Finding Willem de Kooning

Scott DochertyArt News, Personal

When I was between my junior and senior years in college I got a job working at the Silver Seahorse restaurant and marina out on the east end of Long Island.  The great attraction was being in East Hampton and Amagansett out on the island, where a lot of New York artists spent the summer.  What a treat to catch site of a …

Capturing Oregon’s Magic

Scott DochertyArt News, Events, Personal

This past weekend I visited a show that, sadly, ended on May 1. It was at the Hoffman Centerfor the Arts in Manzanita, and was titled Capturing Oregon’s Magic. It featured a sampling ofworks included in the book, “Oregon Painters Landscape to modernism, 1859-1959”.This is a wonderful book by Ginny Allen and Jody Klevit. It was a beautiful show. I …

Lightness and Darkness

Scott DochertyArt News, Art Tips & Tricks

Here is something I heard years ago, and I paraphrase here.   Watercolorists like to pull form out of light, (light being the pure unpainted paper.) Whereas, oil painters like to pull form out of darkness,  (ie, Black or color close to black.) I feel most successful with watercolor when I do small spontaneous pieces that are not designed.  With oil paint, …

Visiting the Southwest

Scott DochertyArt News, Personal

I just returned from a short trip to New Mexico to look at art, paintings in particular. We visited galleries in Santa Fe,Taos and Albuquerque. I got a good intense dose of Southwest art. Art is BIG there. Landscapes featuring mountains, rock formations, indigenous people, horses, cattle, cowboys, cowgirls and ravens are favorite subjects, and sometimes whimsy. Abstract art, not …

Frieda Kahlo and Diego Rivera at the Portland Art Museum

Jennifer JoyceArt News, Events, Personal

Thoughts about Frieda Kahlo and Diego Rivera at the Portland Art Museum exhibition. I loved closely examining the paintings to understand their process, what brushes were used and how color was modeled and the designs of their work. They were both superb draftsmen, and could both draw beautifully.  There were aquatints of details in one of Diego’s murals, and they were …