Returned by the Sea

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In the mid-1970's, while living in Eugene, I often drove to the Oregon coast during the winter months to see what I could find on the beaches after powerful storms. One of my favorite spots was the dunes at Florence.

After one especially violent storm I drove to Florence with friends to walk the beach. We found this old fishing dory lying at the water's edge. It was built from split & shaped logs, and had been tossed up on the shore by the Pacific's churn. During another later storm it was picked up by the waves and reclaimed by the sea.

A Window On Time

I created this piece around 1976 while living in Eugene, Oregon.  The work is based on the interior of an old cabin in Northeastern Oregon near Meacham.  I drove past the cabin five mornings a week while working as a bank courier. I stopped several times to make sketches of the interior with the basin, pitcher and broken window.  The view from the window is an imagined one.  The art sold shortly after I completed it and is in a private collection in Oregon.

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Winter Springcreek

8" x 8", Graham watercolors on 100# Arches paper

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Today's painting was inspired by my backyard. I've painted the view from down in the deep draw behind my home, taking artistic license and eliminating the houses that actually sit at the base of the mountain ridge. My home sits on the lip of the draw. There are underground springs, some of which originate on our property, feeding the small creek. The city of Helena also uses this draw to receive storm runoff water from the hills to the south of us.

This springcreek draw is a rich environment of cattails, red willow, wild roses, and tall grasses. Deer come here to graze and rest down out of the wind. And the habitat is also used by lots of chirping, singing, and hunting birds.

The mountain ridge is part of the southern rim of the Helena Valley. Mt Ascension, a prominent feature of the Valley, is on the right.

Autumn Sleep

4.375 X 10 inches

Gouache on Arches 100# Watercolor Paper

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In my search for another painting medium, to use along with watercolor and oil, I've decided to experiment with gouache -- an opaque form of watercolor.

This is my first painting using gouache in a serigraphic style. On the northern rim of the Helena Valley we have a unique mountain formation that we call "The Sleeping Giant". This is one of those geographic features that provides a sense of place.

I enjoyed layering the gouache, much like is done with oil paints; and I loved the fact that gouache has a minimal drying time in comparison to oils.  Oils can take days to dry before any layering can be done.

Update from the Studio

Hello to my blog visitors and supporters, I set a New Year's goal for myself of publishing one new piece of work each week, but as with many good intentions, reality set in and I wasn't able to complete any of the five pieces I'm currently working on. There are a variety of reasons for that, but mostly a lack of physical endurance. My brain surgery had a mild stroke-like effect on my right side, and since I'm right handed, I tire easily after two or three hours of painting. I've spent most of January focusing on painting with acrylics, which have a short drying time, hoping that using them would help me to complete my pieces quickly. But I've found the medium completely frustrating; and I've decided to shift my painting focus to watercolors and oils. I've started a new watercolor and am trying to finish up a couple oils I've had in the works for a while. I look forward to posting completed artwork in February. There may be writing interspersed with my posts in the future. I used to write for a regional magazine prior to my brain surgery; and painting was more of a secondary pastime. But one of the side effects of the surgery was aphasia (difficulty finding words when speaking or writing)- not a good situation for a writer. Recently the aphasia fog has lifted and words are starting to flow again. So I intend to occasionally post a short piece of writing, be it a short essay about the inspiration for a piece, or just observations on my world here in Montana. I'm an historian by education so there may be historical tidbits as well. I hope you enjoy both my art and my writing. Thank you once again for your visits and support.

Montana Prairie Church

13.5 X 20 inches, Watercolor on Arches 300# paper

$410.00.  The price includes shipping

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The church in the painting was based on a photograph taken in 1974 in the Shields Valley of western Montana.  The church was built by local farmers the late 19th or early 20th century on a high hill several miles south of the town of Ringling, between the Big Belt Mountains and the Crazy Mountains. My father and I frequently drove past the church when I was young, on trips between Bozeman, Montana and Harlowton, Montana. The church stood abandoned and in decay for many years, but has recently been restored by Shields Valley residents.

The prairie near Ringling is what I call "high prairie" -- sagebrush-dotted rolling hills, interspersed with low spots, or gulches, that hold snow melt and sustain small marshes. My depiction of the church compresses the church on its high hill with the marshland found nearby in order to give the viewer a sense of the diversity of the landscape.

Gull Point

6.5 X 9.75 inches, Acrylic on board.  12 X 15.25 framed size.
$210.00 - The price includes shipping. 

Email finelinegallerymail@gmail.com for details.  I will take payments.

 Certified check or money order please.

This is another image inspired by my early days in Eugene, Oregon. During the winter I regularly drove to the coast to storm watch. Gulls gathered on overlooks as the storms approached. They were waiting for the fish that were pushed closer to shore by the waves. They would swoop out over the surf to fish, and then return to the overlook to eat, digest and rest before another fishing sortie.

Calling In The Pack

16" x 20", Oil on canvas, framed

$600.00 - The price includes shipping.

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I first got fascinated by wolves when my grandfather read me "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling, about the adventures of Mowgli, a young boy who was raised by wolves. Wolves have never been an object of fear for me -- to the contrary I feel a deep affinity with wolves.

This recent painting was inspired by the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in January 1995. My wife and I were staying at The Buffalo Ranch in the Lamar Valley when the first wolves were brought in. Since that time I've spent many hours watching wolves in Yellowstone Park; and the activities of the wolves have helped to restore the Park's ecological balance.

Duane's Barn

Woodburning on birch veneer, 11.875 X 22.625 inches

$290.00.  The price includes shipping.

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This piece is based on a photograph I took on a friend's property near Packer John's Cabin, south of McCall, Idaho. This collection of items struck me as representative of typical western barn decor.

Florence

Watercolor on paper, 11.5 X 15 inches

$270.00.The price includes shipping.

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I had only seen the ocean a few times before I moved to Eugene, Oregon in 1974. Eugene is only 60 miles from the Pacific Ocean and I frequently made trips to the coast to experience the power in its waters. I was fascinated by the logs that got tossed up on shore during winter storms.. This piece is taken from a picture I took near Florence, Oregon.

Prayer Tree

$470.00.  The price includes shipping

15" X 20" acrylic on illustration board.

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When I lived in Missoula, Montana in the 1990's, I used to drive south on U.S. 93 to Lolo Pass to cross-country ski. I always passed an ancient Ponderosa Pine that  had colorful cloth and other items hanging from its branches.  It is called the Medicine Tree and is sacred to the Salish Tribe.  The cloth and other items were offerings from tribal members and others.

A storm blew the tree down in 2001, but the pine cones were retrieved to plant and grow a new tree by the Salish.  Tribal leaders decided to leave the remaining 16 foot snag standing and people continue to leave offerings and pray on the sacred site.  For my painting I placed my iconic tree, decorated with prayer flags, in the Bitterroot Mountains, with Trapper Peak in the background.  

Below is a short history of the original Medicine Tree from the State of Montana web site:

MEDICINE TREE

This Ponderosa Pine has been standing guard here on the bend of the river for nearly 400 years. Somewhere, imbedded in its trunk, a few feet above the ground, is the horn of a Big Horn ram, the basis of a legend which across the centuries has established the historical significance of the pine as a Medicine Tree. Once upon a time, when the tree was small, according to Salish Indian lore, a mountain sheep of giant stature and with massive, curling horns, accepting a challenge from his hereditary enemy Old Man Coyote, attempted to butt it down. The little pine stood firm, but one of the ram's horns caught in the bole, impaling the luckless sheep, causing his death. A Salish war party chased the coyote away from his anticipated feast and then hung offerings of beads, cloth, ribbon and other items on the ram's horns as good medicine tokens to his bravery and to free the scene of evil. Countless succeeding Indian tribes followed the practice until, less than 100 years ago, the horn disappeared within the tree. But the Indians continue to regard it as a shrine an even the white men honor its sacred legend.

U.S. 93, MP 20, south of Darby Montana

What's Out There?

Watercolor on illustration board.

14 X 14.75 inches image size. Total size is 19.25 X 19.75 inches, with double matting and backer (mats are cream-color, slightly textured, with black bevel, 1/8" bottom mat)

$350.00 certified check or money order.  Price includes shipping within the continental United States.

Email finelinegallerymail@gmail.com if you are interested. I do take payments.

This painting was partially inspired by a drive past the old stockyards in Bozeman, Montana. I stopped to watch a beautiful red fox hunting in the fields and was struck by how its appearance added such richness to the winter landscape.