The Art Show Continues

Our last blog post included images of paintings Karen and I exhibited the first Friday of December at Petersburg’s Wild Celery.  We had a good turnout for the event but, unfortunately, Karen had the worst bout of vertigo she has ever experienced -- perfectly timed to coincide with the opening.  All she could do was sit in a chair and not look up.  Just her presence at the affair was testimony to her courage.

In all we had 19 paintings -- 14 of mine, 4 of Karen’s and 1 collaboration.  I know I sound greedy, but initially I was scheduled to be the artist for the show.  However, when Karen got so involved in one painting we decided that a joint show would be more fun.  Thus, while I had lots of time to prepare, Karen produced her pieces in a much shorter time frame.  We showed all but one of hers in the last post so we'll include the missing one this time.  Below you’ll find a few more paintings from the show:

                          South Side Beach Fringe  18 x 24 inches  Alkyd on Canvas 

Last June we included photographs from a trip to Agate Beach on the south side of Kupreanof Island in our post -- A Special Place.  One photo from the trip particularly appealed to me as a painting subject -- an image of the forest adjacent to the shoreline -- termed beach fringe.  As a biologist, I've come to appreciate this important area for wildlife in the Tongass National Forest .  It's the area that deer are forced into during winters with deep snows, an area where they can hopefully forage when movement and access to food in higher elevation habitat is restricted by the snow.

                           The Old Beaver Pond  18 x 24 inches  Alkyd on Canvas

Canoeing up Blind Slough years ago I explored a side tributary to see where it lead.  Much to my surprise I discovered a large beaver pond.  Some years later I decided to canoe across the pond.  Dragging my canoe up the creek with detours over chest-high wind thrown logs overgrown with dense blueberry and devil's club thickets I eagerly anticipated climbing over the beaver dam and into uncharted territory.  Aaack!  The dam had been breached.  All that remained was a vast meadow.  However, I still had the old photos taken during that rainy outing.  The photos included images of snags in the area flooded by the beaver.  However upon reaching this juncture I decided one advantage artists who paint have over photographers is we can leave out whatever we want.  I liked the painting at this point so...  Maybe one day I'll try another composition which includes the snags.

                          Last Light on the Range  12 x 24 inches  Alkyd on Canvas

Every time Karen and I see the Coast Range with alpenglow highlighting the high peaks, we wish we had our cameras with us.  But not always, because often we don't need to wish -- we do have them handy.  Thus we have a large selection of photos taken from Petersburg of one of our most exciting views.  This painting was completed from one of them.

 

  Why Snowmen Don't Have Noses  16 x 20 inches  Acrylic on Gessoboard by Karen

At last -- Something by Karen.  She didn't begin this painting until the weekend before the show's opening, but once she started, her whimsical side poured out.  It's based on the image from her studio window, but somehow our cabin -- before being remodeled turned around and moved across Wrangell Avenue.  Wow, I hope she isn't predicting an earthquake that could do that.  It also seems that our local deer herd likes carrots (now how would Karen know that?).  Thus you certainly can't expect any snowman around here to retain that part of it's anatomy.  There's plenty to see in this one.  Karen says she "felt like she was a kid again" as the paint flowed from her brush.  

                                  Rugged Range  12 x 16 inches  Alkyd on Canvas

Driving "out the road" from Petersburg a gap in the mountains that dominate our island reveals a glimpse of the Coast Range.  Of course we've photographed it more than once.  I began this painting basing it on one such photo, a telephoto shot with the idea of abstracting the scene.  I did, so don't try to hold this image up to the actual scene and expect to be identify every rock, crevice, tree and eagle on top of a snag.

                          Turn of the Season  18 x 24 inches  Alkyd on Canvas

Last spring, before the meadows greened up, Karen and I wandered about Blind Slough with our cameras.  It's a favorite time of year because you can actually see where you put your feet -- not in deep snow or wading through waist high grass.  We photographed plenty of potential painting subjects that day and here is the first to emerge from that wonderful outing.

                            Alaska Monolith   12 x 16 inches  Alkyd on Gessoboard

This is the one painting from our show, titled Our Rainforest Home, that isn't from this corner of Alaska.  It's a mountain one views driving towards Hatcher Pass in the southern end of Alaska's Talkeetna Mountains.  I planned to paint an abstracted version of the scene, but somehow got pulled back into the representational mode because I was so enchanted by the actual vista.  Now that I have that out of my system, maybe I should try to do the abstraction again.

We have a few more in the show, but this gives you an idea of what it was all about.  It's still up this week so if any readers have the opportunity, come on down to Wild Celery.