Friday, November 28, 2014

More on wilderness....


Most of the wildernesses I have experienced are not endless expanses, but small patches within our larger civilized lands. I can only imagine what it must have felt like to  the native peoples, explorers, and pioneers. The mysterious, frightening, even mystical  wilderness. One can come close to it in the vastness of Alaska perhaps, if you are lucky enough to be able to get into the bush.

What makes wilderness wild is the edge of fear and wonder. The unease of not being in control.I just finished reading Barry Lopez's Arctic Dreams. He writes that the arctic peoples have a word for that edge. It is "quamaneq": The shaman light to see in the dark, joy and violence together, the edge of the primitive. How wondrous it is to experience wilderness in all its glory, its fierce and dangerous beauty. There is no sentimentality there, and to survive in the wild one must proceed carefully.

I have tried to put the sort of quamaneq I am talking about into my recent paintings. The people in them are merely visitors. They seek something rare that can only be found in a wild landscape. Something that is missing from their lives.












Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Cityscapes: The City As I See It

I am pleased to announce that She Waits juried into the new show at The Gallery At The Watershed in Eugene, Oregon. I am looking forward to checking out the exhibit Friday night at the artists' reception.





The Gallery at the Watershed

321 Mill St. Ste. 6, Eugene, OR 97401
541.844.1668


"The City As I See It" opened on November 4th and runs through December 13th.


The Artists' Opening Reception coincides with
November's First Friday Art Walk:  
Friday, Nov. 7, 5:30-8:00 p.m.