Corvallis Artist, Oregon Artist. Creating Every Day…paintings, web sites, and courses Oregon daily painter, murals and portraits. Corvallis Web Designer / Web Developer. Original abstract landscape oil paintings
New Mexico is the land of enchantment; every corner of the Northern area provides a shocking vista to paint.
Echo Amphitheatre is a great place to sing or play the flute as well as paint. The campground was closed for renovation but the host allowed us to dry camp so I could get up early to paint. A large painting group showed up later in the day to watercolor.
I got up early at this magical place and painted three works. What fun I had keeping the colors bright and the brush loose.
There are other spectacular views at this location, but I wanted to focus on one subject all day; I had no idea I would paint so fast.
While in Santa Fe, NM, we spent time at the O’Keefe Museum, which hosted Many paintings I hadn’t seen yet. I found several favorites and grabbed some postcard prints to hang in the RV for inspiration.
Her paintings blend smooth the roughness of the high-desert landscape and sometimes abstract or make surreal the jungstiposition of hills, plateaus, pines, rivers, arroroys, bones, and flowers.
This painting was done very quickly in the afternoon heat with the wind threatening to blow my supplies away. The trees are not right for the scene and will be revised. I have a ways to go before I can emulate O’Keefe’s style!
This composition was drawn in March but just this week I was able to apply paint. It’s just a first pass but I’ve decided to keep it looking spontaneous.
I want the foam to appear in raised paint squirt from the tube.
Tybee island is a wonderful place where the beach seems endless, the critters on the sand are numerous, and the beachside cafes serve flounder fish and chips.
This piece is on sale for $30. Stay tuned for a buy now button.
Our campsite in Hollywood, SC, just outside Charleston, was so beautiful that we stayed 2 extra days so I could paint and visit the nearby Edisto Beach, where trillions of large shells wash up on the shore.
This painting of Lake Aire is still in progress. It’s my first thin vertical format and I’m not sure about the composition yet. The posts may have to go and the water may need revising.
City Life just doesn’t entice me to paint. Glad to be out of Atlanta where I see more color and life in the wind sweeping a small lake at the base of a pine forest.
It’s hard to paint in the wind but the temperature is warm here, so I was not dissuaded by the gusts.
I’m painting as freely as possible with lots of paint on the brush. In some cases I squirted the paint onto the board to mix it.
As you walk along the beach here you still see evidence of hurricanes past. Much rebuilding is in the works, though not everyone can afford the upgrades.
The weather is very mild this time of year in this little community. It’s less crowded here in our little RV Park haven as well. Many small parks line the bay’s beach. Major tourist towns flank Navarre Beach so we were thankful for the quiet of this park.
Thousands of small lakes and/or swamps are everywhere in south Louisiana. The water patterns are a challenge to paint so I practiced by using photos instead of working en plein air.
The first one is controlled and the other is quick and loose.
It’s easier to keep the colors pure on the quick version. These quick water studies are my favorite en plain air subject.
Warm breezes help the painter paint! Yesterday in the Gulf of Mexico the sky was blue and the palms were swaying. Now it’s raining, so this painting in progress will have to wait until the sun returns.
Picnic tables are set up high on the jetty park visitors center so I was able to set up the scene with depth. The palms are rearranged a bit to balance. As you may know, the area is flat for miles and miles, so filling the plane means taking artistic license.
It’s been since high school that I used oil paints. I enjoy the buttery feeling and how I can paint in a strong breeze without the paints drying out.
There is nowhere to store a wet oil painting in an RV, so I’ve placed it in a plastic bag with the opening wide to allow air flow. The fumes are something to deal with as well.
I think I’ll have to wait until we reach Oregon again to make more; just don’t have a shelf to store them.
This much larger acrylic painting sits on top of some other painting that I’ve forgotten about (probably a good thing). I just love to paint large with large brush strokes and bright color.
When it’s not raining here in Pumpkin, the days are quite sunny and warm. I’m able to paint at least once a week, sometimes twice.
When I step outside each morning, I see this peaceful pasture with tall tangled trees. Various birds serenade us by day and crickets and frogs by night. The horses roam around scrounging for grass here and love to greet us at the fence; hoping for treats.
The pasture outside our door this week is home to some bulls used in rodeos. Two calves were born this week. They didn’t make it into the painting but might next time I’m out able.
The recent rains have not turned the pasture green but the frogs are awake making quite a racket. I suspect they are sitting in that pond beyond the pine tree.
Between cold, wind, and rain storms outside New Waverly, TX, I’ve managed to start a painting that’s really set in some other place; not sure where. The mountain is like AZ, but the pasture is green and there are no cacti. So it’s neither AT or TX. The part-time residents at Timber Lodge RV park where we’re parked have been asking where the painting is set. I’m painting outdoors facing the horse pasture, but my painting doesn’t look anything like what we see! Artistic License.
The highlight of our Thanksgiving on the road was not cooking turkey in our propane oven, but painting the striking red formations that are seen all over Sedona, Arizona. The horses were friendly and so was the weather.
After we returned from the Grand Canyon a week later, I painted the Oak Creek. I was upset that day, due to paying $180 to get my mail delivered to me, and wasn’t sure I could paint. Once again, I learned that painting makes me feel healthier! I cheered up within the hour.
I’ve been working on this square painting of the horse and finally completed it.
Rick Eckel’s Bed and Breakfast in the countryside outside Ashland, Oregon is a peaceful place to walk the creeks, check email on the porch, or walk up the railroad tracks to Toshi Choling Shrine. I painted this scene outside the front porch, looking south west, I think.
The entire design is sketched in pencil on all four walls. These lines will be obscured and drawn again as the paint covers. Short and tall plants and trees will be layered in front of the waterfall and monoliths.
Day 2
The first blocks of mid tone greens are added. At the top of the stairs a light sky is added as far as I could reach. The wires will become vines in various shades of green (unless someone moves them to a new location). Sky is added to the top sections. It’s hard to reach the top area without scaffolding. I enlisted Kyle’s help for the East side.
Day 3
More mid-tone greens are applied, as well as a bit more sky, cool rocks, and mist above the canopy. The cave begins to show in a cool blue.
Up to this point all color has been laid down with a large natural sponge, allowing transparency. At least one more layer of green and cool blues and purples will be laid down with a sponge before brushing begins. The sponge texture is currently swirls and straight wipes, which may show through the last layers to add texture and interest.
Day 4
I was craving detail, so I improved the monoliths with trees and more mist. Then added foliage to the middle and foreground on just one wall. Still need to get the ladder to finish the sky and tops of the waterfall and cave scenes.
Day 5
I refined the Day 4 foliage and added more to the foreground. I began to work on the orangutan and the tree she’s hanging in. There is much more contrast and a feeling of cool shade down below and warmth at the top near the cliff. I’m finally using masking tape to finish off edges and make less mess.
The orangutan is beginning to show herself hanging from the tree.
Day 6
The lively flowers and leaves are brightening up the foreground below the hand rail.
This is Marca (femine for Marco), named by Quincy, the youngest Levien. Her hands and feet are not done, but the face and body are. She’s got a friendly gaze.
Day 7 and 8
I’ve officially lost track of the days, so this is a guess. It took 2 or 3 days to get the bamboo and waterfall completed. And on day 11 I decided the middle waterfall needed help, so I’m revising.
The cave recedes behind the tree.
Day 9
I added giant bamboo stalks and foam to the bottom of the fall. These touches add depth. The crack in the rock where the stream falls now recedes into the distance.
Day 10
I washed this corner fern off three times and may do it again! I’m finally able to work on the other wall, now and like how the composition is holding up.
There’s an environment evolving downstairs!
Day 11
I refined the details of the right falls, middle, back, and some foreground. Played around with the left falls again to improve the middle fall.
Day 12
I added detail to the bottom right panel and began to climb the wall, so to speak, on the inside right panel.
Day 13
Now we’re getting somewhere! I’m continuing the background textures up around the right panel and adding more red flowers. It’s time for the banana trees and bird of paradise flowers. I’ve got five more days of vacation, will I run off to the beach, or stay and paint?
Day 15
I’m finally able to resume painting and am nearing completion. The high foreground is coming together and the low foreground backdrop has been laid. The atmosphere is hazy above the canopy and dark and cool underneath, amongst the birds and lizards.
Day 16
After taking at least 2 weeks off from painting, I saw the last work with new eyes. Either I’m attached to it, or it looked just fine. So I began to add birds, bugs, and lizards.
When I return to Oregon, I’ll be sitting there again to make another attempt. Perhaps the light will be more interesting–in the previous lighting the water looked muddy. I don’t really care to paint brown. Not sure that can be helped if the water is in shade on an overcast day.
Later, in 2007, I painted another rendition with bright colors on canvasboard. This summer I hope to try again.
I was commissioned to design a logo, brochure, web site, and poster for the 2005 first annual Harvest Music Festival. In addition, the art for the promotional materials was commissioned to me and auctioned at the event.
My first experience at the The Cauthorn Home, where the event was to take place, was a photographer and artist’s paradise. I shot numerous photos on a sunny day. Each corner of the property had rich details; nothing on the property is overlooked. This painting incorporated the gazebo and lavender field seen as you drive into the main gate. I added Mary’s Peak in the background to show the regional location.
One of our favorite RV parks in Oregon is on the Siletz River. I think it’s called River Bend, cause the river makes a corner here.
The tide rolls in and out everyday while the llamas stroll around the pastures. They will wait your permission before passing on the trail. A pair of immature eagles can be seen from the bend; listen for their call. A heron lives next to the creek and when some of the native grasses and flowers are blooming, the butterflies are plenty.
I tried capturing the water during a hazy afternoon when we were there in June or July. After a few more tries at fixing it, I finally like it!
Up stream from the mouth of the Alsea River are numerous RV parks with boat launching facilities. The park we stayed in for a weekend had fields of flowers blooming just outside the door. The sky was clear that weekend, hence the water was a brilliant blue as well, with just enough current to look cold and ominous.
To get to Waldport, I drove the spectaular Alsea Hwy, which had no traffic!
My first mural was painted at the home of Cindy Miller in Corvallis, Oregon during a peaceful snowstorm over Winter break. The 14-foot wall was white reflected too much sunlight in the large room, so I provided a cooler atmosphere by painting this old growth forest scene from a photo taken while we were walking along the path at Tryon Park in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
I finished this painting after many years of contemplation. I had not painted water successfully in acrylic or oils, so I took a workshop from Mark Allison, art instructor at LBCC and Bill Shumway, owner of Pegasus Gallery, in Corvallis. Though I did not get to participate in the entire weekend’s activities, I learned vital skills which are always with me in my daily and plain air painting.
In 2003, I entered a contest to provide art for the da Vinci Days poster. Though this piece did not receive the honor, I enjoyed working on each portrait . The large area of sky was left to add the theme title, Road to Discovery, which would be done electronically.
During the festival, this painting sat on an easel in the foyer of La Sells Stewart Center at Oregon State University. Other contest entrants were to display their work as well, but chose not to (what an opportunity for me!).