Carrara, Italy, oil on canvas
1984 Carrara, Italy
My first overseas journey took me to the marble mountains of Carrara, Italy. I was a student completing my Masters of Fine Art at Brooklyn College. The study abroad program offered nine credits, including sculpture, art history and painting. It was a challenge to arrange the trip. I had to take a leave of absence from my city job and I had to finance the trip—greatly helped by a scholarship from the college and an inheritance from my maternal grandmother.
Italy was the perfect place for me as a young artist. Painters and sculptors were welcomed and respected by the townspeople. It was the first time I had the courage and confidence to paint outdoors. This painting included shows the terra cotta roofs so characteristic of Tuscany and the marble mountains and cliffs. This pure translucent white stone was the material for many of the great Renaissance sculptures.
1990 Monument Valley, Navajo Nation
Many years passed before I got to paint in another remote location—on my honeymoon in the Navajo Nation in October 1990. This sacred wild landscape with spectacular sandstone towers rearing skyward around the Arizona/Utah border has been the backdrop to dozens of movies from John Ford westerns to 2001. Totem Pole Mesa, in Monument Valley was one of the uniquely thin spires and a great subject to paint despite high winds and blowing sands.
Monument Valley, oil on panel, 8” x 10” SOLD
Mississippi Dam, oil on panel, 10” x 13”
1991 Headwaters of the Mississippi, Minnesota
In 1991 I joined my wife, Janet Morgan, when she was invited to return as a visiting artist to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design—in the middle of a Minnesota winter. While Janet was teaching, I took our rental car to a dam bordering an ice filled lake along the headwaters of the Mississippi and improvised a mobile painting studio. Despite the temperature, the car was reasonably comfortable except for occasional buildup of solvent fumes.
1992 Cirque of the Unclimbable’s, Yukon Territory, Canada
A singular adventure was my participation in a “big wall” rock climb in remote northern Canada. This involved a flight on a float plane to a remote lake, followed by a carry of all our gear up 2000 feet through forest, then a massive vertical climb up a granite wall called Lotus Flower Tower. This wilderness of rock and wild flowers was sublime, though the weather was often stormy. Our attempt at climbing ended well below the summit, but this didn’t diminish my joy of being at this high altar. I wasn’t equipped to paint on site, nor would the weather have allowed it, so this was a rare case where I was content to work from photos, since the memory of the place was seared in my mind. This painting was eventually sold to the first man who climbed Lotus Flower Tower.
Lotus Flower Tower, oil on ply, 20” x 15”
Storm, Mount Bona, oil on ply, 11” x 14”
2001 Mount Bona, Alaska
My attempt to climb one of the highest mountains in North America, was a true wilderness adventure. We flew in to land on a glacier at 10,000 foot elevation. From here we hauled sleds to two higher camps at 12,000 and 14,000 feet. Along the way there, we contended with temperatures well below zero and a fierce storm that stopped us from reaching the summit. Along the way I journaled, sketched and photographed. The painting, created in studio later, depicts the lenticular clouds which formed in the high winds that halted our climb.
2004 Lee’s Ferry, Arizona
The roasting heat of the desert southwest in summer is moderated by the icy Colorado River. Here is one of the few safe places to cross the river above the Grand Canyon. It is also the spot where river rafters enter the Canyon. I was in transit heading for the red sandstone canyons of Southern Utah when I saw a unique painting opportunity. I hunkered down in a small patch of shade and captured the sun lit green waters.
Lee’s Ferry, oil on panel, 9” x 12”
Essaouira, oil on panel, 12” x 16”
2007 Essaouira, Morocco
My only visit to Africa was Morocco, a visual feast of walled cities, oases and fine crafts..In the city of Essaouira on the Atlantic Coast the surf pounds day and night, filling the air with fine salty mist and providing a background roar. The air shimmers with a soft pearl light, as if living in romantic fable..I was able to sit in a café and capture this view with watercolors, later translated to oils in my home studio.
2008 Paradise Bay, Antarctica
My best trip ever was as resident artist for the cruise ship Orlova on a ten day round-trip journey from Argentina to the Antarctic Peninsula. The voyage was filled with spectacles, from mile high ice mountains, to penguin colonies and whale sightings. The sky barely darkened during the brief polar night. I took advantage of the extended twilight to paint. Wearing my parka and supplied with hot drinks I was able to paint outside in a sheltered area of the deck, working when the ship was at anchor. The low angle of the sun and luminous sky created the sensation of being on another world
Paradise Bay, oil on canvas, 18” x 24” SOLD
Cerro Fitzroy, oil on panel, 34” x 27”
2008 Cerro Fitzroy, Patagonia, Argentina
This peak, named after the captain of Darwin’s ship, is the highest point in Patagonia. I was able to visit to this iconic mountain enroute to Antarctica. There was a wonderful lodge only a couple miles from this vista, which provided a safe harbor for only the effort of an hour’s walk I was able to reach this spectacular vista and capture the unique light in an oil sketch. Back in my studio, I painted a large version, using the oil sketch and photos for reference.
2008 Nevado Huscaran, Peru
These twin peaks are the highest points of Peru. They are located in the Cordillera Blanca, a huge range with dozens of peaks above 20,000 feet, deep valleys and many trekking routes. Based at a comfortable lodge, I was able to paint from life nearby I had been in the Andes for nearly two weeks and was acclimatized enough to work comfortably at over 13,000 feet elevation.
Nevado Huascaran, oil on panel, 12” x 9”
Badlands, John Bay Fossil Beds, oil on panel, 9” x 12”
2009 Badlands, John Day Fossil Beds, Oregon
Remote eastern Oregon is one of the most sparsely populated parts of the United States. My friend, nature writer, Rowland Russell guided us through badlands, marshes and desert. The region is famed for mammal fossils, which wash out of the layers of sedimentary rock. The rich colors are a perfect match for oil paint palette.
2009 Arctic Norway
Following my successful cruise in Antarctica I was offered a similar opportunity in Arctic Norway. The challenge was that this 30 day trip was in the winter. Daylight was limited, with the sun above the horizon for only an hour or two daily, decreasing to 24 hours of darkness as we approached the winter solstice. I was able to find a warm, sheltered spot to work when the ship was at anchor and work directly from life. The somber “blue light” of dusk was unique and evocative.
Bodo II, Norway, oil on panel, 9” x 12”
Weird Plants, Colombia, oil on panel, 9” x 12”
2012 El Cocuy National Park. Colombia
I participated in a hiking and climbing expedition to this remote, wet portion of the Andes. Because we had horse packing support I was able bring my oil paints. However, it rained daily there were few opportunities to paint. This panel was executed during a brief respite in the weather. The giant exotic plants are Frailejones, cactus-like plants that resemble stooped friars. They appear only in this region of the Andes while a similar plant grows in the mountains of East Africa.
2015 Patagonia, Chile
The granite towers of Torres del Paine National Park were a dream destination. I was able to follow a famous five day trek around the spires as well as taking boat trip approaching tidewater glaciers and fjords. This remote section of Chile can be wild and windswept, but it showed me a gentle side, with long days and ample opportunities to draw. The weather allowed an in situ painting at my base camp Fjord Ultima Expiranza, which translates “last chance fjord.”
Fjord Ultima Expiranza, oil on panel, 9” x 12”
Mount Washington, oil on panel, 12” x 9”
2017 Mount Washington, New Hampshire
I had the wonderful opportunity to be the first artist in residence at the summit weather station. While the observatory isn’t geographically distant from population centers, it is made remote by frequent severe weather. The observatory has observed the highest wind speed ever recorded. Working through a week in June, I faced hail, icing, fog and lightning. Fortunately, the observatory has large windows in all directions and I was able to do one painting each day. At times visibility was less than twenty feet, but I found creative solutions, focusing of frost covered boulders and a pale sun.
2017 Heceta Head, Oregon
I had plans to hike in the Cascade Range after viewing the 2017 total solar eclipse, but widespread forest fires made hiking impossible. Fortunately, nearby Pacific beaches were smoke free and accessible. The clear air and rolling surf felt like refuge. We even had close up encounters with whales. The pounding waves recur every few minutes making them easy to paint.
Heceta Head, Oregon Beach, oil on panel, 9” x 12”
Rock Georgian Bay, oil on panel, 9” x 12”
2018 Electric Island, Georgian Bay, Canada
My ambitious plan for a helicopter flight into remote mountains of British Columbia had to be canceled abruptly due to massive forest fires. Already in Canada, I managed to completely revise the itinerary to travel to Georgian Bay instead. This region of lakes and islands sits on some the most ancient rock on earth, a polished, weathered granite. I enjoyed the great hospitality of my friend Katie and I managed to paint in this quiet paradise. It was a place of reflections and small-scale beauty.
2019 Fresh Lava, Hawaii
The big island of Hawaii is a treasure trove of dramatic scenery. There are waterfalls, lava flows, active volcanoes and all manner of surf and waves. My trip came several months after a dramatic break out volcanic eruption. What had been a quiet suburban neighborhood was now a lava field with steaming cones. My timing was superb, as the lava had cooled and the area was deemed safe to visit. The area still reeked of sulfur and I stay briefly only to sketch. The painting was done from photos.
Volcanic Vent, oil on panel, 12” x 8”
Iceland II, oil on panel, 9” x 12”