Oil on board, 6" x 6"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com
The beautiful branching structure of this red maple really shows up in leafless winter.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Side Door
Oil on board, 5" x 7"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
Click image to enlarge
For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com
Up the street less than a block from my studio is "The Little White Church", one of the oldest buildings in Union, Oregon, built in 1874. I'm not sure if it ever housed other denominations, but it served the Catholic community for many years until a larger modern building was built. The nave portion of the church was built in a hexagonal half-circle.
Today the building belongs to the Union County Museum and is lovingly maintained as a vital part of the town's history.
Today the building belongs to the Union County Museum and is lovingly maintained as a vital part of the town's history.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
New work on my other blog
Two new paintings and several new monotypes are posted to my contemporary blog. Monotypes are one-of-a-kind hand-pulled prints, made by painting with etching inks on glass and then transferring the image onto paper. Go have a look: http://dongraypaintings.blogspot.com.
PS: When you see the header on the blog, don't worry--your eyes aren't going bad. It's gone all fuzzy--I have no idea why.??
PS: When you see the header on the blog, don't worry--your eyes aren't going bad. It's gone all fuzzy--I have no idea why.??
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Lattice Roof
Oil on board, 6" x 8"
$165 plus $7 shipping in U.S.
Click image to enlarge
For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com
I was in Hawaii last night. Okay, not physically in Hawaii. I was there virtually, thanks to Google Earth and Google Street View.
Here's the trajectory that took me there: the other day I posted my California ocean/surfer painting, which got me thinking about the beach and warmer climes. Then yesterday there was the news of an earthquake in Hawaii that rattled the town of Hilo. Having never been to Hilo, I decided to open Google Earth and pay a visit. This is the coolest program; if you don't use it you are missing out, in my opinion. It's a free download that allows you to roam virtually anywhere on earth, floating above cites and mountains, which are 3D images generated by aerial photography. The street view feature allows you to literally drop down to ground level and travel on highways and roads, with a 360 degree photographic view of everything around you which is constantly changing, just as if you were driving down the street.
Think of how much information--how many billions of pixels--must be stored to allow me to ramble down any random street in Hilo, looking in shop windows. Every building, every passing car or pedestrian, every blade of grass, every swaying palm in photographic range is 3D digitized and held in computerized memory. And this in just one tiny place. They've done this all over the world. Astonishing!
Today, basking in memories of my one-night Hawaiian vacation and still searching for some virtual warmth, I re-visited photos from our years of living in southern California. The result: this painting of clay pots and enameled teakettle sunning themselves on our Murrieta patio.
Here's the trajectory that took me there: the other day I posted my California ocean/surfer painting, which got me thinking about the beach and warmer climes. Then yesterday there was the news of an earthquake in Hawaii that rattled the town of Hilo. Having never been to Hilo, I decided to open Google Earth and pay a visit. This is the coolest program; if you don't use it you are missing out, in my opinion. It's a free download that allows you to roam virtually anywhere on earth, floating above cites and mountains, which are 3D images generated by aerial photography. The street view feature allows you to literally drop down to ground level and travel on highways and roads, with a 360 degree photographic view of everything around you which is constantly changing, just as if you were driving down the street.
Think of how much information--how many billions of pixels--must be stored to allow me to ramble down any random street in Hilo, looking in shop windows. Every building, every passing car or pedestrian, every blade of grass, every swaying palm in photographic range is 3D digitized and held in computerized memory. And this in just one tiny place. They've done this all over the world. Astonishing!
Today, basking in memories of my one-night Hawaiian vacation and still searching for some virtual warmth, I re-visited photos from our years of living in southern California. The result: this painting of clay pots and enameled teakettle sunning themselves on our Murrieta patio.
The Wild Cat
Oil on board, 12.5" x 20.5"
Sold
Click image to enlarge
Here's the earlier painting of the cat in yesterday's post. This one was done in 2007.
Monday, January 23, 2012
The Survivor
Watercolor on archival paper, 7" x 8"
$185 plus $7 shipping in U.S.
Click image to enlarge
For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com
There is a wild black tom cat that has roamed our area for years. He's very wary--when he has passed through our yard I've never been able to get closer than about 30 feet away. I did a larger painting of him several years ago, which I'll post when/if I can locate the darn file. Every now and again I see him out in the fields, hunting for mice under the snow. Always alone, sleek and beautiful, it's obvious he knows very well how to take care of himself. A true survivor.
WE'RE DOWNSIZING!
*Please note: I have modified the painting size and price since first posting this. I thought the painting size was 8" x 9"--turns out it's 7" x 8", so price goes down accordingly. The lesson I hope I've learned: don't rely on faulty memory...double-check!
WE'RE DOWNSIZING!
*Please note: I have modified the painting size and price since first posting this. I thought the painting size was 8" x 9"--turns out it's 7" x 8", so price goes down accordingly. The lesson I hope I've learned: don't rely on faulty memory...double-check!
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Offshore Layer
Oil on gallery wrap stretched canvas, 18" x 24"
$1700, free shipping in U.S.
Click image to enlarge
SOLD
Here's one for all you folks in the northern climes who might be experiencing a touch of the winter blues right now. I painted this in late 2007, shortly before our move back to Oregon from California. Our home was about a half-hour from the coast, so we went there often. I'm not a surfer (except for one misguided attempt which you can't make me talk about) but I loved watching them from the beach.
Have a great weekend, wherever you are.
Have a great weekend, wherever you are.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Out Back
Oil on stretched canvas, 8" x 10"
$300 plus $12 shipping in U.S.
Click image to enlarge
For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com
Our backyard, looking properly January-ish now.
World of White
Oil on board, 5" x 7"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
Click image to enlarge
It has been an unusual winter in these parts. After a two-month hiatus, snow has at last arrived on the valley floor. Winslow was a little bewildered by the sudden transformation of his world.
Snowmen fall from heaven... unassembled.
~ Author Unknown
Snowmen fall from heaven... unassembled.
~ Author Unknown
Sunday, January 15, 2012
The Outsider
Oil on board, 5" x 7"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
Click image to enlarge
For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com
I had fun doing this still life. The apple's apparently on the outs with his citrus buddies.
I may have left the wrong impression with my last post about coyotes. I'm wary because I've seen their capabilities, but that doesn't diminish my love for these amazing animals. Maybe part of that admiration is precisely because they are so maligned--such underdogs (pardon the pun), surviving in spite of monumental efforts to destroy them. They are wild animals, an integral part of the natural world, simply doing what instinct and survival demand of them. I think it would be a great loss if they could no longer be glimpsed loping through the sage, or if their night songs were forever silenced.
I may have left the wrong impression with my last post about coyotes. I'm wary because I've seen their capabilities, but that doesn't diminish my love for these amazing animals. Maybe part of that admiration is precisely because they are so maligned--such underdogs (pardon the pun), surviving in spite of monumental efforts to destroy them. They are wild animals, an integral part of the natural world, simply doing what instinct and survival demand of them. I think it would be a great loss if they could no longer be glimpsed loping through the sage, or if their night songs were forever silenced.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Stealthy Traveler
Oil on board, 8" x 8"
$250 plus $10 shipping in U.S.
Click image to enlarge
For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com
A coyote ghosts over the high sage country at dusk. These animals are true survivors. Despite decades of wholesale efforts in the west to reduce their numbers by shooting, trapping or poisoning, they continue to thrive. Like them or not, coyotes deserve a measure of admiration for sheer tenacity.
Some personal experiences with these wild dogs have earned my respect, along with a fair measure of wary uneasiness. Once, years ago, I sat alone on a rocky ledge in a remote northern Arizona canyon. It was a hushed and brilliantly sunlit fall morning. The only sound: an occasional throaty croak from a lone raven drifting in lazy circles high above.
Suddenly, a series of loud, bleating cries echoed through the canyon. On a far ridge, darting in and out of clumps of juniper and pinon, a full-grown deer ran at breakneck speed, chased bound for bound by a lone coyote. They quickly dropped out of sight and the canyon fell silent again.
A minute later the pair burst into sight in the canyon bottom, much closer now and heading my way. At a point maybe 50 yards below me, the much smaller animal leaped on the exhausted doe, jaws clamping in a choking grip on her neck. The two stood locked in a motionless struggle for tense seconds. Finally, the deer slumped to the ground, dead.
I sat there, stunned. Didn't coyotes hunt in packs? I never imagined a single one could take down an apparently healthy animal at least four times its weight. It was shocking and profoundly unsettling. At the same time it felt like a rare privilege to witness this raw act of nature.
I can never look at coyotes the same way again.
Some personal experiences with these wild dogs have earned my respect, along with a fair measure of wary uneasiness. Once, years ago, I sat alone on a rocky ledge in a remote northern Arizona canyon. It was a hushed and brilliantly sunlit fall morning. The only sound: an occasional throaty croak from a lone raven drifting in lazy circles high above.
Suddenly, a series of loud, bleating cries echoed through the canyon. On a far ridge, darting in and out of clumps of juniper and pinon, a full-grown deer ran at breakneck speed, chased bound for bound by a lone coyote. They quickly dropped out of sight and the canyon fell silent again.
A minute later the pair burst into sight in the canyon bottom, much closer now and heading my way. At a point maybe 50 yards below me, the much smaller animal leaped on the exhausted doe, jaws clamping in a choking grip on her neck. The two stood locked in a motionless struggle for tense seconds. Finally, the deer slumped to the ground, dead.
I sat there, stunned. Didn't coyotes hunt in packs? I never imagined a single one could take down an apparently healthy animal at least four times its weight. It was shocking and profoundly unsettling. At the same time it felt like a rare privilege to witness this raw act of nature.
I can never look at coyotes the same way again.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Multicolored Leaf
Oil on board, 5" x 7"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com
Another old-timer that's been in the studio since last fall. I love all the subtle variations in color.
Still Green
Oil on board, 5" x 7"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com
A few of the leaves I picked up in autumn are still around the studio. It's been interesting to watch the changes they've gone through. Some are brown and withered. Others have turned into pastel versions of the golds and russets of fall. This one, though fragile and dry as paper, still retains some of its original green. You could say it has aged well. Probably for this leaf, age is just a number.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
All to Himself
Oil on board, 12" x 12.25"
$550 plus $15 shipping in U.S.
Click image to enlarge
A larger painting today. These are the foothills and mountains we see out our front windows. So far this winter the white stuff has stayed up high--no snow has fallen here in the valley for over a month. Most unusual.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Baby Moccasins
Acrylic on board, 6" x 6"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
For check payment or other arrangements, email don@dailyartwest.com
I rent the top floor of the Union County Museum for my studio. These tiny child's moccasins are part of their collection. They're quite old, probably late 1800's. The soft kid leather is still flexible. The uppers of black patent leather are brittle now and cracking in places, but still very shiny. Painting them made me wistful about the march of time. I dreamed of the child who wore these, now long gone from this world. I hope he or she had a good life.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Mt. Emily from the Marsh
Oil on board, 6" x 6"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
Ladd Marsh is a protected area of several thousand acres in northeast Oregon's Grande Ronde Valley, where I live. It is a managed habitat for wetlands birds and many other animals. Mt. Emily is the valley's most recognizable feature.
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