Follow Up; Olympia Art Walk showing at Arthouse Designs Gallery

Had a great time showing at Susie Engelstad's Arthouse Gallery.  Sold 6 paintings, was invited to contribute work to a benefit for the Capital Theater in Olympia and another invite to compete for the cover art at the next art walk and made some new art friends.  Susie and staff did fantastic and the band "Pearl Django" was an extra bonus that played to a packed house.  Showing on the west/wet side of the state has been a great success.  We've proven to ourselves that sales of art is all about traffic.  Now to find more galleries.
This 30x40 painting sold in the first half hour.

My paintings at Arthouse Gallery in Olympia, Wa

 

Reception 5pm, October 3, 2014



Farmscapes, July 2014

Farmscape, 11x14

Farmscape #3

Farmscape #5, 11x14

Farmscape #4, 12x24, Sold

 Farmscape #5, 11x14

Farm to Market, 24x24

paintings july 2014

Farmscape #12, 30x40

Douglas, Wa, digitally re-mastered oil

 

Digitally reworking oil paintings is like polishing a stone in a rock tumbler.

Painting with Light

Finally getting handy with the ol Wacom tablet.  Have finally crashed through the old painting paradigm of canvas and oil. I look forward to joining the new generation of art. Learning new tools is a challenge for these old synapses although it's fun and exciting to paint with light.

Aerial Steptoe

Aerial Steptoe, digital print available on www.gregg-caudell.artistwebsites.com

Magic of the Columbia

Back in my warm Sanpoil Studio, looking out on the cold windy grey winter world painting colorful, warm, happy, beautiful paintings of the wonderful summer I had chasing steelhead around the Pacific Northwest. 
This is a digital version of a 3'x4' oil painting currently in progress.  I think I like the digital version better than the analog version which encourages me to explore this medium. 
Susie Engelstad, owner of the Artworks Gallery in Olympia, where I show my work, has been doing some very creative stuff with digital art.  It's a growing medium for fine art so I best throw my hat in the ring and try to integrate the computer as more of a tool than I have been.
I mostly use it to work with landscape photos that I use for paintings but it is evident that there are vast possibilities that digital work opens.
 As the camera turned the art world on it's head for the impressionists so to the computer is to our world today.  The only detraction I have with digital art is that it isn't archival in the sense that good art lasts for hundreds if not thousands of years.

Two Weeks Steelhead fishing tributaries of the Skeena B.C. Canada

 

Just spent two weeks fishing a tributary of the Skeena River in British Columbia, Canada with old friend and horselogger Rod Gould from Greenwood B.C.
We figure we floated more than 100 miles over 10 days of fishing for a fish a day.  They say "steelhead are the fish of a thousand casts" but I know I had a few fish that took 3000 casts. 
We used our old beefed up 9' single hand rods.  I'm going to be looking seriouisly at some of thjose fancy 13' poles to cover more water.  Most steelheaders use a 'spey' rod or "switch" rod that not only can shoot 100+ feet and cover more water but doesn't have a back cast and you can stand with your back against a wall and still make a fabulous cast.  There will be a learning curve for both technique and equipment but it seems very appealing.
Glad I got to see the north country before it's all used up.

It was the finest fishing adventure I've ever had.  Caught my first steelhead on a wet fly and graduated to getting one to take a dry fly.  Skating dry flies to steelhead is AMAZING!  Both Rod and I landed 8 steelhead and lost as many in the 8 days of fishing.  These were aggressive wild steelhead.  Not one hatchery fish in the system.  We did pretty good for what the authorities say was a skinny year for steelhead.  There is great concern that this fishery is in jeopardy of dying from over fishing in the ocean and the river itself.  B.C Fisheries have elevated the classification of many of the tributaries of the Skeena as Class I and II which require non-residents to obtain a $40 a day permit above the annual license and steelhead tag.  Currently only locals can fish on the weekends in most of the system.  We did meet fishermen from all over the world as this is regarded as a world  class steelhead fisheries that the steelies will rise to the dry fly. The place attracts the most serious and arcane fishermen and women in the world.  The world record steelhead caught on a fly was taken on the Kispiox, something around 37#'s although that may have broke by now.  Each tributary seems to have it's own re-known strain of traits i.e. aggressive,  large, summer, winter.  Our stream averaged 6# to 15# fish with an occasional 20#er stuck to the bottom of the river.  The hens are dime bright and wonderful fighters.
 I was blessed with a fine hen on my last cast of the last day.  Her cheeks were as rosy as the sunset that fell over the river as a shouted "Halleluyah!" to the fishing Gods that I could hear chuckling to each other in the clouds.  Yeah, Baby!!!

 

Oh and by the way don't forget the Blue Horselogger Spercial that I made that caught all the fishies.