What an INCREDIBLE paint-out day this was!

Wow. It was a fantastic day--only a bit too warm for about an hour, and then it cooled down and the sun went down very slowly, very calmly, and very beautifully. It was a double treat for me, and "treat" is really an understatement. First, because it's such a beautiful place to paint, and second because there was an array of artistic talent and skill there that I've certainly never seen before. If you EVER have a chance to go to one of these paintouts (anywhere) where there are so many artists with 20+ years of experience, I can't even imagine that you wouldn't love it. Take those two things, throw on some good wine, beautiful food, and a most excellent jazz trio—with a lady saxophone player and one guy each on guitar and standup bass—and, well, words fail me. Burl and Cindy Mostel pulled out all the stops.

I didn't talk to every artist, there were at least half a dozen I didn't get to, but I did get to these, and I really want to share them with you. In no particular order, they are:

Carrie Moore - artist and designer, in several different media, including leather purses. Close enough to call a neighbor.

Jerry Dickason - Went from oils to watercolor back to oils. I really loved his watercolors that he had there.

Susan Spears - A funny watercolor artist who also teaches, from Lake Oswego. And she does Tai Chi.

Anton Pavlenko - Has an unerring eye for color, paints bold and big, and paints in the gorge in the winter. Brrrrr!

Yer Za Vue - Awesome skill with a brush, just awesome.

Randall David Tipton - One of the best art blogs I've read to date, a great painter with a bazillion paintings of places south of Portland in all seasons.

Jude Welter - Also teaches, has some exciting new work on yupo, really is a neighbor, and just keeps getting better and better and better.

Ruth Armitage - Another neighbor, and yet another local teacher—we have it so good here—holds workshops regularly, paints big and small in several mediums, and does some of the loveliest small oils I've ever seen.

Bruce Ulrich - He does abstracts! I love his abstracts! Hooray for abstract painters! Yaaayyyy!

My meager descriptions don't do justice to any of them. They're all amazing, and really nice. It was a total blast talking to them all.

Gosh, I hope I get to do this again sometime.

Going to my first Paint-Out Party

Next Saturday, August 23rd, I'm participating in a paint out and party at Villa Catalana Cellars, aka Rare Plant Research for plant-o-philes. I think there are going to be 8-10 artists there from the greater Portland area, and we'll either be engaged in paint-flinging brush fights for the prime locations, or peacefully painting the picturesque buildings, plantings, and gorgeous views out on the grounds. There's no other place like this in this area—it's as if you've space-warped to a Mediterranean clime, just for an evening.

The party will feature a jazz trio, catered dinner items, and wines from Villa Catalana Cellars. The cover charge is $10/person and you can sign up on the Villa Catalana website all this week. Reservations are required. The weather is supposed to be sunny and warm with a light breeze from the northeast. The party starts at 5:30 and runs till 9pm. The artworks will be for sale, and you'll have plenty of time to watch the artists, find your favorite place to sip a glass of wine, and enjoy the music and some food. There's plenty of parking and the directions are on the website. If you've never been out there, I can tell you it's a FABULOUS place for sunset viewing.

If you can make it, please look for me and say hi. I've already staked out the places I hope to work from, so we'll see how lucky I get. I think that painting as the sun goes down is going to be a real treat.

Hope to see you there!

Announcing a new book and a new blog

Yesterday I published my second e-book on Amazon.com. This one is my first work of fiction. It's a story for kids of age 10 or 11 to 75 or 80. It tells about the adventures of a young Golden eagle when he gets trapped in a fierce desert thunderstorm and meets a very surprising new friend.

I've started a new blog to write about it, because I want to share its story as a book, and talk about the characters more.

If you do take a look at the book (the first chapter is available for viewing on Amazon), thank you, and I hope you enjoy it. I really enjoyed writing it, and at this point, I feel like both Tlocan and Ha-Keen—the two main characters—are family. I'd love for you to meet them.

And yep—that's my cover art. The idea came to me as a visual image after several days of intense worrying and wondering about what I should do for the cover. I would have loved to have Matisse do something for it. Oh well. I'm hoping someday to turn it into a print copy, but that's going to take a lot more paintings. It's a very visual story.

Cha!Cha!Cha! show extended through August 31st

Good news! My show at the Cha!Cha!Cha! Restaurant in Milwaukie, OR—at least a portion of it—will be up until the end of August. Seven paintings are still hanging there. Two were sold and the other three are back at home or on sale on my Etsy site. The two that were sold are:

Forest Sunrise

and

Cascade Waterfall

I've been working on a new project—the cover for my next Kindle book release, coming soon. I'll have the first attempt done this week. I have two really different ideas and I might end up trying both of them before I decide for sure which to use.

Back to work!