Marty Rogers "Shadows and Old Roses"

This painting was done from a tiny thumbnail sketch I did many years ago and came across while looking through my sketch books of the years I have lived in the Pacific Northwest. I was challenged to give it a try with such a small amount of information, makes a couple of changes to make the piece work, and believe it did. As a result I can see the possibilities of doing more work from old notes and sketches.

Marty Rogers

Age 74 and 3/4

"Shadows and Old Roses"

Watercolor 19 x 22 framed

February, 2009

Leslie Stadnichuk "Wisdom"

In January, I was part of a short term missions team that visited Santa Rita in Guatemala, a community built underneath a bridge and home to the very poor. We were there to assist with a building project and provide some medical help. Word got out that we were there and people came from far and near. On the third morning, I saw a young girl in the distance assisting this woman who was her grandmother down the steep slope from the street level to the church/school/feeding station where we were working. I knew I was witnessing something extraordinary.

In spite of her age (94) and circumstances, she was in perfect health and had a peace and beauty about her that is rare. She gave us permission to photograph her and although many shots were taken, this candid one seemed to best capture her grace and wisdom.

I began with much fear and trepidation, wanting to do justice to the subject. Fear was quickly replaced with excitement as this dear lady began to appear on the paper. The experience was a delight from start to finish and God willing will be the first of many portraits for me.

Leslie Stadnichuk

Age: 52

"Wisdom"

Pastel 18" x 24"

March, 2009

Gretchen Rohde "Ware Walk Pond"

This beaver pond off the White River in North Central Washington has been a favorite painting spot since my first visit there in 2001. In 2004 it was officially named Ware Walk Pond, after a local longtime resident of the area, Mary Ware, who discovered the pond in the 1940's. Mary Ware and her husband John were full time residents of the Lake Wenatchee area, John being the USFS Ranger through the 1950's until John's death in 1995. When Mary died in 2007, I made a visit to the pond and found the pond drained dry. This painting was done in June of 2009, and I was so thrilled to see all the water back in the pond ( thanks to the local beaver population).

What a perfect day to paint - the water back in Mary's pond, the sun out the birds singing and the great feeling of pushing oil paint around.

Gretchen Rohde

Age: 60

"Ware Walk Pond"

Oil on panel 12" x 9"

June, 2009

Robyn Williamson "Haiku Michelle"

During a workshop taught by artist Dawn Emerson, I decided to join in and try my hand at drawing the figure. It had been 39 years since I worked from the model. I didn't have any supplies or an easel, but Dawn graciously offered to share her pastels. I found a piece of foam board and propped it up against a folding chair and got down on my knees. There was only time remaining for 3 short poses. I have used the model, Michelle Wolff, for several figure sessions at the La Conner Art Workshops over the years and I admire not only her beauty and grace, but her professionalism. Now to actually be drawing her was a different experience. I considered the first pose a warm up and hit my stride with the second... with great regret that I did not choose to use good paper. With the last pose I knew only that I wanted to emphasis Michelle's beautiful neck. I finished this drawing in a few minutes and spent the remainder of the pose thinking...adding the final touches after Michelle had stepped down.

For me, painting with my friend Dawn, painting a friend Michelle, and painting with new friends in the workshop was truly a "Paint a Positive Picture" moment. I had traveled, for a short time, to the "zone" and was reminded that, although I rarely have the opportunity to make art, I still am an artist... and I get to be one for the rest of my life.

Robyn Williamson

Age: 58

"Haiku Michelle"

Pastel on BFK 22x30

April, 2009

Sharon Eckhardt " Trees on June Morning"

I painted this based on a photo I took on a warm morning driving around the farmland of Skagit Valley earlier in the week before a class with Teresa Saia. Something caught my eye about the group of trees and I knew immediately this was what I wanted to paint. I've been painting the past four years and always wanted to do landscapes, but trees were problematic and scary and I was always getting frustrated. Think, for me, the turning point was in a class with Susan Ogilvie last year, she said to simplify the shapes and not try and draw everything I see, and it finally clicked in my head how to do it. So now, I feel pretty comfortable painting landscapes. I love painting just the impressions of a forest or a clump of trees, and then gently and gradually laying down the warm and cool colors on top to give the feeling of volume and depth and light. Then, the deepest darks in the shadows really are fun to put in last.

Sharon Eckhardt

Age: 51

"Trees on June Morning"

Pastel on La Carte paper 12x19

June 2009

Robert H Lafond "D&R Canal from path across from It's Nutts Restaurant"

The painting I selected, done in late Spring, is a view of the canal that flows at the end of the street where I live in New Jersey. I walk along the canal almost daily, watching the water levels, feeding the ducks, picking up trash and following the cycle of the seasons. When I walk along the canal or the nearby Delaware river, by the fields or in the woods, when I look in the back yards, or down the streets, I am often filled by the fullness of what I see to the point of bursting. I usually feel this same way when looking at art in museums and galleries. I am compelled to respond creatively.

I paint to reenact and reestablish the intimacy I feel with the visible world. I paint small pictures to emphasize the intimacy. I paint to reconnect to the artistic aspirations of my grandfather and my mother, and to connect again with other artists, past and present. I paint to see anew and I look intently because I paint. I paint to share what excited my sight, and for others to see in my best work what motivated me to make it.

Often we spend an inordinate amount of our lives grasping for what is beyond us while neglecting or rejecting what has been given to us, until we gain the insight to open our eyes.

Frederick Franck wrote"...only if one sees one becomes harmless to all beings!" He writes about an inevitability of seeing, an inevitability of compassion and humanity that can come from the seeing and intimacy of painting, that leads to the right relationship to others and the world.

Robert H Lafond

Age: 62

"D&R Canal from the path across from It's Nutts Restaurant"

Soft Pastel 8 x 10

June, 2009

Rodricia Tilley "Crows Over the Corn"

I was born and grew up in this decidedly rural and remote Pennsylvania county.  I returned over three decades ago to raise a family and set up my studio here.  Despite my background and roots, I often feel quite at odds with the politics and aesthetics sensibilities of my neighbors; some of whom toss trash on the sides of the scenic back roads where I  love to paint.  Often I set up my easel near farmland and do not see another soul during the brief couple of hours I am there working.  I enjoy this solitude and peace.  I also enjoy the times that the farmer stops his or her pickup truck and takes a moment from their busy schedule to admire my painting...or occasionally to tell me that I "forgot" to include some detail or other...or to invite me to see the fabulous view from the top of the silo!  Those times I realize that we have different ways of working, but we both have a love of the land.  we can both appreciate the new willow leaves, the approaching rain clouds and a pink sunset.  we share a life that keeps us out of doors looking around and sniffing the wind.  the landscape is or common bond.

Rodrica Tilley

Age: 62

Crows Over the Corn

Pastel 12 x 16

MArch 2009