Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Able



A good friend owns this fine wooden boat. Built in Port Townsend, it has been a fixture here in town for many years. I've always admired all the seemingly tangled mass of bowsprit weaving - something that our boat, Sea Witch, has none of. The hooded mergansers come into the marina in winter, fishing at the stormwater outfalls for small fish attracted there by nutrients.
This is an acrylic on paper, and prints are now available. Click here to go to the Port Townsend prints page.

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Thursday, June 12, 2008

Olympic High Country

Obstruction Point - Olympic National Park

This image is destined to be made into jigsaw puzzles, posters and probably cards for Olympic National Park. I've wanted to paint this scene for years. From this ridge, if you turn 180 degrees, it's possible to see our home forest 25 miles below in the distance. This is the dry side of the Olympics, and because of its isolation, there are many plants and animals that have to evolved to grow only here - the Olympic Marmot, Olympic Chipmunk, Olympic Weasel and others.


It's a special place for Nancy and I that few ever see. The original painting is 24" x 36" and is acrylic on paper board. It's currently available for sale.

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Monday, May 5, 2008

Christie - the Mystery Boat

I worked up this Whitehall skiff from materials I had from the September 2000 Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend. Why I haven't painted it before is a mystery, because she's quite a boat. These are the old docks in Port Townsend's Point Hudson marina, now trashed and gone thanks to a Port Commission that had little sense of history and the beauty of 'old'.

I have no idea who owns this boat, or even if she's still floating. If anyone knows about her, please let me know.

Acrylic on board. 14" x 20", framed to 25" x 31" under glass. Prints are now available of this image at Christie's prints. The original painting is also currently available. If you're interested in it, drop us an email with "Christie" in the subject line.

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Thursday, April 24, 2008

The Fisher Returns to Oympic National Park

American Fisher
This commissioned painting is for Olympic National Park for use as the summer 2008 park newspaper cover (100,000 copies) and interpretive exhibits. The last Olympic fisher was trapped about 50 yrs ago, leaving an empty ecological niche. ONP is releasing 100 of these animals in a repopulation plan. About the size of a large housecat, fishers hunt small birds and rodents.
I painted this scene at about the place the first group were released, the Elwha River Valley. The models for the trilliums were from our own backyard, and so is the cone midden the junco is messing about in. The junco could have been here too, if it had stood still long enough.
Because of the interest in this project, we decided to offer high-quality giclee prints of the fisher painting. Here's the fisher link and easy buying info.

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Thursday, March 20, 2008

Elk Prairie, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park



Elk Prairie, Prairie Creek Redwoods State and National Park, is south of Crescent City California - north of Eureka. I have a lot of work there, two large commissions in the visitor center museum, many roadside panels, lots of printed products in the non-profit store (posters, puzzles, books - you name it).


So, when the State of California asked if I was interested in doing another one for an interpretive exhibit, I jumped at the chance. I have this legacy-thing going there and want it to continue. Big opening night for the mural installation is mid-June, 2008.

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Thursday, March 6, 2008

Junaluska

"Junaluska" - launch and shoreboat for the 1929 fan-tailed classic "Olympus." When launched, Olympus was originally named Junaluska. This boat now charters out of Seattle for trips in Puget Sounds and places north.

Notice the varnish reflection on the combing and below it on the deck. I love these double reflections, and I think the painting was created solely because of this area.

Prints of the painting are now available. Email us for more information.

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Friday, December 28, 2007

Whitebark Pines - Wizard Island

Commissioned by the Crater Lake Institute, this is the second mural I've painted of Crater Lake. I think I now have that "blue" figured out. Puzzles, cards and posters coming in summer of 2008 so stay tuned.

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Saturday, December 15, 2007

Red Rowboats

Port Townsend is full of these types of small wooden boats - probably more so than any West Coast town I know of. I especially liked the wine-glass stern of this one, so I painted it twice - in the same painting. It was tied on a concrete dock, but I turned it into a classic old wooden dock to match the classic old boat. Acrylic on paper.
We now have giclee prints of this painting. Check them out here.
As of May, 2008, this painting is still available. Email us if you'd like more information.

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Saturday, December 8, 2007

Sea Witch Sailing on Tyler Street

That's right.
If Tyler Street continued downhill into the water, that is.
That's our own Sea Witch, the 1939 Monk-designed sloop you see so much of in many of my paintings.

Oh, and the best coffee in town is just a block up from the beach here, at, of course, Tyler Street Coffee.
Prints are available of this painting. As of May 2008, this painting is still available for purchase. Email us if you'd like more information.

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Sunday, November 25, 2007

Whitebark Pines in Peril

Whitebark Pines in the West are in serious trouble, thanks to a pathogen unleashed by us (of course it's US, isn't ALL of this mess because of US).

Commissioned by the Crater Lake Institute in cooperation with the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation, this mural shows the interwoven lives of all that depend on this tree species. Grizzlies, squirrles, birds and all in peril as well.

Currently, a large format poster installation is being installed in the Grand Targhee National Forest of this image, as well as puzzles and posters coming in summer 2008.

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Saturday, November 24, 2007

Beachgrass at Point Wilson Lighthouse

This beach is loosing sand in winter storms. Thought I'd better paint it before it's completely gone. Point Wilson Light is the dividing line between Puget Sound and the Straits of Juan deFuca - a big deal to boaters. The Indians disliked rounding this point so much they instead opted to drag their huge canoes overland through what is now Port Townsend. But I love it here on this point, with wild waves and kelp beds, sandy beaches (rare for this area) and lots of wildlife. Prints are available, and as of April 2008, so is the original painting. If you're interested, email us.

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