“Siletz Bay, October Morning” 9.5″ x 12.5″, Schmincke soft pastels on Sennelier 170lb pastel card, 2026
This piece was inspired by the changing landscape of Siletz Bay on an October morning of plein air painting on the fourth floor balcony of my hotel room. I delight at the sight of faint clouds of pastel dust floating away on the breeze. It was moody and misty as the day began. The lighting shifted quickly towards sunshine, sparkling off the surface of the water. I did my best to keep up.
The pastel card is wonderful as a pastel surface, but the coarser grit (compared to Ampersand Pastelbord) really tears through the pastels themselves.
“The Drain” 9.5″ x 12.5″, Schmincke soft pastels on Sennelier 170lb pastel card, 2026
Something seemed to pull me into the studio tonight, like a powerful current near a sinkhole or enormous drain.
This was painted using Schmincke soft pastels, and Henri Roche (the “Feu d’artifice” were used in the sky). This combination of pastels and paper is lovely to work with, and the specific coarseness of the page gives a peculiar smoothness to the sensation of each stroke.
“A Pond in the Slough” 9.5″ x 12.5″, Sennelier soft pastels on Sennelier 170lb pastel card, 2026
Inspired by treks across various savannahs and sloughs in Oregon, and particularly a recent visit to Basket Slough, looking down from the hillside towards a number of ponds and small lakes.
This piece was done using a selection of Schmincke pastels which recently entered my rotation. I’m very pleased with them.
“Nightlight” 9.5″ x 12.5″, Sennelier soft pastels on Sennelier 170lb pastel card, 2026
This one was inspired by nights camping in the forests of Oregon, surrounded by silent sentinels and quiet nocturnal creatures. Safe and snug at camp, just the string of colored lights to dispel the darkness.
This was painted on Sennelier pastel card, which is new for me (I like it, and my very first piece was done on a sample of it, but I couldn’t find a local source at the time). The pastels are Schmincke, from Germany. Quite nice to work with.
“Siletz Bay Low Tide” soft pastel on Pastelmat, 7″ x 9.5″, 2026
I took a couple days on the coast to paint. I am fascinated by the tide coming and going from Siletz Bay. The most challenging detail is tearing myself away from the view long enough to paint at all.
This piece was done using Blue Earth and Sennelier soft pastels, on Claire Fontaine Pastelmat.
“Artificial Stars at Dawn” soft pastel on Pastelmat, 7″ x 9.5″, 2026
Inspired by the sight of a “Starlink train” of new satellites moving into position in the dawn sky one August morning. Seen from a favorite trailhead, as I got started down the trail.
This piece is painted on Pastelmat, using a combination of Sennelier, and Henri Roche soft pastels, and is available for sale.
Like something from a dream. Inspired by restless nights, and too much time spent fatigued and in my own head, in the midst of a world in turmoil. This piece makes use of Henri Roche’s “Feu d’artifice” selection of dark pigments enhanced with sparkles.
I spent a couple days painting on the coast on the southern edge of Lincoln City, Oregon, in June. The view from the window of my room was lovely. I watched the tide come and go for hours.
“Sunrise View From the Ester Lee in June” 5″ x 7″ pastel on pastelbord
“Storm Rolling In, June at the Ester Lee” 5″ x 7″ pastel on pastelbord
Both of these pieces are available for sale (please email me if interested). These were painted en plein air from the open windows of a room at the Ester Lee Hotel, using Sennelier and Henri Roche pastels on Ampersand Pastelbord.
I have been finding myself more inspired lately – ocean views, forest trails, expanses of fields in full bloom, and so many beautiful sunrises and sunsets.
I am thinking about art, feeling inspired, but too sick to paint today. It’ll pass, it’s not a big deal, just a cold or virus, or whatever. The local “ick”. So I look over old work that has not previously made it into this blog that I might share, and look for some theme.
Trying times, culturally and politically, in the USA. Hard times often produce some great art – which is not any sort of endorsement of hardship or chaos, it’s just a thing that occurs. It often seems the world is burning (wildfires, warfare, social upheaval)… I guess I’ll need more hues of red, orange, yellow… maybe some organic hues, and hues of violet and magenta? I look at older works that reflect other hard times…
Returning from deployment (Desert Storm) took me awhile to “sort out”. It was strange and difficult to come home to civilian life.
“Don’t Remind Me, I Can’t Forget” watercolor on paper, 16″ x 20″, 1992
Emotional pain, physical pain, cultural pain, violence, warfare, and hardship; it’s not the same sort of inspiration as I feel when I am inspired by love, or a beautiful sunrise. Painting just happens to be the way I communicate what I don’t have words for.
“Mea Culpa” watercolor on paper, 16″x 20″, 1992
A lot of living, a lot of memories, a lot of inspiration – some of it quite personal, some of it less so, are reflected in a lifetime of painting. I have done most of my painting in times of hardship, sorrow, and pain, because I didn’t have language for those experiences (and few experiences of joy in earlier years).
“All I Am” tinted linseed oil on paper, 8″ x 10″, 1988
We grow, we move on, we experience more and different and other, and we live again. I’m grateful that there have been more moments of joy than of hardship, and I’m grateful to be able to paint when I don’t have words. Hard times come and go, the art remains.
“Be Like Water” acrylic on canvas with glow and India ink, 12″ x 14″, 2018
