Pastel Dust on Whidbey Island

5 days of nothing but painting, photographing, enjoying fellow artists on one of the prettiest islands in the northwest.  Whidbey  is an island you can reach via ferry from Mukilteo (near Everett and Edmonds, WA) on the south end or via Hwy 20 from the mainland through Anacortes and over the Deception Pass Bridge.

The event was the annual Northwest Pastel Society Paint Out organized by a couple of NPS members who took on a big project of finding suggested painting spots, dining, demonstrations by artists and lodging at Fort Casey.  Jan Wall and Karen Schroeder made the event what it was and by all testaments by attendees it was a success.

I coercer-ed my friend and fellow artist Lauri Borer into going and we had a great time exploring, painting, photographing and laughing.

It is a challenge to get out and do plein air work….the light changes quickly, there are bugs and nettles, there is wind and not all desired painting points are a “drive to.”  One morning we headed out and after not finding something that we wanted to paint at the suggested spot, came upon this hidden rhodie farm and 10 acres of gardens hidden away.  We hiked around the property which was beautiful and each settled on a spot to paint.  Later a few other artists found this spot as well.The rhodies were not blooming this time of year, but the other plants were providing the show.

We  visited the sites at the state parks and the reserves of Ebey’s Landing, the farms, the light house at Fort Casey, the towns of Coupeville, Langley and Oak Harbor.

Deception Pass points of interest were there to be painted – and we trekked out there early one morning only to be met with chilly winds so we elected to drive to Anacortes and down to Mount Vernon and introduce Laurie to Dakota Art Pastels Store.  After lugging around a full size French easel, I took the opportunity to buy a new easel for plein air work and that would lighten the load of packing  by some 10 pounds, at least.  Unfortunately, we did not stop back at Deception Pass because later we learned the weather moderated and painting was good.  Lesson learned…maybe not go racing out the door too early in the morning – OR – wait a bit at the destination – the weather might change!

    One other morning we woke to fog coming in from the west and it gently settled into one of the valleys near the Keystone Ferry…but not for long!        

It was great to spend time to get to know some fellow artists better and to watch their demos and learn how some make their own pastels, about an intense workshop for artists in NM, how they do an abstract composition and more.

It was a best of times with tons of photos and memories.  Do a paint out sometime if the opportunity comes your way…tips…pack light, make sure  you have bug spray, sun screen, attire for cool and hot conditions, condensed supplies, camera, water and a good buddy to share with!  happy painting…

Pastel Plein Air Dust…

Another trip to Montana in mid July to just do some photography and paint “en plein air”…

My son and family came to WA for a wedding the first part of July and Chris’s schedule required him to return to  MT afterhis week of vacation while his family stayed another.  So he and I loaded his car with pastels, paper, hats, insect repellent, etc. – all things to occupy me in my quest to paint MT.  We spent the first 3 days in Billings – where I used to live – visiting with friends in the evenings, but spending the days scouting the area for places to set up an easel and paint and take reference photos for future use.   It was hot and dry til late afternoon when the thunder clouds rolled in, which meant you had best be under cover with the pastels all tucked away.

So I got a few paintings done.  Southern Montana had more than it’s share of rain this spring and a lot of snow melt which caused some major flooding through several areas.  One such spot showed the water still standing in some fields…the object of this painting…

I have been using some of the Pastelmat paper for paintings and liking how it takes the pigment and the colors of the paper.  I chose a neutral color and sketched in the basic layout with a piece of charcoal.  Beginning with some basic sky, I get that color on the paper, then working down to the distant landscape.   There is some hint of rain showers in the distance, so I want to convey that in the painting.  Less is more when painting such an impression…you don’t want a huge amount of pigment to  fill the tooth of the paper.  A note about this paper…it is quite “velvety” in feel, and it will hold a good amount of pigment, workable fix for texture…but you don’t want to use a heavy hand and fill the tooth up immediately!  Once the distant landscape and sky details are completed I continue my painting, adding the tree line and while I am painting the background trees, I add some of that color into the lower part of the  painting for reflections that will be established in the water.

     And with water and reflections…again, keeping a minimal amount of pigment on paper adds to the “look” of the water.  A gentle stroke with the side of a soft pastel stick gives the water a nice, soft look with some of the background peeking through the water’s surface.

The pastels…I used a mixture of Unison, Sennelier, Terry Ludwig and some Diane Townsend.  Great darks in the Ludwigs…good texture with the Townsends…often for the shimmery last stroke for some special detail, Sennelier 463 and 179 for my base for trees to create depth…

As a note about this paper…I bought a pad of the paper for traveling and doing plein air painting in the field…1) because of the ease of transport and the size; 2) because it is inter-leafed with a protective sheet of Glassine or some other type of paper that aids in storage during travel.  One thing I have found is this paper says it is 9×12 inches; it is a little shy of that…so that can cause a problem if one is trying to put that painting directly into a plein air frame without matting…I use a lot of the stock Plein Air frames sold by Jerry’s Artarama and have not had a problem with other pre-cut paper…so something to keep in mind when you go to frame the work when using this particular paper.  I do love the feel of it, however and it does come in other larger sizes, which I love.

So enjoy some painting time out in the field…and try some of the great papers available now…I love the Pastelmat!

Happy painting…

Pastel dust in the Wallowa County…

In the last blog I talked about the Wallowa Valley Festival of the Arts in Joseph, Or and the Quick Draw event.  There’s a lot more to this area than just the Art Festival.  Every time I go Joseph I come home with a bunch of images.  It is truly a beautiful valley.  When you leave Walla Walla you head south down to Weston and then take the cut off (Winn Road) that takes you over Tollgate in the Blue Mountains to Elgin, OR (that’s SR 204)  Once you leave Elgin you take SR 82 on to Joseph.  You go down the side of a steep canyon and at the bottom you cross the Big Canyon Creek where the Wallowa River and it meet and flow down to meet the Grand Rhonde.  The views are breathtaking as the valley opens up as you go through Wallowa, the Lostine and Enterprise before reaching Joseph which sits near Wallowa Lake a huge body of water from which the Wallowa River flow.  It is tucked right up next to these big mountains with lots of cabins and luxury homes all along the shorelines.

If you drive north and east of Joseph, you go through the Zumwalt Prairie and you will gradually come to the Buckhorn Overlook where you can see the Hells Canyon of the Snake river and the Imnaha converge.  It is rugged, colorful, beautiful country.

Whenever I go, I take painting supplies and manage to get out and do some plein air painting.  Last spring we drove to the Buckhorn Overlook and on the way  back you could see the ground cover that is pinkish flourishing, leaving the grasslands with a pink haze to them.  Lots of thunder storms in the spring and dramatic skies to paint as well.  the piece on the left was done before a big rain storm broke loose that sent rivers of water running down the tire tracks of the gravel road!                                 

We stay at a little B&B outside of town and the roads getting to it go along some swampy area where there are lots of cattails and willows.  The red winged blackbirds love that area and I spent quite a bit of time trying to get some good shots of the birds sitting on the cattails.  

another note is that in the spring of the year, there is such a range of greens in the foliage.  It is quite the sight.

I am going back to Joseph in August to paint at Kelly’s Gallery during the Blues Festival (Aug 13-14) .  I look forward to that and think the weather will be hot and sunny, maybe less green but still impressive, just the same.  Joseph is a great little town to explore and it, along with Enterprise and surrounds have a wealth of great artists.  One is never at a loss to find some good art and sculpture in this destination!

Pastel Dust in Joseph, OR Quick Draw

Joseph, OR is a little town of less than 2000 that is nestled up next to the Wallowa Mountains in NE Oregon and near one of the most beautiful lakes – Wallowa Lake.  The area was part of the Nez Pearce land and Chief Joseph.  The area is filled with history but more recently artists.  This area has some of the NW’s best artists,     sculpture and 2D.  Each year the Wallowa Valley Festival of the Arts happens the first full weekend of June.  I have gone for several  years now and exhibited there.  Over the last 3 years they have had a quick draw event that is a very fun and exciting time.  There is live music, fabulous treats and appetizers and drinks while several artists attempt to create a masterpiece in a one and a half hour time frame.  As the artists draw, paint, sculpt, the attendees have the option to watch the pieces come to life and then bid on their favorite work.  The silent auction then goes on for a half an hour after the quick draw time limit is up.

This quick draw is, as I said an hour and a half long.  The quick draw event at the Miles City Bucking Horse Sale that I go to is one half an hour-long!  So to approach that event is  a little different from this one that allows an hour more! I love to do these for the challenge.

All that said, there is some definite planning that has to occur to make a quick draw a success and even then I rely on a little divine intervention because sometimes even the best laid plans can turn upside down in a hurry!

The process…I know going to the event the exact size of painting I am going to do.  I have the mat ready, in the frame and the paper I am working on is mounted on a foam core cut to the size of the frame.  Once the painting is complete, it slides into the prepped frame, backing paper covers the back and the wire for hanging screwed in place. (All these details – thanks my husband Les)

I know what I am going to paint.  I have sketched it and laid it out on a sketch pad prior to the  event.  This year I decided to do a painting based on a few photos I had taken in the Joseph area in years past.  The basic scene is one looking at Prairie Creek and some cows grazing in deep, lush grasses.

This year, my friend Betty Wood is attending the show and she is there with camera in hand.  She photographed the process of the painting from the beginning to its completion.  Betty is a fine artist.  She works in lots of different mediums, most recently having some fun with wood carving.  Her work is amazing and wins at the wood carving shows consistently.

I first of all use a hard pastel stick and make some light lines on the paper, separating the paper into quadrants to allow me to quickly place cows, an old

barn, trees, etc in strategic, visually satisfying spots.  I am using Pastel Mat paper.  It is new to me and I love it.  It has an almost suede, soft feel to it, yet it holds pastel well.  I am using a salmon colored sheet and will allow some of the paper to be exposed.

I start painting at the top of the paper and block in the sky, followed  by the  Wallowa Mountains which I want to be a significant resemblance of the mountains.    I work fairly quickly and get this done so I can start on the meat of the painting.      Before I have started, I have earmarked the basic pastels I want to use and limit my palette so I am not wasting time looking for that particular blue or whatever color it might be.  Once the mountains and sky are complete I can concentrate on the near land mass.  I rough in the trees and   basic shapes of the land and creek with a dark blue.  Once that is on the paper I use a workable fixative and

give it a quick spray.  That dark blue is the base for the springtime trees  and the contour of the creek bed.  From that point it is about

getting the distant valley in and establish a depth and distance and getting the up close basic color in.  Once that is done I add the old barn and draw in the cows…shapes only at this point.  People stop by and watch the process and I visit as I can.  I don’t feel too much pressure because things are coming together.  I love to show the process to the people who are there.

I then get the creek to come to life with some reflections and the feel of moving water.  I add the small amounts of details to the cows.  They are Hereford/Angus cross, so white faces and some white along the top of the neck and tail are added.   

I use a hard pastel and “burnish the grasses in a little lighter value that the base.  Some light purples set to dance across the fields as a hint of wild flowers.  Also use some of the Diane Townsend sticks because they have a lot of grabbing power because of the degree of pumice in them…texture in the foreground !  The other pastels are Unison, Sennelier, Terry Ludwig and some Schmincke.  The dark blue is #463 Sennelier.  With about 20 minutes or so to spare, I feel like the work has come together.  I shoot a couple of shots of it and Les helps me get it in the frame.  Another friend Penne Locati is there and we visit now that I am finished.  She and a friend bid on it  throughout the process, but at the last moment another dedicated bidder wins the piece.  It sells for highest price at the quick draw…more than $400 and goes to Pendleton to live.  The buyer told me she bought it to honor her mother in remembrance.    A nice way to have one’s work represented…                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Pastel Dust and a good cup of Jo

On my first trip to Miles City, my son reminded me there wasn’t a Starbucks around, BUT there were a couple of good coffee shops I should try.  So, I agreed to meet him at Cafe Utza, a coffee shop on Nineth just off Main.  Well, it wasn’t good coffee, it was GREAT coffee…and homemade pastries that I was warned disappeared often before the first wave of morning coffee breaks were over.  And there is art in the shop!  And great music playing…. last year they hung a series of my small works and we agreed to bring some more work this year.  I brought 8 of the 6×6 pieces all framed in plein air mahogany frames.  Three artists will hang work throughout the next week; then it will be two of us. 

We came to visit family and to participate in the Quick Draw event that annually is held during the renowned annual Miles City Bucking Horse Sale…events that draw people from far and near to watch match bronc rides, horse races, horse sales, bucking bull sales, concert and more over 4 days in mid May.  This is a major happening here and the town is brimming with spectators and participants…Come to this event sometime or just come to Miles City and experience the heritage of the west that this town is proud of…and stop and enjoy a good cup of coffee.

So now about Cafe Utza….which means “Black Coffee”…

When I first went to the cafe, I was reminded of the coffee houses that sprang up in Chicago (where I lived) in the ’70’s.  There is always good music playing, good strong, tasty coffee, eclectic furnishings, etc.  That’s Utza.  When you walk into the shop, you are met with red walls of a long narrow area that is graced with comfy seating from sofa and overstuffed chairs to the kitchen tables of the 50’s that we sat at as kids.   There are some great photos and art that are permanent to the place; a collection of logo items for purchase and a case filled with some of the best pastries I have ever had.  And from experience, if you  want to have a good selection, you get to Cafe Utza before the first wave of coffee breakers hit the door! 

This art blog is really about another art…the art of food and drink.  Kara Stewart who owns Cafe Utza had a vision of having  her own shop.  She  followed her dream and opened Cafe Utza in 2005.    Daily there are wonderful fresh pastries such as scones cut into large wedges and a variety of fruits toppings.  The menu isn’t “set”, so it is a surprise to see what graces the pastry case each day.  She also roasts her coffee – daily – so you always get that fresh roasted, robust coffee.  I am a black coffee drinker and I love that full-bodied, strong coffee.  This is where you go to get that.  My son loves mochas – and Kara does these right as well.  That’s her art….making something from the heart, for others to enjoy…she is an artist of her trade.  

Kara told us a little about her dream and her heritage.  Her great-grandmother who was Basque came to the US and settled in eastern Montana – basically a mail order bride.  Kara’s grandmother (now 87) met her husband when he and his brother came from Texas on cattle drives north that came to eastern Montana.  Her roots run deep in history of eastern Montana and told me that some of her grandfather’s memorabilia is part of the collection at the Range Riders Museum.  Kara knew she wanted to do something with food and decided upon the coffee shop.  She honors heritage with the fabulous pastries and with the name Cafe Utza.  And as a savvy business person, she supports and promotes her local events and art.  I feel privileged to hang work there – I’m not local – but I am native to central Montana and  I appreciate what someone like Kara does for their hometown…they share their talents; their art and they give to the community by showcasing other artists and their art.  May 2011 May 2011 108

Pastel Dust & Seattle Rain at Kirsten Gallery

So it didn’t rain a couple of days in Seattle during my 5 day stay, during which time I did a little car trip up to Mount Vernon, stopped at Dakota Art (world’s best pastel supply store).  Getting ready to leave there, it was about 2:30 and decided to not go back to Seattle via I-5, but to take a scenic route and drive the length of Whidbey Island and catch a ferry to Mukilteo back on the mainland.    It was a great drive, but disappointing in that there was not much color in terms of plants and flowers blooming.

The coolest color of the day was this image painted on a wall near the Woodland Park Zoo.  A little side trip I took going to the Ballard Locks and a stop at Tim Towner’s bakery Dessert Works in Phinney.

Sunday was clear in the morning and after a board meeting for the NW Pastel Society I headed off to the show opening at Kirsten Gallery.  We had hung the show on Thursday and was happy with how the show looked.  It is exciting to see the show,  however, with the awards posted next to the winning paintings and the energy that a show opening brings.

What I really want to focus on in this blog is the Kirsten Gallery.  It is a great gallery on Roosevelt Way in the University district.  From the exterior you sense you are going to walk into a special space.  Once inside, the gallery is really several room on 3 levels; a variety of rooms which make looking at the art very interesting because there are lots of small walls to nicely show smaller works and around corners to view others; large open walls as well.  

Rick Kirsten and his wife own the gallery and it is in its 39th year.  March 2012 is the 40th birthday of the gallery.  Rick’s father is a wonderful artist and his work fills the 2nd floor.  Last summer when I visited to gallery to see if it would work for the NPS show, Rick came in after I was there and with him was his father, a sweet elderly gentleman who is in his 9th decade of life.  Rick set his father up with a table, chair and all the necessities an artist needs in a warm sunlit window of the main floor and the senior Mr. Kirsten proceeded to work!  It is a nice memory of these fine people and their gallery.

After the NPS show is finished hanging, the next show at the gallery will be Mr. Kirsten’s body of work that spans all 9 decades of his life!  From a child, through college at the Art Institute of Chicago and beyond, his work will grace the walls of the family gallery.  What a tribute!  He had gone to the Art Institute in the 20’s.  Rick and I talked about the fact that my great-uncle and my aunt both went to the AI of Chicago and we wondered if maybe they knew each other. I don’t have any data about when my uncle went there…I think somewhere in that time frame!  Rick wondered how he was going to hang all the massive amount of works…I suggested chronologically (I had seen that done one time for another artist whose works spanned several decades and changed greatly over time.)  

When you go to the Kirsten gallery, expect to be warmly greeted as you enter this friendly atmosphere.  But one of the best things about the gallery is the garden.  A lovely zen garden, as beautiful in the early spring without the blooms and color as in the summer!…One needs to walk into it and relish the peaceful atmosphere and ponder all the work that was put into this private, secluded space, hidden from a busy street!

 From the bamboo to the statues to the artfully raked gravel and sand…it is a fabulous little place to stop and meditate for just a moment.  The photos of the garden were shot the day we hung the show – after the rain stopped for a moment!

So when you go to Seattle and you happen to be in the University district, you need to stop in and visit this gallery.   

Besides great shows, the gallery has a wonderful supply of art cards really nice art cards, pottery, baskets, the senior Mr. Kirsten’s art and books he has published and other great artifact.  You will warmly be welcomed…

So on Sunday about 3:30, I left the gallery to drive back to Walla Walla.  there is a little drizzle, but not a bad rain.  By the time I get to I-5 it is raining hard and that was my send-off…a downpour!  

Pastel Dust In Seattle

I am in Seattle for a few days to hang the NWPS Members Show at Kirsten Gallery, go to a board meeting and attend the Opening Reception for the show…and to enjoy some time in the city.

The Northwest Pastel Society holds three shows a year of pastel work…a member show, an open international exhibition and a signature member show.  For an organization without walls, getting venues to host shows is sometimes a challenge, but also a project that happens a year in advance of the planning and procuring venues and jurors for the work.

This year’s member show is being held at the Kirsten Gallery on Roosevelt Way in the University of Washington district of Seattle.  I first approached and met with Rick Kirsten a year ago to get the show on his gallery schedule.  The board of directors for the NWPS felt very lucky to get  show time in a gallery such as the Kirsten.  Thursday, 4 of us gathered at the gallery to hang the show.   57 pieces accepted into the show. 

There is a certain art to a show being staged well.  A while ago, I worked on a gallery committee of 3 and 4 people who was one of the best teams.  Dianna, M’Lisse had great skill in hanging and we could put together a show in a few hours. We hung a different show nearly monthly throughout the year; some were solo shows, some groups.  It was a fun process to make the show “work”, so that it flowed well and invited the viewer to keep moving through the exhibit.  I ended up leaving the group due to other work, but always treasured our time working together. 

Kirsten Gallery has subtle room dividers that break up the flow – which is great because a juried show typically has a broad variety of work styles, color, subject matter,  etc.  My goal was to establish a strong entry that would invite the viewer to come further into the gallery to see more work.  The quality of work was no barrier.  There was not one piece that shouldn’t have been in the show.. . All strong, gorgeous pieces.  So in the entry we placed several strong landscapes that played off of each other’s values.  The next area has the least wall space, but we placed stong pieces of varying subject matter throughout that area with invitation to keep moving through the gallery space.  There were some little nooks that lended well to some unique, small works that desevered their own space.  

So initially we did a layout of the work; all the painting were placed  leaning on the walls where we thought they would work best.  Because of the broad variety of size, framing, subject, etc.; our goal was to make the work “flow” and not to compete with each other…In the middle rooms there is more contiguous wall space and that allowed for more paintings to hang together…but with space built between to give the sense of some boundaries to show smaller groups of painting well.  So to create that, we would cluster  maybe three winter paintings closer together, then leave a bit larger space and hang another grouping. 

Once the entry and the first rooms were hanging we moved deeper into the gallery with the goal to make certain that we had strong work in each area and that no one room over powered another.  The last room has three good walls of space and we were able to make some great choices of the placement of work for that room. 

Ideally, if space were no object, it would be great to hang museum style with the paintings all at the same level, not one hanging above or below another or grouped, etc.  But in the real world, galleries don’t always have that option for space, so it required a gallery committee or hangers to be creative how the show gets to be displayed.  We approach that seriously and mindful that everyone who has a piece of work in the show is being honored as selected by the juror.   We were able accomplish installing the show in about 3 hours which was my unspoken goal!

So the opening happens on April 10 from 2-4 pm.  The juror has since gone through the gallery and given 10 or so awards and we wait, now, wondering which paintings will be given awards…

Perhaps in another blog I will talk about the Kirsten Gallery more.  They have this wonderful spot in a busy part of town and their gardens are wonderful.  I have some photos and perhaps with Rick Kirsten’s blessings I will write about the gallery.

So for now…happy painting and gallery visiting!

Pastel dust demo

 

So I had planned to do a post about the Higbee Gallery Show this  time…but changed my mind in favor of doing a bit of a demo with pastels. When I was in eastern Montana last fall I took a 100 mile + drive south and west of Miles City, following the Tongue River about 50 miles and then heading north on dirt roads about 40 miles to Rosebud where I got back on I-94 to Miles City.  I took a bunch of photos along the way of the river, the fields and whatever looked interesting.  Once I got on the dirt road with the warning signs posting “this road is impassable when wet”, I was following near Rosebud Creek.  There were these beautiful sandstone cliffs with a lot of pine and juniper.  I have long been impressed with Albert Handel and Richard McKinley’s  paintings of such cliffs and rocks, so I shot a bunch of photos of the area and thought that one day I would do some paintings of the rocks and brush. A side note…”road not passable when wet” is a reminder to me of living in eastern Montana and when it rains, the earth turns to gumbo…not the culinary delight – but a mud that is sort of clay like and as you walk in it; it collects on your feet until you can hardly lift your mud encased appendages.  It is really like clay…you can actually form 3D items of art with it.  My mother used to sculpt with it for fun.  You couldn’t go out and hike around until it dried; so one might as well spend some artist time and make things out of the mud! Fortunately in October there is little chance of rain and had there been a cloud in the sky, I would have turned around and retraced my tracks back to Miles City on the gravel and asphalt roads. So today I painted a second painting of the rock cliffs and shot some images as I progressed through the painting…I chose a piece of Art Spectrum paper and toned it with some reds washed with alcohol.  Once this was dry….an alcohol wash takes minimal time to dry…I roughed in the sky and tree line. Then I added more detail to the trees and basically finished them before tackling the rocks.  I used Unison, lonelier and Mungyo pastels for the trees, starting with a  dark lavender for my base, then adding some dark blue and the dark green..  Once I had the darks in, I sprayed the trees with some workable fix lightly to allow some of the tooth of the paper to come back so I could add some highlights to the tree branches. So once the trees are in I can start to work on the rocks.  Before I leave the trees, I make sure to have highlights of the branches visible and some light peeking through the branches as well.  Now I s tart with the rocks; putting in some general masses, some hints of color and definition.  A light spray of the fixative will help to create texture in the rocks, then more color and definition.   Next the  rocks get to share space with a “cow trail” that meanders down the hillside and more definition of the rocks take place and a bit of vegetation – weeds- sage, etc sprout up near rocks and trail. I like to sometimes leave some of the initial wash showing through for interesting texture and color.  The goal is to invite the viewer to think the scene  is interesting enough to want to get on that trail and hike to the top of the rims and see what’s on the other side of this ridge…and wonder where that trail goes…they almost always lead to water, to shelter or… Hope you enjoyed the “demo”….happy painting!

 

Pastel dust on the road

Columbia River Art Center

Last week we drove over to Hood River and Portland, OR to visit a couple of galleries  seeking future show spots for the Northwest Pastel Society.  The route follows the Columbia River and is a beautiful drive.  The Columbia River Gorge is deep and there is enough history and geological facts to fill countless blogs, but I am going to touch only on the aesthetics of it for now :-).  The bottom line is, for an artist, there are tons of wonderful places to paint almost anywhere along the 200 or so miles to Portland.  Once you leave Walla Walla, you drive 30 miles before you get to the river at Wallula Junction.  At that point state route 730 takes you along the river at close proximity on a 2 lane road.  Near Umatilla, OR you start to move away from the river edge and get on I-84 near Boardman.  You take that road on to Portland and once again follow the river closer.  

One thing about the Gorge is the fact there is often wind.  Really good winds; blow  you off the curb good; forget that hat forever good.  The water on the river can get some pretty high swells during the windy times, but when there is no wind…the water is smooth as glass and the gorge is beautiful.  Not that it isn’t beautiful when it’s windy…

There are some good places to stop and explore along the way…Hood River is one.  It is the self-proclaimed Wind Surfing capital,  near Mount Hood and skiing and hiking and has a first class Community Art Center.  The Art Center was our point of interest for the day.  It is not only a visual art center but a performing one as well with great gallery space for their members to show 2 and 3D work as well as space to host major shows.  There is a performing arts auditorium as well as a studio/workshop space.  This gallery is certainly a good venue for a professional show.  Typically the NPS show has a workshop at and around the time of the show opening and the Columbia River Art Center would certainly fit that bill.

I also visited the Gallery 903 in Portland as they had expressed some interest in a show.  It is beautiful space in the midst of the Pearl District, however, we determined that with their current space and artists represented, a show such as the NPS show would not work there.  It is always a quest to find galleries that are willing to host a show of 60-80 paintings or have a space that can accommodate.

Bottom line…I need to take more time meandering down the gorge and stopping and doing some plein air painting or even some good reference photos.  It’s a great view and with spring almost in full force, the hills of the canyon are green with fresh grass and waterfalls are flowing in lots of places.  Take the drive…

Next blog…look for some images for the Higbee show in California…

More Pastel Dust…some inside dust…

Maybe you know this already.  I am an artist…who sells real estate.  My husband and I are partners in business at Windermere Walla Walla and we also work as a team in the art world.  I paint and he frames.  That is HUGE!   We juggle our two lives pretty well –  and the nature of both businesses lets me focus  on each more than adequately.  It is always fun to go out on our Broker tours and be reviewing a property and walk into a room and there is one of your paintings hanging!  For a part of one morning a week the brokers in our office all go out on “broker tour” and it is fun to stop a moment and critique my art when we find it. Or someone elses…:-)   That’s the inside dust…

Now on to some images and what they are about…

I am interested in roads and streams and railroad tracks.  Things that lead you somewhere…something that would have a story to tell if they could.  Who has traveled that road? paddled down that stream or rode the rails to St. Louis or Chicago.

I think about the rail roads and the part they played in commerce in earlier part of the 20th century.  My grandparents were homesteaders in Montana; both from Chicago and the environs of Illinois.  They raised cattle in the fall my grandfather would trail the stock they were selling about 40 miles to the railroad and then put them on the train and ship them (He rode along) to Chicago to be sold…1200-ish miles!    this was in the 1920’s and 30’s.  I think he went along to make sure the cattle  were able to unloaded from the cars and fed and watered at periodic stops and then to get them to the Chicago Stock Yards for selling.  So when I see some old tracks that have been abandoned or like in our area, used very infrequently, I have to stop and wonder what tales those rails could tell, if they could!  So sometimes I just have to paint tracks and roads and streams.

One day last fall my friend Bambi and I went out to paint and actually didn’t put a pastel to the paper.  Instead we just started shooting images of the area where her family farms.  And there were tracks and roads and streams, so we got some great reference photos.  These paintings are a result from this trip.  Oh yeah, and the other thing of interest…shadows.  I like to get some drama in the painting with some good shadows.  Late fall sun in the afternoon gets one some great shadows.  Our hills are big and steep in the foothills of the Blues and north to the Snake River, allowing dramatic shadows to present in that late afternoon sun and it makes for an interesting composition.

These were all done on Art Spectrum board which has a good ground and works well with Unison, Sennelier Diane Townsend and  Schmincke pastels.

I hope you enjoyed this post….happy painting