August Haze, Salmon Creek

Painting #30
August Haze, Salmon Creek
7" x 5"
Oil on Canvas Board
SOLD

The Salmon Creek Trail is about two miles from my house, and it's one of my favorite places to paint. On a clear day, you can see Mt Hood, just to the right of the big tree, between the tree line in the distance and the horizon. (It's an hour and a half east) On hot, hazy August days like the day this was painted, not so much. But, hot August days also mean that when painting there, I'm surrounded by literally hundreds of thousands of blackberry bushes. And this time I brought the green Tupperware bowl along with my other paint supplies. Paint for an hour, pick for 25 minutes. Paint for half an hour, pick for half an hour. Paint for an hour, pick for 45 minutes. At the end of the painting session, my fingers are stained purple, but not from paint. My forearms and lower legs are criss-crossed with scratches, but I won't really feel them until the shower that night. When I get home, I have 4.5 pounds of blackberries and this painting. Life is good.

52 Weeks 100 Paintings #29 Fisher Price American Gothic

 

Painting #29  

Fisher Price American Gothic    

7" x 5"   

Oil on Canvas Board 

I had forgotten about my first crush until I found Angela's bucket of Little People in a storage box of stuff from her childhood. I looked down, and there she was. The blond ponytail, the body that was the perfect shade of blue, the laughing eyes, the enigmatic smile, everything I remembered from kindergarten....and then there was HIM, with the green body and the squiggly hair and pointed nose. And then there was the dog. And the girl with the pigtails. And the creepy kid with the freckles and the sideways cap. And more. And more. Funny how you forget about things until you see them again, and then it all comes flooding back. Well, it turns out we've got a ton of Little People, and they're sure to make additional appearances in this painting series. If there are any in particular that you'd like to see in a painting, drop me a line. We might be able to work something out.

52 Weeks 100 Paintings - Carrots

52 Weeks 100 Paintings

Painting #28 - Carrots
5" x 7"
Oil on Canvas Board
Sold

No anecdote to speak of, just that you should eat more of them and a reminder that this beautiful produce comes from Kruger's Farm. Again, if you're in the Vancouver/Portland area, go. It's on Sauvie Island, and a wonderful, magical time will be had by all.

Bumper Cars, Seaside, Oregon

 

Painting #27
Bumper Cars, Seaside, Oregon
7" x 5"
Oil on Canvas Board
8.6.12

The pilgrimage to the Bumpercars/Tilt-a-Whirl/10 Tiny Tees (miniature golf) place in Seaside, Oregon is an annual tradition that we all look forward to during Angela's (and my) family reunion. Not all traditions stay the same, however, and change is inevitable. The woman who ran the Tilt-a-Whirl when Angela was young now runs the bumper cars.

Seaside Flowers

 

Painting #26
Seaside Flowers
5" x 7"
Oil on Canvas Board
Sold
8.2.12

Walking along the prom in Seaside, Oregon last weekend, we passed a house with bouquets of local flowers for sale. Sweet Peas have always been Angela's favorite, and for $2.50, she couldn't resist. For an extra 50 cents, they threw in the Mason jar vase.

Driftwood, Seaside, Oregon

52 Weeks 100 Paintings

Painting #25 - Driftwood
7" x 5"
Oil on Canvas Board
Sold to Lacey Schnell
Angela married me 16 years ago yesterday. We flew out to Seattle the day before, I met her parents and siblings for the first time, and the next day we drove east across the state and were married at a little bed and breakfast in Couer d'Alene, Idaho. A few days later, I was to meet the rest of her extended family at their annual reunion in Seaside, Oregon. Scary enough meeting a large group of complete strangers who were now family members, but it was going to be on the ocean, and there's nothing like a little splashing in the surf, and a little fun in the sun in the warm water on expansive, white sand beaches. Turns out, having spent all of my beach time on the southern Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, I was not aware that there are different types of beaches, and different types of ocean. I ran out, ready to make a sand castle and do a little body surfing, and found this. Rocks of all sizes as far as the eye could see, huge piles of driftwood, a stiff, cold 25-mile-an-hour breeze freezing me to the core, and an ocean that was a full 30 degrees colder than any water I had ever attempted to frolic in. After this minor shock, at least I could look forward to meeting her entire family, or at least a large percentage of them, which was frightening in and of itself (there were 40-50 of them, all complete strangers who seemed to know more about me than I did of them).

It turns out that they are some of nicest, funniest, warmest people I have ever met. They welcomed me into the family immediately and unconditionally, and I have looked forward to the reunion every year since. I now love Oregon beaches. I love the rocks. I love the cold. I love the driftwood. The driftwood in the painting is probably 7 feet tall. It's the spot where we have the official beach party every year, and every year it gets a little smaller and a little blacker, slowly burning down as it used by others who make beach fires at its base. But as it gets smaller, the love that I feel for this place, these people, and especially Angela, continues to grow.

Coconut Cupcake

 

52 Weeks 100 Paintings

Painting #24 - Coconut Cupcake
7" x 5"
Oil on Canvas Board
Sold to Michelle Marshall

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