Papa’s Canyon
Mixed media, plein air
Recent trip to southern California. Continuing to work with watercolor, charcoal and conte.
Prineville Res2
8x8", plein air, oil
Recent camping trip to Prineville Reservoir. This painting was done high up looking down on the lake.
Fiji trip
Fiji North, 9 by 12 inches, mixed media
I have spent 11 days on various islands in Fiji. We arrived just a day after Cyclone Mick as a Category 2 hit the islands straight on causing considerable damage, we managed to not be impacted too much. As far as painting goes, I have painted everyday, mainly watercolors and watercolor mixed media. Conditions were usually severe with blowing wind, hot sun and biting mosquitoes but so what, its paradise. Beautiful imagery both above water and below. We spent three of the days on a dive boat, the reefs in Fiji are absolutely stunning. We visited un-inhabited islands and spent time on the main island for Christmas at my wife’s brother’s home. In my painting, I found that working on surfaces with a “tooth” such as pastel board or Wallis paper gave the best effects as mixed media with watercolor in conjunction with conte crayon and charcoal. My wife, Shawn, wants me to do more watercolor….What do you think…
Alvord Desert Expedition
Painting the playa from Steens Mountain
Painting landscape creates space. Looking at a natural landscape which is void of human presence could create a space that is empty of modern human development and thus a space that is cleared of our everyday clutter. This space may be interpreted by a viewer as a place in the past or just a refreshing new place. Maybe a place where our experiences have been re-set and now can be re-built. Or, maybe a space where we re-invent and fantasize a new place based on our experiences. This could also be a place where we get connected to life on a more basic fundamental level.
My painting process starts with painting on location: “en plein air”. While this has been a long standing tradition for a long legacy of artists, the main intention of this approach has been for the artist to see and observed accurately the natural landscape and to reproduce it. I do follow this approach, “somewhat”, but I have a higher priority. The higher priority is to experience the place.
An emerging Northwest painter who resides in the Portland, Oregon area, Rob works primarily in pastel and oil mediums but in recent years has become a printmaker. Rob’s interest is in the landscape and he lives in Northwest to be close to a variety of geography and geology in wild lands. His work starts with plein air paintings, sketches and experiences in the Northwest landscape. Rob strives to create in his work both physical landscape and an inner landscape where the mind’s experience of a place plays a part. A Portland collector described Rob’s work by stating “I’ve been looking at a lot of art and nobody puts color on a canvas more effectively than Rob. He must have an intense response to what he sees, a sensory love affair with nature. The result is a distinctive style of painting which enlivens the most placid scene without slipping over into excess.” Rob holds a BFA in Painting from Pacific Northwest College of Art. In 2008, he received the Director’s Purchase Award and an Honorable Mention in the Pastel National 2008 show in Wichita, KS. In 2009, Rob was published in Kennedy Publishing's the 'Best of American Pastel Artists Volume II.
