Coos Art Museum 25th Annual Maritime Show

It seems that the past few years, when I have been included in this exhibition, I have left late in the evening for the coast and been lucky enough to have found one of my favorite campsites unoccupied; this time was no exception and I pulled into the hidden little spot not far from the highway, about 1:30 AM.  I prefer a late night start to getting up early the next morning to get on the road … those early morning starts never seem to be that early; or perhaps they are, if you consider my late night as an extremely early morning!  I spent the next day and night there, before heading on down to Coos Bay on Friday, 13^th of July for the Artists Private View that evening.  It’s always nice to see friends and acquaintances during this weekend, and meeting new people as well.  Here follows my entry to the show, and is available for sale through the Coos Art Museum (See bottom of page for details).

 C1610

“A Light in the Storm”

(Destruction Island Light, Washington Coast)

Oil on Centurion Oil Primed Linen Panel

12” x 24”

(Close-up Detail)

The Saturday was the actual private view, complete amazing buffet, which is always a highlight being accepted into the show for me.  This was preceded by a ride around the bay on a tugboat for sixteen of the artists, myself included.  The exhibition continues until September 29^th of this year, and I highly recommend that you stop to see it if you are down on the South/Central Oregon Coast before then.

I remained down in the area for the next month, catching up on blog posts (which you now should have been notified about … see last post), and doing paperwork, with only a little bit of reconnaissance, but I looked at the sea a lot in spite of the paperwork drudgery.  The only thing about that coast at that time of the year is the continuous chill northerly wind, and this year it was especially vicious, before slackening off somewhat before I left.  However, I preferred the coolness of the coolness of the coast to the sweltering heat of the rest of Oregon, and which I am now suffering, now that I am back in the Willamette Valley. 

And to remind you again, as I stated in my last posting, I have a couple of commissions to be getting on with, and whatever I can get finished for some Miniature Shows coming up in the Autumn, so I may not have much to be posting for awhile.  You do have nine posts, to be getting on with, that you should now have been notified about, and of course, I know you will be dying to read every word and study every photograph in detail … hell, I would!

Until next time …

Coos Art Museum, 235 Anderson Avenue, Coos Bay, OR   541-267-3901

www.coosart.org/maritime-2018/

A Light in the Storm

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

C1610

“A Light in the Storm”

(Destruction Island Light … Washington Coast)

Oil on Centurian Oil Primed Linen Panel

12" x 24"

Detail of “A Light in the Storm”

C1615

“End of a Perfect Forest Day”

(Cascade Range)

Oil on Raymar Canvas Panel

12” x 9”

C1616

“Quiet Evening on Second Beach”

(La Push, Washington Coast)

Oil on Raymar Canvas Panel

8” x 16”

I know, I know … it’s been over four months since I last posted.  Well … I’ve been busy … so there. 

Picture petulant lower lip stuck out about half a mile.

Actually, I have been busy … as I write I am perched next to a window overlooking the fields above Trevalga, North Cornwall, England.  It is towards midnight and I am in friends’ holiday cottage and the stars are glimmering down over the fields as I look north past Boscastle (where I lived for seven years), and beyond towards the lights of Bude, and on to the radar domes of Morwenstow twenty miles distant; there is even a more distant light twinkling farther up the coast towards Hartland Quay… it may even be Hartland Quay.  It is a special landscape even beneath the silent stars.  I am listening to Sibelius’ Symphonies Numbers 5 & 6, and wondering what this New Year will bring into this more nasty, more prejudiced world many of us thought had been left behind decades ago.

Be that as it may, once I returned to base after the Coos Art Museum Maritime Exhibition in July, I set to work on several paintings for delivery to my Galleries before I headed out from Oregon, on this journey which brought me to this window overlooking these familiar fields from my long ago.  The painting which appeared in my last posting (here) was the first and is now to be found in the Second Street Gallery, Bandon, Oregon.  The three shown above are to be found at the Kirsten Gallery in Seattle (details below).

The research for C1610 - “A Light in the Storm,” and C1616 - “Quiet Evening on Second Beach,” was done in 2009, when I spent several days in the coastal section of the Olympic National Park, Washington State.  Second Beach was about a half hour stroll from the road through beautiful the beautiful temperate rain forest, and once onto the beach, the whole day was easily spent walking along the length of the beach, drawing, and painting and taking reconnaissance photos for future work, and C1616 is one of the results. 

Destruction Island, on the other hand, is further down the Washington Coast and sadly the light was permanently turned off in 2008.  It lies 3½ miles offshore, and once I saw this Island from the shores of Ruby Beach, I knew I had to paint a dramatic seascape.  Although it has taken longer than expected to do so, it has now been completed, and even more dramatic than I first envisioned.   

C1615 - “End of a Perfect Forest Day,” was inspired by just that … the end of a wonderful day at my campsite up in the coast range above Coos Bay, a few days after the opening of the Maritime Show last July; and a productive and most enjoyable day.  I completed the small painting I was working on, prepared and ate my supper, and was sitting watching the changing light in the valley below, and the just-past-quarter Moon in the sky above.  As the Sun sank into the Northwest, and its light on the trunks of the Douglas Firs began to glow an Earth Orange Hue, I watched as the Moon glided between the branches above.  It was a scene worth remembering, and so here it is and I share it with you. 

Next posting will tell a bit about my travels from Oregon to Minnesota and on to a class reunion in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and of places from my long ago, and others new in that northern land.

The Second Street Gallery, 210 Second Street SE, Bandon, OR 97411

Phone:            541-347-4133                                    Email: BandonArtworks@gmail.com

The Kirsten Gallery, 5320 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle WA 98105

Phone: 206-522-2011                        Email: r2thetop@hotmail.com

For those interested I give the following information.

C1610 - “A Light in the Storm” …

Imprimatura & Drawing/Block-in: Vasari Terra Rosa.

Pigments: Vasari Terra Rosa; Winsor & Newton Cobalt, Cerulean & Ultramarine Deep Blues, Permanent Rose, Cadmium Yellow Pale, Cadmium Orange, and Cremnitz White; M. Graham Hansa Yellow Pale (very little).

C1615 - “End of a Perfect Forest Day” …

Imprimatura: W&N Venetian Red.

Drawing: W&N Venetian Red & Ultramarine Deep.

Pigments: Vasari Terra Rosa; Winsor & Newton Cobalt, Cerulean & Ultramarine Deep Blues, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Orange, Venetian Red and Cremnitz White; Rublev Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Italian Burnt Sienna, Cyprus Raw Umber Deep, Cyprus Warm Burnt Umber.

 C1616 - “Quiet Evening on Second Beach” …

Imprimatura: None.

Drawing/Block-in: Vasari Terra Rosa and W&N French Ultramarine.

Pigments: Winsor & Newton Cobalt, Cerulean & Ultramarine Deep Blues, Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Pale, Permanent Rose, Venetian Red, Cremnitz & Titanium Whites; M. Graham Hansa Yellow Pale; Rublev Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Ceruse; Vasari Terra Rosa.

Morning Mist in the Coast Range

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

Sketchbook Drawing 20160707 Pg-57

"Morning Mist"

(Oregon Coast Range)

Sepia & Walnut Ink Drawing with Washes

on Fabriano Ingres 160 gsm paper bound in  Sketchbook

7" x 10”

During the previous days when I was working on the “Haynes Inlet” Oil, and enjoying watching the natural world surrounding me, I also went through my photographs of the, now daily, morning mists.  I chose several to work on in Photoshop.  This was also a time to really give my Suitcase Solar array a good workout.  I had purchased this some time ago, but had not had the chance to really give it a thorough testing.  I set it up outside the truck, ran 45 feet of cable to my Full-River AGM Deep-Cycle Battery nestling in the footwell of the front passenger seat, to keep that battery recharging while I worked on my PC.  With that length of cable my SUV and I were able to remain cool in the shade, while the solar array soaked up the sunlight.  I had built a plywood box to house my battery, and within the same box I had installed two 12-Volt DC sockets and a Tri-Metric meter to keep an eye on the state of the battery charge.  This meter is really essential to keep from abusing a very expensive battery.  This set up seems to be able to meet my electrical needs, which are my PC, tablet and phone, and also provides a backup in case I inadvertently rundown my auto battery while stationery in a campsite for an extended period.  Of course I cannot be profligate with my uses, as my power reservoir is not unlimited, and there are cloudy days.  I have digressed from my Photoshop work.  Once I got the photographs worked up I duplicated them and saved them as JPEGs, and transferred copies to my tablet via Bluetooth. 

As I was finishing up after supper on Thursday, July 7^th, the clear and beautifully pristine weather looked to be at an end, for as the sun settled over the horizon, low clouds began to stream in from the WNW.  Singly at first and then in clumps, some grazing the hilltops, not sure whether they wanted to be clouds or rising mist; perhaps it was sea-mist that had risen to become cloud.  There was still sky showing between and even stars later on between these rapidly moving watery shrouds, but the previous promise of another wonderful starry evening had disappeared within half an hour.  And during the night I awoke to a light rain pattering atop my roof. 

It was a different kind of beauty in the morning, as clumps of mist rose out of the valleys to join with the low overcast above.  Showers came and went.  I took the photos of the misty mornings of the previous few days I had worked on, and between them I lightly composed the structure of a drawing in my large sketchbook, of light blue Fabriano Ingres paper.  This was a first for working in my outdoor sketchbooks, as normally I am drawing the scene before me.  And I still was to a certain extent, since the various foreground trees in the composition were before me for reference, even though I had rearranged them to make a drawing … just a reminder, that drawing and painting is not reportage, but to make Art.  Those familiar with my work, especially my quite detailed Watercolours, may think that they look photographic, but there have always been decisions made as to composition, and tone and colour.  Usually not so much in the sketchbooks, as they are mostly used for information gathering, but in the above drawing, the rearranging of the elements were necessary to best convey that information I wished to gather.

After I set down the structure of pencil lines, I headed for town and the Artists’ Preview at the Museum.  Nice to see acquaintances, at the opening, and concentrate on a few people close by at the wonderful meal at Puerto Vallarta Mexican Restaurant, over the road from the Museum.  I had the shrimp wrapped in bacon with rice, beans etc.; I discovered this dish here two years ago, and have since not been able to go for something different, at this event.  Back to camp, and then the next day back down for the general preview and wonderful dinner within the exhibition space itself.  This is when the aforementioned auction took place, and the little Oil, which I contributed for this event, sold.  After the festivities, it was back to my campsite, and the intermittent rain of the day settled in for the next 36 hours with only a couple of breaks long enough for me to do some water heating and cooking.  This was the perfect situation to continue on and finish with the above sketch.  Incidentally, I have dated it for the day I took the main recon photos.  My drawing implements consist of various pencils, mostly mechanical, Conté Crayons, Creta-colour chalks, Walnut Ink, Sepia Acrylic Ink, Roberson Kolinsky Sable brushes [whose handles unscrew to become protective caps … I got mine years and years ago at Cornelissen & Son on Great Russell St. in London], various dip pen nibs [of Japanese, American, and English manufacture], and their handles,  and the following tin of Watercolour pans & half-pans: Rowney Warm Sepia, W&N Sepia, W&N Burnt Umber, Light Red, Burnt Sienna, Naples Yellow, Cobalt Blue, Scarlet Vermilion, Cobalt Blue, Chinese & Titanium Whites.  This is a severe selection of Watercolours, but I mainly am intent on producing “Sepia” wash drawings, on toned paper, heightened with white.

Beginning a Coast Range Idyll

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

C1611

"On Haynes Inlet"

(Coos Bay, Oregon Coast)

Oil Sketch on Centurian Oil Primed Linen Panel

4" x 6

It has taken me awhile to get back into the swing of things, as far as posting to my blog is concerned, and it will be a slow, but I hope fairly steady renaissance … as it were.  The Annual Coos Art Museum Maritime Show opened on the ninth of July, and I was in attendance for both the Artists’ Preview and the Private View the next evening.  I left town at 22:00 on the 3^rd, and travelled down to one of my secret clearings in the forested Coast Range near Heceta Head, spending the night and leisurely proceeding on towards Coos Bay the next day.  I went up into the Coast Range NE of Coos Bay watched the 4^th of July fireworks from 15 miles away, or at least those that shot high enough to be seen above the intervening hills … binoculars were de rigueur.  Always nice to see them from a distance, avoiding crowds and the noise; my own private display.  Found the forest road I camped on last year, and on which I painted the work seen here, which is now in the Earthworks Gallery, in Yachats, Oregon.  The next day I toddled on down to the Museum and delivered my two small works for the coming show, topped off my supplies, petrol, etc. and did a bit of recon on the way back to my chosen Forest Road campsite.  After a leisurely supper, and a bit of star gazing, it was off to bed; sooooo nice to be back in the Wild. 

Up bright and early the next morning, I fully intended to get the above painting done for Saturday’s Auction in support of the Museum, but the beauty of the Wild intervened and I spent most of the day just watching unfold around me and … enfold me.  After the months spent in a windowless studio completing the commission, mentioned recently, I needed to just drink in silence.  As I arose that first morning the valleys, below the ridge on which I was camped, were filled with mist … I was above a sea of fog … a view I have wanted to see for ages.  Between recon photos and observations, I breakfasted, and by the time I finished my morning coffee most of the mists had cleared from the valleys, only hanging on for awhile in those closer to the coast.  And then it was watching the birdlife, the occasional rabbit, the resident chipmunks, and Bambi and his/her Mom grazed down the road, much as a previous generation had last year.

Late in the day I finally dug out the paint box, studied the pencil drawing I had done the previous afternoon on my way back from delivery, laid down an imprimatura on the canvas panel and applied the brush drawing.  I let this dry overnight and the next day set to it again, but with no real hurry, as my “Nature-watch” continued.  On the third day, I touched up a couple of places, and inserted the heron, and threw it into its frame, ready for the auction, completely forgetting to photograph it before doing so; thus the framed photos above.  Three days of beautiful clear skies, warm but not hot temperatures … the way I like it.  Ahhhhh!  Nice!

Oh yeah … and by the way … the above Oil of Haynes Inlet did sell at the auction.

Evening in the Coast Range

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

C1597

"Evening in the Coast Range"

(Oregon)

Oil on RayMar Portrait Quality Linen Panel

6" x 8"

Click here to make this your Own

At the beginning of July I downed tools on the two large commissioned Oils I’ve been working on and headed down to the coast to deliver the three paintings that are included in the Coos Art Museum 22^nd Annual Maritime Show (here).  I usually camp on private property outside of Bandon, 25 miles further on than is Coos Bay, but as I approached Coos Bay, I decided there was no point in going further, just to retrace my steps in the morning to make my delivery; thus I headed up into the Coast Range and found a likely spot a few miles in.  After supper I enjoyed the Sunset, and later in the gloaming I watched Venus and Jupiter sinking into the west, while the full Moon rose to my left in the east, and a few bats flitted about enjoying their insectoid suppers.  I had been much taken by the evening colours as the sun fell through the trees and especially after it had set, so I thought I might delay my week of painting on the Bandon Coast, and return up here in the Coast Range to paint after I delivered the paintings to the Coos Art Museum.  Watching the mist rising in the valleys in the morning confirmed my decision.

I drove a roundabout route to the Museum, via Silver & Golden Falls State Park, as I had never been there before, although I had thought about it from time to time; well worth it, even though one has to walk further these days to view the two falls, since one must park much further away nowadays.  Silver & Golden Falls are not easily photographed, but I managed to get enough working shots, for future reference.  The views I would most like to paint are also footpath blocking spaces, so I will have to work from photos for these at some point; there would be several places to paint sections of the base of the falls, and maybe I will sometime.  I had to do some desperate bushwhacking scrambles around Golden Falls to get some of views I photographed, but that is many times de rigueur in my game, both for taking reference photos and for painting.  There will come a time when I will not be able to do this … but not yet.

After dropping off the works, in Coos Bay (the town), I drove back north through North Bend (not Bend across the Cascades in the High Desert 200 miles distant), and across Coos Bay (the water) over the big bridge, turned right onto North Bay Road, and before again turning right and heading back on the forest roads into the mountains, I stopped to take a few photos of North Bay in the late afternoon light; North Bay is an arm of Coos Bay.  I enjoyed another evening similar to the night before, but this time I got to see distant fireworks through a notch in the hills across the valley.  This was quite unexpected as it was only the 3^rd of July, but I enjoyed the display, and they were seen best through my binoculars, and heard a lot of their thunder, even though they were about 9 or 10 miles distant.  Of course I only saw those that were shot into the sky, but I always prefer those to any those that are at ground level anyway.

With this painting I used a split palette, painting the evening sky with the more modern and brighter colours and darkened ground vegetation with the earth palette I’ve been using most of this past year.  I also applied my imprimatura only to the lower half of the panel, thus reserving the white of the ground to reflect the brighter pigments used in the evening sky.

Imprimatura: Venetian Red.

The Pigments used in the sky were: Winsor & Newton Cerulean & Cobalt Blues, Cadmiums Yellow Pale, Orange, & Red, Rose Madder Genuine, Cremnitz and Titanium Whites, and a bit of Venetian Red to mix with Cobalt Blue for the subtle pale purply greys in the clouds.

And for the ground Rublev Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Italian Burnt Sienna, with Winsor & Newton Cobalt & French Ultramarine Blues, Venetian Red, and Cremnitz White were the usual suspects.

The Coos Art Museum 22nd Annual Maritime Exhibition

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

The following paintings have been accepted into the

Coos Art Museum 22^nd Annual Maritime Exhibit (2015), and are for sale.

Exhibition dates are from July 11, 2015 to September 26, 2015

The first two paintings are of coast at Bandon, Oregon, and the third painting is located at Devil's Elbow State Park, below Heceta Head Lighthouse, Oregon.

CAM ID#: 0108

“Smoldering November Evening”

Oil on Ampersand Gesso Panel

with additional Coat of Rublev Lead Oil Ground

Painting Size 8” x 10”

$500 Framed

The above painting was done using a quick pencil sketch in my small pocket sketchbook as reference.

CAM ID#: 0109

“Sunshine & Sea Mist”

Oil on Canvas Panel

with additional Coat of Rublev Lead Oil Ground

Painting Size 9” x 12”

$600 Frame

CAM ID#: 0110

“First Light at Storm’s End”

Oil on Ampersand Gesso Panel

with additional Coat of Rublev Lead Oil Ground

Painting Size 3½” x 9¼”

$350 Framed

[SOLD during the Exhibition]

These paintings are for sale.  If you do not live in the area and need the painting shipped to you, please add $25 per painting for shipping and packing charges in the USA; for elsewhere, please email me and I shall make enquiries at the Post Office. 

If you do purchase a painting, please be aware that they must remain in the exhibition until the end of the show, and the Artist will ship them shortly thereafter, which will be early October. 

Should you wish to purchase any of these paintings please contact the following, and have the CAM ID# and the Title of the painting ready:

Archi Davenport

Coos Art Museum

235 Anderson Avenue

Coos Bay

OR

Tel: (541) 267-3901

Email: info@coosart.org  -or-  adavenport@coosart.org

Hours: Tues - Fri: 10 am to 4 pm
Saturday: 1 pm to 4 pm
CLOSED Sun-Mon and all major holidays
Admission: $5, $2 for students, seniors, free to Members of CAM.

The Beginning

Hello, and welcome to my new Blog, “Not Quite a Painting a Day.”  I suppose one should begin at ‘The Beginning,’ and if one has read the essay under the tab above, “The Journey,” one might very well take that to be ‘The Beginning;’ or was ‘The Beginning’ really the earliest of those extended sketching journeys near the start of my Art career; or was it when one of my earliest Watercolour won a 2^nd Place Ribbon at the Tri-State Fair at age seven?  Perhaps it was the sunrise seen at age five that inspired that early Watercolour; or maybe it goes back to one of my earliest outdoor memories of sunlight sparkling on the water at a picnic at age two or so?  It might be said that all Beginnings on the thread of life are one Beginning.  Philosophical musings aside, this is the first posting on my first Blog, therefore let us consider this as the beginning; at least of this new Journey.  And so again I bid you welcome.

At present I am on the south-central coast of Oregon and attended the opening of the “21^st Maritime Art Exhibition,” at the Coos Art Museum in Coos Bay last weekend, and in which I had two small and highly detailed Watercolours.  These were painted several years ago, before this present Journey had begun, and I had them available for submission to the show.  They represent my labor-intensive studio Watercolours, and not the Oil Sketches & Studies that will be mostly presented on this Odyssey.  They are presented below.

C1328

“Day’s End on Indian Beach”

(Ecola State Park, Oregon Coast)

Watercolour

3” x 9”

C1349

“Blustery Afternoon at Shore Acres with Simpson Reef Beyond”

(Shore Acres State Park, Oregon Coast)

Watercolour

5½” x 11”

I will be camping on private land in the Bandon area for the next few days, courtesy of friends of mine, and will be painting the coast hereabouts before moving on and painting further south along the Oregon Coast.  While here I hope to finalize the coordination between this Blog and Daily Paintworks, and should have the first of my Oil Sketches up for sale on my next posting.  In the meantime I will leave you with one more image; this time of one of my small Oil Paintings, which is at the Rip Caswell Gallery in Troutdale, Oregon.  Please do come back and enjoy this Journey into the Wild.

C1545

“Spring Run-off”

(Lower Lewis Falls, Gifford Pinchot, National Forest, Washington Cascades)

Oil on Panel

5” x 10”

Cheers for now … and see you soon.