Painting with Don .ning Maier,

I painted with Don .ning Maier, his wife Suzy and Lynn Haines.  Don and Suzy drove out from Georgia on a whirlwind tour of the Western States.  He ran out of wind in Cheyenne, Wy., and had to check into the vets hospital and get some oxygen as the altitude effected his breathing.  A true road warrior and plein air painter Don and Suzy continued on to Lynn Haines place at Lincoln, Washington and her lake place where we all met to paint and jawbone about art.

Don is notorius as the builder of the web site http://www.pleinairartist.ning.com/ which has something like 1700 participating plein air artist that post paintings on the site and palaver about things artistic.  It's a great site and we all owe Don a big Thanks for keeping us all in touch.

Compromise is for the Ordinary

Mike Kowalski stopped by to paint the fall colors at the ranch.  He's been on the road painting at Mazama, Wa., with the Plein Air Painters of Washington and then on to N. Idaho.  A figurative painter he has an eye for subject matter and is a masterful watercolorists.  Mike has won many awards for his painting, recently winning best of show and best historical painting at the world's finest plein air event in Hood River, Oregon, not to mention being accepted into the Oil Painters of America show in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  I don't mind sharing landscapes with the guy, he's the genuine thing and an all around good guy. 

We talk art and life into the wee hours of the morning.  We're both working on a new body of work that we hope to find a venue for next year.  I'm hoping to we BIG watercolors from Kowalski. 30x40 or bigger.  He's got the chops.  Whatever he does it will be exciting to see his new stuff.
Our styles are dyametrically different but we share the same muse.  We agree that life is to short to dwell upon the mundane.  Fortunately the 'muse' mandates her lovers pursue the substance of life.  Compromise is for the ordinary.

Plein Air Road Trip

Finally back at Westfork Ranch after a couple hundred miles of traveling which started out painting on the way down to Hood River and the best plein air paintout in the NW at the Columbia Art Center.  About 40 of the most prominent plein air painters of the NW gathered for a week of painting in and around Hood River, Oregon.  What an extraordinary place.  10 minutes west and you are in a green rain forest of waterfalls.  10 minutes east and you are in the desert.  World class windsurfers fly across the Columbia river in kites, parasails and boards and if that isn't enough Mt. Hood is only an hour away as well as Mt. Adams in Washington.

The folks at Columbia Art Center really know how to put on a show.  Artists are hosted by area patrons.  Maps are provided and a number of receptions are held.  Sales are great and the comaraderie is even better.  Thanks everyone.  Look forward to seeing you all next year.

Elio Camacho Workshop
As I was painting in Hood River, I came around the corner of a building where we were all painting to find Elio Camacho set up and painting.  I had never met or heard of this artist.  To say I was delighted to see him paint would be an understatement.  Rather, I had an epiphany.  Here was a guy painting BIG.  Big easel, big canvas and big paint!  I sat mesmerized as I watched his technique.  He's a shy guy around people he doesn't know but a very warm and friendly person once he gets to know you.  I was so inspired I gave myself permission to 'do my thing' which is to paint big.  I drove to Portland and picked up some 24x24 canvases, the size I have been painting on at home.  It turns out I 'dumb down' my work and paint small at paint outs.  It's not good for me as I don't do well on 11x14.  Guess these old eyes and being 6'3" I need to paint big.  The next two days I did 3, 24x24's and was 'back in the groove' and enjoying myself.  My pieces really stood out in the show and one found a home with a delighted collector.
Brookings, Oregon Workshop with Elio Camacho

On the spur of the moment I decided to attend Camacho's workshop in SW Oregon near the California border.  It's a big deal for me to expose myself to the influence of other's work but I've been looking for an artist to paint with that I appreciated their work.  I considered attending a Ovanes Berberian workshop but kept putting it off for years as I didn't want to get out of the groove I've been in.  Turns out the Camacho is a student of Berberian and quotes him a lot as well as Berberians mentor Sergie Bohngart, an artist my mentor, William F. Reese, held in high regard.

I've never spent much time at the ocean.  I'm a desert rat in that the first time I saw the ocean I was 18 and from Montana.  It's a little bit like the Big Sky Country but doesn't stop moving. It was something like being on an alien planet.  It was good weather and beautiful and I did some good painting but they are workshop paintings trying to work out the things Camacho pointed out needed work.  There isn't a painting that doesn't need improvement so I did a lot of scraping and still came home with 6, 24's that I'll keep as reminders of what I need to work on. 

Elio is a generous and knowledgeable teacher and very accessible.  His best teaching is done with the brush as he usually has a painting going.  His technique and color use is exceptional.  Check out his work at http://www.eliocamacho.com/ .

Interview; July, Rural Heritage Magazine

I had the privelege to get interviewed by Bethany Caskey for Rural Heritage Magazine, one of the few magazines which cover draft horse and farming issues. Ms. Caskey is an excellent writer and easy to talk to.  She is also a horse person and artists so it was an easy interview that turned into a 4 page article with many photos of my work!  I'm sorry I don't have a digital copy but have ordered many hard copies.  I recommend subscribing to Rural Heritage.  Publisher Joe Mishcka also has an extensive online library on things rural with an emphasis on draft horses.  Thanks Joe and Bethany for the opportunity!

Galleries and Art Shows July through September

Avenue West Invitational juried show August 1-27, reception friday august 6, 5-9

hours; tues - sat 509 838-4999 avenuewestgallery.org; one piece, 11x14 plien air, "Sherman Grotto", lovely little piece, impasto plein air view of Sherman Creek tumbling through the rocks on it's way to the Columbia.

Museum of Arts and Culture, Moses Lake, July 16-August 13, reception July 16, 6 pm

118 west third Ave, hours 11 am to 5pm tues-saturday, 509 766-9395, 20 large paintings of recent work. Equine motif, from representational, plein air and large 5'x14' conceptual piece of the 32 horse Talkington Hitch.

Confluence Gallery, Twisp, Wa 104 Glover Street, 509-997-2787, tue-sat 10;30-3pm, Confluencegallery.org; Harvesting the light, june 5-july 24; reception, 4-8, Saturday, June 5

Jenn Allen-Tate's, "The Studio", Twisp, Wa, 101 N. Glover, 509-997-3090 20 plein air pieces, winter series 16x16 and small towns, 30x40.

April Monday's, Silver Star Gallery, Chelan, WA., 108 East Woodin Avenue, 509- 682-4848, plein air landscapes, 11x14, equine subjects 30x40, large triptych screen, 6'x6' with aspen landscape.

Wedding Bells for Gregg and Betts

It's wedding bells for Gregg and Betts June, 26 2010, 4pm at the Westfork Ranch on the Sanpoil!

Barbecue and music by local Peacenik, Robin Ellis

Come boogy and help us celebrate.
Garden party or ranch attire appropriate.

Bring your tent, camper, fishing pole and sleeping bag or stay in nearby Republic at the Northern Inn, 775.2130, or the Kdiamond K, 775.3351.  Our friends at the K Diamond K are providing rooms for us at their special B & B rate.  If at all possible they'd like a 3 night minimum stay as it's their high season.  The ranch offers all sorts of extras, like horse rides, so come over and have a mini-vacation.
While you're here you should also check out the Stonerose Interpretive Center.
Check http://www.ferrycounty.com/ for even more information on things to see and do in our corner of the world.
Questions?  Call us at 509.775.2130.

Your smiling face is all we look for on our wedding day but for those of you that insist, we made wedding presents easy at Amazon.  We love music, books, movies and of course, Art.  Wedding present registry;

Eats the Sun II, 30x40, plein air, oil on gallery wrapped canvas

"Bodies made of Light, Eat the Sun"

"Bodies made of light, eat the sun"
11x14, plein air, oil

slogging through winter with still life's

Studio time. To paint everyday keeps the brush sharp and pallet fresh. It also means keeping the rain and snow off your back. It means searching the internet and following up leads on show opportunities, competitions and marketing. Following the 'business plan' which is basically a schedule of production to keep this A.D.D. artist, focused. Seems to be a work in progress......

Villa in Twisp

11x14 plein air study. The Methow river wends its way through the foot hills of the Cascades. A landscape of deer, salmon and exceptional steel head fishing if like my friend, Kevin Bevins, you know how to get 'em.
It's an area that has been discovered by the 'rich and famous' but gets pretty mellow in the winter as the pass to the West side of the state closes and the place returns to the locals.
Art is finding its way into the culture, replacing timber jobs that have gone away. There is some ranching and some orchards that still manage to get by but life is in transition as it is in the entire 'inland' west.
A land of scarce but clean water, the locals are making a concerted effort to reclaim the land and the balance of nature with many projects that preserve agricultural land, reclaim natural habitat and look forward to the future.
A good place for art and plein air painting.