangles. Using a pen, sometimes I sketch from some model or actual subject, but much more often I just draw fairly abstract compositions which come to mind. Sometimes these sketches become paintings or collages. Working this small allows me to try out a lot of compositions and ideas in a fairly short amount of time.

Artist entry opportunity

The Living River Exhibit at Jacob's Gallery in the Hult Center, Eugene, is a fund-raising exhibit for McKenzie River Trust. Entries, for 2D or 3D artwork ($30 fee for two pieces), must be submitted by January 30, 2010. This info comes from http://www.mckenzieriver.org/ and the prospectus is available at http://mckenzieriver.org/the-living-river-juried-art-exhibit.
The exhibit will be held April 2 - May 1, 2010.

Happy Halloween

(from a volunteer pumpkin in our yard)

Watercolor Society of Oregon Fall Exhibition Paintings

Paintings for WSO's Traveling Show are now online. These are the 21 award winners from the Fall Transparent Exhibit (the 44th annual) which will be traveling around the state during the next 6 months. Show locations and info are available at WSO's website.

The Art of Seeing

I ran across a book at the local library which, although written for photographers, provides some interesting insights and exercises that could be adapted by artists for really seeing a subject, then expressing their own interpretations and feelings toward the subject. It is called Photography and the Art of Seeing, by Freeman Patterson. I am enjoying reading it from both an artist and photographer viewpoint. The edition I am reading is an older one, 1989, but there is a 2004 third edition.

Fall color

A little fall color abstract. Color in the trees is great here this fall.

Birefringence

At the 4C's (Columbia Council of Camera Clubs) Photography Convention this past weekend, we got a chance to experiment with photographing birefringence in plastic objects. A sheet of polariing film was placed on a light table, then the plastic object(s) and a camera polarizer or another sheet of film was used to bring out the very colorful optical effect. Cool, huh?
Examples below (click to enlarge):

Betty Barss post

Betty Barss, a member of the Watercolor Society of Oregon (where I am webmaster) has been highlighted in a blog by Joy Henkle at White Water Warehouse (where I am also webmaster). Have a look at the post at the White Water Rafting, Kayaking & Hiking Blog and see some of Betty's watercolors of southern Oregon subjects.

Craft in America

There were two very good programs on PBS last night, Craft in America, Parts 1 and 2. In Oregon, they will appear again tomorrow, 10/9, on OPB at 2am and 3am (good times for a recorder) and on Sunday, 10/11, at 1am, 2am, 12pm and 1pm. There are many segments highlighting artists in different parts of the country working in many different fields of craft.

Visions from Kew Garden

Some images from a recent trip to Kew Garden in London,
a wonderful place to visit.

All images copyright of the artist 2009

Brand new mosaic website

Wendy Brewer, a Corvallis mosaic artist, has a website that just went live called Divine Bits of Beauty. Take a look at her colorful tile mosaics, in large installations, tables, windows, mirrors and shrines. Wendy's bigleaf maple table with tile mosaic inlay caught my eye; it is gorgeous!

Silver lining of insomnia

The other night I had trouble sleeping (at 2:30 am) and decided to paint until I got sleepy. By 5am, I was able to make the following paintings and painting starts. It's good to follow "the groove" when it comes along.

Collaboration

Just back from a long trip to London. While I get back in gear, take a look at this post by Sarah Bush on some collaborative art we made recently and the collaboration process.

A photo of one of the finished collages is shown below.

"3D collage"

Take a look at this video - very good step-by-step info on producing your own "3D collage" or decoupage - http://makegreatstuff.com/rice-paper-decoupage-vide/

Iridescent and Interference

Some new watercolor paints have been fun and interesting to try. Irridescent paints are a bit easier to use than the interference paints since you have to look at the interference paints straight on and at angles to see what kind of effects are happening from their reflectance and from the interaction of colors underneath.
Some examples below with iridescent paints, difficult to photograph well, but working on that...

Need a fresh subject?

During the summer in the Willamette Valley, there are a number of outdoor events every weekend. Some recent ones I have enjoyed are the Emerald Cup Regatta on Fern Ridge Reservoir west of Eugene (I'll have photos on their site soon), the Great Oregon Steam-Up, Da Vinci Days, the Salem Art Festival, and the local county fairs in Albany and Corvallis. These provide opportunities for different subject matter for paintings whether you paint on site or use photos.

Night Shoot

The Valley Viewfinders Camera Club had a "night shoot" outing in Corvallis last night. Taking photos at night was interesting, challenging, and a lot of fun. Starting at dusk, light in the sky gradually gave way to blackness, but there were plenty of lit subjects around town. Here are a few of my shots:

An alleyway - my favorite

Lady Justice

Crosswalk Wait Sign

Now to paint some more night scenes.

Try it out first

Thumbnail sketches and preliminary paintings have long been ways to try out painting ideas. Image processing programs now provide alternatives that allow you to "non-destructively" experiment, changing hues, rearranging elements, adjusting contrast. placing lights and darks. Besides the high-powered programs like Photoshop, there are free programs that are now online, like picnik.com, that have a surprising amount of functionality.

Something new - Watercolor Sticks

A new offering from Daniel Smith called a watercolor stick looks very interesting. The sticks are made of mostly watercolor pigment with a gum arabic binder. There are some videos on Daniel Smith's site that show different ways to use them.
I haven't tried them yet, but plan to do so soon. If you have tried them, please feel free to leave a comment.

An unusual art project

In Trafalgar Square, for 100 days, 24 hours a day, a different person will spend one hour high atop an otherwise empty plinth in the square. This continues into September and the whole thing is being webcast (if the site can handle the traffic) - One & Other. It can be interesting to see what people will do given such a stage.

Salem Art Festival

If you get to the Salem Art Festival this weekend, be sure to visit Ruth Armitage's booth, #10. (Ruth's site and blog). Ruth is a member and past president of the Watercolor Society of Oregon.

Art and Science this weekend

Starting tomorrow, Friday, are two of my favorite local events, daVinci Days in Corvallis and the Salem Art Festival. Both will continue thru Sunday. The photo above is from the daVinci Days Kinetic Sculpture Race in 2007.

Community Open Show

Linn and Benton County, Oregon artists, the next exhibition at the LaSells Stewart Center is the 4th Annual Community Art Exhibit. The application is available and artwork must be delivered by June 30.

Watercolor Exhibit Reception@ OSU

A reception for the current Watercolor Exhibit at Giustina Gallery in Corvallis is happening Wednesday night, June 10, at 6:30. Paintings by 44 Oregon watercolor painters, members of the Watercolor Society of Oregon, are on display now through the end of the month.

A new DVD by Gerald Brommer

Jerry Brommer has a new DVD available called From Line and Shape... to Complex Surfaces. At Cheap Joe's. Line and shape are explored using interesting techniques with watercolor, collaage and gesso.

22 Local WSO artists showing at the Giustina Gallery

Twenty members of the Oregon Watercolor Society who live in the vicinity of Corvallis are showing paintings along with the WSO Spring Exhibition Traveling Show at the OSU Giustina Gallery.
Those members are Tom Allen, Susan Bourdet, Judy Findley, Caly Garris, Shirley Gorman, Kathryn Honey, Marjorie Kinch, Karen Kreamer, Doyle Leek, Jane Ann Lehr, Nancy McMorris, Hope Carter Meados, Karen Murray, Mary Ambrosse (Molly) Perry, Lynn Powers, Monte Preston, Rob R. Robinson (me), Marnie Ross, Michelle Jondrow Schultz, Terry Tallis, Angelyn Christy Voss, Caroline Waterman. These members come from a number of surrounding communities besides Corvallis - Albany, Lebanon, Jefferson, Scio, and Sweet Home.

Current Exhibit at the LaSells Stewart Center

Red Sky at Night

Like the one posted yesterday, this painting is also being displayed at the Giustina Gallery at the LaSells Stewart Center in Corvallis with the Watercolor Society of Oregon Exhibit during June.

Watercolor Society of Oregon Show - OSU Giustina Gallery

Opening today at the Giustina Gallery at Oregon State University is the Watercolor Society of Oregon traveling exhibition. The twenty paintings in the traveling show will be supplemented by works of WSO members local to the Corvallis area.
Here is one of the two paintings I have in the show:

Pathway

Albany Back Alley

Trying a new technique detailed by Jerry Brommer in his new DVD, "From Line and Shape... To Complex Surfaces." The DVD should be available soon. This one involves ink drawing, painting, collage, painting, and more ink sketching to buil a rich surface with texture and depth.