The Teasel Path

Watercolor on paper, 7" x 5"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
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Teasel is a strange and interesting plant. It starts in spring with clumps of wrinkled, spearlike leaves, then sends up tall stalks with multiple blooming heads that dry in winter to stiff, sharp spines. Everything about the plant is sharp and prickly, much like cactus.

I'll admit, before I did this painting I really knew nothing about the plant, except that it is considered an invasive weed. I did a little online research and discovered that teasel was once grown as a crop, first in Europe (where it is native) and later in New York state and Oregon. The prickly heads were used to card wool and fluff blankets, among other uses. One source said that the plant then "escaped" (I love that term) and spread all across the country. So I guess the teasel plants in this painting are the proud descendants of ancestors who escaped captivity many years ago.

And that's my little agricultural lesson for today.

Sheltered Farm

Watercolor on paper, 5" x 8.75"
$150 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
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This farm east of Union sits in a narrowing valley flanked by foothills of the Blue Mountains. Under the brow of this rolling hill it is probably somewhat more sheltered from the winter winds.

I loved the way the late afternoon sun caught the swelling curve of the upper field and illuminated the gable end of the barn. If I had to single out one aspect of my art that was more important to me than any other, it would be the quality of light.

Shadow and Substance

Watercolor on paper, 5 1/2" x 8 1/4"
$150 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
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A somewhat larger painting today. I'm going to be varying the size of the dailys for awhile, because...well, just because. I feel the need to put some variety into proportion and size to keep my creative juices flowing.

Our neighbor Fred is a true old cowboy. He worked for many years overseeing Forest Service land, spending long months alone on horseback in the mountains. This large steel building is his riding arena. I was struck one day by the shadow cast by one of his horses on that vast expanse of wall.

Clear and Cold

Acrylic on board, 5" x 7"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
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It's cold--7 degrees!!! I take back everything I said in yesterday's post...I hate winter!

Just kidding, of course. How can you hate the beauty of these clear and cold days? Especially with a hot cup of coffee...and a comfortable chair...and a warm fire...and a window that's not frosted over?

Stream in January

Watercolor, 5" x 7"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
SOLD


I love winter. There...I said it.

I'll complain with the best when a cold wind whips down my coat collar, or blurt out unsafe for the office words when the battery goes dead on a frosty morning. But deep down, I do love winter.

Visually, I love how winter clarifies. Contrasts sharpen, objects stand out in stark relief against pristine whiteness. Snow and ice edge the stream like a mat surrounds a picture, presenting it to you. Color harmonies are delicate, but reward the seeker. Falling snow and drifting fog simplify complex areas into subtle tonal fields, adding cloaks of mystery.

And the mysterious, I realize, is a large part of my attraction to this season. Winter transforms the familiar. Under a fresh blanket of snow, the most mundane view--that cow pasture or little grove of trees off the kitchen window--becomes suddenly another world--strangely remote, a little...wild. Winter, after all, is the season that shows us we are not really in control. There's an edge. Danger lurks.

Many feel that winter is a time when the world closes in upon them, but I've never felt that way. Winter excites my imagination. In winter my world seems larger, scarier, more real and more fantastic all at once. And beautiful beyond description.

Deep Blue Water

Acrylic on board, 5" x 7"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
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Catherine Creek meanders across the valley in broad loops and tight horseshoe bends. Years ago in spring or early summer we used to canoe the slow-moving waters, taking all day to travel maybe twenty miles as the crow flies.

Drifting along at waters-eye view it's another world. You can't see the plowed fields or farmhouses, just tall grasses, cattails, thick clumps of brush and occasional overhanging willows. Once, we floated silently up on a swimming beaver who, when he finally noticed us, slapped his tail loudly on the water and dove for the bottom. Great blue herons would ghost off the water, long wings traveling in slow motion. Deer stood watching curiously as we glided past. I could imagine it would not have looked much different a thousand years ago.

Nap Time

Watercolor on paper, 5" x 8"
$140 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
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A slightly larger painting today. The cow on the right has eaten her fill of good alfalfa hay and, facing the sun, is starting to doze off. I know the feeling...not of eating hay...of dozing off.

Quail Crossing

Watercolor on paper, 6" x 6"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
SOLD


We have a lot of quail around here. It's fun watching them scurry along in a relaxed version of single file. This covey skitters across a snowy field toward a sheltering grove of golden willow.

Many times I've encountered large groups of these little birds darting across the road in front of me and felt certain I was going to run over them. But quail are evidently very good at computing distance and speed. Always at the very last instant the stragglers do a quick 180, while the leading edge turns on the afterburners, magically clearing a path for my truck.


NOTE: I can't post this without acknowledgement of what an historic day Tuesday was, with the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States. The task ahead for him (and for us all) is daunting. But the quickening spirit of hope and renewal that is growing in this country is heartening. And I believe, as our new President believes, that together we will rise to the challenges ahead.

Ranch Shed

Acrylic on board, 5" x 7"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
SOLD

On a pale winter day out in the wild west sage country I came across this lonely little shed.

Last Flame (for Andrew)

Acrylic on board, 8" x 10"
$350 plus $8 shipping in U.S.
SOLD


The famous American artist Andrew Wyeth died in his sleep Friday morning, at the age of 91.

I was about 18 when I purchased a slim volume of Wyeth drawings, and pored over it like the Holy Grail. I grew up in a small town in Oregon, and Wyeth's paintings of rural landscapes and country life struck deeply familiar and resonant chords with me. He became my role model and distant, unknowing mentor.

At age 22, fresh off my first (and only) year as a high school art teacher, I was entertaining the idea of trying to be a full-time artist. Determined to go see Andrew Wyeth and ask his advice,
I flew from Oregon to Wilmington Delaware, rented a car, drove to the little burg of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania where the artist lived, and called him from a phone booth. An hour later I sat, trembling and nearly speechless, six feet from my idol. The poor man had to do almost all the talking, trying to draw me out of what must have looked like a semi-catatonic state.

Wyeth was kind and encouraging, but also occasionally stern. He studied a watercolor portrait of my wife I had brought along. "If you don't know how to draw an ear, learn it...you've got eyes...use them!" he exclaimed, leaning toward me and stomping his foot for emphasis.

Over the years my idol worship mellowed and tempered. There was quite a long period of time where I was highly critical of Wyeth's work--the student rejecting the master, I guess. I've come out the other side with a more balanced and realistic view, I believe.

What I know for sure is that Andrew Wyeth played an instrumental role in my becoming an artist. I could never thank him enough.

Weeks ago Martha Miller, a wonderfully creative figurative artist from Maine, honored me with a web award (thank you, Martha!) I believe it was called something like the "Brilliant Premio" award. The award is a version of blog "tagging," which is a way to recognize and promote deserving fellow bloggers. I'm not strictly following the rules of "tagging" other artists by requesting that they acknowledge or pass this award on to others, unless they wish to do so. But there are so many fine artists with blogs, and I would like to bring your attention to some I think are outstanding.

1. Simon Jones...Simon is a U.K. artist who has apparently started blogging fairly recently, but has been painting a long while. He does imaginative and moody landscapes and figures in oil. In his commercial business he creates intricate and beautifully painted architectural watercolors.

2. Shannon Reynolds is a Canadian painter who explores a range of subjects on her blog, all beautifully painted. She often works in thematic series.

3. Lane Bennion is a very fine Utah-based painter who has recently been doing fantastic, painterly explorations of mall interiors, carnivals at night, etc. He explores America's everyday suburban culture with great skill and a sharp eye.

4. Rob Ijbema loves wheels and speed. This Welsh painter's "Car a Day" blog is filled with race cars, painted in an impressionist/expressionist style that conveys motion and excitement as well as anything I've seen. Another of his blogs, "Painting Le Tour," does the same thing for bicycle racing.

5. Brian Kliewer is another Maine artist who paints sensitively rendered realist landscapes and interiors. Right now he's a little more than halfway through his "100 Paintings in 100 Days" project of small-scale oils.

6. Ambera Wellman is a very young (are you even CLOSE to 30 yet, Ambera?) and tremendously gifted painter who is studying art in Halifax and already doing very accomplished work.

7. Tracey Helgeson lives in New York state and paints abstracted, dream-like, saturated-color landscapes that are haunting. Recently I'm noticing interesting and slightly quirky figurative pieces.

8. Pierre Raby. Yet another talented Canadian painter (must be something in the water up there.) A fine technical painter and draftsman, Pierre goes beyond with figures that feel emotionally charged, as well as still lifes and landscapes that convey deep spirit.

There are many more...I'll feature some soon.

Razor Point Yucca

Acrylic on board, 5" x 7"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
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One more for the (virtual) road.

And a little movie tour of my studio--to show you where I've really been during my "virtual" travels:

The Long View

Acrylic on board, 6" x 6"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
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Well, what the heck. Since I'm already down here at Torrey Pines in my "virtual RV," I might as well paint another oceanscape, don't you think?

I'm still exploring the Golden Open paint, and feel like I learn a little more with each painting. It occurs to me that learning a new medium is kind of like taking your dog to obedience school. You find out it's more about training the owner than the dog.

Afternoon, Torrey Pines

Acrylic on board, 6" x 6"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
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What do you think, is it time for a surf n' sun change of pace today? I crawled into the "virtual RV" and drove south--way south--to one of my favorite places, Torrey Pines State Reserve near San Diego. Poised high above the blue Pacific, sloping ridges of native chaparral cut with deeply eroded sandstone canyons offer up stunning vistas.

Valley Blues

Acrylic on board, 6" x 6"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
Email don@dailyartwest.com for purchase


The setting sun had plunged the valley floor into deepening shadow. A chill was settling on the land. There was an icy layer beneath the new snow and I was walking gingerly, head down. When I stopped to look up, the view took my breath away. The mountains were glowing as if lit from within.

Light of Winter

Acrylic on board, 6" x 6"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
SOLD

Brush thickets along an old river channel in the valley glow in the winter sun. Another painting done with Golden Open acrylic. I also have a larger painting in process. Think I'm beginning to like this paint.

AND...

At the end of a hard day's work (well, kinda hard,) driving home from the studio:

Toward High Valley

Acrylic on board, 6" x 6"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
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Apologies in advance for the "shop talk" nature of this post, which will probably be of more interest to artists than to others.

This is painted with a new type of acrylic paint manufactured by Golden, called "Open." I bought a sample set awhile back and experimented a bit with it, without being able to decide whether I liked it or not. But I decided to get a fuller selection of colors and give it a full trial. I'm starting to get kind of excited about the results, and eager to try it on larger scale work.

Open stays wet on the palette and canvas for considerably longer than conventional acrylic, allowing blending and "wet-in-wet" painting similar to oil. But it has its own working properties which seem to lie somewhere between acrylic and oil. I now have the medium, gel and thinner made expressly for this paint, which I didn't buy initially. The mediums make a huge difference in how the paint handles and in the amount of time before the surface tacks-up, so for anyone wanting to try this paint be sure to get the mediums as well.

I'm interested in the experiences of others who are using Open--let me know what you think.

Horse Hay

Watercolor, 6" x 6"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
SOLD


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Old Windbreak

Watercolor on paper, 10" x 9.75"
$325 plus $8 shipping in U.S.
SOLD


A larger painting today. I'm always struck by how cattle endure--rain, snow or shine.

Actually, this watercolor was painted about this time a year ago. I decided to drive out to the spot today to shoot some video...and there they were--enduring:

Frosty Morning

Watercolor on paper, 6" x 6"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
SOLD


Changeable winter. While painting this earlier, the air was cold but perfectly still. As I write this post (at 1:00 AM) there's an ominous, low but loud rumbling sound outside--probably the biggest windstorm of the season so far. It's hard to tell in the darkness whether it is snowing or if it's just the wind whipping up a swirl of fine particles from the ground.

Snug and warm little house we're in though--lucky us.

Winter Shadows

Watercolor on paper, 5" x 7"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
SOLD


The sun's last rays cast long shadows across the valley. Button up that coat.

Cloudbank

Watercolor on paper, 6" x 6"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
SOLD


I'm kind of on a watercolor run lately (pardon the pun.) I enjoy shifting mediums from time to time to shake things up a bit. I've never found the "perfect" paint, or the perfect brush or surface, for that matter. I end up in a kind of love/hate relationship with my tools and materials. For me, each medium has its own set of challenges, pleasures and frustrations. I'm always dissatisfied to some degree with virtually everything I do--always feel it should be better. I'm quick to blame the medium or tools, but in truth it's probably not the paint, it's the painter.

Snowy Lane with Crow

Watercolor on paper, 5" x 7"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
SOLD

It's a new year, so here's something new: a little video of me driving my truck (complete with cracked windshield) down a snowy lane not far from home, listening to NPR on the radio, imagining myself "far, far away."

Cattle and Willows

Watercolor on paper, 6" x 6"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
SOLD


The turning page of a new year seems to bring out the reflective impulse, and I've been thinking back on this past year's experience of painting and journaling.

Without being too maudlin about it, an artist's life is by necessity a pretty solitary one. The creative process requires hours of focused time alone in the studio, engaged in--what else?--self-dialogue. This blog has been my escape from all that, a way to leave the hermit life for awhile each day and engage a wider world filled with other artists, art-lovers, collectors, family and friends. What a gift this has been.

A huge thank you to all who have signed on for daily emails, shelled out hard-earned cash for paintings, posted comments or critiques, sent messages of encouragement, or even just silently followed my blog. It means more than I can say.

Be well and prosper in the New Year.