This painting is part of my “Transitions” show currently on exhibit at McVarish Gallery in Astoria, Oregon.
The atmosphere of this particular painting is really delicate. The shoreline a haunted edge barely existing along the expansive water. I am always striving to capture the sense of beauty I see with subtle mark making and simple gestures. It is such a difficult thing to do but when it works it feels like magic!
This painting was a commission I recently completed. The painting is 48″x26″, with a large frame it was too big to send through the United States Postal Service, live and learn in theory.
I have been working hard on a large commission since returning from my solo show in Astoria. I believe I will have it wrapped up this weekend! I am then framing it and shipping it off to wine country in California. I will post a finished photo before I package it up.
I have dropped off my newest collection of work at the McVarish Gallery in Astoria, Oregon. This painting is part of the collection and very appropriate for this misty coastal day!
I know it’s silly but what the heck! These acrylic paintings now reside in Hong Kong, I have sent a surprising amount of work to different folks there… I should be getting better at geography. My art has seen much more of the world than I have… though I have done some traveling!
Just to break up the landscapes I painted this rainbow trout. It was a fun change of pace, a lot of paint manipulation and experimenting. The painting difficult to capture with a photograph so I am including a closeup that is more inline with the feel of the painting.
I love clouds, of course they are best when they don’t obscure all of the blue! This painting is the second one inspired by the transitions of season. Snow rapidly disappearing from the mountains, so fast it caused substantial flooding in North Idaho. The diminishing snow adds so much character to the faded mountains, particularly when the sky is filled with clouds and mist. It creates a kind of ghostly magical quality that is so subtle but so inspiring.
I am framing work for an upcoming exhibit. Part of the process is editing your work and trying to select the most powerful pieces. I took this photo of three of my small cloudscapes… only two will go. I have my opinions but would love to hear from you! Which two paintings do you like the best?
This is a 16″x20″ acrylic painting. As summer approaches I wanted to capture snow disappearing from the mountains… “between the snowman and the rain”. I have painted two northwest alpine scenes along these lines. They both have an ethereal ghostly presence that I really enjoy. I will post the other painting soon.
This is a detail from “Snoqualmie”.
A little moody forest scene. I painted this one a couple months back and decided it looked great in an extra frame I had! I was planning on taking it to my show but it looks like I have sold it this morning… I really should focus on retaining work for my exhibit that is just two weeks out! A bird in the hand? Poor bird.
brian sostrom 