WATERCOLOR ART
Steel Bridge, Portland, April 2007
My goal is to bring out the beauty in a man made scene that was intended for practical purposes, or to take natural scenes that are not always picture perfect and make them so. With painting I can get perspectives that are impossible with a camera, due to branches, wires, signs, and other obstructions, and still have the scene be easily recognizable and accurate by local residents, while showing viewers I had a stimulating experience being in the place while I worked. My work gives me a chance to learn fun bits of history about the place I visited, by talking to old timers, eating at the restaurants, walking around the neighborhoods. Interesting scenes likely to be torn down or have their quirks removed take special priority.
I draw my scenes out with a waterproof pen and then color them in with watercolors, or occasionally with pastels or left black and white. This gives me a way to be thorough with details and still have lots of color. I use Arches paper, or the equivalent, usually working 22″X15″ or 22″X30″.
My Oregon series that I have done in the last three years that I have lived here is about exploring my new home state. A cross section of my hikes in the Columbia River Gorge, fascination with railroads, favorite coffee shops, pretty streets, and how Portland would not be as distinguished without its disorienting town planning.
Greeting card and prints of my watercolors are also available at these places:
KENNEDY SCHOOL (cards and prints)
5736 NE 33rd Avenue, Portland, OR 97211 (503) 249-3983
MULTNOMAH FALLS LODGE (cards only)
Columbia River Gorge Highway, Bridal Veil, OR (503) 695-2376
LOVE ART GALLERY (cards and prints)
8036 SE 13th Avenue, Portland, OR 503-954-2656
MYSTERY GALLERY (cards and prints)
14751-A SE McGloughlin Boulevard, Milwaukee, OR 97267 (503) 659-7776
KB CUSTOM FRAME & GALLERY (cards only)
7828A Southeast Stark Street Portland, OR 97215 (503) 257-0711
PEOPLE’S COOP (cards only)
3029 SE 21st Avenue, Portland, OR 97202 (503) 674-2642
FLOWER TEMPLE DESIGNS (cards only)
111 Southwest Columbia Street, Portland, OR 97201-5859 (503) 222-9770
POWELL’S BOOKS/on Hawthorne (cards only)
3747 SE Hawthorne Boulevard, Portland, OR 97214 (503) 235-3802
U.P.S. STORE SELLWOOD/97292 (cards only)
1327 SE Tacoma Street, Portland, OR 97202
