Thursday, July 16, 2009



In the Pine Woods

Oil on board, 5" x 7"
$125 plus $6 shipping in U.S.
Email don@dailyartwest.com for purchase


These Black Pines catch the last rays of a summer afternoon in the mountains. Speaking of mountains, we took a drive in the forest the other day and found a lot of nearly ripe huckleberries. We're going back this weekend to pick. I can already taste the huckleberry pie. The berries are at an undisclosed location...don't try to follow us.

Here's a photo of today's mural progress, laying in the sky:



It's a great pleasure to work with oils for this project. Many of my murals have been on exterior walls, where acrylic paint is best suited. Soft blends with acrylic are challenging on large scale, because of the rapid drying time. It feels like such a luxury to have the blending capabilities of oil. Notice my patented two-story taboret at the far left. I needed a way to get my palette and tools up higher while working on the scaffold, so I built another level on top of the existing tabletop. It all rolls around on wheels. Works like a charm.

My friend Katherine Treffinger has been painting in my studio the last couple of days, using one of my large painting walls to work on a canvas about 4 by 10 feet. It's fun to watch her method of working--a real process of discovery. Here she lays in calligraphic lines that will no doubt be layered over with more paint:

4 comments:

Deborah Paris said...

Very cool to see the mural in process and your setup. Love that two story palette!

Don Gray said...

Thanks, Deborah. Yes, I think everyone should have a high-rise palette!

Leslie Sealey said...

Wow! Your mural looks great; I hope you'll post some more in-progress shots.

Don Gray said...

Thanks, Leslie. I'll post some more shots soon, I hope. I plan to be working away on it.