Gallery of Recent Work

Work in Progress

These days I am doing more painting than stitching, working mostly in oils and mostly plein air.  The Nevada series 2009 paintings were done while I was artist-in-residence at the Workspace of the Goldwell Open Air Museum in Beatty Nevada. Most are small plein air pieces. In addition to the paintings that weren't sold at the final open house, I brought home two large semi-abstracts that are products of spending six weeks in that desert landscape. The summer of 2009 found me doing a lot of on-site (plein air) work, in and around Portland, on the Oregon Coast, and on the hottest days of this year, on Mt. Tabor, a park up the street from our southeast Portland home.

I am interested in ways of seeing -- not ways of expressing myself, but ways my brain deals with the external world and then allows me to put brush to canvas.  I am convinced that much of what we think of as "realistic" landscape, whether city or country, is really photo-realism. I seldom do photo-realism and, except in unusual circumstances, do not paint from photographs. My theory of visual perception has some conceptual similarities to those found in the writings and theories of David Hockney, Rackstraw Downes, William L. Fox, and Trevor and Ryan Oakes. Each of these theorists takes issue with conventional notions of perspective and visual perception. While I call my paintings "wonky," I am quite serious about attempting to see with all my visual perceptivities, not merely those taught me by photographs and Renaissance paintings.

Amargosa Playa 3 (Nevada Series)

Amargosa Playa 3 (Nevada Series)

Evening Glow, Beatty, Nevada

Evening Glow, Beatty, Nevada

Beatty Mountain from the Goldwell House (Nevada Series)

Beatty Mountain from the Goldwell House (Nevada Series)

Zabriskie Point, Death Valley

Zabriskie Point, Death Valley

Golden Canyon, Revisited

Golden Canyon, Revisited

South from the Red Barn

South from the Red Barn

The Sourdough Saloon (Nevada Series)

The Sourdough Saloon (Nevada Series)

Ladd Mountain (Nevada Series)

Ladd Mountain (Nevada Series)

The East Portland Branch, Public Library

The East Portland Branch, Public Library

East Portland Branch, Public Library

East Portland Branch, Public Library

Fir and Pines

Fir and Pines

Mt. Tabor Cedars

Mt. Tabor Cedars

Columbia River, Morning Fog

Columbia River, Morning Fog

Robins Island, the Columbia Gorge

Robins Island, the Columbia Gorge

Storm from Sauvies Island

Storm from Sauvies Island