Hunter's Moon and Crows

A pair of crows hung out around Coyote Rock at Kernville, Oregon. Getting up one morning I saw them just before daybreak flying with the full hunter's moon in the background. "Crows' Moon" is acrylic painted on cradled wood, 7" x 5".

Spider Gliders over the Siletz River

They are tiny, almost transparent gliding with the breeze on their silk strand. I have always been amazed by spider weavers but I see a new treat. So new to me I am amazed and enchanted to see the sun lighting the critters' silks as they move from the high tree boughs with so many strands helter skelter moving in front of the sun and then gliding this way and that until they come down, down still bright with light passing the shadowy fir forest to meet the river and then the air picks them up again. They glide past small flies and birds and past fishermen too. Sometimes a spider silk catches me. Oh well, if only my interpretation of their beauty in paint would succeed. I didn't capture the spiders flight on film although I tried.

A Day in Our Motor Coach at the Oregon Coast

My prize of the day is "Breaker Foam Dragon" - a break through for me. I have been painting over and over "Sea Foam Dragons" not getting the feeling I want of playful happiness. "Breaker Foam Dragon" is mixed media with interference and regular acrylic paints on a 12 ' square cradled board.

At 7:00 A M my husband served me oatmeal with raisins. He then busily prepared to go fishing while I have hardly finished breakfast tea. Our windows were steamed and dripping wet. I couldn't wipe them enough times, so I turned off the heat and opened the windows to a beautiful sunny day. I took a few photographs of the oil slick on the marina. Did chores.
9:15 AM I left to do grocery shopping in Lincoln City, Price and Pride Grocery Store.
10:45 AM, I was back at the motor coach . As I was setting up my paints I waved at my husband as he trolled by. I moved the crab pots on and around the table to make room to paint outdoors. I just started painting and it was noon.
12:00 my husband came back for lunch. We had Hebrew Kosher low fat hot dogs and honey crisp apples.
1:00 We walked Gleneden Beach. A sick seal was on the beach yesterday according to another beach walker. We saw the remains of a seal pup. Mostly the beach was bare except for course sand with small grey pebbles.
2:45 my husband made pop corn and we broke out the lawn chairs for the first time since we came in mid September. We soaked up the 72 degree weather.
3:00 I set up my painting again on the outdoor table and had the best most successful painting session. My memory was fresh from our beach walk and the little drawing I did on my wood block when we first walked onto the beach.
4:00 I started dinner. Roma tomatoes on local lettuce from the Barking Dog Organic Produce Farm. A slice of bread with toasted cheese and big shrimp.
5:30 Finished up my blog
This evening I will enjoy the mild weather outdoors and at 8:00 PM my husband and I will watch Dancing With the Stars.
My day is the best day in awhile. It has been so wet and gray. The fishing was poor and most of the other Rvs have drove away leaving the resort very quiet and peaceful.

Walking Softly: Carrying Big Canvas

Rain's blog http://rainydaythought.blogspot.com/ had an entry about things to do and see before I die. Her blog was linked with http://www.nobodyasked.com/ My dream is to walk softly barefoot in the sand and create an energetic canvas. Seeing as an artist and creating your own vision is what I do and dream I will continue doing. This is also the twelfth dream in my "When I Get to be Older" book posted on my second blog. Walking softly: Carrying Big Canvas is a new vison of a painting I did two years ago. It is acrylic on museum wrap canvas 2' x 3'.

"Crab Fishing"

"Crab Fishing" 10" x 8" on a deep cradled box is #1 in the silent auction to fund a scholarship for a Lincoln County Community College Art Department student. The silent auction is taking place at the Glass Studio in the Taft district of Lincoln City on Highway 101. I painted this Saturday October 6 looking at the Siletz Bay shore at the little park covered area near Mo's Restaurant. It was raining and windy and wet but these brave beach goers were enjoying each other's company by their warm fire.

Lincoln City Plein Air Art Festival

I am the generic plein air artist on the Lincoln City Plein Air Art Festival 2007 poster. Last year was beautiful weather on the first weekend of October when I enjoyed painting out.

This year it was a wet on the Oregon Coast. Not conducive to exhibiting or selling. Here in the picture, I had just mopped up the water off my boxes which by the way are rainproof with a coat of acrylic medium sealing the watercolor. Well, maybe not as rain proof as I would like and could make them. There was a little bleeding and the acrylic will lift with lots of water if it is thick. Some that had just thin paint and thin multiple layers of medium were more waterproof then the ones with thick watercolor and one thick layer of medium.

I set up the exhibit at 7:45 AM and took it down at 1:00PM to participate in the quick draw, a fund raiser to support the scholarship fund of the Lincoln County Community College. There were only five other artists participating this year. I certainly enjoyed painting wet and juicy a group of people crab fishing and their chairs and fire in a very wet landscape. the high humity is very special for painting in acrylics because there is no rush to finish before the paint dries. Tomorrow I will go to the local glass gallery and take a picture of the dry painting to post here. This year they are doing a silent auction.

A Blizzard Rain

"Reflections Before Blizzard Rain" is a watercolor and acrylic medium painting on a deeply cradled board 12" square. This memory of the morning was painted over an attempt to make a "Blizzard Rainstorm on the River." Without color hue and contrast from dark to light I did not have paint to make enough texture. But I have a clear idea for a painting to do of the blizzard rain. The rain was not like a down pour. The wind blew it as snow is blown.



A blizzard rain pockmarked the river like many toes sprinting to the finish.
There wasn't much color change - only great textures on the move.
Sitting at my RV window overlooking one blast after another racing with the tidal flow, I observe the water receding. At slack tide the quick fishing fishermen pulled up their anchors and returned to the marina. Seeing my husband coming, in seconds I screwed on the caps to my few watercolor tubes, screwed on the lid to my matte medium acrylic and stored all my painting stuff in the basement.
Tomorrow perhaps the painting will be dry enough to photograph.

The past two weeks I have been painting for an outdoor art festival sale this coming Saturday and Sunday in Lincoln City, Oregon. I feel these paintings are more about making something I suppose will sell and less about living my life. So today I made one about the rain that drenched my husband while I was happy to be back in the RV having enjoyed the boat ride earlier in the day.

It is tomorrow. Before day break my husband returned to the river and made his way between other boats each with a light bulb and a green and red light to indicate their direction of travel. Bait fish jump at the water's edge catching the lights splashing and flashing. Maybe yesterday there were a hundred fisherman and three Chinook were caught. Will the Salmon run begin today after the rain or is it just a poor year?

The Oregon Hatchery Research Center asks artists to give their time to instruct others on seeing the nature of fisheries through the artist's perception. I will be teaching River Trip, Watercolor Journaling, one of the workshops, November 3, at the Fall Creek Hatchery on highway 34 between Philomath and Waldport. The workshop is free but preregistration is required.

Riparian Environment

It is raining and we have moved our motor coach to the water's edge. I have been looking more than painting. These are mostly ones that have new beginnings. Just below us is a cormorant diving for small fish. I have a start of the cormorant on the one on the left. I am pleased with the freshness and simplicity of the painting. so then loking at the others I want to make them as direct and fresh so I painted fresh strokes of movement in them risking failure. Sometimes I think it would be better if I had the materials to just start fresh new ideas.

Crows' Flight at Full Moon and Seagull Paintings

At dawn two crows flew towards the east and the full moon. Then the fog thickened. I used some iridescent Golden gold acrylic to make atmosphere. The brightness of the moon needed impact achieved by pushing the sky to a darker shade with iridescent mists. Also finished a seagull started at Coyote Rock on the Siletz. The seagull was looking up at the fisherman waiting for scraps of salmon fins. My husband and I are staying in a motor coach for a few weeks so he can fish and I can paint. I found a good place to photograph in the felt lined storage cabinet in our motor coach basement. These two paintings stand up on their own because they are 5 by 7 inches and an inch and 7/8th deep. My husband and I crafted these deep cradled boxes so I can paint watercolor or acrylics. All of these boxes will be varnished with matte UV protective medium.

Siletz River and Birds Series

Here are 7" x 5" boxes about the Siletz River reflections and birds.

Siletz Riparian Marsh

Siletz Riparian Marsh is watercolor over textured absorbent ground on a gessoed board. The Siletz River Highway is busy with log trucks and motor homes and there is almost no shoulder and few turn outs. I parked temporarily in a drive way and sketched the marsh with watercolor pencil. Then I returned to our motor coach at coyote Rock and painted it with my Cotman semi moist watercolors. The fewer layers that I put on my absorbent ground the better. Here I have few layers and the colors sparkle.

Artist's way of speaking out

The Fish and Wildlife fish counter counted a total of 157 boats on the lower Siletz River today and only three fish were caught. My husband caught this one Just at slack tide about 11:45 AM near Fun River just below Coyote Rock. There was a big bite taken out of the back of this 30 pound fish. We heard that the seals were better at fishing than the boats today. As an artist who makes public my work, the conditions of the rivers where I paint cannot be ignored. I have several ideas on how I will approach the conditions here in my painting.

Coyote Rock on the Siletz

The morning sunshine back lights Coyote Rock. A mixture of Golden brand matte medium and half water cover thin almost dry applications of watercolor. The medium with a little aggitation from the brush makes the watercolor spread like a mist as in the upper right corner. The underlying texture of the absorbent ground helps create light. The Golden Matte medium attracts yellow jackets as did mineral spirits when I was painting with oils last week.

Watercolor on absorbent ground is intriguing. The light lights are either scratched or added on top. But what I don't like the dulling of the colors that occurs with the varnishing with matte medium.

Boat Trip up the Siletz River

The River Siletz brought us no fish today. We saw a twenty pound Fall Chinook caught at Chinook Bend. Up river from there I captured this blue heron on film. He was ruffling his feathers and strutting up and down the dock. Inspired by the stillness of the water I made some sketches of the grasses and their reflection. There must have been a half dozen different types of grass.

Two Dragons Beach Combing

"Two Dragons Beach Combing" is done in anger to some of the current political happenings. Also it reflects my frustration in this series. The first one didn't fit after I completed the other two. I don't know if I regained my initial spirit yet.

Sky Dragons Shape Shifting

I am enjoying oil again. I like going over with a new color over the previous day's tacky paint picking up a little color. These long 12" x 36" horizontal paintings are a series of three abstracts based on nature mixed with the whimsy of seeing dragon shapes every direction I look. This one is the third of the series. I will take a look at the first one of dragons surfing because I remember numerous legs and now have a notion of making the painting Dragons Beach Combing.

Number II painting of Dragons Surfing

"Number II Dragons Surfing" was done all in one session on a tinted ground. I am far happier with paintings that happen more or less painted all at once like this one. I must admit that I did take a rag to the brush strokes in the lower portions of the painting. This is done with oil paint and Liquin mixed with half mineral spirits.

Surfing Dragons in process

My third step in conclusion

second step first step

Painting outdoors was very pleasant today. I fitted in about an hour after taking down and exhibit in Corvallis and squeezing it into our house. Also went hiking and blueberry picking. Here I am doing a rare oil painting 12" x 36". It might be close to finished. I enjoy the iridescent white mixing into other colors.

Rainy Season Dragons at Battle

"Rainy Season Dragons at Battle" 24" x 18" is inspired by reading Donald A. Mackenzie's, CHINA AND JAPAN MYTHS AND LEGENDS. After a draught the Blue Dragon fights the Yellow Dragon and Lightening, thunder, and rain is on the way. The breeze was blowing at me today as I painted under the cool walnut tree. The odor of the oil paints did not bother me. My husband thought the yellow dragon needed to be as bold as the green but I am happy.

Inspirations Today

I am enjoying the texture of real oil paint. I took this picture at 6:45 PM when the sun was getting low in the sky picking up the texture. I love oil paint texture even though there are times I can not tell the difference between oil and acrylic in other painters' works. But when I am working oil the textural buttery quality is an entirely different experience from painting with convenient acrylics.

This morning at 7:30 AM I saw clouds with tree dragons and the moon was like the pearl often pictured with Chinese Dragons.

Went Fishing: Caught A Verse

The Dragon of Green Peter, Oregon

The eye ball is stone,
very likely of ice age origin.
The eyeball turns in its round socket
resting on a long camel's nose.
The head hides until the waters recede and in the remaining calm waters the reflection completes the Camel Dragon.

The stillness is before the rains come.
The head is always in the the island cliff attached to a body.
A serpentine body submerges
and then emerges encircling the shrinking reservoir.
The camel dragon twists in and out of every cove.
The water at the first breath of a breeze sweeps across the open waters nearer my boat. I blink once and twice, I see it the reflection illusion way across on the other side the scaly long body is all above the water's edge. The dragon is levitating.

I see how easy it would have been for ancient prehistoric peoples to connect suggestive illusions to a god of rain.

"The Dragon of Green Peter" is acrylic on cradled Masonite board, 12 " square by 1 5/8" deep, for sale $300.

Conclusion of Riparian Dragons

I have learned how the absorbent ground works with watercolor sealing it with matte UV protective varnish. These illustrations are not suited in my mind as being architectural structuring an arch around one of our interior doorways. I would prefer non-objective paintings for our house walls.

Seventh Day of Riparian Series Started Tight

At the beginning of the day I felt tight, I was not happy with the results of my series. And I felt that was good. I was ready to go beyond what I had done but needed to get primed to do so. There was a painting I did in 1997 that had never worked to my satisfaction and it was so thick with paint I thought I would toss it but first I would play. I made a fun pseudo child like painting. The spirit of this dragon I wanted in my other paintings and I needed to feel this child in me. Then I boldly made some changes in the "Siletz Riparian Bronze Dragons" mimicking the 8th century BC Luristan pole ornament.

My playful dragon is the Oregon Coast Sea monster conjured up by parents who want their children to play safely on the beach and not venture out swimming in the cold Pacific Ocean where the monster hides.

Riparian Dragon Series Update, Day Seven

After a days rest, the paintings look a little better. Plus I started another one.

Day five of Raparian Dragon Series

Today I doubt my direction on this series. I am thinking of removing the one inspired by the Luristan Bronze in the upper right corner. I want to keep that one. It belongs with another grouping of art that appears to me connected with riparian river banks. It is time to let these paintings rest. I'll put them away for a couple of days and look at them again with fresh eyes.

The most pleasurable part of the day was making low texture with the gesso and Golden brand absorbent ground. I am finishing about 66 of these boxes to paint while I am at the Oregon Coast. Memory paintings explore creative distilled vision. I continue to think about how the ancient bronze maker was influenced not only by the environment but also by the observance of the properties of the metal giving character.

I was not surprised when my husband showed me that he some how acquired a daub of green paint on his side burn. I declare thalo green is really tough to work with because it keeps jumping onto me and everyone around me.

Day Four Painting Riparian Dragons

Looking at this group of three and my photographs, these three are lonely and I have 12 new boxes 12" square and a couple of more ideas from photos and watercolor sketches. These are a little illustrative - the hidden dragons still make them illustrative in my mind. The title of the series could be, "Can you find Dragons; Dragons are a universal in almost all our different ethnic pasts." This is my way of connecting with primal man. I keep thinking of how the bronze craftsmen of ancient times in Luristan cut down their trees to fire their forge and how the riparian tidal waters created atmospheric mists mixing with the fire and the smoke of their forge. Nature took on strange appearances that man could not explain. Working the metals the "Animal Style" artists were aware of geometric repetition in nature and must have noticed the very same reflections that I am seeing in the riparian waters of the Siletz. The open mouth shapes in tree branches, clouds, rocks and derelict snags is awesome to me. Though I don't think the repetition of dragon shapes is God, the ancient craftsmen might have explained this uncanny repetition as one fundamental base for all they knew. Dragons are everywhere in many bodies or invisible reflections. Monotheism rejected the dragons as being empty idols but at one time the dragon's geometry being repetitious may have a part in starting the ritual of looking with awe at nature as means to believing in one God.

Series of three from photographs

This is day two. The series will be a triptych of three watercolors on 12" square chunky board boxes. I do not know yet if I will remain this abstract or if the dragon motif will lure me to making these illustrations like what happened in the story series, "Finding a Dragon is Good Luck". I like the watercolor qualities on the boards sealed with Golden absorbent ground. To see more clearly the paintings and the photos I am looking at just click on the picture and a screen will pop up with an enlargement.

An invitation to share what we were doing in 1996!

To read about and see more photos of me painting in Alaska see Rain's blog http://rainydaythought1996.blogspot.com/

She invites us to briefly relate our past experience of 1996. I enjoyed finding the pictures and writing a short description of my life. I hope many more participate.

The above watercolor was painted from the doorstep of our cabin at Karta Lake, The acrylic painting was also painted from inside our cozy Forest Service cabin.

Riparian Dragon

Today I paint from photographs of the still reflective ebb tide of the riparian banks of the Siletz River near Lincoln City, Oregon. My painting is watercolor over Golden brand absorbent ground over gesso on a hard board 12" square box. In addition to traditional watercolors I used water soluble crayons. This painting will be finished with a UV protective matte acrylic varnish.

My goal is to continue this series abstracting from my photographs doing one a day for the next three days.

Here I am continuing my series of dragons I see near Windy Bend on the Siletz River.

Abstracting River Landscapes

I took photos of atmosphere to summons the many dragon shaped logs and rocks of Windy Bend on the Siletz River. Photography was my tool to stimulate imagination but I did not look at photos as I painted. My childhood memories as I painted were like yesterday when I was living in the foggy San Francisco Bay Area. These two boxes were painted in camp not on the river as was the other box I posted yesterday with a description of media. I am looking forward to doing more boxes and maybe dragons will appear in them. Maybe the abstraction will approach non-objective. I expect an adventure.

Misty Mornings on the Siletz River, Oregon

Watercolor is a natural for rendering atmospheric interpretation. Especially wonderful are the luminous washes on absorbent ground painted over gesso on hard board (Masonite). As I apply the paint I see the puddles of color flow over the slight irregularities of my hand painted surface. Picking up the box I tilt it to make the color spread. Working sensitive changes of light and dark on my hand made surface is a real joy. This box is 7" x 5" x 1 5/8", a size that is in a good ratio for the subtle changes of my medium. The watercolor is made permanent with a matt UV protecting varnish.

Seeing my dragon series in new ways

One way of seeing my paintings differently is showing them in a gallery setting. The picture shows a public display of the story with the title in the center and the story revolves around it. This will be up until the end of August at Pegasus Art Gallery in Corvallis, Oregon. The whimsy of my subject goes well with the intent of the gallery.
I am renting the wall and need to think if I want to continue marketing. If they don't sell, it is very expensive for me to show my work here. $150 /month for really fine public exposure that not only is for selling but also educates the public. It is a gift from my heart.


The painting here, one of the ones in the exhibit, started as a peace rose. And peace and war is a topic in museum settings and might my work fit into that venue? Perhaps I should be applying for shows at schools, colleges and universities where selling is not the prime motive?

I do enjoy the process of making art and journaling on the Internet. The Peak-a-boo Peace Rose Dragon with the slight suggestion of a dragon's eye in the upper left corner. But then I saw the face and decided that it went well with Rain's story. Rain of http://rainydaythought.blogspot.com/ seeing my blog and following the course of this series helped me with a story when I didn't think there was one.

Rain's Story for my Dragon Series

Rain and I at the /clothesline sale Saturday, August 4th.

A few days before I thought my dragon series would not develop into a story, when Rain came up with one. Rain's blog is http://rainydaythought.blogspot.com/ I think the fusion of our talents is much fun: Thank you Internet!!!

Finding a dragon brings good luck. Don't the legends say so? 'Not that it matters since dragons are rare. Who told you that silly woman.
Dragons are everywhere when you know where to look.'
He pointed his long bony finger to show her the way.

There is one in the clouds. Another plays on the edge of the surf. Isn't he golden one
The old sage laughed. "Dragons rare? Who told you that silly woman? Dragons are everywhere when you know where to look.
He pointed his long pointy finger to show the way. Isn't that golden red one
There is one in the clouds. Another plays on the edge of the surf.
Isn't that one a beauty teasing you from the rock.?'

'I don't see any,' she cried with disappointment.
Perhaps dragons were only for special people, she thought sadly.
The everyday woman simply aren't meant to see those magical creatures.
'Nonsense, 'the old sage snapped, reading her doubting mind,
frightening her a bit more than a little.

"More patiently,' the sage went on, 'you are going too fast. Stop to look.
You are expecting something hard, something out of your reach.
They are like your luck. They are really right there in front of your eyes.'
It was then that she saw one, then another, and realized the truth --
she was no longer afraid to look.

Sidewalk Art Sale No Sale

Above me smiling on the outside. Below is one side of my display in a shared tent.

Below is the one bite I got all day. It was a restaurant owner looking for someone to decorate their business.

Titles for the new dragon series

THE FINDING DRAGONS SERIES

Everywhere I see dragons shapes in nature. From bottom left moving up and clockwise I give each of these paintings a title. The titles this time will be as close as I get to a narration. I have not found a story in these, though often a story evolves from a series. The titles are:

Unmoving Rock Dragon

Dragon Wearing Rose Petal Wings

Dragon Hiding Behind a Rose Head

Dragon Anticipating the Dawn

Dragon of the Fir Boughs Whispers to a Dragon Cloud

Surf Dragon Splashing

Mist Dragon Sashaying

Inserted framed painting of night lights

Dragon Eyes Flower

Dragon on the Yellow Earth Blows Kisses