Autumn Sleep

4.375 X 10 inches

Gouache on Arches 100# Watercolor Paper

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Email finelinegallerymail@gmail.com for more information.  I do take payments.

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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. 

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 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.

The Talking Tree

$400.00 (the price includes packing and shipping).

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13.5 x 18.75

Acrylic on Crescent Illustration Board; painted with pallet knives.

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My iconic tree appears in this painting as a gathering spot for a group of crows (a very social bird)---a place where they come to talk about their world.

Clowning Around

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Many small towns in Montana put on annual rodeos which bring in folks from the surrounding areas to partake in a much-anticipated community event.  It's a family tradition for many -- a time of meeting, greeting, and competing in events. Rodeo evolved out of friendly competitions, based on the skills needed for ranch life. And it continues to be a meaningful tradition for rural Montanans.

My favorite rodeo as a child was the Harlowton, Montana Rodeo. Harlowton is where my father's family homesteaded; and every year I hooked up there with my cousins and we did our best to raise a ruckus.

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Storm Catcher

$240.00.  The price includes shipping

11 X 14 inches

Oil on canvassed board

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This is modeled after a photograph taken on a 4-5 day ski trip to Cooper Spur on Mount Hood in 1985. I and a group of friends bunked at a Forest Service cabin below the northeast slope. We had a great time telemarking the slopes, eating heartily, and enjoying a lot of good wine.

The immensity of Mount Hood, a dormant volcano in the Cascadian portion of the Pacific Ring of Fire, catches weather systems moving in from the Pacific Ocean which dump enormous amounts of snow on the mountain.