Two Artist Residencies completed and two more to go

I'm about to begin the third Artist-In-Residence on my loop through eastern Oregon. This trip began with two weeks at the elementary school in the town of Irrigon. After that, it was on to Canyon City and now La Pine. The last residency will be in Redmond.

FIRST OF SEVERAL ARTIST RESIDENCIES . . .

My artist residencies in schools are off to an earlier start this year. I'm halfway through a two-week residency in Irrigon, Oregon already. The students will be creating a large mural of the Oregon Trail and Native Americans. Grades involved are K-3, so it should prove interesting and a challenge. But, judging by the first two days here, I'm sure they can handle it.
After Irrigon, I'm off to Canyon City for a week, then La Pine for a week followed by a residency in Redmond (all in Oregon).
My blog entries will be slim or absent until I return.

"Petrolia Reservoir Memory"

To create "Petrolia Reservoir Memory" paint was applied and removed several times. Each time some paint was left behind to interact with the subsequent layers. I enjoy working this way as the resulting art is as much or more about the paint as it is about anything that inspired it in the first place. Petrolia Reservoir, which shows up as "Lake" on some maps, is located southeast of Winnett (east of Lewistown.) This painting is 5 x 7 inch.

UPDATE: Benches completed and delivered!

All fourteen benches ready for delivery. The gold disk visible on each bench backrest is a cast metal replica  of the Rotary Club emblem. The local Lewistown Rotary contributed funding to the bench portion of the street amenities project. To see more photos of the the finished benches visit EastMontProductions.com

"Cloud Deity"

Even though the subject of "Cloud Deity" is a building thunderhead, I find this a peaceful work to gaze upon, in part because it is essentially a memory of late summer recalled in the studio as winter is tightening it's grip outside. I frequently shift the sky hue on either side of a cloud. Sometimes the shift is subtle; other times drastic. My small paintings, such as "Cloud Deity" (5 x 7 inch), are usually driven by the sky. I think the small format of these works causes viewers to acknowledge his/her own small presence on the land form in the painting while at the same time the sky is portrayed in a manner that speaks of it's overwhelming expanse.