Two New Shows

Forest Refuge - Painted Collage

This month I have paintings and collages in two local shows.

During the month of December, the show is the Winter Boutique Art Exhibit in the LaSells Stewart Center at Oregon State University. The show will run through Jan.4 and has many lower priced items that might make good Christmas gifts. The reception, which is free and open to the public, is on Dec. 7 from 6:30 - 8:30pm. See a preview of the 8"x8" images on my Image Odysseys blog (the collage above is one of them).

Fifteen of my paintings and collages are also showing at the Albany Main Public Library through December and January. These pieces range from 8"x8" to 30"x40" and include both abstract and representational work. The library is at 2450 14th Avenue SE..

The Aqueous Media and Watercolor Exhibit

During the month of August there is an exhibit comprised of the twenty award winning paintings of the Watercolor Society of Oregon Traveling Show and many other aqueous media paintings from around Oregon. I saw the show on Tuesday and it was great, so many good paintings to see! It is such an opportunity to be able to show three paintings of my own in this exhibit.

(Click on the images to see a larger view)

Albany Behind the Scenes, 11"x15"

Fiery Night, Lava into the Sea, 22"x30"

Rice Fields from Space, 30"x22"

Photo Exhibit at Albany City Hall

During the month of August, Helen Hilman, one of our active members of the Valley Viewfinders Camera Club, has an exhibit of her photos at Albany City Hall. I went to take a look at the show yesterday. There is a wide variety of excellent photos - portraits, scenic landscapes, sailboats, cars, and planes. The exhibit is a good one; stop by for a visit! City Hall is open 8-5 Monday - Friday.
Visit Helen's new blog to get a preview of the show.

Colorful Abstracts Show in Ashland

If you like colorful abstract paintings and you will be near Ashland during the month of August, there is an exhibit you ought to see. Lynda Hoffman-Snodgrass will be showing a large number of her paintings at the Art & Soul Gallery in Ashland.

Details, including those for the reception on August 5 are in the announcement below (click on the image for a larger view).


Below are photos of a couple more of Lynda's paintings.

Ancient Tones, watercolor, 29"x21"

Corn Dancer, watercolor, 29"x21"

(Images are shown by permission of the artist)

Here is Lynda's artist statement for the exhibit:

It was a warm summer afternoon, my friend and I were lying on our backs on the grass in my yard.
She said to me "Lynda, you're an Artist, tell me about Color".
I thought about it for a moment and told her it would be my delight to share color with her.
She had been blind from birth.
I thought to myself, just how do I share color with someone who is blind?
Do you feel it? Taste it? Smell it? Hear it?
As the sun set upon us that day, I shared every experience I could, beyond sight, of color.
Going through the rainbow of hues, to color theories and values.
A warm sunny day can become rich dirt as yellow goes from primary hue to a deep value.
I believe I "Awakened To Color" on that day.
Painting in abstraction has been very rewarding to me.
It allows me to use my intuition more when I paint.
Color, pattern, texture and design are the main elements that I am working with.
These abstracts allow the viewer's imagination to play, which I love!
It is my hope that, in viewing this exhibition, you too find yourself "Awakening To Color".

Art Show at Albany City Hall

It is late notice, but there is a very good show of paintings by Carolee Clark at City Hall in Albany until the end of July. There are lots of wonderful colorful acrylic paintings on display. You can see many more paintings at Carolee's blog. Well worth a visit!

Bubbles and the Blob

I tried an experiment with watercolors yesterday. It didn't work as hoped...
The idea was to get bubble patterns in paint transferred to paper. Bubbles are always darker along the edges when sitting on a surface and capturing that darker pattern was the goal. A mixture of water, watercolor and dish washing detergent seemed like a good way to make the paint bubbles, so I mixed up a batch in a shallow dish and placed it on top of watercolor paper. Then I used a straw to blow lots of bubbles so they would spill out onto the paper. The bubble patterns looked good but once the bubbles inevitably popped, only a blob of color remained, not exactly spectacular.


But not all was lost. I did have fun taking photos of the paint bubbles that I may use in some way. And I have some other ides on getting that bubble pattern on paper yet. (Click on the photos to get a larger view and a better look at the iridescence.)

(Click on the photos for larger versions)

Now Showing

During July I will have a painting showing in another exhibit at the Giustina Gallery at Oregon State University, the annual community show. The painted collage, titled "Sunset Soon", is shown above.

There is also an exhibit of photos at the Albany Main Library by our Valley Viewfinders Camera Club during the months of July and August. Three of my photos will be in that show. The thirty photos in the exhibit will hang on the upper level of the library.

A new collage

Click on the image for a larger view

When I have been away from painting for a while and need something to get me back "in the groove", making a small abstract painted collage is always a good start for me. It serves well for a warm-up or loosening up activity. And I always enjoy making them.

The one above is made on a 7.5"x7.5" (19cmx19cm) sheet of cold-pressed 300 lb watercolor paper. Twelve of these smaller sheets can be cut from a regular full sheet of watercolor paper. Painted handmade papers (washi), acrylic paint and medium were used to make the collage. Artists who have taken collage workshops with Gerald Brommer will recognize how I got started making these many years ago.

"As Time Goes By" Art Exhibit

During the month of June, the exhibit in the Giustina Gallery at the LaSells Stewart Center at Oregon State University will be "As Time Goes By", a collection of work done by artists who have exhibited in the Art in the Valley Gallery in Corvallis or in its previous incarnation as the Illustrated Garden Gallery. The exhibit is a celebration of the gallery's 20th anniversary. A reception will be held on June 8 from 6:30-8:30 pm.
I have five paintings and collages hanging in the show amidst some very good artwork by a large number of artists. Please stop by and take a look.

The Columbia River Estuary from Space

Images of the Columbia River Estuary are ones that I have studied for years. From satellite images, I have mapped wetlands. landcover and invasive species within the 141 mile long area from the mouth of the Columbia to Bonneville Dam, the upper limit of its tidal influence.

The subject of the painted collage above is primarily one Landsat 5 image, but the collage does not hold to that one point in time. The estuary is a constantly changing place with tides and river levels rising and falling, sand bars and mud flats changing shape, and clearcuts and regrowth in the forests along the Columbia's banks. Seasonal changes are constantly occurring as well. So the collage portrays a changing, dynamic landscape. The choice of ranges of light, near infrared, red and green, gives growing vegetation a red color in this image.

This collage is the third in a a series of recent collages and paintings based on satellite images (the two others are "Rice Fields from Space" and Owens Lake, a lost lake in California). The images tell a story if you look at the details in the landscape and they have a beauty inherent to their landforms and habitats.

This collage will be one of five collages and paintings that I will be showing in the "As Time Goes By" exhibit at the LaSells Stewart Center at Oregon State University during June.

Latest abstract painting

This painting includes some stamped areas, but looks very different from the previous one, which also included stamping.


I'm not completely certain that this painting is finished. Sometimes it takes a while with lots of looking to decide...

Linoleum Stamp

Here is a photo of the linoleum stamp (mentioned in my previous post) that I carved during the Betsy Dillard Stroud painting workshop I attended this past week. It was carved with a small X-Acto v-shaped groover tool.
(The brown and yellow color is stain from paint. The color of the linoleum is the lighter color.)

Betsy Dillard Stroud Workshop

This painting is my first done during a workshop by Betsy Dillard Stroud. It is acrylic paint on paper. The lineolum stamp used in this work was carved during class. The soft linoleum is very easy to carve. This was my first time to use stamping in a painting and I liked the effect in this one.

[I added one small stamped section to the painting in the lower left after the original post. I think it improved the design.]

Iridescence

Getting a photo to accurately capture iridescence is difficult at best, but I have taken a few shots to show sections of the painting in my previous post that were painted with iridescent paint. They do show some of the sparkle and color shifts that are characteristic of iridescence.

"Rice Fields from Space"

Rice Fields from Space is my latest painting. It is another in my current series using satellite images as the subject matter. The subject for this painting is a location in the region of rice fields north of Sacramento, California. The mosaic-like pattern formed by the rice fields interspersed with natural drainage and highways is what attracted me to this particular image.

Rice Fields from Space
(Acrylic on paper - 30"x22" - 2011)

Unfortunately, the iridescent paint in the painting which makes it more visually interesting does not show well in the photo. I'll have to work at producing some photos or animation that give a better look at that aspect of the painting.

Landscape painting from a different perspective

For the past 30 years, I have been working with satellite imagery, primarily from Landsat satellites. These images provide wonderful views of the earth's landforms and USGS does a great job of making these images available.
The sight of one particular land area has become ingrained in my brain after seeing hundreds of images of it over the years. This place is Owens Lake in eastern California. During past years, I have made very little artwork related to my satellite image work and I decided recently to change that. I made a painted collage of Owens Lake using Landsat imagery as the source subject matter. Although the main landforms are visible, I did use artistic license in its presentation.

"Owens"

I have just finished a painting based on satellite imagery of another area. I'll add a photo of that one soon in another post.

The Garden at Shore Acres - A Digital Painting

After how well my last digital painting from a photograph was received I decided to make another one. This one is from another Oregon garden, the beautiful one at Shore Acres State Park on the coast.


Maybe a series would be a good idea. There are certainly plenty of gardens within a few hours drive,