I’ve been rambling around old Montana a bit lately and I can tell you things are looking good up here! Trips to Bozeman, Missoula, around and across Flathead Lake, and through Glacier National Park by car and on foot, have filled my head with visions of new landscape paintings based on the beauty that surrounds me. I’m grateful to live so close to my inspiration.
Hello, Those of you who tuned in yesterday for Marshall’s blog will have noticed its’ absence. That is because Marshall is up hiking in Glacier National Park with his daughter, Sarsten. After a whirlwind of a weekend in Bozeman for their show the artists are off playing in the mountains.
They took the Highline
Trail and didn’t even see a grizzly bear!
Tune in next week for
more thoughts from the artist.
Happy to share this engaging piece about yours truly with you guys! This comes from Merritt Gallery and Renaissance Fine Arts.
I’m exceptionally proud
to say Merritt Miller and Rachel Rubin are the second generation of owners
representing me in their galleries in Baltimore, Chevy Chase, and
Philadelphia.
The culmination of months of work in the studio usually results in a road trip. The travel is always filled with anticipation and the excitement of seeing new work on the walls of a gallery. I think every artist lives with the hope that his or her most recent work is the best ever. I know I certainly do!
So here’s a peek at the
paintings ready to hit the road.
In this case the road to Old Main Gallery in Bozeman, Montana. I’m reminded of the driving advice my
daughter Sarsten would offer back when she was still a little kid, “Keep it
between the mustard and the mayonnaise Dad”.
I guess this is what happens when we have a number of unseasonably cool days in July.
“Whitefish
River Fall” is definitely painted in my typical “winter” palette. By that I mean yellow, lots of
yellow! I sometimes refer to
yellow as my artificial vitamin D!
To be taken in liberal doses throughout our wonderfully cloudy and snowy
Northwest Montana winters. But in
July? Not unheard of, but
assuredly unusual.
Be that
as it may, I’m happy to share this new piece with you. All false modesty aside, I believe it is
especially successful!
I hope
you enjoy this not exactly mellow, yellow painting.
We all face the challenge of how to carve out the time for the important stuff. We live busy lives in an increasingly busy world.
This very day I’m working on the habit of consciously living a simpler life. I ask myself, what can I not do? What can I do without? Not in an effort to deprive myself or to become a martyr to my art, but simply to make time for the people and practices that are most meaningful to me.
I think of Georgia O’Keefe cloistered in the solitude of her studio in Abiquiu, New Mexico. She left a husband and the art world of New York City to simplify her life and become one of the greatest artists ever. She carved out the time. Lots and lots of time.
I’m pretty much a 9 to
5 painter. I have friends whose studio practices involve working at all
hours of the day and night, but that’s not for me. I need to go to work
in the morning and clean my brushes and go home at night.
And
when I’m in my studio I paint! My regimen requires putting paint on the
brush and brush on the canvas right off the bat. I don’t wait for
inspiration. I don’t wait for my muse to show up. I go to work and know the
ideas will come and the painting will happen!
Long ago I painted
with my close friend Terry Nelson and in our shared studio our mantra was
“Think it, do it”. Forty years of art making later I might consider
adding one word to the mantra “Think it, do it NOW”.
It’s show week! I’m flying off to Santa Fe tomorrow, the paintings are going up on the walls, and the opening is this Friday. I always enjoy time in Santa Fe, the art scene, live music, world class museums, great food, and old friends always make for a good time. I’m already looking forward to red chile cheese enchiladas at The Shed, green chile at Horseman’s Haven, a chorizo enchilada at Tia Sophia, red chile pork tamales at Johnnie’s Cash Store, and sopapillas at la Choza. Those are some of my regular Santa Fe haunts. But when the trip includes a major exhibition of my work at my all time favorite Canyon Road gallery my anticipation really ramps up!
I would be honored to
have you join me! The artist reception is Friday, July 5, 5-7p.m. at
Ventana Fine Art, 400 Canyon Road, Santa Fe.
Hope to see you there.
Come on down we’ll get together and share a meal of the world’s best chile!
I guess it IS kind of an addiction of mine. I guess there are worse
addictions!
As much as I love to
paint large, I must admit some of my best work over the years has been small.
The pastels I do in preparation for my larger oil paintings are often
among my best work!
Decisions
regarding color, composition, line, volume, shape and contrast get worked out
in pastel. Often that’s where the heavy lifting occurs. Once I’m
working painting in oil on canvas I usually have a pretty good road map
to follow.
Here’s an example of a
sweet little 11×11 inch piece I recently finished. I believe there’s an
oil painting lurking in there! I’m thinking 6×6 feet! Or
bigger.
From time to time,
usually at a show opening or gallery event, I’m asked which is my favorite
painting. It always feels kind of like being asked which is your favorite
child. I love them all so much!
But I have noticed
that when I can come up with an answer, it’s frequently the newest painting.
Yesterday
I shipped the final crate of paintings to Santa Fe for my upcoming exhibit at
Ventana Fine Art. As I was loading the work I packed a painting and
thought, “This one is a great painting, this one is my favorite.”
You might have guessed
it already, yes, it is the last painting I finished for the show. How
predictable of me!