It's been some time since I posted on line, and the last week and a half have been busy.
Not much creating art but lots of viewing. Spring break is ending and I spent it with my "other hat" on. working for a vacationing friend at his office; not much studio time.
Last Saturday a my artist pal Ruth called and asked if I wanted to go to Salem with her to fetch her daughter home for the break. The university has an exhibit of Harry Widman at their museum Hallie-Ford, that I wanted to see and it was great. Powerful abstracted statements of universal ideas, with wonderful color and mark making. We also ran into a mutual artist friend Linda, while checking out Ruth's gallery. I then dragged Linda and her artist friend to see the Salem Mayors Showcase at the Oregon Convention Center, ( and admire the painting I have in the show.)

Reflections on Endings 36x36
A fine time was had by all.

Today Susan (another artist) and I went to Hood River for a conference where Alyson Stanfield was the keynote speaker. She is an excellent speaker and resource for artists about marketing and business. It was a good way to end a long week of early risings.

When I got back home and checked in on the web I stumbled in to this blog by the artist Roz talking about Scarcity, great insights that that resonated with several of today's conversations.

Enjoy the links and let me know what you think.
Bruce

Here in the upper left corner of America we have been is a cold spell with snow and ice on the valley floor (in the Portland metro area). Not a cold as the upper right corner or the upper mid-west, but for the area the coldest for the longest time in 30 years so a weather man reports.
It's a paltry amount by the standards of colder areas yet a sheet of ice puts a damper on crossing the street or getting the mail without the risk for falls, and it means chaining up to get out of the neighborhood to go to the store.
I am grateful that I only have to walk across the street to the studio and flip a switch to get heat and light. The fact that it is sunny with a bright blue sky even if it is a wild chill of 9 is a change from the ever changing shades of gray that are a typical Oregon winter day. The bright light seems to have lightened the colors in the paintings I've started this week. I am working towards a personal abstraction of the landscape or parts and pieces of it;the less it is identified as a specific place and the more universal my image can be of a region,or the idea of a region the better  I will have succeeded. Presently the start looks much to specific for this goal. It's so much easier in some ways to try and paint a pleasing interpretation of what is out there. I'll re look at some of Carl Morris's work and a few other greats and see if I can get some ideas to pursue for my own solution. Greater painters than I  hope to be have spent years and given us many great and different paintings in answer to this type of question and I'm only beginning to frame my questions. Such are my ruminations on a cold winters night.
Have a warm and safe Christmas where ever you are in the world.
I'll take some photos of this and some other recent paintings and get them up tomorrow.
Thanks for reading.
B