New Work at the Lakewood Center for the Arts

NEW WORK by RANDALL DAVID TIPTON

January 5 - February 21 2011

Lakewood Center for the Arts
368 South State St.
Lake Oswego OR 97035

[entrance and parking in the rear]

Reception, Saturday January 8, 2-4 pm

www.randalldavidtipton.com

The Longest Night

Wetlands Along the River

From a few years ago.
It`s been a struggle to get some painting done. Christmas isn`t the problem, I`m finishing up my show which begins Jan. 5. It`s in the non-profit Lakewood Center for the Arts, which means I`m artist, publicist, installer, framer, designer etc. It`s not such a chore, I just miss open ended sessions to work. Our dark, wet winters with their long nights are so good for painting.
My website was updated too! Anneliese Dehner and Jeremy McWilliams did a stand out job again. They are a joy to work with, very professional and reasonably priced. Their email addresses are in the side bar.
Happy holidays to us all!

Winter Rainforest Study

I may have found a bridge between Yupo and traditional watercolor paper. It`s paper made for airbrush; acid free and very smooth and tough. Worth playing with maybe. It took the paint nicely and had good lift too. Seems versatile.

BTW, it`s called coated Airbrush made by Canson, acid free, 152 lb.

First Addition Garden

Oswego Spring Study

It can`t be more than a half mile from the dam holding back the lake to it`s finish at the Willamette River, yet Oswego Creek`s entire brief stretch is unbelievably gorgeous. There is a wealth of material to work from there.
To install a new sewer system the city has drained 70% of the lake this winter. When the draw down was happening kayakers were running the rapids where John is standing in the photo. I was worried that my new discovery had been destroyed by the force of the water. Needlessly. Just a month later we were back there and it was as lush as ever.

Alders near the Shore

I try to do these trees justice. They`re a silvery joy in winter at the coast.

A Pool in the Rocks

Another Oswego Creek painting.

Oswego Creekbank

I`m enjoying working on flat unstretched canvas but photographing it is another story. The weave is too apparent and when I shoot the picture, I`ll see transparent diagonal lines across the image. ?? Sometimes these will also show up in a thumbnail but not the enlarged photo. I may finally have to read the manual.

Bare Wetlands

The Sky in the Water

I keep coming back to this tiny little canyon where Lake Oswego spills into a creek. It has everything; cliffs, pools, a waterfall, huge mossy boulders, quiet water with reflections, amazing and diverse vegetation and I`ve never seen anyone else back there!

Sunlight and Shade

Because this is a large painting, all but the final photo was taken in my studio. The lighting is great for painting but not photography. I hope the progression isn`t frustrating to follow with the fluctuating values and color. As always, I begin by just getting something, anything, down. Something to react to. I had a vague idea for a composition in mind but it took a really long time for something to spark. Basically I just keep re-painting the design, layer upon layer, until an insight or accident engages me. Then it`s a matter of balancing my intention, here the sensation of being in dense undergrowth, with the primary need for an aesthetically competent execution.

Cedar Root

When conditions are right, the ground saturated with rain and the winds wild, one of our towering evergreens will lose it`s grip on the earth and topple, literally uprooted. If undisturbed the trunk will become a 'nurse' log and support abundant new life. The root system, now exposed, will take decades to break down. As it does it becomes dramatically sculptural.

Iron Mountain Walk

2001 Still Life

I`m closing in on my big forest painting and I hope to post photos of it`s progression soon.

Estuary Night

Iron Mountain Study

On my easel is a giant canvas where a forest is finally coming together, but I`ve been taking some breaks to do small things. This is from a new walk I`m enjoying. It`s a former quarry, now a vertical park clinging to the side of a mountain. Much of the steel used to build early Portland, came from the iron mined here.

November Poplar

I saw this on a walk the other day. While the image was fresh, this is what I could remember.

Morning Channel

Poplars in the Gloaming

From a walk at dusk at Menucha. I love when evening falls, everything flattens out. The world is spatially more ambiguous.

North Shore

Again.
I`ve been living with this painting in my bedroom and think it was the best thing I did in my residency at Sitka. It`s subtle but I got what I love about a northwestern beach in winter.

Menucha

We were in Menucha this week walking and taking in the northwest autumn. Just amazing. I did this little watercolor after we got home yesterday.

Poplars Across the Field

After ruining a promising watercolor, I couldn`t leave the studio last night without trying to make something interesting. This tiny landscape was painted over a previous effort.

Autumn Slough

Shade

A study for a large oil painting I`ve been working on the past few days.

The Cliff Joins the Water 3

The actual section of cliff along Oswego Creek is only about three feet long making my painting 'larger than life'.

Autumn Slough Study

After a session last night on my big canvas of the cliff, I did this small study. I liked it and immediately began a large version.

Another Autumn

'Early Fall', this one from 2005. A view from the car, driving to Ashland, painted from memory.

Autumn efforts

I`m working on the third 'The Cliff Joins the Water', another big version. Meanwhile, until our local color really gets going, here are some paintings of fall from the recent past.

Moonlight Over the Sea

Copse of Winter Alder

Another Daily painting.
Soon I expect to be working larger again.
In January 2011, I`ll be having an exhibit at the local Lakewood Center for the Arts. I`m happy to show my work in my new community, Lake Oswego.
Also, in the spirit of 'Do It Yourself' I`ve decided to offer some quick 'daily' work for sale here. A link is in the sidebar.

Winter Light Study

A daily painting.
Suddenly, I`m showing some work at Ojo Sarco Pottery in New Mexico. I`ve known the owners, Kathy and Jake, for years and we decided to give it go. The gallery is in the Sangre de Christo mountains on the high road to Taos. It`s a breathtaking location. Take a look at their gorgeous, functional pottery.

Light in the Forest

From a tiny study done in 2008.
Last weekend two talented painters drove up from California to work with me. Specifically, me and Yupo. I have developed a way, maybe attitude, allowing for more control and versatility. I found it a worthy thing to do because as a long time watercolorist, I loved how the brilliant white surface shone through the paint. But, being plastic, it`s tricky. We had great fun and although I`m not a teacher, they said it was just like a workshop. I do know I talked a lot. Sometimes in conversation with other artists, I startle myself with the intensity of my opinions.